Chapter 201: What's the matter, brother!

Du Shanü gave in.

But she hadn't given in completely.

After Chen Weifang left, Du Shanü scratched her head and asked Chinu:

"How much older is Afang than you, right?"

Chinu, with his usual expression, added half a bowl of porridge to his wife master, and answered:

"Afang claims her age, saying she is fifteen years older than me, but in fact she is only fourteen years older."

Chinu is twenty-four this year; add fourteen, and that makes......

Thirty‑eight.

Indeed, that is the age of being both father and brother, both teacher and friend.

Du Shanü nodded inwardly, then asked again:

"Afang has never married; is it by her own choice, or......?"

At that age, it's not exactly old, nor is it young.

From Afang's partiality toward Chinu, one can also see a hint of her longing and dependence on family.

Logically, the more such a person is, the less she should remain single to this point......

"When Afang's parents were still healthy, they had indeed arranged a marriage for him."

Chinu's hand holding the chopsticks paused slightly, but only for a moment, then he said calmly:

"However, I also said before that after Afang's parents died, the Chen family's fortunes plummeted, and for a long time Afang was so poor it was jangling."

Afang had previously mentioned this to him, and he said——

Back then he truly had no support; relatives and neighbors borrowed everywhere but couldn't scrape together enough money for a proper burial for his parents.

After thinking it over, he eventually went to find the family with whom he had once been betrothed.

He originally thought that, although there was a parental order, he had only ever glanced at that family's daughter from afar and didn't have deep feelings; now that misfortune had struck, he shouldn't drag them down, so it was better to sever ties early.

But he never expected that, upon showing up at their door, he would be seen as coming for money; before he could even speak, the whole family drove him out with brooms......

That period was surely bitter for Afang.

One day bitter, two days bitter.

After prolonged suffering, Afang must have gone so long without finding anyone who could bring her comfort that she completely gave up the idea of marriage.

After all, she had been living alone all along.

Du Shanü's expression twitched slightly upon hearing this; she wanted to speak, but in the end only said:

"...... Do you still steal Afang's private money?"

This is a bit too......

Too.....

"What's the matter!"

Chinu was extraordinarily righteous and confident:

"Not to mention private money; if Afang died and became a ghost, I'd still have to save the offerings at her grave for myself!"

"Then I'll crouch by her grave and wildly steal her offerings."

Du Shanü: "(? `Д′)!!"

What nonsense! What nonsense!

Although I know Chinu means that even after Afang's death he would still want to see her, can he really say something like that?

If Afang found out, wouldn't she be furious enough to faint?

Fact proves that in this life one really can't do even a little guilty deed.

It's literally a case of 'what you fear comes to pass'; scarcely had Chinu finished speaking when Du Shanü, out of the corner of her eye, saw Chen Weifang's silhouette returning from the corridor......

That expression really didn't look good.

Du Shanü's heart jumped, and she hurriedly said:

"Afang's back! We just didn't say anything! Come, give me paper and brush......"

Chen Weifang showed no particular reaction; it's unclear whether she didn't care about the private money and offerings, or simply didn't hear.

He put down the paper and brush he had taken back, then frowned and said:

"...... Ruan Jintian is back again."

Upon hearing this, Du Shanü almost dropped the paper and brush, and blurted out:

"Back again?"

Earlier, before she left, she had clearly instructed Ouyang Yan to wait a few days then find a chance to drive the person away without leaving a trace.....

How could Ouyang Yan work so fast?

Furthermore, if Ruan Jintian was driven away, shouldn't he have gone back to the Ruan family? How did he end up back in Dun Cheng?

Du Shanü couldn't figure it out, but what puzzled her even more was still to come.

Chen Weifang also didn't know what she was recalling; her expression turned odd as she said:

"Yes, the servants just said he came back last night, almost right after you two entered......"

The treasury is empty, and the county office servants had already been largely dismissed by Afang; Du Shanü knows all this.

In the county office, aside from the essential clerks, there remained only a cook, a male servant in charge of errands and shopping, an elderly servant responsible for sweeping and washing, plus that servant's husband, the old gatekeeper.

Manpower was already scarce; yesterday, with Afang absent, she...... she was again tightly entwined by Chinu.

Logically, if the servants couldn't find anyone to report to, and having seen Ruan Jintian reside long‑term, if he really wanted to enter, their not daring to stop him further would be normal.

But the strangeness of this matter lies——

"That old gatekeeper also counts as responsible; although he let the person in, afterward he remained uneasy, so after thinking it over he still decided to tell his wife to check the rear courtyard, making sure Ruan Jintian caused no trouble. The servant then, on the pretext of collecting dirty clothes, made a circuit of the rear courtyard, but she didn't see Ruan Jintian in the guest rooms; instead, far off in front of your two rooms she spotted him sneaking about, crouching and trying to peek......"

Chen Weifang's voice was still fairly steady, but the two people opposite who heard this remark all showed puzzled expressions.

Chinu: "?"

Du Shanü: "?"

Du Shanü even had a moment where she doubted her own ears, not Afang's words:

"What did Afang just say? I didn't hear clearly......"

Chen Weifang refused to say more, only speaking with a hint of reproach:

"Make less noise at night, and the next day you'll hear everything clearly......"

"In short, it's definitely because you two are unrestrained again, making too much commotion, which is why Ruan Jintian is prowling around."

Du Shanü's eyes widened inch by inch; she didn't even touch her pen and paper, and immediately protested:

"What can we do if we're so compatible? How can this be blamed on me and Guai Nunu!"

They had been overheard by Afang before, but at most Afang would mutter a few lines the next morning; who would think of sneaking out to peek like Ruan Jintian does?

It's truly like seeing a ghost.

Du Shanü murmured, incredulous, as she spread out her pen and paper:

"Ruan Jintian's brain must be sick......"

Chinu cleared the bowls and chopsticks the two had finished eating, tidied the dishes on the table to Afang's side, making space for her Wife Master, then murmured:

"It's not necessarily that the 'brain' is sick; maybe......"

Du Shanü's mind was full of drawings; she didn't hear clearly, and looked up to ask:

"What did Guai Nunu say?"

Chinu snapped out of it, smiling:

"Nothing."

In front of her own people, Chinu usually had no sharp edges; when her brows and eyes curved, she even faintly showed a little tiger tooth.

His smile was warm and shallow, faintly revealing a rare youthful nature.

Du Shanü couldn't help but peck him on the mouth, then was overcome by a soft fragrance, feeling as if she'd been injected with chicken blood, and she fiercely buried her head in frantic drawing.

Chen Weifang, sitting opposite and continuing to drink her porridge, having watched the whole scene: "......"

Good news: the Wise Lord and close friend didn't treat him as an outsider.

Bad news: the Wise Lord and close friend also didn't treat him as a person.

I've said before, don't kiss in front of that lonely widower!

?? ask: Did Shasha succeed in abstaining today?

? answer: No!