"Shopkeeper, didn't a girl just come to borrow your umbrella?" Cen Ji asked hurriedly.
Old Guo said, "Yes, I borrowed her umbrella and then she left."
Before he could finish speaking, Cen Ji had already chased after him.
The sky was pale, and the rain fell heavily, making everyone's gray figure appear even more desolate.
Cen Ji's vision was filled with gray, lacking only that touch of bright red.
Cen Ji gave a bitter smile. He must have misheard.
But……
He turned and ran back to the tavern, threw a silver ingot on Old Guo's table, and said, "I'll stay here tonight and wait for someone."
two,
The real Master Kongshan has remained silent about Cen Ji becoming the future Master Kongshan.
Or rather, who is the current Master Kongshan? Perhaps no one but Wen Moyin knows.
Even the guards from Kongshan Ridge could count the number of times they had seen Master Kongshan on one hand, and each time they were separated by a light gauze curtain.
Wen Moyin didn't care at all who leaked the news, because she did indeed intend to help Cen Ji take the position of Master Kongshan, even though Cen Ji himself was unwilling. However, faced with Wen Moyin's enthusiastic invitation, he couldn't refuse her outright.
He always says, "We'll talk about it when the time comes."
But the so-called "when the time comes" usually never comes.
Wen Moyin understood. She understood this principle, so she didn't listen to the words "when the time comes" at all.
The room was filled with the fragrance of orchids.
Wen Moyin liked to fill her warm room with various orchids.
"What does the master think?" Wen Moyin looked at the man opposite her, gently stroking the orchid on the table with one hand.
"Whatever you say," said Master Kongshan.
"You can't even express your opinion on who will sit in your seat next?"
"Um."
"Ha, sir, you're getting more and more leisurely."
"Um."
Wen Moyin tossed aside the orchid, gracefully moved to stand in front of Master Kongshan, bent down, and said, "Everyone treats me like your daughter. You've taken in a daughter for nothing, yet you don't care about her at all."
"You said it yourself, I got it for free, it's not something I wanted. If it weren't for you, I'd probably be much more carefree."
Wen Moyin shook her head: "You, you don't want to get involved in any trouble at all. You should just give up your seat."
"If you like it, you can take it."
Wen Moyin chuckled: "How could I, a mere woman, be worthy of the title 'Master Kongshan'?"
"Isn't there that solitude?"
Wen Moyin suppressed his smile and said calmly, "If it's too fast, I'm afraid it won't convince the public."
"Ha." Master Kongshan laughed: "You want to marry Cen Ji, who dares to say no? I'm afraid that in the whole Kongshan Ridge, apart from me, no one dares to offend you."
Wen Moyin forced a delicate expression and said, "Don't make me sound so scary."
"Isn't that so?"
"Even so. I just want him to take Master Kongshan's position..."
"Such a perfect match?" Master Kongshan's gaze swept over the orchid beside Wen Moyin, and he said meaningfully, "Women, too much vanity, always leads to outcomes they never expected."
Wen Moyin sighed, "Forget it, I think you should just leave. Every time we talk, it ends badly."
Master Kongshan smiled, stood up, put his hands behind his back, and walked out gracefully.
As he passed by Wen Moyin, he suddenly spoke up: "Don't forget, there's also Ban Lan."
Wen Moyin's originally delicate face suddenly turned ashen.
three,
Cen Ji had thought more than once about what he should do if the person who lent him the umbrella was really Ban Lan.
He happily stepped forward and said, "You're still alive?"
Or should I take her and offer her a drink?
It seems like none of it makes any sense.
What then can be meaningful?
He thought about it all night but couldn't figure it out, and then he thought about it for half a day but still had no clue.
Just as he was about to fall asleep from exhaustion, Ban Lan appeared.
She was still dressed in scarlet, but it wasn't the same outfit she wore the last time I saw her.
She carried an oil-paper umbrella and lightly leaped into the wine shop.
"Shopkeeper, here you go..." She looked up and saw Cen Ji.
After a moment of hesitation, she spoke first.
"Cen Qi?" She smiled. "Long time no see. Let me treat you to a drink."
Unexpectedly, she just smiled and acted as if nothing had happened.
Cen Ji was pulled to sit at the table by her, looking completely blank.
She was pulling on his sleeve, not his arm.
"Shopkeeper, a jar of pine nut wine." Ban Lan turned around and called out, then turned back to see Cen Ji still expressionless, and couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong? Don't you want to see me, or don't you want me to still be alive?"
"What happened?" Cen Ji finally asked.
Ban Lan shrugged: "Hey, I was just about to exchange a few pleasantries with you, but look at you, you're so eager to get to the point."
Ban Lan recounted the events of that day in just a few words. The whirlpool in that cold pool was actually another path leading to the Crane Feather Palace.
There were no switches, no traps. Ban Lan leaped into the water and was swept to the exit in the blink of an eye.
“Why didn’t you come to find me? I thought…” Cen Ji clenched his fists.
Ban Lan turned her gaze toward the door.
"Just pretend I'm dead, that's fine too."
"you……"
"Aren't you and your senior sister already together?"
Cen Ji choked back a sob and remained silent for a long while.
"I thought I didn't care whether I lived or died." Ban Lan winked mischievously, picked up the wine that had just been served, and was about to uncork it when suddenly she turned her head toward Cen Ji, sniffing with her round little nose like a puppy looking for a bone.
"Liquor?!" Ban Lan blurted out, "Cen Qi, when did you start drinking?"
Seeing her surprised expression, Cen Ji couldn't help but say, "You're allowed to drink, but I'm not?"
Ban Lan said, "No, I'm just wondering how someone like you, who can't live without self-discipline, can drink alcohol."
Cen Ji snatched the wine jar from Ban Lan's hand and poured himself a bowl.
“At least for now, self-discipline isn’t necessary,” he said as he poured.
“Since you’re not self-disciplined,” Ban Lan grinned, “then why bother with bowls? Just carry a jar.”
Cen Ji was used to her carefree manner, so he did as she suggested, threw down the wine bowl, picked up the jar, and gulped down a few mouthfuls.
The liquor trickled down his lips, gliding over his sparse stubble, like a lover's caress.
Ban Lan's eyebrows and eyes were full of smiles.
Cen Ji finished drinking and then realized there was only one jar of wine left. Since he had drunk it, Ban Lan could no longer drink.
He somewhat regretted his impulsiveness, yet he was also quite puzzled by it. He realized he was becoming less and less like the Cen Ji of the past.
"Finished drinking?" Ban Lan blinked her long eyelashes.
"Cough cough..." Cen Ji coughed to cover up his cough.
"Why are you drinking so fast? You can't even walk before you want to fly." With that, Ban Lan grabbed the wine jar in front of Cen Ji, picked it up, and started drinking it down in gulps.
Cen Ji was stunned.
That was the wine he had just drunk.
He stared blankly as Ban Lan drank it sip by sip.
She drank with the same seriousness as ever, as if she were drinking a rare and exquisite wine, where drinking too much would be a waste, and drinking too little would be tasteless. Her lips remained clean, without a drop of wine, and her expression remained calm and natural, as if she were drinking water, yet also as if she could extract some delicious flavor from it.
"you……"
"Hmm?" Ban Lan looked up.
Cen Ji deeply regretted impulsively saying "you," because what he wanted to say next was, "What are you like when you're drunk?"
But what kind of grown man asks someone's daughter like that, even though... even though the girl wouldn't mind at all.
"What's wrong with me?" Ban Lan pressed.
Cen Ji's eyes darted around the store, and he stammered, "You... don't you think it's spicy?"
After saying that, Cen Ji felt an urge to punch the wall. He realized that whenever he was with this girl, he not only couldn't stay calm, but he also kept talking nonsense.
Ban Lan didn't think there was anything wrong with him, and simply replied as instructed, "This kind of wine, you get used to it after a while, it's nothing. Unlike Master's secret Xuepei Dew, every time I crave its taste, I'm always left feeling like I'm dying from the spiciness."
Cen Ji suddenly wanted to know what that jar of snow wine tasted like.
"Really... that delicious?" Cen Ji was somewhat incredulous.
"Snow Dew?" Ban Lan smiled, her crescent-shaped eyes curving upwards. She looked deeply at Cen Ji and said, "It tastes like...like you."
Like me? Cen Ji was stunned.