PNB Chapter 116 Flower Protector
Chapter 116 Flower Protector
They borrowed two stools from the pancake stall, and Li Xiaonuan and Qi Ji sat not far behind it. One ate a pancake, and the other handed her water. The scene was harmonious no matter how you looked at it.
Qi Ji gave Li Xiaonuan a resentful look, a very resentful look, and then asked with unusual seriousness, "Miss Li, do you understand what it means to entrust something to the wrong person?"
While eating her sesame seed cake and drinking the water that Qi Ji had gotten from the cake stall, Li Xiaonuan nodded and said, "Of course I know."
Qi Ji gently coaxed, "Then let the girl explain."
Li Xiaonuan swallowed the sesame seed cake in her mouth, thought for a moment, and then said, "Entrusting oneself to the wrong person means entrusting oneself or one's work to an unreliable person."
Qi Ji's eyebrows twitched, and he continued to ask, "Does the young lady think I'm reliable?"
After a moment's thought, Li Xiaonuan replied, "Young master, you are not only wealthy, but also handsome and talented. Most importantly, you possess a family heirloom skill. You are truly the best choice for a son-in-law. However, you are too kind and gentle to refuse others, which will surely leave your father and wife heartbroken. In that case, you are definitely not reliable."
Qi Ji was quite happy when he heard the beginning. But as he heard the end, his face darkened. So that's what Li Xiaonuan thought of him. No wonder she had directly rejected his father's repeated hints to get closer to him.
Originally, he didn't have any particular feelings or expectations towards Li Xiaonuan. However, for some reason, every time Li Xiaonuan declared that she had no feelings for him, he felt a strange mix of emotions. It was like a fist hitting a cotton ball, completely losing its power.
"Young lady, in your opinion, am I really that bad?" Qi Ji couldn't help but ask another question.
Li Xiaonuan replied nonchalantly, "No, actually, apart from the fact that you, Doctor Qi, are not faithful, your conditions are practically perfect. Furthermore, you are gentle, affectionate, and kind to others, making you an object of desire for many women."
Qi Ji pressed down on his throbbing temples and asked more directly, "I was referring to the young lady's opinion, not someone else's."
Li Xiaonuan asked, puzzled, "That was my opinion just now. What, does Young Master think I should have answered in a certain way to represent my opinion?"
Qi Ji stopped asking, feeling it was pointless. It was clear that Li Xiaonuan had never paid him any attention, so if he continued, she'd have to resort to her theory of treating him like a god.
Qi Ji shut up, but Li Xiaonuan was no longer calm. Looking at Qi Ji's somewhat dark face, she felt that she shouldn't have said what she had just said. After all, no one likes to be commented on so bluntly to their face.
"Well, Dr. Qi, if I offended you in any way just now, I apologize," Li Xiaonuan said awkwardly. "After all, I don't know Dr. Qi very well, and what I said was inevitably a bit biased."
After being comforted by Li Xiaonuan, Qi Ji felt much better. Although he completely disagreed with Li Xiaonuan's statement, seeing her cautious expression as she looked at him, he felt inexplicably comforted.
"It's nothing. I know what kind of person I am. I just asked out of curiosity because Miss Li doesn't seem to care about anyone." Qi Ji said with his usual gentle smile.
Li Xiaonuan secretly patted her startled heart and quickly finished the sesame seed cake in her hand. Only then did she say, "Dr. Qi, I have to go back now. I'll come to the clinic to visit Dr. Qi and Dr. Fei another day when I have some free time."
Qi Ji nodded knowingly and stood up to see her off. He escorted Li Xiaonuan all the way to the city gate before returning to the clinic. On his way back, he happened to meet Wei Yu riding out of the city. The two awkwardly exchanged greetings before parting ways.
Watching Wei Yu spur his horse out of the city, Qi Ji thought: Wei Yu will definitely catch up with Li Xiaonuan soon, right? How will they react? Will they just exchange a few words like he and Wei Yu did?
Qi Ji shook his head, chuckled, and muttered to himself, "I've really caught Li Xiaonuan's bad habit; I've started to overthink things too."
Meanwhile, Wei Yu hadn't ridden out of the city long when he encountered Li Xiaonuan, who was returning to the village, on the side of the village road leading into Xinzhou Village. Wei Yu had intended to give her a cool greeting, but for some reason, he inexplicably reined in his horse and followed her into the village at a distance.
Upon entering the village, Li Xiaonuan headed straight for her home. Wei Yu watched as Li Xiaonuan pushed open the courtyard gate and went inside before turning his horse around and heading towards his destination. Since it was already afternoon, the time when the villagers were starting to go to the fields, the news that Li Xiaonuan was being followed by a protector spread quickly.
Li Xiaonuan remained completely oblivious, sitting blankly in her room, revising her own building plans over and over again. Her biggest complaint was about the outhouse. The current outhouse always required her to pinch her nose and finish as quickly as possible.
To build a squat toilet like the ones in her previous life, she even drew a picture of a squat toilet. Furthermore, the underground pipes had to be custom-made from a potter. Li Xiaonuan had already planned that their future houses would have an average of three bedrooms and one bathroom.
However, figuring out how to install the pipes was a problem. After all, farm manure in this era is inseparable from daily excrement. So, she planned to dig a large septic tank. She would cut some grass and throw it into the tank regularly, and eventually, it would ferment into excellent fertilizer.
Just as Li Xiaonuan was racking her brains for a solution to the pipe laying, the old lady returned, pulling the crying Xiaojun along. As she entered the courtyard, the old lady shouted, "Xiaonuan, come out quickly, you've done something really serious!"
Hearing the noise, Li Xiaonuan came out of the house and gently comforted Xiaojun, "Grandma, what's wrong with me? Xiaojun, why are you crying? What happened to your ears? Why are they so red?"
Xiao Jun sobbed, unable to speak. The old lady then said, "It's all because of you. When you came back just now, there was a man on horseback following behind you. Everyone's saying that's the man you found outside."
Li Xiaonuan was even more puzzled and asked, "Is there someone riding a horse behind me? How come I didn't know? Could it be a relative of someone in the village?"
Seeing that Xiaojun had finally stopped crying after being comforted by Li Xiaonuan, the old lady said to him in an annoyed tone, "What are you crying for? If you can't beat them, why don't you run away? You're so silly, don't ever tell anyone you're a descendant of the Li family."
Li Xiaonuan asked the old lady, "Grandma, who did Xiaojun fight with?"
The old lady said angrily, "It's all because of the eldest grandson of the matchmaker Jin's family. He said you were having an affair. Xiao Jun didn't know what having an affair meant, but he felt that what he said was not nice, so the two of them started fighting."
Li Xiaonuan tenderly touched Xiaojun's face, wiping away the mud. The matchmaker's eldest grandson was the village bully, and a real gossip. Most importantly, he was two years older and bigger than Xiaojun. In this fight, Xiaojun was clearly at a disadvantage.
The old lady was still saying to Li Xiaonuan, "Didn't you know there was a horse following you? Now everyone in the village is saying you've found someone else and don't want that Zhao boy anymore."
Li Xiaonuan was utterly speechless, not understanding why people were so eager to pay attention to her. Sigh, being a person is hard, being an unnoticed ancient person is even harder. What should she do?