Chapter Thirty-Three The Old Friend

  After Mochou and Bao Yue got on the car, it didn't take long for Bao Yue to recover her usual liveliness. Mochou's hard days came again, so he had to tell stories to Bao Yue again. The rest of the journey was uneventful, they didn't encounter any trouble along the way.

  That day finally arrived at Qingzhou City, looking at the three big characters on the city wall, Mushi knew it was time to part ways. So he asked Uncle Chefu to stop the car and then said to Bao Yue: "Bao Yue, let's part ways here!"

  Huè Yuè still had some reluctance, but knowing that Mù Shēng had something to attend to, she said: "Mù Dàgē, after you've finished your business, be sure to come find me."

  "Alright, Bao Yue, I'm leaving!" With that, Mu Sheng got off the carriage.

  Watching Muzi get off the bus, Bao Yue slowly said: "Uncle, let's go!"

  After entering Qingzhou City, Musheng began to ask people about the location of Duan's residence. It seems that Duan's residence is also quite famous in Qingzhou City. Under someone else's guidance, Musheng quickly found Duan's residence.

  The Duan Manor looked like a wealthy household as well. As soon as Mo Sheng walked to the front door, he was stopped by the gatekeeper. One of them said, "Leave now, this is not a place you can come to."

  "I am an acquaintance of your family's young lady, I hope to be announced."

  One of the Dings burst out laughing and said, "Kid, when flirting with a woman, you should come up with something better than that. This is too cliché. I know our young lady doesn't have a friend like you, so you'd better leave! Otherwise, don't blame me for being impolite."

  "I really am an old acquaintance of your family's young lady, why don't you believe me? Young brother, please report it once." Mu Sheng said again.

  One of them said impatiently: "Kid, if you don't leave now, we won't be polite anymore."

  At this time, a little girl came out from inside, wearing a yellow skirt and two small braids, seeing the commotion at the door, she scolded: "What's all the noise about? Don't you know Miss is taking a nap?"

  The servants saw that it was Xiaoxue, the personal maid who stood beside Miss, and respectfully said: "Miss Xue, this little guy claims to be an old friend of yours and wants to see you." As she spoke, she pointed at Musheng.

  Musheng saw that this person seemed to be someone by Miss Duan's side, so he said: "Trouble this young lady to inform your miss that an old friend has come to visit."

  The little maid looked at Mu Sheng and said, "I didn't know the young lady had a friend like you?" The little maid said this, and the other servants also echoed in agreement, "Yes, yes."

  "Shut up!" Xiaoxue scolded, she hated it the most when people flattered her, and the servants of the household, seeing that their flattery had not worked and had instead gotten them into trouble, lowered their heads in silence.

  Musheng heard Xiaoyao say this and said: "Tell your miss that it's an old friend from the top of Mount Hua, I'm sure she'll see me."

  "Alright, I'll agree with you. If you dare to cheat me, you'll have a good outcome to eat." Xiaoxue said viciously and then went into the house.

  After a while, Xiaoxue came out and said somewhat unhappily: "You come with me!"

  Everyone in the Ding family was shocked upon hearing this, and they couldn't believe that this young man actually knew their miss.

  Musheng followed Xiaoxue into the house, around the corridor, and soon came to a side room. The room emitted a faint fragrance, with a screen in the middle. Seeing Xiaoxue and Musheng enter, a voice from the other side of the screen said: "Xiaoxue, you go out first, I have something to discuss with this young man."

  "But miss..." Xiaoxue said hesitantly.

  "It's all right, you just stay outside and keep watch," said the young lady inside.

  Miss Jian insisted, and Xiao Xue responded with an "oh" before leaving. As she walked away, she gave Musheng a stern glance, as if warning him. Musheng was confused, thinking to himself that he hadn't done anything to provoke her.

  Miss Duan inside said: "Please sit down, young master."

  "Thank you, Miss Duan," said Mu Sheng, and then sat down in the chair.

  Miss Duan asked uncertainly, "I don't know why this young man says we are old friends."

  "Because we come from the same place," said Mu Sheng slowly.

  When she heard this sentence, Miss Duan seemed to have made up her mind and walked out slowly. When the curtain was lifted, Mu Sheng fixed his eyes on her, what a beautiful girl, not inferior to Xiang Ling or Da Xiaojie at all, and seemingly more mature than them. Wearing a white dress, two strands of silk hair hanging down in front of her chest, with a willow-month hairstyle on her head, adorned with a jade hairpin, straight black hair falling behind her back, as if she had noticed Mu Sheng's gaze, Miss Duan's pretty face turned red.

  Mu Sheng saw Miss Duan come out, so he didn't look at her anymore. For women, Mu Sheng felt that a glance was enough. Mu Sheng's averted gaze made Miss Duan somewhat curious, as few people could stay on her for several seconds. It seemed that she had underestimated him, so Miss Duan found a chair to sit down.

  "Tell me your story first!" said Musheng, opening his mouth.

  "No way, you're a man, you go first." Miss Duan said stubbornly.

  Looking at Duan's coquettish appearance, Musheng smiled and began to tell his own story.

  After listening to Mu Sheng's story, Duan Xiaojie said with tears in her eyes: "I didn't expect you to be so miserable, I'm much better off than you." Then Duan Xiaojie also started telling her own story.

  Originally, Miss Duan was named Duan Yulan. Her family conditions were not bad, and she had an older brother two years her senior. She majored in marketing in college and worked as a marketer for a listed company after graduation. At the age of 25, she became a sales manager. That summer, the company organized a trip to Mount Hua for all department managers, and she was among them. Standing at the cliff's edge, looking out at the distant sea of clouds, her heart was very calm. Suddenly, someone ran towards her from behind, shouting something, but before she could react, her foot slipped due to panic, and as Mu Sheng also rushed to the cliff's edge, Duan Yulan instinctively pulled him down with her. When she came to again, she found herself lying in a small house, owned by an elderly couple who shared her surname, Duan. After learning that she had traveled through time, Duan Yulan took the old couple as her adoptive parents. However, due to their advanced age, they passed away a month later, and Duan Yulan became the mistress of the Duan household. The Duans were originally small-time merchants and not a prominent family. To improve their living conditions and find something to do, Duan Yulan started selling roasted meat skewers at the Duan's shop, which turned out to be quite successful, earning her a handsome profit.

  "After hearing Duan Yulan's account, especially knowing that it was because of himself that Duan Yulan accidentally fell off the cliff, Mu Sheng said with some embarrassment: "Miss Duan, I'm sorry about that! At the time, I thought you were going to commit suicide, so I ran over."

  Duan Yulan just smiled and said, "It's okay, this can't be blamed on you, you've also come over, right? Actually, it's pretty good here, compared to you, I'm already considered lucky."

  When Mu Sheng heard Duan Yulan say this, he also breathed a sigh of relief. He was afraid that Duan Yulan would blame him, after all, it was his own cleverness that had triggered this series of events.

  Seeing Mu Sheng lower his head and remain silent, Duan Yulan asked: "What brings you here this time?"

  Duan Yulan asked, "What brings you here?" Mu Sheng replied slowly, "I came for two reasons: one is to confirm something with you, and the other is to represent my master in seeking cooperation with you."

  "Oh, looking for me to cooperate? Come and talk about it." Duan Yulan looked at Mu Sheng with curiosity.

  Duan Yulan cast a curious glance, and Mu Sheng said slowly: "Since I heard that the Duan family in Qingzhou City had come up with the idea of roasted meat skewers, I knew that the person who came up with this idea was likely to be you. From the fact that you can make roasted meat skewers so popular in a short period of time, I think you must have your own way of doing business. Moreover, coming from modern society, if we can cooperate, it will be like adding wings to a tiger, and my master's business will also develop greatly."

  "What if I don't agree?" Duan Yulan asked, looking at Mu Sheng with a sly expression.

  "This, this, I haven't thought of it yet." Mu Sheng scratched his head in embarrassment, but still didn't scratch his hair.

  Looking at this young man who is five years younger than herself, although he looks ordinary and has no chance of being handsome, the way he scratches his head makes Duan Yulan know that this young man is very cute. Moreover, she didn't see any lustful gaze in Mu Sheng's eyes, which made Duan Yulan admire him greatly. Whether it was in the past or now, whenever she saw her own handsome and elegant men, they all had a pig-like expression, and rarely could she find someone like him.

  Since in this strange world, only she and he were fellow countrymen, Duan Yulan actually wanted to make friends with this silly boy. Later on, they could talk about their inner thoughts and have someone to share secrets with, after all, some secrets could only be shared between them, outsiders couldn't know! At this moment, Duan Yulan seemed to feel that she was no longer lonely, so she smiled and said: "I was just joking with you earlier, don't mind it!"

  "Oh, it's okay, Miss Duan. I was wondering if you would be willing to consider me as your younger brother?" Mu Sheng asked carefully, feeling a strong sense of closeness to this girl who was five years older than him and from the same place, giving him a sense of meeting a family member.

  Duan Yulan heard Mu Sheng say that he wanted to recognize her as his sister, and she was taken aback at first. Then she happily said: "Great! It's just right that I don't have any relatives here, having you as a younger brother is not bad either. Younger brother, come on, call me 'sister' and let me hear it."

  When Duan Yulan teased him a bit, Mu Sheng's face suddenly turned red for no reason, which made Duan Yulan think that her adopted brother was even more lovely. In the end, Mu Sheng still called out "Sister", and only then did Duan Yulan let him off.

  At this time, Yu Lan asked again: "Has little brother gotten married? Do you want big sister to introduce a few girls to you?"

  "This, this doesn't need to trouble sister anymore, I'm already married." Mu Sheng said with his head lowered.

  "Oh! I'd love to see which young lady is so lucky to be with my little brother." Duan Yulan said with a smile.

  To avoid his sister continuing to tease him, Mochou changed the subject and said: "Sister, what are your plans for the future?"

  "As for the future", Xiang Yulan really hadn't thought about it, she had always felt a sense of distance from the people here, but Mu Sheng's arrival made her blend in a bit more, so she smiled and said: "Sister doesn't have any plans either, from now on I'll just follow you little brother, sister probably won't get married this lifetime, little brother you must take care of me."

  These words were clearly ambiguous, causing Mu Sheng's face to turn red, but he still firmly said: "Sister, don't worry, I won't let you suffer." Looking at Mu Sheng's determined gaze, Duan Yulan felt a warmth in her heart and her body involuntarily hugged him tightly, saying: "Good little brother, sister is so happy, so happy." Tears of excitement fell on Mu Sheng's face.