Chapter Thirty-Three: The Gift

  "Ziying, shall we go out and have some fun again?" Ning Qing asked with a hopeful face. It had been over a month since they left Chang'an, and the unexpected event that occurred in front of Zui Xian Lou had slowly faded from her memory. Seeing Chen Yi again filled her with joy and made her look forward to having another chance to go out and play together. Moreover, Sun Simiao had also reminded her to accompany Chen Yi on outings when she was free, saying that they might meet people searching for Chen Yi on the streets. For many reasons, after only the two of them were left, Ning Qing immediately asked Chen Yi if he wanted to go out and have some fun.

  Chen Yi readily agreed, "Alright, let's go to Xishi again. I want to buy some things there. It's going to be hot soon, and we need to get some light shirts and other summer necessities. Let's go shopping in Xishi first. If we still have time, I'll take you to Qujiangchi for a stroll. How does that sound?"

  "That's natural, otherwise... let's go now!"

  "Alright, Xishi is not open yet, let's go for a stroll around Qujiang Pool first!"

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  Chen Yi and Ning Qing were not people who dragged their feet, once they said something, they would act immediately. Less than half a time after Sun Simiao left the inn, the two appeared at Qujiang Pool.

  The weather was even more pleasant, and there were more people playing at Qujiang Pool. After leaving their horses, the two of them walked slowly inside with excitement, following the crowd.

  Today, Ning Qing wore a common family girl's outfit, casual and natural, looking quite attractive. Walking with the handsome Chen Yi, they were quite eye-catching, often attracting passersby to stare and point. Ning Qing had thin skin, feeling a bit shy from such attention, while Chen Yi didn't mind at all. He calmly accepted the attention of others and put on an even more majestic appearance, hoping to attract even more people's attention.

  The two of them strolled and chatted, the flowers at Qujiang Pool were in full bloom at the end of spring and beginning of summer, evoking many poets' emotions, even Chen Yi couldn't help but feel moved to recite a few poems. However, thinking back to his experience at Drunken Immortal Pavilion that day, he stopped himself from doing so.

  Ning Qing, after being coy for a while, also relaxed her posture, revealing her girlish nature, and played wholeheartedly. From time to time, she would run over to sniff the bright flowers, and even thought of picking some to put in her hair as decoration. However, when she saw Chen Yi's smiling gaze, she blushed and gave up. Looking at the little girl jumping and dancing in the flower cluster, Chen Yi's heart was also filled with sunshine and joy!

  However, after playing for half of Qujiang Pool, Chen Yi's heart inexplicably opened up a little when he took a short rest in a pavilion near the place where he had drunk before. He somewhat hoped to meet someone at Qujiang Pool. The image of that pair who met here on that day and claimed to be surnamed He, whose identity was still not fully confirmed, often appeared in front of Chen Yi, and he hoped to clarify their identities and genders.

  Those two are still worth getting to know. Chen Yi is a sunny person, he likes making friends, and because of some misunderstanding, they got to know each other, he hopes to have further communication with them, even deepening their relationship.

  Looking at Chen Yi occasionally revealing his contemplative expression, Ning Qing thought he was tired from walking. As they walked together to a quiet garden, she said softly: "Ziying, let's go to the West Market, first find a place to eat, then go shopping, and if we have time, come back here to play!"

  "Alright, let's go!" Chen Wan immediately agreed and smiled at Ning Qing.

  The western city was still very lively, even more so than when Chen Yi and Ning Qing had last gone.

  The two casually found a hotel and had a simple lunch, then mixed into the crowded stream of people and entered the city.

  Today Chen Yi didn't expect to run into the person he was looking for near Xishi, so he wasn't looking around much, his main purpose was still to go shopping.

  The goods in the western city were still quite rich, and Chen Yi quickly bought most of what he needed. However, some summer necessities that would be available later did not exist in this era, such as beach shorts and flip-flops, which Chen Yi also knew people at the time could not accept.

  But he's worried that wearing long-sleeved shirts in the summer will be too hot, and getting a rash all over his body would be even more miserable.

  They bought a lot of things, and the two of them were still in high spirits, continuing to stroll around the store. Looking at the little girl jumping up and down beside him, Chen Yi had the idea of buying her a gift as a thank you, but he didn't know what would be suitable.

  However, the opportunity soon arose. As Chen Yi was walking forward with a bag of things, Ning Qing ran to a shop selling ornaments and picked up several hairpins and other objects, admiring them lovingly. Seeing the little girl's behavior, Chen Yi had an idea!

  "Shopkeeper, how much is this thing?" Chen Yi asked the price.

  "This five hundred wen, this one guan, this two guan, these two five guan... That twelve guan is the best workmanship in our store!" The shopkeeper looked at Chen Yi with an extraordinary air and replied with a smile.

  "It's too expensive, let's go!" The price had somewhat intimidated Ning Qing. She put down the hairpin with good workmanship that was priced at five guan and pulled Chen Yi's arm, who was also browsing nearby, to walk forward.

  Chen Yi had to follow along, and soon Ning Qing was attracted by another interesting thing in a nearby store. Just as Ning Qing was asking the shop owner about it, Chen Yi secretly ran back and bought the colorful phoenix-shaped hairpin, hiding it in his sleeve.

  When Chen Yi walked back, Ning Qing was anxiously looking around, and only relaxed when he saw Chen Yi appear.

  "Ziying, where did you go just now? I thought you got lost!" Ningqing scolded.

  "I just saw a pretty good thing, so I went over to take another look!" Chen Yi smiled and lied, then raised his head and said: "Okay, I didn't get lost, let's keep going..."

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  The two of them strolled out from Xishi just as it was about to close, and they had bought a lot of things. It can be said that they returned with a full load!

  When I returned to the inn, it was getting dark and the evening drum had just been beaten.

  "Ziying, are you hungry?" Ningqing put the package on the table and smiled at Chen Yi: "I'll go instruct them to prepare dinner!"

  "Qing'er, wait a minute," Chen Yi called out to Ning Qing as she was about to leave. He took something from his pocket and handed it to her with a smile, saying: "Qing'er, I want to give you something as a thank you for taking care of me when I was injured..."

  "What is this?!" Ning Qing's face was full of curiosity as he took it, opened it, and exclaimed in surprise, "Ah?! When did you buy this?! This... is for me?!" His face was filled with incredulity.

  "Of course, I couldn't wear this myself, only a little girl like you can wear it. Who else would I give it to? Consider it a token of my appreciation for taking care of me all this time..."

  Ning Qing held the hairpin for half a day, then put it back and handed it to Chen Yi with some embarrassment, shaking his head: "This thing is too valuable, I can't accept it. If Master finds out, he will definitely scold me!"

  Chen Yi smiled and said seriously, "Then don't let your master know about it, I won't say anything either. I think you like this ornament a lot, so just keep it. Otherwise, it would be looking down on me!"

  Listening to Chen Yi say this, Ning Qing hesitated for a moment and didn't decline again. She carefully took the gift box, looked deeply at Chen Yi several times, her face flushing with a faint red glow, and said in a very soft voice: "Then I'll accept it, thank you..."