Chapter 383: Chapter 383. Did They Sleep Together?
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
“Big Brother Zhong, is that you?”
Jiang Yuyan stood at the door and shouted into the house. She was too embarra.s.sed to enter the house, afraid that Zhong Yong was still sleeping and it would be inconvenient for a man and a woman to be alone.
“Yuyan?”
Su Qing put on her cotton jacket and walked out of the house. She was pretty surprised to see her. What was she doing at Zhong Yong’s home so early in the morning?
“… Sister Su Qing?”
Jiang Yuyan’s face turned red at a speed visible to the naked eye. Her hands were clasped together in embarra.s.sment, and her voice was unnatural.
“You knew we were back?”
Su Qing glanced at the steamed buns and pickled vegetables on the stove and guessed that Jiang Yuyan had brought them breakfast after knowing they were back.
“… Ah, yes, I’ve brought you food.”
Jiang Yuyan’s eyes lit up when she heard Su Qing’s words. She immediately found an excuse.
“Thank you!”
Su Qing nodded in thanks. Jiang Yuyan had always been the girl she admired the most. She was strong, brave, and had endurance and perseverance. She was smart and learned quickly. She was also very sensible and never caused trouble for others.
Now, she had another advantage: she was attentive and considerate.
“… You’re welcome. Big Brother Zhong, come back, right?”
Jiang Yuyan nodded her head naturally. Her beautiful big eyes looked past Su Qing to the east room. Early morning, she saw smoke coming out of Brother Zhong’s chimney. Her heart was filled with joy. She wished she could grow wings and fly over to see him. Su Qing caught the tenderness in her eyes.
Su Qing looked at the plate of steamed buns again. It turned out that she was overthinking. This was a gift for Zhong Yong!
“He didn’t come back.”
“Oh.”
Su Qing’s voice was calm, and no one could tell her feelings. Jiang Yuyan’s eyes flashed with disappointment. She was still young and didn’t hide her feelings.
“Who’s cooking for Xiaoying’s grandpa these few days?”
Su Qing suddenly asked. Qin Feng was still living in the backyard of the government office. Usually, Li Shuang’er, Jiang Yuyan, and Xiaoying would take turns to cook for the old man.
Grandpa liked to eat delicious food. Before Su Qing left, she especially left a lot of spices for him. Dried ginger was one of them.
“Shuang’er caught a cold these days, and Xiaoying left with you. Most of the time, 1 cook for the old man.”
Jiang Yuyan nodded. The villagers of Peach Blossom Cove had received so much kindness from Ji Shuisheng and Su Qing, so it was only fitting for her to share their burdens.
“Were you the one who cooked three days ago?”
Su Qing asked her without batting an eyelid. Jiang Yuyan nodded.
“Yes, I’ve been cooking for the old master for ten days.”
Jiang Yuyan faintly felt that something was wrong. Could it be that there was something wrong with her cooking? Although she felt a little uneasy, she still agreed obediently.
“Alright, let me ask you. Has anyone been to the kitchen these past few days?”
Su Qing looked at Jiang Yuyan with a burning gaze, not wanting to miss the minute changes in her expression.
“What happened? Did the old master eat something bad?”
Jiang Yuyan looked very nervous. She knew that the old man used to be a high-ranking official and was very careful when cooking for him. She was afraid that the old man would get a stomachache.
“No, you should answer whatever I asked you.”
Su Qing interrupted her. What was she nervous about? It wasn’t like she was going to hold her responsible. She wanted her to answer her question truthfully.
Jiang Yuyan frowned and thought hard. Suddenly, she thought of the incident with the ginger and quickly said to Su Qing.
“I haven’t been to the kitchen for the past few days! What had he lost? Throwing… By the way, I wanted to stew mutton for the old man two days ago, but I couldn’t find any ginger. There was still a lot of ginger left from the last stew. 1 don’t know who took it away?”
Ji Shuisheng overheard their conversation and didn’t want to come out. However, when he heard Jiang Yuyan say that the ginger was lost, he quickly put on a cotton robe and walked out of the house to ask Jiang Yuyan,
“Do you remember the last time you used ginger?”
When Jiang Yuyan saw Ji Shuisheng come out of the house and saw that he was also wearing a cotton robe like Su Qing, her eyes widened!
… Did they sleep together?
Jiang Yuyan’s face was flushed red. Why did she come over so early in the morning?
What should she do now? She was the only one who knew that Su Qing and Ji Shuisheng were sleeping together, right? If this got out, wouldn’t they doubt her?
She was too occupied with her frustrations to answer Ji Shuisheng’s question. Su Qing asked
“Do you remember when you lost it?”
Jiang Yuyan dared not even look up at the two of them. She just lowered her head and recalled. Then, she replied with certainty,
“Five days ago, I used ginger to stew chicken for the old man. It should have been lost in the subsequent two days.”
“Alright, who has been to the kitchen in the past two days? Or rather, has anyone appeared near the kitchen in the backyard?”
Su Qing continued to ask.
“It’s because I only spent time cooking. I don’t know who usually goes there. In the kitchen, I only saw Lord Xing Ruhai’s wife. She asked me for some millet and said she wanted to make porridge for the child.”
Jiang Yuyan felt the matter was grave, so she didn’t answer immediately. She thought carefully before telling Su Qing.
“She went into the kitchen?”
Su Qing knew Xing Ruhai’s wife. She was quite a good person but could not quickly eliminate her as a suspect.
“No, she asked me for millet at the kitchen door.”
Jiang Yuyan shook her head and answered with certainty.
“Alright, go back. Don’t tell anyone what I asked you.”
Su Qing nodded. It was useless to ask further. That person wanted to use ginger water to kill people, so others couldn’t know that he was the one who took the ginger.
With such meticulous planning, Su Qing felt that Qiu Yongkang was even more suspicious. He worked in the government office and could go to the kitchen anytime. Although the kitchen had a lock, there was a spare key in the back hall of the government office. With Qiu Yongkang’s convenience, it was easy to get the key.
“Alright, 1 won’t tell anyone.”
Jiang Yuyan didn’t know why Su Qing asked this question. However, Sister Su Qing must have told her this because it was severe. After she had promised Su Qing, she wouldn’t even tell her mother.
After sending Jiang Yuyan off, Su Qing went to Zhong Yong’s house to find food to make dishes. However, she realized that besides the grain that her G.o.dmother had saved up, nothing else could be used to cook.
“I don’t know how Zhong Yong survived this period.”
Su Qing suddenly felt that she didn’t know how to care about people. Zhong Yong had lost his only family member, but she and Shuisheng didn’t spend much time with him.
“Yeah, we can’t stand it, let alone him.”
Ji Shuisheng washed his face with cold water to keep his mind clear. He did not fall asleep immediately after lying down last night. Thinking about the little things he had spent with Yongkang over the years, he still could not bear to part with this brotherhood. He hoped that he and Su Qing had guessed wrong.
“Forget it; I’ll go get the goat’s milk.”
Since she couldn’t find anything to cook with, Su Qing went to the yard to get goat’s milk. In Zhong Yong’s house, there were a few fat sheep. They didn’t starve to death even when he wasn’t at home. Jiang Yuyan had helped him feed them.
Jiang Yuyan was a good girl. If Zhong Yong didn’t have any objections and Jiang Yuyan was willing to wait for Zhong Yong for three years, she could help Zhong Yong propose marriage to the Jiang family.
Jiang Yuyan met Qiu Yongkang on her way home from Zhong Yong’s house. He frowned and stopped Jiang Yuyan.
“Jiang Yuyan, Mo City is in such a mess now; why are you still running around? Where did you go?”