Compendio de hombres apuestos en el mundo de las artes marciales

Capítulo 25

Chapter Seven: Night Talk • Misunderstanding...

"Hey! This is a handkerchief that Xiaoxinzi embroidered for you, a whole twenty of them! Each one has three light blue snowflakes at the bottom corner, isn't it pretty? This is a nut nail that Xiaohuzi made for you, I packed two whole small bags of them! That kid even made me pack more, saying he made a whole five hundred, and I should take as many as I could, they're all so heavy! And this, isn't it pretty?" Xiao Duan held twenty thin silk handkerchiefs in one hand and two small bags of nut nails in the other, sitting cross-legged on the edge of the bed, watching Qingzi take things out of the two large bundles one by one.

"Hey, put these on the bed first. Look at this hairpin, isn't it pretty? It's made of sandalwood! I remember your bracelet, Xiao Luo, was half sandalwood too, wasn't it? This one was specially sent over by Jiao Jiao's husband after she got married! Her husband dotes on her so much!" Qing Zi held the hairpin up and down in front of Xiao Duan. "Isn't it beautiful? This was carved by the most famous woodcarver in our Qingxi Town for three whole days! All the young wives are so envious. This swallow suits our Xiao Luo so well! Come on, let your hair down, let me put it on for you!"

Xiao Duan didn't refuse, obediently turning his head to let Qingzi remove the willow hairpin and tie his hair up. As her slightly rough fingers ran through his hair, Qingzi suddenly exclaimed, "Oh, right, I also brought you a peach wood comb, wait a minute!"

Xiao Duan sat on the edge of the bed with her hair down, watching Qing Zi squat on the ground and start fighting with the two bundles again. Her jet-black hair was simply tied into a bun, with the rest hanging down her back. The original jujube-red peach wood hairpin was no longer visible. In the dim light, the outline of the hairpin became even more blurred and gradually disappeared into her jet-black hair.

Xiao Duan felt a slight dryness in his throat, and after a long while, he softly called out, "Qing Zi."

"Ah! Found it! Xiao Luo, look, isn't this peach wood comb pretty? I made it myself! When Master saw it, she even tried to take it from me! Luckily, I'm good at light-footed kung fu, and I jumped up to the red bean tree outside the yard in a flash, otherwise she would have succeeded..." Qingzi said, wrinkling her small nose, her big cat-like eyes sparkling as she looked at Xiao Duan: "Xiao Luo, do you like it?"

Xiao Duan reached out and took the wooden comb: "I like it. Qingzi, next time, don't be so reckless." Xiao Duan frowned slightly and said slowly, "I was originally going to leave Hangzhou yesterday. You and Xiao Hui are carrying big bags and small packages. What if you come here and find nothing? You don't have much money on you, and you don't know anyone here. Xiao Hui doesn't know kung fu. It's too dangerous."

Hearing this, Qingzi smiled sweetly, sat down on the edge of the bed, and hugged Xiao Duan's neck: "I know! Don't always frown. I found you, didn't I? I knew it. Our Xiao Luo has the softest heart. When you were angry with me at noon, it was because you were worried about me and Xiao Hui, right?" Qingzi rubbed Xiao Duan's cheek. "Xiao Luo, I haven't seen you in so long. You didn't go back for the New Year either. Master kept saying that if he had known you were doing this now, he would have taught you more martial arts skills back then, so you wouldn't be thinking about it every day now. Master also taught Xiao Hu Zi how to make these nut nails."

Xiao Duan lowered her eyes, feeling a stinging warmth in her eyes: "Don't always use the money I give you to help those children. Buy yourself some nice clothes, and some cosmetics, hairpins, and other jewelry. You're already this old, you should have gotten married long ago..."

"I won't marry him!" Qingzi pressed her forehead against Xiao Duan's neck, muttering softly, "Our Xiao Luo isn't married yet, I'll stay with Xiao Luo. At worst, I'll just be like Master..."

"Don't talk nonsense!" Xiao Duan said in a hoarse voice, "You and your master are different from me. Although Qingxi Town is small, there are still many good families. There are also many handsome and capable men. Don't be too picky. Isn't Xiao Liu in the county government office quite good? For so many years, he has been following you around doing this and that, never fighting back or talking back."

Qingzi pouted her bright red lips: "Xiaoluo, do you have someone you like? Is that why you're in such a hurry to push me away?"

Looking at Qingzi's big, blinking eyes, Xiao Duan couldn't help but chuckle. Qingzi scrutinized Xiao Duan for a while, then suddenly cupped his cheeks in her hands: "Xiao Luo, you can't touch those two people!"

Xiao Duan paused for a moment, then smiled faintly: "I know. One of them is a prince, and the other is the grandson of the former Vice Minister Zhan, the famous 'Young Master Xingzhi'. They are not people I can afford to offend."

"Young Prince? You mean he's the son of the Seventh Prince, Zhao Ting, the Young Prince?" Qingzi's eyes widened in surprise.

Xiao Duan nodded. "What about that Zhou something-or-other? That Zhou something-or-other isn't here, is he? Didn't they say the three families are close friends? You didn't run into him, did you?"

Xiao Duan smiled faintly: "Don't worry. Even if they stand face to face with me, they won't know who I am. Besides, the Zhou family claimed that the marriage was invalid back then, so Zhou Yufei probably hasn't even heard of it. Even if we do end up together, it doesn't matter."

Qingzi nodded, her big eyes darting around, and then she put her arm around Xiao Duan's neck: "Xiao Luo, stay away from Zhao Ting."

Xiao Duan chuckled, "I know." Qingzi leaned against Xiao Duan's shoulder, gently stroking his loose hair with one hand, "That guy doesn't look like a good person. I heard that people from the military tend to like men more than women. You, you should be careful..."

Xiao Duan opened his lips, slightly surprised, but didn't say anything more. He let Qing Zi hold him like that and gradually closed his eyes.

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"Hmm, Miss Qingzi's cooking skills are indeed extraordinary." Li Qinglan swallowed the noodles in her mouth, then picked up a piece of sweet pickled cucumber with her chopsticks and put it in her bowl. "These noodles are so chewy, and the soup is so rich. It's really good!"

"Xiao Duan, you're so lucky! Qingzi waited for you quite late last night, didn't she? She was busy in the kitchen all afternoon making pork bone soup. Sigh, we were only lucky enough to get a little bit to taste this morning..." Tao Hanzhi joked with Xiao Duan while drinking the hot soup.

Xiao Duan merely curled his lips into a slight smile, continuing to eat his noodles without uttering a word. Zhao Ting, meanwhile, kept burying his head in his noodles, his mind replaying the scene from that morning when Qingzi tiptoed out of Xiao Duan's room. It was still dark then; Zhao Ting, having tossed and turned all night, had just opened his door, intending to wash his face at the well, when he saw Qingzi, her hair disheveled, smiling sweetly as she emerged from Xiao Duan's room and tiptoed into the room next door. Duan Chen, Duan Chen, yesterday afternoon you were seriously lecturing Zhan Yun, telling him not to make a move on your junior sister. Was it because you and that girl had already pledged your lives to each other?

Damn it! Zhao Ting swallowed the last mouthful of soup noodles, slammed down his chopsticks, and rushed out of the house. Just thinking about that person embracing someone else made his stomach feel like it was on fire, and his chest felt suffocated. Zhao Ting ran into the yard, scooped up a ladle of well water, and splashed it on his face. The icy water droplets rolled down his strong jawline and onto his clothes.

Zhao Ting shook his head and let out a long breath. This is insane! That man must be at least twenty years old, right? It's perfectly normal for a twenty-year-old man to hug a woman. And she's only known him for a few days! And she's already losing sleep over him. Zhao Ting leaned against the well, gazing at the azure sky, when someone suddenly attacked from behind. Zhao Ting turned and grabbed the person's wrist, then quickly released it: "How come it's you?"

Zhan Yun smiled slightly: "Then who do you think it is?"

Zhao Ting remained silent, his face cold as he looked to the side. Zhan Yun flicked his folding fan, striking Zhao Ting squarely in the chest: "Swayed?"

Zhao Ting scoffed, not even glancing at Zhan Yun: "How could that be!"

"Oh?" Zhan Yun smiled, hiding the folding fan in his wide sleeve. "In that case, I'm relieved."

Zhao Ting narrowed his deep eyes and parted his thin lips slightly: "What do you mean? He's a man!"

As they spoke, the two simultaneously noticed that Xiao Duan had already left the house, and they both fell silent. Xiao Duan stood at the door and exchanged a few words with Chu Hui, then let Qing Zi straighten his clothes, glanced in their direction, and turned to walk away.

As soon as he stepped out of the yamen gate, Shen Lei rushed towards him: "Xiao Duan, I heard that there's something wrong with 'Drunken Beauty' rouge, and that the Zhu family boss was poisoned to death. Is that true?"

Xiao Duan pondered for a moment, then nodded slightly. Upon hearing this, Shen Lei raised his hand and slapped himself across the face: "I'm the one who harmed my sister! I killed my sister... I deserve to die!" Zhao Ting stopped his right hand as he raised it again: "The one who deserves to die is the one who poisoned her. You don't need to blame yourself."

Shen Lei's tears streamed down his face: "But that box of rouge, I handed it to my sister myself. I handed it to her myself..."

"You only care about her, and if your sister is watching from heaven, she will never blame you," Zhan Yun comforted her gently.

Xiao Duan remained silent until the three were about to leave, at which point he softly said, "On the day Lord Li sentences that man to beheading, you must be there to watch carefully." Shen Lei's eyes widened, and he nodded emphatically.

As agreed with Steward Zhang yesterday, today they were to meet the master craftsmen responsible for grinding and mixing the rouge. The meeting place was the room where they worked. As the three walked there, Zhan Yun glanced at Xiao Duan for a long time before softly praising, "This hairpin is very exquisitely carved. Is it made of sandalwood?"

Xiao Duan glanced at Zhan Yun and nodded slightly. On the other side, Zhao Ting raised an eyebrow: "Was it a gift from your junior sister?"

Xiao Duan didn't speak, but nodded again. For a moment, Zhao Ting and Zhan Yun were both quite puzzled. Xiao Duan was usually quiet, but never this taciturn. What was wrong with him today?

Now, whenever Xiao Duan sees Zhao Ting and Zhan Yun, he can't help but recall what Qing Zi said to him last night. "Prefers men to women?" No wonder they're so close. Actually, Xiao Duan has seen this kind of thing many times in his years of wandering the world, though never with people he knows. Xiao Duan thought about it and realized it wasn't a big deal. As long as these two don't focus their attention on him, he'll just continue as usual. He can't look down on someone just because they like men; that's not right.

Manager Zhang introduced the three men to the experienced craftsmen one by one. Xiao Duan was the first to ask, "While you were grinding the rouge, besides Boss Zhu, who else came to this room?"

The leader spoke up: "The head of the household comes the most often. As for the others, the second young lady has come, as have Miss Si and Miss Lian. That's all."

"What do they come here for?" Xiao Duan continued to ask.

"Well, nothing much. They just came to take a look. The Second Miss came with Miss Si, and Miss Lian and the Chief have come a few times together." The old master was clearly puzzled by the question, but he still patiently explained to the three of them the scene each time those people came.

Xiao Duan listened intently with a frown, but couldn't discern anything amiss. Just as the three were getting worried, the craftsman standing at the far end whispered, "It seems that Miss Si came by again on the day of the final packaging."

The leader of the group turned to look at him, then turned back to the three of them: "That's true. But it was the boss's order to let her take a box to try the fragrance."

"How many boxes did you actually make this time?" Zhao Ting asked impatiently.