clergé

Chapitre 77

The elegantly dressed young man paused, clutching the loose silver in his hand.

"This is the least amount of money I have in my pocket," he explained to the little girl.

The little girl blinked her eyelashes twice, took out five copper coins from her purse, placed them on the scale, and said to Wang Erga, "Brother, give me ten oranges first, and please wrap them in paper."

Seeing that the five taels of silver he was about to receive had turned into five copper coins, Wang Erga was furious: "You little maid, your master hasn't even said anything, what are you doing meddling in!"

Before the young girl could reply, the young man was taken aback.

"Where did you get the idea that she's a maid and I'm the master?" Her amber eyes gazed at him calmly.

Wang Erga touched the back of his head: "Isn't she wearing a double bun hairstyle? All the maids in the wealthy families in town wear this hairstyle."

The elegantly dressed young man nodded, looking thoughtful.

"Carry these oranges to the dock, and a man in gray will come to fetch them." The young master placed the loose silver into the scale pan. "Consider the extra silver a tip. Let's go."

Upon returning to the ship, Pang Wan's hair bun was ripped off.

He Qinglu had her mute maid style her hair into a drooping cloud bun.

"You can't do this!" Pang Wan broke down. She had her reputation to uphold too! How could she have such a matronly hairstyle!

"It looks good this way." He Qinglu patted her shoulder reassuringly, thinking she was upset about her new hairstyle.

“Young master, we are a man and a woman traveling alone. Let me change back into my maid’s attire.” Pang Wan sighed and decided to reason with him. “We are both unmarried. It is not proper for us to parade around like this.”

However, He Qinglu ignored her words and simply picked out a jade hairpin from the dressing table and inserted it into her hair.

"From now on, I'll be in charge of things at home." He raised an eyebrow and smiled at her.

—At home?!

Pang Wan was so shocked by the word "home" that she forgot to even refute it.

"Alright, I'll allow you to manage the accounts." Seeing her looking unsteady, He Qinglu took off his fanny pack and stuffed it into her hand. "Use it however you want," he added.

He vaguely remembered that a woman who aspired to be his aunt had made such a request to He Shaoxin, so he guessed that perhaps managing the accounts was the highest right that women dreamed of in family life.

Pang Wan took the fanny pack and shook it. It felt quite heavy, so she opened it and looked at it carefully.

Just as He Qinglu had said, the five taels of silver were the smallest item; the rest were gold ingots and large silver notes with a face value of over a thousand taels—he was definitely not an ordinary rich man.

If it were Pang Wan a few months ago, he would have cheered: "Thank God, we've finally found a sustainable development partner!"

However, she felt no excitement at the moment; her heart was as gloomy as the sky, and she couldn't muster any energy.

"If you want this hairstyle, then do it. You can keep the money."

She pushed the fanny pack back, somewhat disheartened.

Right now, Young Master He is engrossed in the "fiancée" game, and she can't be bothered to spoil his fun. Once he decides to end the game, he'll definitely settle accounts with her, so the less entanglement between them, the better.

He Qinglu was somewhat surprised; he didn't understand why she would refuse.

But given his personality, a reward that is spoken aloud will not be repeated, because that would be a request.

So he silently took back the fanny pack and hung it up again.

He felt a little upset, but decided to ignore it.

Two baskets of oranges were ultimately too many; they would rot soon. The mute maid, who was in charge of the ship's meals, selected some to make jam.

Pang Wan, having nothing else to do, also went to help. So the two girls huddled in the kitchen to improve everyone's meals. The mute maid peeled oranges on one side, while Pang Wan was in charge of putting the fruit pulp into the pot to cook. She was young and had a sweet tooth, so she couldn't help but eat a little bit after making it. The mute maid, having no choice but to do so, found this young mistress very endearing and watched her eat with a smile.

When He Qinglu arrived at the kitchen, this was the scene she saw.

Pang Wan hid behind a huge iron pot, her cheeks flushed red from the white steam, her eyes seemingly about to overflow with tears. She stood behind the stove, vigorously stirring the sweet sauce in the pot with a wooden spoon, her expression exceptionally focused. Occasionally, the sea breeze would drift through the window frame, lifting the girl's dark hair at her temples to reveal her slender, porcelain-like neck.

Her face, her dimples, her expression, her posture—all of these combined to form two words: gentleness.

His heart suddenly warmed, and the slight displeasure he had felt earlier because of the fanny pack vanished.

"What are you doing?" he asked her, his voice unusually soft and pleasant, as if afraid of disturbing this beautiful scene.

"I'm making orange jam, would you like to try some?" Pang Wan's eyes lit up when she saw him, and she waved.

The family principle of "husband as heaven" was temporarily forgotten. He couldn't resist the doubt and went over as instructed.

"Try it." Pang Wan scraped a little with a wooden spoon and brought it to his lips, her eyebrows and eyes curving into a smile.

Just as He Qinglu was about to speak, she saw Pang Wan quickly withdraw the wooden spoon, put it to her lips and blow on it: "Be careful, it's hot!" She then handed the wooden spoon over again.

The mute maid glanced at the two of them with a smile, put down the oranges, and turned to leave.

He Qinglu already loved eating tangerines, and now seeing the tangerine pulp mixed with honey and rock sugar and cooked into a paste, retaining its original texture while becoming even sweeter and smoother, she took only one bite and nodded in praise: "It's really good."

Pang Wan was a little surprised. She thought this sharp-tongued young man wouldn't say anything nice, but she didn't expect him to be so frank.

"Is it really that delicious?" She became a little unsure of herself and scooped out a spoonful to taste.

"It doesn't seem sweet enough, a bit sour?" she muttered to herself, licking her lips. "Should I add more sugar? Hmm, too sweet doesn't seem good either..."

Suddenly, someone covered her lips with their tongue, and a tongue slipped inside.

A warm breath brushed against her cheek, and He Qinglu's long eyelashes poked her eye socket, sending a tingling, itchy sensation through her.

He pressed against her, intoxicated by the orange-scented kiss, slowly entwining his tongue with hers, sucking, swirling, greedy yet cautious.