The Lady’s Sickly Husband

They chatted until afternoon. Mo Qianxue went to the kitchen again to teach Juniang how do cook dishes using vinegar, telling her the usage and dosage and other specific details. Then, leaving the two jars of vinegars at the restaurant, Mo Qianxue left, bringing with her Mingyue and Caixia.

At noon the next day, Mo Qianxue came early. She must be present since this was the day to launch the new dishes, of which though her staff thought highly, their praise wasn’t enough.

The dishes were really good only when people from every part of the country and dropping at the docked appreciated and accepted the sour flavor. Only this could be called a real success.

The two guards-like people showed up again today. Since they had tipped him high yesterday, Wang Xiaolei came up to welcome them and enthusiastically recommend the new dishes to them.

The two didn’t at all interested in the new dishes, one saying fine and the other saying just serve your specialties.

Hearing this, Xiaolei recommended four dishes going with one soup. Yet, the two people merely nodded with a face of granite, seemingly preoccupied with troubles.

Mo Qianxue, standing at the reception desk, always felt that their gaze was fixed on her, but when she looked back, they were eating and drinking and chatting in a low voice, as if they had never brought their eyes to her.

A few rounds later, the situation repeated surprisingly. Mo Qianxue could do nothing but shake her head, wondering whether she was being too allergic.

However, Mingyue and Caixia found something wrong too and didn’t understand why Mrs. Ning kept glancing at the two guards.

Exchanging a look, the two girls believed that Mr. Ning was a hundred times better-looking then them and got more confused.

The more they looked at the guards, the more they found them hideous-looking. Hence, unconsciously, they slowly moved over to stand before Mo Qianxue and block her sight.

They only hoped that the two people could eat faster and leave at once.

However, people always get the opposite of what they wanted. The two guards took their time in enjoying the meal and didn’t take their swords and leave until the restaurant was closed.

When they left, like yesterday, they left a lump of silver on the table and let Xiaolei keep the rest as his tip.

Wang Xiaolei overjoyed again. All smiles, he walked them to the door and said goodbye extremely loud.

Afterwards, Mo Qianxue got on the carriage too. The first thing when she got back to the factory she ordered Mingyue and Caixia to do was to pack all the things and moved back to the Wang village with Ning Shaoqing.

The affairs at the factory were mostly finished, with the brewing technique being taught to many workers that had signed life-time contracts.

The technique wouldn’t be exposed to others, and at the same time, she didn’t have to supervise personally during the brewing process without the arising of any problems. It would be enough for her to visit the factory occasionally, so it was unnecessary to live here anymore.

Of course, Ning Shaoqing was happy about this. Although the factory was big, the rooms were simple and under the eyes of Tong guards. He didn’t want to stay here long ago.

But for fearing that old Tong might carry out another bad trick, he wouldn’t have stood guard here all day long.

When they were home, Nizi wasn’t here but everything had been cleaned up by this hard-working child.

With the help of Mingyue, Mo Qianxue took a refreshing bath. Then she walked back to her room, finding that Ning Shaoqing was half-leaning and reading a book by the dim candle light.

His long jet black hair hung down along his neck, half-covering his face to make it more tempting.

The slender tong fingers slightly pinched the yellowish pages, producing an air of unspeakable suaveness and nobility, as if he wasn’t in a remote wild village and what under him wasn’t a crude bed but a refined sandalwood bed covered by fur sheets and brocade quilts.

The picture couldn’t be sweeter, so she exclaimed, “No place is better than home.”

Such a man in such a scene would look unreal but for witnessing with her own eyes.

Ning Shaoqing looked up and urged, “Come here.”

Mo Qianxue immediately blossomed a bright smile, took off her shoes, sat by him and leaned into his warm arms.

The warm spring promises a good sleep.

*

Early in the morning, after washing and bickering with Ning Shaoqing in a good mood, Mo Qianxue took the carriage with Awu to the factory.

After she assigned tasks to the workers and inspected around in the factory, it was noon already. Then she let Awu to drive her to the restaurant to check the feedbacks for the new dishes.

Except for a few customers who couldn’t accept sourness, ninety percent of the customers liked the vinegar dishes very much and were profuse in praise.

The sweet and sour pork ribs and the sweet and sour fish gained a one hundred percent thumb. Many had even ordered one more for takeaway before they left. The restaurant was situated at the back of the dock, which was convenient for goods to ship in and out. When building the restaurant, Mo Qianxue had laid the foundation for the factory.

A good sales channel would increase the success rate of opening the market by fifty percent.

Mo Qianxue took a deep breath. From this day on, her battlefield would transfer from the factory to here.

Recently, the two strange guards had been coming to the restaurant every day and spent their whole afternoon here.

Xiaolei’s hands were even sour from counting the money that he had been tipped, so he was all smiles everyday. Yet, Mo Qianxue found the two guards weird.

After the rush hour at noon, Mo Qianxue remembered that on her way here, there were many beautiful flowers in the forest, among which, the cute mushrooms intrigued Mo Qianxue most.

These were natural organic mushrooms, nutritious and in a wide variety, indeed rare natural supplements.

Hence, she took Mingyue and Caixia went out of the restaurant and picked mushrooms in the forest.

On the one hand, she tried to escape from the weird gaze of the two guards, and on the other hand, she planned to make a new dish for Ning Shaoqing and let him gain nutrition from mushroom soup.

As soon as Mo Qianxue left with Mingyue and Caixia, an uninvited guest showed up in the restaurant.

The man was in black, but the color didn’t give him any trace of sullenness but an air of domineer and nobility.

By a closer examination, Yunyao found that the black clothes were made of refined cloth, something she couldn’t tell, that looked more gleaming than ordinary silk. He paced over, the dust of a long journey unable to cover his magnificent high spirit.

The lord in black only swept with his eyes over the restaurant and then got out.

Seeing him going out, the two guards also followed him out in a flash, kneeling down on one knee, “Lord.”

“Where’s lady?” His voice was low but so autocratic that people would give up in rebellion.

One of the guards replied cautiously, “Lady went to the forest to pick mushrooms.”

Then, he pointed in the direction of the forest.

Feng Yuchen couldn’t wait flying to where Mo Qianxue was.

*

On both sides of the path were phoenix trees with tall trucks and white fluffy catkins floating in the air or paving on the path a thick layer.

Mo Qianxue under a phoenix tree, in blue, looked specially thin by the dim light through the dense leaves.

Was it her? Really her?

At the sight of Mo Qianxue, Feng Yuchen’s eyes lit up in gleaming beams.

However, as he approaches, his footsteps hesitant, he felt his heart beating like a drum, in both bitter and joy. Before him was the person that he had been missing for a year. Now, he was a little daunted.

Upon receiving the first message that she was found, he had ridden his horse and rushed over by night. On his way, when the second message came over that she was already married, his heart broke but it couldn’t stop him from rushing to her.

Later, a message arrived that she was forced to be the luck wife, so he decided to take her away. He didn’t mind about these as long as she was well.

Finally, he received another message saying that she had lost all her memory. He got frantic and helpless. What should he do if she really had forgotten him…?

In the frenzied helplessness, he believed perversely that as long as she saw him, she would remember everything. Anyway, no matter what, he must take her away.

Hence, he spurred the horse harder.

Mo Qianxue turned back and happened to spot in the shower of catkins a man in black standing behind her. His figure was as erect as a pine tree in a spirit as zealous as the scorching sun. His starry chilly eyes below the sculpted eyebrows were staring at her.

He seemed to have travelled a long way, but it didn’t at all mar his magnificence. Just standing there, he looked elegant and noble.

This man must be someone!

However, the way he looked at her was mixed with both sad and happiness. Violent sorrow and joy intertwined each other in his pitch-dark eyes.

When she turned around and looked at him, the brilliance that had just lit up in his eyes was momentarily put out and replaced by roaring pain.

What was incomprehensible to Mo Qianxue was that her heart ached impulsively along with him. In the inexplicable panic, she turned away.

By instinct, she felt this person dangerous and a sort of fear rose from her heart…

However, the strangeness and terror in her eyes and her turning away stabbed into Feng Yuchen’s eyes and heart like a dagger.

Feng Yuchen couldn’t believe that this person, whom he had been missing all day long and all night long and searching everywhere to find, and the person that he was willing to get back at any price, should really forget him.

He couldn’t believe that within one years, they had become strangers as if the oath had never taken place. He’d rather her hating him instead of forgetting him!

The surges of pain put Mo Qianxue in fluster. She took a glance back, stunned for a second and quickly ran away.

Not far behind, Mingyue and Caixia, picking mushrooms, hurriedly gathered the baskets and followed her, yelling to let her slow down and trying to catch up.

Feng Yuchen stood numbly under a phoenix tree, in a lost.

She forgot. She forgot everything!

In that instant, he felt the sky and earth was spinning around and everything began to fade away.

He had imagined one hundred possibility of re-encounter. Maybe Mo Qianxue would cry and beat him and blame him for coming so late…

But he had never expected her running away like incidently meeting a stranger!

Instantly, like being struck by lightning, his heart squeezed. With a pale face, Feng Yuchen stared at the escaping figure.

No!

He couldn’t let her escape like this. He wanted to make it clear with her.

Stamping his toes, he caught up with Mo Qianxue and stood before her.

Seeing him, Mo Qianxue stopped her footsteps and asked restlessly, “Who are you? Why are you following me?”

“Qianxue, I’m Yuchen; I’m your…” Your what? Suddenly, Feng Yuchen was speechless.

In the face of her questioning, he didn’t know what to say. Their marriage hadn’t been settled yet, although their parents all had the intention. Yet, he and she had promised that as long as she turned sixteen and as long as her father returned with triumph…

However, who could expect such a thing to have happened afterwards…

As he became silent, the kind of bitter and sour pain irresistibly came back to Mo Qianxue.

She had a feeling that the original owner of this body must have a relationship with this man, otherwise her body wouldn’t have such strong reaction.

Qianxue?! Was the original owner also named Qianxue? This was the reason why her soul could take possession of the body?

Mo Qianxue was terribly disconcerted with confusion, and her expression changed many times. Feng Yuchen collected himself, “I’m your cousin and your fiancé.” Even without a formal letter of proposal, it was justified to say so since they had gained verbal consent from their parents.

Mo Qianxue’s heart plunged. Indeed, people always get the opposite of what they want. Intuitively, she denied at once, “I don’t know you. Neither do I have a so-called fiancé. Please be respectful.”

Feng Yuchen had already detected the strangeness from her eyes, and at this moment when hearing the words coming out of her mouth, he was more painful. He reached out, in an attempt to hug her, hoping that the familiar hug could remind her of something.

Subconsciously, Mo Qianxue stepped back when Mingyue and Caixia also caught up from behind. Although they didn’t hear what the man had said, they stood in front of their lady to protect her, seeing that this man wanted to approach her.

“Even if we knew before, I have a husband already. Please be respectful, lord.”

With Mingyue and Caixia standing in between, Feng Yuchen made a sorrowful laugh, “You forget?! But I remember everything. You said…”

With butterflies almost leaping out of Mo Qianxue’s stomach, Mo Qianxue truly feared of what he was going to say. She felt threatened, deep into her soul, and didn’t dare to listen more, “My husband is over there. Please behave yourself.”

The mentioning of husband was to calm down her own panic as well as pointing out for the man the fact that she was already married and stop coming to her.

No word passed to the ear of Feng Yuchen who raised his palm and momentarily Mingyue and Caixia fell to the sides. He took a step forward while Mo Qianxue stepped back when two men in black appeared and stood before Mo Qianxue to protect her staggering body.

“Lady, you go back first. Leave this to us.”

Mo Qianxue had panicked and flustered by Feng Yuchen for a long life. She wanted to go, but the heart seemed to rid of her control to make her stay motionless.

Mingyue and Caixia had climbed up, throwing away the baskets and covering Mo Qianxue on both sides, and desperately ran forwards.

She just left him like this? And let guards deal with him?

His heartache couldn’t be more overwhelming. Feng Yuchen raised his palm, aiming not at the two guards, but the trees.

As the palm wind reaches, the phoenix trees collapsed instantly!

The expression of the two guards changed slightly and looked at each other, believing that their lives would end here.

However, as they stood straight after escaping from the debris and blast caused by the collapsing tree, the man had gone.

Since there was nowhere to find him, the two hidden guards wiped the cold sweat and retreated into the direction that Mo Qianxue left.

The hidden guards disappeared into the dark again. Feng Yuchen floated down from a tree.

No matter how painful he was, he shouldn’t fight against her guards for fearing that before she remembered him, she already got to hate him.

He would participate in her life. He would wait, until she remembered him and everything…