Chapter Thirty-Two: Can't Do It

  Early morning sunshine, warm and gentle. Although it's not yet the season for birds singing and flowers blooming, new willows can't bear the loneliness, pushing out small buds, eagerly stretching out to touch this wonderful world.

  Xun Qing had already forgotten how he walked out of his bedroom, Zhang Suo's voice as sweet and deadly as opium still lingered in his ears. "Brother Xun, you are its master, why not ask yourself what to do? Power and status are within your grasp, you can also use this chip to exchange for your father's safety, of course, the price you have to pay is just a little bit of your conscience."

  Xun Qing irritably scratched his own hair, not to mention Zhang Zhaoyan's attitude just now was indeed strange, and this scalding hot potato in his hand was enough for him to suffer.

  Reason told him that it would be better to crush such a vicious thing as soon as possible, but every time he made up his mind to clench his fingers, he stopped at the crucial moment. He felt... reluctant to give it up.

  This is not a good omen. Although he wants to save his father, the circumstances are unclear even to himself, but one thing is certain: this break will not be so simple.

  Unconsciously, he walked towards the backyard again, as if every time something didn't go his way, he would reflexively look for someone...

  He unconsciously tightened his grip on the jade pendant, if it were her, perhaps nothing would be impossible.

  The willow tree sways gently in the breeze, and she stands alone, lost in thought, longing for her loved one.

  The pale blue skirt fluttered in the wind, with a silk ribbon outlining a tight curve at the waist. The white gauze outside was loosely wrapped around her arms, waist and legs, and naturally fell down to dance intimately with the pale blue silk skirt, exuding an effortless naturalness.

  The tender branches swayed in the wind, half covering her small face, but still unable to hide her ethereal temperament.

  The beauty of the woman made him forget her true nature as a monster, and he was stunned. When he came back to his senses, the beauty smiled and gently placed her hands on his face, her dark eyes reflecting his image, her cherry lips parted slightly, whispering softly: "Xun Qing."

  In an instant, heaven and earth lost their color, only you alone remained.

  Xun Qing stared blankly at the woman in front of him, his pale face involuntarily flushing with redness. Fang Xiao Ling couldn't resist playing a trick on him and pinched him hard twice before stopping.

  "Ah..." Xiang Qing sucked in a breath of cold air, fortunately she knew to use her hand to rub her poor cheek, staring at Fang Xiao Ling's small eyes full of grievance.

  "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Nothing happens without a reason, and it's a pity to waste the beautiful scenery here." Fang Xiaoling rarely joked and saw a big red face, couldn't help but laugh even more happily. "Let me guess, Zhang Zhaoyan? No, Cui Niang? Hmm... or is it Xun San Ye?"

  Watching Xun Qing retreat step by step like a little white rabbit, Fang Xiaoling inexplicably gained interest and stepped forward, "Ha, it seems to be Uncle Xun San."

  He rubbed his nose awkwardly, and as soon as he met Fang Xiaolong's clear and transparent eyes, the long speech he had prepared in advance was immediately scrapped, and at this moment, he couldn't say a word.

  Fang Xiaoling touched her rounded chin, and her eyes sparkled with the cunning of a little fox. Along with her exposed small tiger teeth, Xun Qing suddenly had an illusion that she would be eaten clean.

  Fang Xiaoling is now more grateful than ever for the days she spent with Zhang Suoyan, getting benefits without any pressure, and the effects of being influenced by him are absolutely not covered up. The feeling of having a red face and a racing heart, mixed with shame, can go to hell! Teasing good men and women is the right way, hahaha!! (Certain month: It seems like something strange has gotten in... Xiaoling covers her face and escapes... Such shameless words are absolutely not what I said, Zhang Suoyan, what have you done to me!!! Humans are really too scary, 2333, I want to escape to Mars!!)

  But in fact, being too smug can lead to getting struck by lightning... Just as Fang Xiaoling's inner devil was gleefully flapping its pointed tail, a shrill scream exploded from under her feet.

  The black and white cat was originally basking in the sun, but didn't expect to get its tail stepped on. Now it's furious. It doesn't plan to be polite, its fur standing on end, its body size almost doubled. After a series of hisses and growls, it arched its back and let out a loud roar, as if ready to fight.

  The small house was called out by it, making Fang Xiao Ling feel inexplicably guilty. When she shifted her gaze, she saw Xun Qing's face twisted in pain as he tried to hold back his smile, which made things even more unbearable.

  "Don't mind, haha, after all, you stepped on someone's foot, right? Hehehe......" Xun Qing couldn't remember the last time he laughed so freely, and it seemed like he couldn't stop even if he wanted to.

  Fang Xiaoling raised an eyebrow and lightly kicked the cat. The cat immediately quieted down, its enlarged pupils still showing a hint of fear, and let out another hiss, but it was noticeably weaker than before, clearly having recognized the scoundrel who had stepped on its tail.

  "Hmph, this guy still has some nerve." Fang Xiaoling snorted, staring at Xun Qing who was still laughing nonstop, her normally stern face also flushing with a hint of pink.

  Finally straightening up, he said with a hint of amusement: "Alright, it's just here to bask in the sun. Being stepped on is its bad luck... It's not easy for it either..." Cough cough.

  The fat cat licked its paws, lamenting that it didn't check the almanac before going out and got trampled by its ancestors even while sleeping. Taking advantage of the two people's joking, it jumped onto the tree with a "whoosh" sound, climbed along the branches, and crossed over the wall. If you can't provoke them, then hide, one of the thirty-six strategies is to retreat, if not now, when?

  The house was small, but she didn't notice the commotion there. She just didn't have the desire to pursue it. It was just a cat, although it had ruined her mood, but she clearly still had more important things to worry about, didn't she?

  She walked casually to the old locust tree, found a comfortable spot to lie down, and patted the empty space beside her, gesturing for Xun Qing to come over. "What are you still standing there for, Mingting?"

  Xun Qing was taken aback for a moment, but didn't feel embarrassed, and took the opportunity to sit down beside her, looking up at the sky, enjoying the rare relaxing moment.

  The grass beneath her body sank a little, Fang Xiaoling closed her eyes and asked casually: "Mingting, are you so disgusted with your own name? After hearing it for so many years, I still haven't gotten used to it, and I have to pause for a while before reacting. You call yourself Xunqing, but you say you're not used to it either...it's really hard to serve you..."

  After waiting for a long time, Fang Xiaoling continued to say, "The sun and moon are bright in the courtyard, and the light is shining on the ancestors. Such good words, you still have complaints, I really don't know whether to say that you are not satisfied or..."

  "I just... don't want to be tied down by my family. I want to do so many things, but..." Xun Qing muttered, his eyebrows habitually furrowing together, yet feeling a soothing coolness that calmed his restless young mind. He opened his eyes to see the white jade-like slender index finger, followed by that pretty face.

  “Bang” With a flick of her finger upwards, Fang Xiaoling surprisingly made a modern shooting gesture, and then she seemed to realize something, and awkwardly stuck out her tongue. As she was backlit by the sunlight, the orange-red glow fell on her edges. Xun Qing narrowed his eyes, involuntarily reaching out his hand upwards, but under her clear gaze, he withdrew his thoughts, and instead gently stroked her hair with his large hands.

  Actually, it's better this way.

  "I don't want to do family things, what exactly do you want to do, Mingting?" Fang Xiaoling was somewhat curious. In fact, in her memory, Xun Qing only read books and wrote words, basically never going out, completely unable to see that he would do something out of the ordinary.

  Xun Qing stretched out his arms, as if embracing the world's great rivers and lakes. "Don't look at me like this, I also want to be a chivalrous hero like in the novels, taking revenge and repaying kindness with ease... unfortunately..."

  "Ah, right, this mustn't be let out to that Zhang kid, or I'll be laughed at for years again." He clenched his fist childishly and declared his verbal dominance over a nonexistent 'enemy'.

  Is this... the great hero dream that every man has when he's young? Fang Xiaoling couldn't help but think to herself, but she didn't interrupt, instead quietly listening and nodding her head from time to time to show that she was paying attention.

  "Earlier, Li Datou brought back a huge tiger from the mountain behind his house, and he's been boasting about it ever since. The tiger is white with black stripes, so majestic..."

  "Hmm." Fang Xiaoling didn't dare to agree, he was just a rough and unrefined man, what relationship did he have with the great hero...

  "And then there's Chu Xiu Yi, the most famous hero in the city, who is really formidable. Once, a government official, relying on his power and influence, bullied people and took over someone's stall. The owner was an old man of 70 or 80 years, with a young granddaughter by his side. Chu Da Xia saw this and couldn't bear it, so he got into a dispute with the official..."

  "...... Yeah, impressive." Fang Xiaoling muttered to herself "A knight who breaks the law with force", forcing herself to ignore the fact that a certain great knight had obstructed the authorities from enforcing the law and had even engaged in public armed combat. Which irresponsible poor scholar wrote this passage!!! It's simply warping the next generation of honest and upright young people!!

  “……＝／》％￥×￥＃＠”

  "Uh-huh."

  “……＠＃￥×＆～”

  "Alright."

  “……”

  ………

  Fang Xiaoling thought he would go on talking for a while, but unexpectedly, the more he talked, the less energetic he became, until...

  "Ling'er, don't you think I'm being a bit too willful?"

  "En en. En?" Wait until the consciousness realized that something was wrong, Fang Xiaoling looked up blankly and looked at Xun Qing's eyes full of innocence.

  Xun Qing didn't think much of it and knew that Fang Xiao Ling wasn't interested in this either, so he didn't say any more. He just let out a long sigh, "Ling'er, look at me, I'm a man from the Xun family, yet I'm thinking about these unrefined things, my father must be thoroughly disappointed in me."

  Fang Xiaoling knocked on his head and raised an eyebrow, saying: "Fortunately you just thought about it, if you really did it, Xun San would not have chopped you off!"

  "Yeah, at least I haven't done it yet... but I'm not willing to. Xun Qing pursed his lips, his throat a bit dry, "I'm not a puppet, my dad wanted me to be a man and support this family, I did; grandma wanted me to go to the capital for the imperial exam, study hard, I can do it too; but marrying Miss Zhang for the sake of the family, I just can't!"