Chapter 13: Announcement

Now, the same scene appeared again. Yan Jiyue clenched his fists tightly, imagining that what he was squeezing was not an umbrella, but Xie Yi’s pair of eyes that seduced women, and he only wanted to pinch them hard and crush them.

But after all, he had already stumbled once in his previous life. No matter how much hatred Yan Jiyue had in his heart, he no longer dared to openly curse back at her.

He forcibly swallowed the anger in his chest and smiled very amiably, “So your name is Xie Yi? Your eyes look like you’re from a foreign tribe?”

It was really rare. This shrew, he thought he would act like last time, disregarding his dignity and rushing up to hit him.

Could it be that he was disciplined after going back, and had changed for the better?

Xie Yi’s deep green eyes lowered, a hint of imperceptible disdain flashing across them. Even if he changed for the better, so what?

It was easy to change a country, but difficult to change one’s nature. The arrogance that was deeply rooted in his bones, how could it be changed in a day or two? Even if scraped with a bone knife, it could not be completely removed. He could pretend for a while, but he could not pretend for a lifetime.

Last night, Su Mu had explained to him in detail the importance of the imperial examination. This Yan Jiyue, afraid that Su Mu was going to take the exam and have a limitless future, regretted the divorce and wanted to use this method to make Su Mu have a change of heart.

What a joke!

He would not stand by and watch his benefactor get involved with this shrew again. Su Mu deserved to have the best man in the world.

“In response to Elder Brother, my father is from the Guzang people.” Xie Yi lightly brushed past Su Mu’s fluttering clothes and, imitating the etiquette of the Central Plains, slightly bent his knees in a salute.

Although his plain clothes were simple and elegant and could not compare to Yan Jiyue’s gorgeous attire, they had the advantage of being fresh and natural. In the hazy rain, there was even a faint trend of surpassing Yan Jiyue.

“Since we have already greeted each other, we will leave first,” Su Mu said, looking at the furtive glances of the surrounding scholars.

“Wife—” Yan Jiyue pulled on Su Mu’s sleeve.

Su Mu turned sideways, her eyes slightly cold.

Yan Jiyue immediately changed his words, “Su Mu, I want to say a few words to you.”

Su Mu looked at Yan Ruyu who was walking quickly towards them and smiled, “You should think about how to deal with Yan Ruyu first. Now everyone knows that you and I are divorced. The Yan Ruyu father and daughter will be the first to make a move.”

“You Yan Jiyue, how dare you hide it from me!” Yan Ruyu rushed over angrily.

Su Mu slowly left with Xie Yi. Since she was divorced, she had left the center of the vortex, so naturally Yan Ruyu would not come to trouble her.

This feeling of being an outsider was really great.

“Hide from you?” Yan Jiyue watched Su Mu leave and stopped pretending to be innocent.

Yan Ruyu said angrily, “You and Su Mu have been divorced for a long time, right? If Su Mu hadn’t told me today, how long were you going to hide it from us?”

Yan Jiyue sneered, “You never asked me if I was divorced from Su Mu, so I didn’t need to tell you.”

“You—” Yan Ruyu pointed at Yan Jiyue’s nose, “Don’t pretend to be some gentleman here. Without Su Mu, what are you? What qualifications do you two men have to occupy the Yan family’s property? You just wait!”

What was he without Su Mu?

Yan Jiyue laughed bitterly in his heart. Yes, in his previous life, the Yan family’s property was almost emptied out by the collateral branches. It was Su Mu who had filled it back through business.

At that time, the family’s finances were extremely tight due to the squandering of the collateral branches, and his relationship with Su Mu was still terrible. But even during the days when the whole family was cutting back on food and clothing, Su Mu had never let him suffer in terms of clothing, food, housing, or transportation.

It was also at that time that he was moved for the first time by Su Mu’s silent care.

But he understood too late, woke up too late. By the time he finally understood his own feelings, Xie Yi was already by Su Mu’s side.

He was jealous, he was envious. In order to win back Su Mu, he acted like a madman, but still could not get Su Mu back, and instead pushed her further and further away.

It was good that the heavens took pity on him. He thought he could start over with Su Mu and make up for the mistakes he made in the past, but he never expected that Su Mu was no longer the Su Mu of the past.

Why? Where exactly did it go wrong? Why was Su Mu different from the previous life? Why did Xie Yi appear early?

Yan Jiyue clutched his head in agony.

“Young Master? Miss is rushing back to the residence in a hurry. Should we go back too? This slave is afraid, afraid that the lord alone will not be able to fend off those wolves and tigers,” Xiao Ping said timidly in a low voice beside him.

Yan Jiyue put down his hands, his eyes densely covered with blood streaks, as cold as silver frost, “Go back!”

“Yes.” Xiao Ping helped Yan Jiyue into the carriage.

As soon as the carriage started moving, Xiao Ping saw the umbrella tightly clutched in Yan Jiyue’s hand, the ribs of the umbrella constantly dripping with water, wetting his clothes.

Xiao Ping stepped forward, wanting to take the umbrella from his hand.

“Don’t touch it!” Yan Jiyue frowned and held the umbrella tightly to his chest.

Xiao Ping was puzzled. It was just an ordinary umbrella, so why was the young master protecting it like an eyeball…Oh, he remembered, this umbrella seemed to be given to him by the Young Madam.

Sigh—

If you had known today, why bother with the past? Back then, the Young Madam was so accommodating to the Young Master, but the Young Master did not appreciate it. Instead, he indulged them servants to “teach” the Young Madam a lesson all the time.

The Young Madam couldn’t stand the humiliation and divorced, which was a normal thing. No matter how good-tempered a woman was, she couldn’t be humiliated like this.

Now that they were divorced, he regretted it. Seeing that the family property was about to be snatched away, he came to beg the Young Madam with a long face. What kind of thing was this!

Xiao Ping respectfully retreated, but secretly made plans for himself in his heart.

If Master Yan couldn’t find the Young Madam back, sooner or later the Yan Residence would fall into chaos. There were quite a few valuable gold and silver jewelry in the Young Master’s room. At that time, he could take advantage of the chaos to steal some and pawn them off. No one would find out, which could be considered a way out for himself.

“You—” Yan Jiyue spoke with a gloomy face.

Xiao Ping’s heart trembled with fright, “Young- Young Master, what are your orders?”

Yan Jiyue raised his head, his water-dripping hair exuding a chilling aura, “You go to the streets and find out where Su Mu bought that scoundrel back from.”

“Scoundrel?” Xiao Ping was stunned for a moment.

Yan Jiyue gritted his silver teeth, “Xie- Yi.”

“Sir, come and have a look. These are the newly released candies. Malt candy, peony syrup, lychee paste, and candied fruit general. There are many varieties. Sir, take a look.” At the candy stall, the vendor looked at Su Mu and introduced enthusiastically.

“Do you have honey bean candy?”

“Yes, sir, how much do you want?” The vendor took out the pre-packaged honey bean candy from a small box and asked.

“I’ll take all of it.” Since Xie Yi was leaving this time, maybe they would never see each other again in this life, so naturally he would buy as much as there was.

“All of it? Okay!” The vendor happily gave all the large bags of honey bean candy to Su Mu.

“Also some peony syrup, lychee paste, and snowflake crisp.” The vendor beamed, not expecting to encounter a big customer as soon as he opened for business.

Su Mu couldn’t even hold the large piles of candies and syrups, and Xie Yi had to help her carry them.

“Sister Mu, it’s too much. Don’t buy anymore.” Seeing Su Mu paying without hesitation, Xie Yi spoke up to stop her.

Su Mu handed the money to the vendor, her eyes sparkling with a smile, “Although these things may look like a lot at the moment, it won’t be considered much if spread out over a few months. The climate in the Western Regions is dry. As long as they are stored properly, things like honey bean candy may not spoil for half a year.”

Feeling the heavy weight in his arms, Xie Yi’s heart felt just as heavy.

He wished he could grab Su Mu’s clothes and tell her loudly, don’t buy them for him, don’t spend money on him, he’s not worth it, not worth it!

Back then, at the door of Scholar Li’s house, when he was being abused by the scholar’s husband, he cried in front of Su Mu, not for any other reason, but to seduce her, to beg for her sympathy.

Later, when Su Mu took him home, his subservience was also fake.

When Yan Jiyue choked his neck and scratched his face, he deliberately did not resist, to make her pity and feel guilty, and find an opportunity to escape back to the desert.

This fool, however… he didn’t need to use any scheming tactics at all.

Xie Yi choked up in his heart, feeling distressed. Fool, fool.

In the evening, while Su Mu was studying in the room, Xie Yi was cooking in the kitchen.

Su Mu wanted to help with the fire, but Xie Yi refused no matter what.

Just as two dishes were placed on the table, there was a sudden knock on the door.

Su Mu went to open the door.

“Su girl, I heard you divorced the eldest young master of the Yan family?” Uncle Yang walked in, fanning himself, followed by a young man.

Uncle Yang was Su Mu’s landlord, a widower with a son and a daughter. The young man behind him was his son, Lin Xiaoxing.

She had rented a place from him as soon as she crossed over, and he was the only one who didn’t have any prejudice against Su Mu because of her status as a husband-in-law.

“Uncle Yang, please have a seat. You already know?”

Uncle Yang smiled and sat down, while Xiaoxing stood behind him properly, keeping his head lowered.

“Not only me, now the whole city knows. You didn’t see how lively the Yan residence was tonight. Many elders and relatives from the Yan family’s countryside came. I guess they are discussing how to divide the property.” Uncle Yang said.

Su Mu lowered her eyes and smiled as she poured tea for him. Sure enough, telling Yan Ruyu was equivalent to buying a hot search.

“But I say, child, you did the right thing by divorcing this time. I told you long ago not to get involved in the Yan family’s muddy waters. There are many ways to repay a favor, no need to use this kind of self-harming method and get laughed at by the whole city.” Uncle Yang had seen through the reason for Su Mu’s marriage at a glance back then.

“I was young at the time and only thought that one should repay kindness. Now that I think about it, I didn’t consider it enough.” Su Mu sat beside him, holding a teacup, lightly brushing away the tea foam with the lid.

“Anyway, now that you are divorced, you are free from the sea of suffering. Yan Jiyue is not a kind master. In the future, when looking for a husband, you must find a gentle, understanding and caring one.” Uncle Yang glanced slightly behind him, “My Xiaoxing heard you got divorced and is also happy for you. He even specially brought you a gift.”

Lin Xiaoxing lowered his head, his face flushed, “Sister Su, this is the snow-soaked plum blossom wine I made. Please… try it.”

“Thank you.”

“No- Sister Su, you don’t need to be polite.” Lin Xiaoxing didn’t even dare to look at Su Mu, quickly hiding behind Uncle Yang.

Lin Xiaoxing was like this before too, always hiding when he saw her. Was she that scary?

Su Mu lowered her eyes and laughed.

Lin Xiaoxing turned even redder, like he was on fire.

“Sister Mu.” Xie Yi came in with a newly cooked dish of stir-fried cabbage, just in time to make eye contact with the blushing Lin Xiaoxing.

In just an instant, Xie Yi quickly sized up Lin Xiaoxing from head to toe, and keenly perceived the shyness in Lin Xiaoxing’s eyes.

When a man faces a man, their gazes are like invisible blades, able to distinguish friend from foe in an instant and penetrate the other’s thoughts.

“Who is this?” Uncle Yang looked at Xie Yi’s appearance, secretly shocked.

“This is Xie Yi.” Su Mu introduced.

“Is this the new person you fancy? Or a servant you bought?” Uncle Yang asked in surprise, while Lin Xiaoxing behind him clutched his handkerchief tightly.

Su Mu explained, “Neither. He is returning to the desert in a few days.” Both Uncle Yang and Lin Xiaoxing breathed a sigh of relief at the same time.

“Sister Mu, who are they?”

After finally seeing off Uncle Yang, Xie Yi asked at the dining table, seemingly unintentionally.

“Them? My landlord and his son.” Su Mu said, and couldn’t help but explain the meaning of a landlord.

Xie Yi didn’t expect that even this shabby little house wasn’t Su Mu’s own.

He secretly clenched his chopsticks. His days in the desert were quite prosperous, and he often had women eagerly giving him gifts. The women pursuing him were either the wealthiest daughters in town or the most valiant warriors.

He couldn’t even be bothered to look at those from poor families. After all, which man was willing to live a bitter life? He certainly didn’t have a penchant for poverty.

But he never imagined that Su Mu’s own life was so frugal, yet she still spent 20 taels of silver to redeem him, nearly emptying her savings to give him money and provisions, and used the little money she had left to buy him candies.

Xie Yi felt both touched and bitter in his heart.

Silly woman.

“Why aren’t you eating anymore? Are you full?” Su Mu saw Xie Yi lowering his head, biting the tip of his chopsticks, looking like he had no appetite.

“…Mm.”

“Then let’s not eat. Xiaoxing made some snow-soaked plum blossom wine just in time.”

Lin Xiaoxing. Xie Yi put down his chopsticks, feeling inexplicably alert in his heart. His appearance is just average, extremely bland, with no beauty to speak of. A man standing beside Su Mu doesn’t even look as good as her, a woman.

Someone like him also dares to fancy Su Mu?

“His cooking skills are superb. I see the amount is just right for one bowl each. You should try it too.” Su Mu picked up the food box Lin Xiaoxing sent over, preparing to get bowls from the kitchen to share it.

His cooking skills are very good?

Xie Yi moved his gaze to the snow-soaked plum blossom wine. The aroma wafted, just smelling it made one’s nose filled with fragrance. The delicacies of the Central Plains were indeed complete in color, aroma, and taste, just as his mother said.

Mother also told him a saying, if you want to capture a woman’s heart, you must first capture her stomach. So many men in the Central Plains cultivated excellent cooking skills, just to capture the heart of their beloved.

Xie Yi propped his chin and took out the snow-soaked plum blossom wine to examine. The crystal clear liquid had two plum blossom-like flowers floating on top.

Capture the heart of one’s beloved?

Xie Yi mischievously dipped his finger into the wine, his slender jade-like finger stirring in the wine, like ice and snow, jade and cream, the texture light and graceful, seemingly greasy yet refreshing.

Su Mu had just gotten bowls from the kitchen. Her front foot had just stepped over the threshold when her back foot heard the sound of porcelain shattering.

The snow-soaked plum blossom wine was spilled all over the floor. Xie Yi knelt on the ground uneasily, his expression timid, his ink-green eyes looking like they were about to shatter, “I’m sorry Sister Mu, I just wanted to help you take it out, but the bowl was too slippery.”