CHAPTER 629: CHAPTER 629: BROKEN DOWN

Qin San Lang watched her cheerful departing figure, her green long skirt fluttering attractively with movement, like willow branches swept up by the wind in early summer, strikingly lovely, making him unable to resist following her into the yard.

But Xiao Yu has grown up, this was her courtyard, only family could enter, he was just a neighbor, it wouldn’t be proper for him to enter, so he could only stop in his tracks.

...Speaking of which, her skirt wasn’t exactly a skirt, but rather pants that looked very much like a skirt.

Brother Cheng asked her why she wore such strange pants?

She said, "Wearing this helps me run fast, and if I encounter a rogue on the street, I can still kick."

However, although her skirt turned into oversized pants, her bun hairstyle remained unchanged. She liked simple and neat attire, and even so, he still thought she looked beautiful.

"Huh!" Gu Jinli startled Qin San Lang, asking, "What are you so engrossed in thinking about?"

Qin San Lang smiled, "Thinking about the grilled fish you make."

Gu Jinli clicked her tongue, "You really never tire of the same taste, do you?"

Qin San Lang shook his head, "Not tired of it, I like eating fish."

"Take it, I’ll make it for you when we get back." Gu Jinli stuffed two packages she was holding into Qin San Lang’s hands.

Qin San Lang took them, feeling their heaviness, and asked, "Did you gather a lot of pine mushrooms? Any other mountain fruits?"

"Yes." Gu Jinli nodded, "I picked chestnuts and pomelos, collected a lot, transported two cartloads back home, and still have some left. This time, we’ll take everything back together."

After speaking, she turned and went back into the courtyard, and came back out carrying a load of pomelos.

Qin San Lang hurried to take them, "Let me."

He directly picked up two baskets, approached the horse, then untied the rope from his waist, strung up the two baskets, and hung them on either side of the horse’s back, placing the two packages on top of the horse.

"Anything else?" He looked back at her and asked.

Gu Jinli shook her head: "That’s it, let’s go, or Xiao Ji will start nagging again."

Xiao Ji was like an old grandmother, always chatteringly lecturing her, acting like an old housekeeper.

Qin San Lang laughed, led the horse, and they both started walking towards the Manor but at a leisurely pace.

Gu Jinli couldn’t help but urge him, "Why are you walking slower than me? Hurry up a bit."

Qin San Lang said, "You’re wearing a skirt, it hampers fast walking, so I’m accommodating you."

He actually knew long ago that what she was wearing wasn’t a skirt.

Gu Jinli squinted, staring at him for a while, and said, "Fine, as long as we can get home in time for dinner. But the grilled fish has to wait until tomorrow, it’s too late today, there’s no time to grill."

"Okay." Qin San Lang readily agreed, eating the grilled fish later wasn’t a big deal... After getting home, spending time alone with her might become difficult. The adults would make comments, and village women loved gossip.

As Qin San Lang was walking, Gu Jinli suddenly stopped.

He was startled, turned his head and asked, "Why did you stop?"

Gu Jinli glanced at Qin San Lang, pointing towards the Manor’s gate, and said, "You go ahead, I have to go back for something, left something behind."

Qin San Lang frowned, "What did you leave behind? I’ll go back with you to get it."

Little did he know, such a simple phrase would infuriate her.

She grimaced, angrily said: "I already told you, I left something behind. You go on ahead; I’ll be right there."

Ah, Gu Jinli’s mind was like a raging storm, lightning and thunder abound; indeed, getting caught in the rain had its effects—her aunt flo suddenly made an appearance, disaster!

Qin San Lang was stunned, sensing her unusual demeanor, looked at her angrily blushed face, a look of annoyed embarrassment, paused, seeming to understand something, his own face also turned red.

"Okay." Qin San Lang quickly led away the horse.

Gu Jinli saw him walking away and there was no one on the road, so she hurriedly ran back to the main courtyard.

...

Xiao Ji and Xiangzi were waiting outside the manor gate, and after a long wait, they only saw Qin San Lang.

Xiao Ji was angry and asked, "Eldest Qin, where is our Young Master? Why hasn’t he come out yet? It’s almost dark."

Qin San Lang’s face had returned to normal, and upon hearing this, he said, "He had something to attend to and went back to the main courtyard. Go check on him and give him a hand."

After listening, Xiao Ji muttered, "The Young Master really dawdles."

Saying this, he got off the mule cart and returned to the manor.

When Xiao Ji came back, Gu Jinli had already changed her clothes, and Xiao Ji was puzzled: "Young Master, why did you change your clothes? Did you dirty them?"

Gu Jinli: "..."

She didn’t want to talk!

She sat on a stool, her upper body lying on the table, and asked Xiao Ji, "Did Brother Qin go back?"

Xiao Ji shook his head: "No, he is still waiting for the Young Master."

He further asked, "What’s wrong with you, Young Master? Hurry up and get going. We’ll have to light torches if we wait any longer."

Gu Jinli felt that Brother Qin must have known and felt extremely embarrassed. She simply played dumb: "I’m not going back today. Go out and tell Brother Qin to go back by himself. I’ll make him grilled fish tomorrow."

"Why?" Xiao Ji was puzzled: "Everything is packed up. If we’re not going back, we’ll have to take out the quilts, which will be such a hassle."

Gu Jinli glared at her and had to say, "I got my period."

Xiao Ji was stunned for a moment, then surprisingly responded, "It’s different from last month, Young Master! Your period came three days early this month."

The Young Master’s body was usually fine, her menstrual cycle was very regular, this time it must have been the rain.

"This morning the Young Master felt a bit of a chill, I told you to take medicine but you refused, now you see?"

Gu Jinli wanted to cover her ears: "Hurry up and tell Brother Qin to go back on his own. If you keep nagging, I’ll find you a husband to marry off to when I return."

This was what Xiao Ji feared most, she quickly said: "I’ll go right away."

Xiao Ji ran fast, in a little over a quarter of an hour she reached the manor gate and told Qin San Lang: "Eldest Qin, the Young Master isn’t feeling well and won’t go back today. You should go back on your own."

Qin San Lang paused... It seems he had guessed it right.

He didn’t immediately leave, but instead looked up at the sky.

Xiao Ji urged, "Eldest Qin, did you hear me? The Young Master said he won’t go back. You should go ahead on your own, don’t wait for him. He will make grilled fish for you when he goes back tomorrow."

Don’t pretend to be deaf, okay?

But Qin San Lang did not return to the village; instead, he turned around, led the horse, and walked towards the manor.

Xiao Ji was anxious: "Eldest Qin, why are you going back to the manor?"

The Young Master told him to go back to the village, not the manor.

Qin San Lang said, "It’s going to rain. I won’t go back today. Xiangzi, bring the belongings back."

After speaking, he mounted the horse and disappeared at the end of the road on a fast horse.

And he was right, in less than half a quarter of an hour, it started to rain from the sky, getting heavier and heavier.

Xiao Ji hurriedly took shelter in the mule cart and told Xiangzi, "Brother, let’s go back. We won’t be able to return today."

Xiangzi didn’t ask further and drove the mule cart back to the manor.

When Gu Jinli learned that Qin San Lang hadn’t left, but had instead returned to the manor, and the reason for coming back was quite sufficient—it was raining heavily, making it impossible to return, so he had to stay in the manor.