Chapter 147: Afei, Xiaofei, Lin Xian'er

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Afei was drinking porridge.

Millet porridge, stewed until it was fragrant and thick.

Afei held it in his hands and sipped slowly, his gaze blankly fixed on the edge of the bowl, his face devoid of any expression, as if he couldn't taste the porridge at all.

Drinking porridge was just drinking porridge.

In reality, more than half a year ago, Afei would never have been like this.

He had always eaten very slowly.

Because he knew food was not easily obtained, he had to enjoy it slowly, to fully absorb and digest every mouthful.

But now, he seemed like a different person.

No matter who it was, encountering a woman like Lin Xian'er would always lead to change, but Afei had truly changed too much.

"I'm going out to hunt; I probably won't be back until evening."

Afei finished the porridge, rested for a moment, and stood up.

Lin Xian'er had already prepared the hunting bow, arrows, small knife, and other items, and handed them to him.

"You must be careful and stay safe." A smile appeared on Lin Xian'er's exquisite and beautiful face as she pressed her cheek against Afei's and reached out to embrace him.

Afei also opened his arms and held her tightly.

The two embraced closely.

And no matter how Afei changed.

He was still a young, vigorous man.

When in intimate contact with a woman like Lin Xian'er, the changes a man should have would always occur.

Suddenly, Lin Xian'er's body trembled slightly: "You... you are thinking about it again..."

Afei closed his eyes.

Lin Xian'er said: "Actually... actually I have long wanted to give you everything, but we cannot do that yet, because we are not married, and I am not yet your wife."

The expression on Afei's face became even more painful, and he had already loosened his grip.

Lin Xian'er said with a trembling voice: "Xiaofei, if you really want to... would you like... me to use my hand to help you..."

Afei gritted his teeth and said: "No need."

He prepared to leave again, while Lin Xian'er turned to tidy up the bowls and chopsticks.

And at the very moment Lin Xian'er turned around, a smile gradually appeared at the corners of her mouth—a smile that was very beautiful, and also very cruel.

"Anyone is fine, only Afei is not."

She liked to torment men, especially when that man was Afei; she felt there was no greater pleasure in the world than this.

Bang! Bang! Bang!!

Just then, someone knocked on the door forcefully.

A person shouted: "Open the door, open the door quickly, I know you are inside."

Afei said sternly: "Who is it?"

Before he could finish speaking, the door had already been kicked open.

A person barged straight in.

This person looked very young, and his features were actually quite handsome. His whole body was filled with the stench of alcohol, as if he had just been fished out of a wine vat.

"Xian'er, Xian'er, why did you suddenly disappear? Did I do something wrong, which is why you had to sneak away?" This person, with eyes full of bloodshot veins, stared at Lin Xian'er, as if he hadn't seen that there was someone else in the room.

Lin Xian'er's face, however, had no expression at all, and she said coldly: "Who are you? I don't know you!!"

The youth hissed: "I am Xiaofei, your Xiaofei. Do you really not remember me? And that day, and that night on the bed, on the stool, on the bed, and even in the haystack..."

The more he spoke, the more agitated he became; suddenly he lunged forward, wanting to embrace Lin Xian'er, and hissed: "Even though you have forgotten me, no matter what, I cannot forget you."

Lin Xian'er, of course, would not let him embrace her; she dodged lightly and exclaimed: "This person is drunk and is throwing a drunken tantrum."

The youth shouted: "I am not drunk, I am very sober. Xian'er, what exactly did I do to wrong you? Tell me, I will definitely change."

He tried to lunge forward again, but Afei had already blocked his path and said sternly: "Get out!!"

The youth cried out: "Who are you to her? By what right do you tell me to get out? Could it be that you are her new lover? As long as I defeat you, Xian'er will be willing to be with me again."

He threw a punch, but after all, he had drunk too much; his steps were already unsteady, and his fist was powerless.

And Afei's fist had already extended.

With only a "bang" sound, the youth flew out and fell flat on his back in the courtyard.

But the youth staggered to his feet again, appearing a bit more sober, and chuckled: "Well hit, well hit. But don't you think that just because you are good to this cheap woman, this cheap woman really likes you. Anyone who thinks they are truly good to her is a fool, an idiot... She has slept with at least a hundred men."

Afei was so angry that he snorted heavily through his nostrils, walked out the door, and was about to teach the youth another lesson.

Who would have thought that the youth seemed to have been scared by his blow; he staggered away, and he fled very quickly, disappearing without a trace in no time.

Seeing that the youth had completely vanished, Afei slowly turned around to face Lin Xian'er.

Lin Xian'er suddenly covered her face and wept bitterly, crying: "What exactly did I do wrong? What did I do wrong... why did this person come to frame me, to harm me..."

Afei sighed a long sigh, gently held her, and said softly: "As long as I am here, you don't need to be afraid."

Was he really unaware of everything?

Or did he prefer to pretend he didn't know?

After a long, long time, Lin Xian'er's sobbing quieted down, and she whimpered: "Fortunately, I still have you."

Afei said: "As long as you have me, no matter who comes to bully you, I will never spare them."

Lin Xian'er said: "No matter who?"

Afei said: "No matter who!"

Lin Xian'er let out a soft moan and hugged him even tighter.

Yet there was not a trace of sorrow in her eyes; instead, they were filled with smiles, smiles that were extremely charming.

After Afei left, Lin Xian'er also slipped into her room, which contained only very ordinary, simple things. The bedsheet was sewn from pale cyan summer cloth, and the bedding on the bed was folded very neatly.

And when Lin Xian'er unfastened the bed board.

A secret passage could be seen beneath the bed.

The secret passage was not long.

The exit of the secret passage was also under a bed, but this bed was much prettier than that one; the tassels on the brocade canopy hung down like falling blossoms, and the goose-down quilt on the bed was as soft as a pile of clouds, making one unable to climb back out once they sank into it.

She took a small wooden bottle from the dressing cabinet, poured a cup of tea, and then poured some silver-glittering powder from the wooden bottle, swallowing it with the tea; she never forgot to take this silver powder every day.

Because this was powder ground from pearls, and it was said that if a woman consumed it, she could keep her youth forever.

If Afei knew how much this bottle of pearl powder was worth, he would surely be startled.

She realized that men were very easily deceived, especially easily deceived by the women they loved.

Therefore, she had always felt that men were not only pitiful but also ridiculous.

She had never met a man who could never be deceived.

Except for those two men.

Yu Liancheng, Li Xunhuan.

At the thought of this, her heart sank.

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

After Lin Xian'er called out for them to enter, a young girl wearing red clothes walked in.

The young girl said, "Miss, we just received news that Shangguan Fei wants to see you. But today is not the time to see him; should we call it off?"

"Shangguan Fei?" Lin Xian'er pondered for a moment, then suddenly her beautiful face bloomed like a flower: "No, invite him over; I want to see him."

"Understood, Miss." The young girl in red left quickly.

Lin Xian'er was grooming herself while calculating.

"It is said that fellow has come out of Shaolin Temple and returned to Baoding City, and even had a fight with the Money Gang. It is a good time to ask Shangguan Fei and see what exactly happened a few days ago."

"Afei has gone hunting; the prey has become increasingly scarce lately, and after he finishes hunting, he still has to go to the town to sell it. He will definitely not be back until evening, so there is no need to worry."

Suddenly, Lin Xian'er smiled again, looking infinitely charming.

"Besides, even if he found out, so what? Could he really leave me? Sometimes I really want to know what his expression would be if he discovered I was with another man, hee hee hee hee."

As for the drunken young man who appeared earlier, Lin Xian'er only thought about it briefly before giving up.

There were simply too many men she had slept with; she really could not remember who it was for the moment.

Rather than thinking about such boring things, it was better to think about how to extract information from Shangguan Fei next.

……

Afei had lived a leisurely and comfortable life for more than half a year, and every night he had to drink soup containing a sedative, falling into a deep sleep; his skills were no longer what they used to be.

But some of his instincts and talents had not been lost, so to the wild beasts, he was still a very terrifying hunter. It was just that the weather had been getting colder lately, and coupled with long-term hunting, the prey had become increasingly difficult to find.

But his luck was very good today; it did not take him long to catch three rabbits and one fox.

He was very satisfied with the prey and was prepared to take it to the county town to sell, and then incidentally buy some salt to bring back.

His luck today seemed particularly good.

While still a long distance from the town, he actually encountered a peddler.

The peddler not only bought his fox and rabbits but also sold him table salt.

As he was about to leave, he took a fancy to a hairpin; since Lin Xian'er had been with him, he had never bought her any jewelry.

If he bought this hairpin back, she would surely be very happy.

But this hairpin cost three coins of silver; the price was not expensive, yet it made him hesitate a little.

He did not care about the silver, but was worried that instead of being happy when he bought it back, she would blame him for spending money recklessly.

The peddler seemed to see through his thoughts and wore a smile on his face: "Young man, I see we have an affinity; why not let me sell it to you for two coins of silver? I cannot go any lower than that."

Afei pondered for a moment, took out two coins of silver, and accepted the hairpin wrapped by the peddler; a rare, gentle smile appeared on his cold face.

The peddler carried his load away, and as he left, he seemed to mutter to himself: "In this poor, remote mountain, hunting is nothing strange, but for someone to be carried into the mountains in a sedan chair—could there be some treasure in these mountains?"

Afei's expression shifted; his beast-like intuition suddenly seemed to detect something unusual, and he hurriedly chased after the peddler, grabbing him: "What did you say?"

"Ah, I... I said someone is hunting."

"The last part!"

"Someone is being carried into the mountains in a sedan chair; is there treasure in these mountains?"

Afei hurriedly asked: "What exactly is going on? Tell me in detail."

The peddler was stunned for a moment, then pointed in a certain direction with his hand: "I just came from over there and saw a few men carrying a green sedan chair, walking toward the mountains; they were taking a small path."

After Afei asked carefully and thoroughly, he strode in the direction indicated by the peddler.

His body, which had previously appeared somewhat clumsy, suddenly became as agile as a wild beast.

"Afei, oh Afei, do not let me down; you have a part to play in this game."

Watching Afei's gradually disappearing back, a strange smile suddenly appeared on the peddler's face, and he suddenly rubbed his own nose: "This bastard, he has been decadent for over half a year, yet his hands are still quite strong. Next time, this role of getting beaten up should be left for Li Xunhuan to play."