Chapter 43: Unrequited Love

  When Xiao Fan was rubbing his bright red forehead to welcome Chen Ying'er, Chen Ying'er looked at Xiao Fan with a puzzled expression.

  "What's wrong with your forehead?"

  Xiao Fan's expressionless face twitched slightly as he sniffled: "...... Hit the door frame."

  "What kind of door frame is so magical that it can make one's entire forehead red from bumping into it?" Chen Ying'er was very curious.

  "If the force is evenly distributed, it can knock the entire forehead red." Xiao Fan explained meticulously.

  "That's not right either, the shape of the forehead is an arc, how can it be evenly stressed? Is the door frame also an arc?"

  "The forehead is a curved line from top to bottom, but if it's horizontal, it's not a curve..."

  "You mean to say that in order to distribute the force evenly, you deliberately bumped your head against the door frame horizontally?"

  Xiao Fan's face turned darker and darker: "Miss is indeed clever..."

  "Hmph!" Chen Ying'er's companion behind her couldn't hold it in anymore, bursting into laughter and shaking her shoulders vigorously.

  Chen Ying'er was still diligently studying: "But... shouldn't there be at least a bump on the forehead from hitting the door frame?"

  Xiao Fan finally lost his patience: "Miss, did you come to Zui Xian Lou specifically to study my forehead?"

  Chen Ying'er's words were stuck in her throat, and she hummed a soft tune, then gave Xiao Fan a small white glance before walking into the Drunken Immortal Building.

  Xiao Fang was stunned, is this still the same Miss Chen who was cold and indifferent? That small white eye actually contained infinite charm and coquetry, full of mature flavor, really captivating.

  Chen Ying'er walked ahead, seemingly also feeling that the coquettish white eye from earlier was a bit too much. She let out an uncomfortable light cough, and her entire pretty face suddenly flushed with redness, looking especially charming.

  Looking at Chen Ying'er's blushing pretty face, Xiao Fan was even more surprised. What's wrong with this young lady today?

  Chen Ying'er walked into the counter, under Old Cai's flattering smile, she pretended to flip through an account book, as if covering up her previous loss of composure. Xiao Fan pulled Bao Qin aside and asked in a very serious and low tone: "What did your young lady eat before going out?"

  Boqin's head was full of mist and water: "I haven't eaten anything, I just had a sip of tea..."

  Xiao Fan glanced at Chen Ying'er who was flipping through the account book, then said seriously to Bao Qin: "You'd better hurry up and take your young lady to see a doctor..."

  Bo Qin was shocked and asked: "Why?"

  Xiao Fan leaned in close to Bao Qin's ear and whispered mysteriously, "I suspect your family's young lady has eaten **, just look at the flirtatious eyes she was making earlier..."

  "You... you bastard..." Bao Qin raised her hand, wanting to strike Hua Shan again, but seeing Chen Ying'er, she reluctantly put down her hand.

  Xiao Fan hastily walked up to Chen Ying'er and smiled: "Miss, you've come to the Drunken Immortal Pavilion today. Is there something I can help you with?"

  "Can...can you not call me Miss?" Chen Ying'er's face suddenly turned bright red, her eyes cast downward, she didn't dare look at Xiao Fan, and even her voice became much softer.

  "I heard... Zui Xian Lou's business has been revived by you, so... I wanted to come and take a look."

  Xiao Fan scratched his head in confusion, it was just a restaurant and bar, what's there to see? However, she was the chairman's daughter, she wanted to inspect the work, and as a working-class person, he couldn't stop her.

  Xiao Fan smiled, revealing a few pearly white teeth, looking very handsome and sunny. Chen Ying'er suddenly felt her heart beating fast, Xiao Fan's smile was like an old wine that had been buried for many years, making people unknowingly drunk in it.

  It's not just men who drool when they see beautiful women; in fact, women also get stunned when they see handsome guys.

  The Book of Songs says: "A gentle and quiet maiden, a gentleman delights in her." This sentence is spoken from the perspective of a male, so people often think that only gentlemen pursue virtuous women. However, they have all forgotten that virtuous women are also human beings, and they will also seek out gentlemen, it's just that their way of seeking is more subtle.

  Just like the yellow tunes sung in the brothel, men sing "Eighteen Touches" and women sing "Five Watches Thinking of Her Husband", between men and women, women are not always playing a passive role, when they see their favorite handsome guy, women will also subtly express their good feelings.

  Xiao Fan was very young, he had a handsome face, elegant temperament, and a bright smile, all of which added up to make him attractive enough to be noticed by women.

  Chen Ying'er seemed to have forgotten the unpleasantness of their previous two meetings. In front of her was a young and promising man, with a face as smooth as jade, refined and courteous. He had also helped the Chen family avoid disaster and had connections with the new Cao County Magistrate. Even under his subtle manipulation, Huang Zhixian was marginalized, Cao County Magistrate rose to power, and the Chen family benefited greatly from it...

  It wasn't until she mentioned it that Chen Ying'er was surprised to discover that he was actually so capable and never showed off, this person, who was her nominal fiancé, was the man of hers alone.

  Thinking of this, Chen Ying'er felt a sense of happiness amidst her shyness, as if she saw a pearl that had been covered in dust for many years, and after wiping away the dirt on its surface, it gradually emitted dazzling brilliance.

  The owner of this pearl is none other than Chen Ying'er. Since Huang Zhixian and Cao Xianzhang's confrontation at the Drunken Immortal Pavilion, she, who had some knowledge of the inside story, suddenly felt that she should grasp this pearl tightly in her palm before its brilliance shines far and wide and becomes known to all. She wanted to carefully preserve it, treasure it, and savor it quietly by herself. Women are naturally petty, and there are some things that can only be appreciated secretly, without letting others touch them.

  Then, on this warm afternoon, Chen Ying'er brought Bao Qin to Zui Xian Lou.

  It's natural for a fiancée to visit her fiancé.

  "Miss... ah, Miss Chen, please take a look around. I'm in charge of managing the Drunken Immortal Pavilion for the Chen family and I don't dare to be negligent in any way. If there's anything that doesn't meet your expectations, please let me know and I'll make sure to change it."

  Xiao Fan smiled very kindly and spoke very politely, with a hint of unfamiliarity.

  "Must you speak to me in this tone?"

  Xiao Fan's smile was somewhat stiff, and his polite speech seemed to be wrong. Could it be that Chen Ying'er came with ill intentions today, looking for trouble?

  Chen Ying'er's face turned red again, and she lowered her head and said softly: "At home, Father and Mother all call me...Ying'er."

  "Ah! What a great name, this name is really culturally rich... Miss Chen truly lives up to her name..."

  Xiao Fan's inexplicable praise, the tone was no different from diplomatic rhetoric. He hadn't even caught the hint in her words, let alone understood that in ancient times, an unmarried woman telling a young man her private name represented something.

  "Y-y-you're really a stupid blockhead!"

  Xiao Fan rubbed his nose and stopped talking, he found that women, from ancient times to modern times, were always inexplicably mysterious, with unpredictable emotions, and in front of a woman, apart from shutting up, there seemed to be no other way to make everyone happy.

  Seeing Xiao Fan's expression, Chen Ying'er also felt helpless. What could she say to this guy who didn't understand romance? Was she supposed to rush up and hug his legs, crying and begging him to marry her?

  The two of them didn't say a word, and the atmosphere suddenly became somewhat awkward. Hu Qin covered her mouth and giggled on the side, but after being glared at by Chen Ying'er, she quickly suppressed her smile and stood solemnly without speaking.

  She let out a soft sigh, and Chen Ying'er decided to be more magnanimous and not bother with this fool. Some people are slow-witted, and getting angry with them won't yield any results; instead, it will only leave the other person bewildered, and you'll end up wasting your energy on anger. Even if you were to die from anger, this stupid goose might still think he's a heavenly gift to women, dying a natural death...

  She took a shiny, oily ceramic jar from Bao Qin's hands and handed it to Chen Ying'er with a bashful face. Then she smiled lightly and said: "I heard Father say that you work hard day and night managing the Drunken Immortal Building, so I personally stewed some old duck soup for you..."

  The awkward silence was broken, Xiao Fan let out a sigh of relief. Before Chen Ying'er could finish speaking, Xiao Fan burst into laughter and said: "Miss Chen is really interesting! We're running a wine house, I'm here every day, what am I afraid of not having anything to eat? Haha, you've been busy for nothing..."

  Chen Ying'er was like being drenched with a basin of cold water, her pretty face immediately turned cold, and she stomped her foot in anger, saying: "Baoqin, let's go!"

  Having said that, Chen Ying'er turned her head, heavily slamming the ceramic jar on the counter and stormed out of the entrance of Zui Xian Lou.

  The little nose of the person holding the zither wrinkled, and they hummed a hateful tune, giving Xiao Fan a big white eye. Then, they ran to Xiao Fan's front, lifted their lotus foot lightly, and heavily stepped down, fiercely trampling on Xiao Fan's foot.

  "Idiot, big idiot, why don't you just die of stupidity?"

  After leaving these words behind, Baoqin also turned her head and ran away with a patter.

  Xiao Fang looked at the furious backs of the master and servant, turned her head and asked inexplicably: "What's wrong with them? What did I do wrong?"

  Lao Cai stood behind the counter, shaking his head and letting out a long sigh. The corners of his mouth curled up slightly, and he couldn't help but feel a mix of emotions in his heart. Young, it's really good.

  The shop assistant, a dog-like man, came up and said seriously: "Boss, I suspect they are here to cause trouble..."

  Xiao Fan nodded, thoughtfully murmuring: "Makes sense..."

  He immediately gave the dog's occipital bone a ruthless slap.

  "Are you sick? The whole wine house is hers, who would ruin their own business for no reason?"