Chapter Ten: The Secretly Loving Girl

  Xu Xiaojie saw that everyone was looking at him, so he smiled and said: "This thing happened just a few days ago in the Gui Ren Fang neighborhood. There lived a family with the surname Xia, and their daughter had fallen for a young man with the surname Sun who also lived in the same neighborhood. However, she was too shy to confess her feelings to him. Since this girl couldn't read or write, after thinking about it for a while, she gave that young man a silk handkerchief.

  The young man took the handkerchief from the young woman, but didn't understand its meaning, so he went to ask for help from a scholar in their village. The scholar took the silk handkerchief and looked it over twice, but there wasn't a single word or picture on it, which left him somewhat perplexed. However, after thinking carefully, the scholar said to the young man: "Congratulations, congratulations! This means the young woman has taken a liking to you."

  The men eating the noodles were chattering: "How did that bookworm figure it out with just a blank silk handkerchief?"

  Xu Xiaojie said with a smile, "As expected, scholars are indeed scholars, their minds are so nimble. The scholar said, 'Look at this plain white handkerchief, no matter how you look at it, whether horizontally or vertically, flipping it over and over, there's only silk.' 'Silk' is homophonous with 'thought', isn't that a sign that the young lady has taken a liking to you? And so, the two of them ended up together."

  A man slapped his thigh and said: "Ah! How could I have forgotten? Isn't it just that, a silk handkerchief represents longing?"

  Xu Xiaojie was talking about romantic relationships between men and women today, and didn't mention anything about government officials' families. If they're allowed to continue discussing this topic, the conversation from this morning might just turn into a special feature on romantic relationships.

  Yang Fan deliberately led them to end this topic and turn to discuss the interesting stories of officials, saying: "In my opinion, I'm afraid that the girl who gave the handkerchief, herself didn't think so much. She is a woman, willing to give her handkerchief to that man, it's already clear what she means."

  Only the man she liked was a bit silly and didn't think of this. And that bookworm couldn't help but think more complicatedly, but fortunately, his thoughts also fell on romantic relationships, and didn't delay other people's good things. Chen Ershu, you're serving in the Shilang Mansion, has anything unusual happened recently?

  That Old Man Chen was eating noodles with his head down, after hearing this he lifted his head and smiled, just about to speak when a young girl wearing a green skirt that reached her calves and a white shirt with large sleeves walked towards them as if nobody was there.

  The girl walked lightly, as if she were a cat, and only when someone familiar to her on the road greeted her would she show a very "surprised" expression, look seriously at him, then suddenly realize, and politely ask how he was.

  "Is Uncle Chen II here?"

  The girl walked closer, squinting her eyes to ask the crowd, and just five feet in front of her, a rugged man with a goatee was leaning against a tree. This was Chen Ershu, whom Yang Fan had called out earlier. Chen Ershu stood up, greeted the girl, and laughed loudly: "Little Dong, you're here! I'm over here!"

  "Oh, Uncle Chen Er, your shirt is done."

  The little girl's somewhat distracted eyes seemed to have found their focus, and she took a step towards him. A man sitting on the stone eating noodles next to her quickly pulled back his leg, afraid of tripping her.

  Xiao Dong's daughter walked up to Chen Ershu with a smile, handed over the shirt that was draped over her arm, and said softly: "Uncle Er, your shirt is done."

  This girl is not only slender in voice, but also relatively weak in build. Her appearance is still pretty, with a few cute freckles on the bridge of her nose and cheeks, although they are not very noticeable.

  Chen Shu put down his rice bowl, wiped his hands on his body, took the new shirt, looked at the dense needlework and flat workmanship, and said with a smile: "Haha, Xiao Dong, this clothes is really well made."

  Xiao Dong smiled and said: "Second Uncle is being polite, if Second Uncle likes it, in the future just look for my family to make shirts, we are all neighbors, the price will definitely be cheaper."

  "Of course, of course." said Chen Shu's uncle, nodding repeatedly.

  Xiao Dong hesitated for a moment, and a faint blush appeared on his face. He whispered again: "I just... seemed to hear Erlang's voice, is Erlang also here?"

  Xiao Dong said, narrowing his eyes and looking at the others sitting under the tree. He was born with poor eyesight, in modern terms, he had severe myopia, so when he looked at people, his eyes would subconsciously narrow.

  Yang Fan is a regular here, his family doesn't cook at home, he eats here every day, how could he not be here? Xiaodong's question was clearly rhetorical.

  Yang Fan was holding a bowl of soup at this time and shrank back in fear, hiding behind someone's back.

  Ever since Little Dong's daughter fell and was seen by him, after rushing to help her up, this little girl seemed to have feelings for him. Whenever she saw him, with or without reason, she liked to find excuses to get close to him. Yang Fan vaguely guessed her thoughts, but since she had never expressed them clearly, he couldn't explicitly reject her and could only try his best to avoid her.

  Unexpectedly, a man next to him played a trick, taking advantage of his inattention, and pushed him forward. Yang Fan let out an "ouch" and stumbled, the bowl of rice in his hands was left with only some unfinished soup, which splashed out all at once, not only getting his hand wet but also staining Xiaodong's dress.

  "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Little Dong, I didn't mean to..."

  Yang Fan turned back and glared at the man, then turned to Xiao Dong and apologized. Xiao Dong leaned in closer, took a clear look at his appearance, and happily said: "It's okay, Second Brother didn't mean it, don't be so polite, are you burned?"

  Xiao Dong said, and then took out a handkerchief from his sleeve to wipe the oil stains on his hands.

  Yang Fan awkwardly said: "Uh......, Little Dong, I'm fine. The soup has warmed up, you don't need to... this... haha..."

  Little Dong's sister held his hand in hers, carefully wiping it clean, and said softly: "Second Brother, living alone, should be more careful everywhere, don't always be so reckless. Your clothes are dirty, take them off, I'll take them back to wash for you."

  She said, and actually wanted to come and take off his outer garment. Yang Fan was greatly shocked, and hastily waved his hand, saying: "Ah, it's nothing, it's nothing! Little Dong, you don't have to be so polite, I...I only have this one set of clothes, if I take them off, I'll have nothing to wear."

  Xiao Dong sighed softly and exhorted: "Men, after all, have to go out and entertain guests, how can they not have a decent set of clothes? This is a man's dignity. Er Lang, follow me home and I'll take your measurements and make you a new shirt."

  Yang Fan smiled wryly and said, "No need, I... am too embarrassed to go out now, can't even afford a new shirt."

  "Whatever, you can give it to me whenever you have the money," said Xiaodong gently. "Even if you never have any money... it's okay..." As she spoke, Xiaodong slightly lowered her head, a hint of shyness appearing on her face.

  Yang Fan said with a wry smile: "Thank you, Little Dong, for your kind intentions. For now... I don't need to buy new clothes yet. When I want to make some, I'll definitely ask for your help. Ah, Fang Zheng is calling me, there must be something he needs me to do. Well, Little Dong, I'm off for now, see you later."

  Yang Fan picked up his rice bowl and fled in a hurry, and soon after, several men's teasing laughter came from behind: "Yang Er is so unreasonable, this is even clearer than 'silk is thinking', how can you pretend to be stupid?"

  "It's like this, Yang Er, the flower embroidery workshop is making a lot of money. The flower lady has only one precious daughter, and she treats you with deep affection. Why don't you just become her son-in-law? From then on, you can live a life of luxury and have a loving wife who cares for you."

  Everyone burst out laughing, and Xiaodong's face turned a lovely shade of pink as she stomped her foot in embarrassment, saying "Ahh, what are you guys talking about? I'm not paying attention to you anymore." With that, she picked up her skirt and quickly ran away. Although her eyesight wasn't great, she was familiar with the neighborhood, so generally speaking, there wouldn't be any problems.

  As he watched the girl run away, an even louder laughter came from under the tree.

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  Bao Ding's work was scattered and had no fixed tasks, Yang Fan went east and west, leisurely busy for a day, when the night fell, he locked the door of the alley with Ma Qiao.

  The city of Luoyang implemented a curfew, and at night, only officials and people with special permits were allowed to go out on the streets. All ordinary citizens lived in individual residential areas, which were like small districts, surrounded by high walls that were nearly two zhang (about 6 meters) tall, and the gates were also locked at night.

  The streets were empty and quiet, with only the occasional patrol of the Wu Hou (night watchmen) at the crossroads. The houses all lit up their lamps, like stars in the sky. If someone was caught out late at night by the Wu Hou, they would have to endure a bitter scolding.

  There are also places where the lights are bright and everything is in order. The wealthy and aristocratic families hold grand banquets at home to entertain their guests, or they drink and make merry with music and dance, while the beautiful women in the brothels sing and dance, accompanied by the sounds of silk and bamboo instruments, and the chirping of birds. No one pays attention to you, and the curfew only applies to going out on the streets at night. How lively you are at home has nothing to do with others.

  However, the rules are set by people, and there are people who break the rules. In this neighborhood, except for the main roads such as the Ten Character Street, in the alleys inside, if the residents move around at night, most of the time the security guards would turn a blind eye and not bother to manage them.

  Yang Fan's home was at the end of the seventh turn in the first alley of Xiwenfang. In the deep night, he quietly slipped out of his own courtyard and stood still for a moment in the alleys, seeing that the road was extremely quiet. Only then did he sneak forward stealthily. At the same time, a black shadow also sneaked out mysteriously from the eighth turn alley.

  "Old Bridge!"

  "Little sail!"

  Two people huddled together, cautiously looking around, Ma Qiao patted Yang Fan's shoulder and said: "Let's go, it's done!" P: Seeking recommendation votes!