Chapter 278 Sugar-Fried Chestnuts

The corners of Lin Mengya’s mouth curled up into an easy and elegant smile.

She lifted her eyes to the sky dotted with clouds outside the courtyard. If she broke free from the framework of this mansion, she would be able to fly as high as she wanted.

“Indeed, I wish I could leave. This is not my rightful place after all. Instead of being like a bird in a cage, I’d much rather be one that is free in the wild.”

There was a look of longing for freedom in Lin Mengya’s dark black eyes.

On the other hand, hidden in Qinghu’s eyes was a look of regret in spite of the smile at the corner of his mouth.

Even he was unaware that he had been attracted to this lady in a long elegant robe. Though not seductive, he was secretly drawn by her beautiful complexion.

Be it him or Xiaoyu and the man hiding in Qinwu Courtyard, their hearts had been unknowingly drawn to her.

How could such a girl hide herself in the forests and mountains?

Nevertheless, he would give it a try since it was her wish. He only wanted to make her happy and see her smile.

“Come, let me take you out.”

Qinghu put his arm around her slim waist. Although she was in Qinghu’s arms, he did not feel a bit touched.

Using his inner energy, he leaped up and the two of them rose into the air like butterflies. After leaping over a few spots on the roofs, they ended up in the alley behind the mansion’s backyard.

All of a sudden, Qinghu’s lungs heaved and his face fell. He let go of Lin Mengya immediately and turned away as he vomited out fresh blood.

The effects of that d*mn poison had been getting increasingly stronger.

A look of worry flashed across Lin Mengya’s eyes as she looked at Qinghu from behind.

His body had been weakened and he thought he was hiding the effects of the poison well. However, how could he fool her given that her eyes were as sensitive as radar?

She recalled that Teacher had casually mentioned to her a kind of medicine that could prolong Qinghu’s life.

Unfortunately, the raw materials of the medicine only grew on the top of the snowy mountains, and the other components could only be found near the mouth of the volcano, where it was extremely hot.

Although those things were very valuable, even if they wanted to pick the herbs on their own, they might also have to make many sacrifices to obtain them.

If she wished for Qinghu to get better soon, she needed to develop Sanjue Hall and focus their resources.

“Hey, what are you doing? Are you laughing to yourself?”

Lin Mengya gathered her thoughts and pretended to look like she was unaware of Qinghu’s condition. Pouting, she glared at Qinghu with angry eyes.

Qinghu finally managed to suppress the blood from coming out from his throat and put on a smile when he turned around to face Lin Mengya.

“I wouldn’t dare! I would be asking for death if I dared laugh at you. I may not be able to live much longer, but I treasure my life.”

The two of them argued for a while more before the four maidservants, all clad in men’s clothes, rushed over to the horse carriage.

“Master, Qinghu, get into the horse carriage quickly. We have to come back before it’s dark.”

Baisha’s heroic spirit was enhanced by the men’s clothes she had changed into.

With a horsewhip in her hand and dressed in coarse clothes, she looked like a good-looking young male servant.

She was indeed very smart to have picked up the skill of driving a horse carriage in only a few days. She looked like a real coachman.

“Good, let’s hurry on.”

Lin Mengya and Qinghu were seated one in the front and one at the back of the horse carriage. With one wave of the horsewhip in her hand, Baishao drove off, and soon, the horse carriage disappeared behind the mansion’s backyard into the alley.

Lamps and ribbons were hanging everywhere on the streets. There were people coming from the other towns who had come to the capital city to buy the New Year’s goodies.

Lin Mengya, who had grown up in a city, looked out of the carriage at the people going about their business.

Spring Festival couplets and scrolls with the word “blessings” written on them or pictures of plump dolls hugging koi fishes were hanging at the shops along the streets.

Fragrant pumpkin seeds and sugar-fried chestnuts looked and smelled mouth-watering. Not to mention how tempted the greedy Baizhi was, even Lin Mengya was attracted by the bustling scene.

“Stop swallowing your saliva. It makes me want to eat,” teased Lin Mengya, as she tapped her fingers on Baizhi’s forehead.

Everyone burst out laughing at the sight of the resentful look in Baizhi’s eyes.

“Stop feeling so miserable. My daddy and mommy must have gotten everything prepared. What my mom makes is many times more delicious than what’s sold in the streets. I’m sure in a while, all of your stomachs will burst with her cooking.”

Baiji also tapped her fingers on Baizhi’s forehead. She had told her father and mother to prepare more food beforehand.

It was the New Year’s Festival after all, so everyone was looking forward to the festive atmosphere.

Lin Mengya smiled at all the lively conversations, while in her heart, she was thinking about how she could sneak out with Qinghu to take a peek at the real Sanjue Hall outside the city.

Given that they were all in men’s clothes, they could openly stop the horse carriage right in front of the main gate of Sanjue Hall.

As they alighted from the horse carriage, they realized that the pharmacy was not as busy as usual because of the New Year’s Festival. After all, who would come to the pharmacy to get medicine during the New Year period?

Things had not changed much since Lin Mengya’s last visit. Only a few more medicine cabinets were added.

The moment they stepped at the house, the fragrance of the herbs made everyone perk up.

Lin Mengya was pleased to see that everything was arranged orderly and neatly inside the pharmacy. From this, she knew she had made the right decision to ask Baiji’s parents here. It was absolutely a wise decision.

There was a newly employed fellow who recognized that Lin Mengya and her company, though plainly dressed, were definitely not any regular people because of the air of elegance they exuberated. He quickly came forward to welcome them with a big smile on his face.

“Honored customers, how can I help you? In Sanjue Hall, we’re equipped with all the best medicine throughout the entire capital city. We prepare prescriptions accurately and we have all the variety you need. Just let me know what you need, and I can immediately prepare it for you. Even if we were to run out of something, we will go and find it for you.”

What this fellow claimed was not at all boastful.

It was because Sanjue Hall indeed had a large network for obtaining herbs. In fact, Sanjue Hall was the only pharmacy with this capacity in the entire capital city.

Lin Mengya’s face broke out with a smile and she looked the fellow up and down.

The fellow was respectful and polite, but not self-deprecating. He was obviously a clever shopkeeper. It appeared that Old Uncle Bai and his wife were good at judging people.

After groaning a little, Lin Mengya finally opened her mouth to speak.

“I’ve come to negotiate a big deal with your boss or boss’s wife. I wonder if it’s convenient for them to come out to see me.”

Given that the first thing Lin Mengya wanted was to see was the boss, the fellow was put into a difficult position.

Nevertheless, he knew how to please a customer. Taking a bow, he said, “Honored customers, we are happy to oblige but my boss has something important to attend to and is unable to meet any customers right now. If it’s something urgent, please leave your address here and when my boss is finished with his business, he will visit you at your mansion. Will this do?”

The fellow’s attitude was sincere and his suggestion thoughtful. Lin Mengya believed he would be able to appease all kinds of customers.

“What a muddle-headed fellow! This lady right in front of you is the owner of Sanjue Hall. All right, so are my mom and dad in the backyard? Go tell them that Master is here to see them.”

Baiji, seeing that the fellow was in a sticky situation, came forward to help him out.

While the fellow did not recognize most of the strange faces, he surely recognized the girl who stepped out.

“So I see Little Sister Baiji is back. Old Uncle Bai and Auntie are in the back. You may go look for them. It’s all my fault for not recognizing the boss sooner.”

Although he was obviously embarrassed, the fellow quickly made a joke out of it and moved on.

This allowed Lin Mengya to see him in a new light and she gave him a last glance before she turned away.

She lifted the curtain on the door and a few of them walked through it and entered the backyard.

The moment they entered the house in the backyard, the fragrance of sugar-fried chestnuts came to them.

Baizhi sniffed hard like an adorable puppy, her eyes widened, then she dashed into the yard.

The joyous smile on her face seemed to indicate that she was feeling more delighted than when she saw her mother.

“Wow! This smells heavenly! Aunt Bai, can I try the chestnuts?”

Baizhi’s mouth was watering by now. Mrs. Bai smiled and nodded. The greedy girl quickly removed the outer covering of a chestnut and popped the remaining yellowish-golden chestnut into her mouth.

“Good heavens! This is the first time I’ve tasted such delicious sugar-fried chestnut. Master, Elder Sister Baiji, Elder Sister Baishao, and Elder Sister Baisu, come over quickly and have a taste of it!”

The entire courtyard of people burst out laughing at the cute, greedy girl.

Lin Mengya looked at the surroundings and realized that although the relatively small courtyard was not comparable to the Liuxin Courtyard in terms of luxury, the whole place was exuberating love and warmth.

This quiet and normal life was what Lin Mengya thought a man’s life should be.

“Just look at this lass. She is obviously very appreciative of what I made. Why, Miss, you’ve come today. You should’ve told me earlier that you’d be coming. Look at how messy this place is.”

Aunt Bai and Lin Mengya were very familiar with each other by now. As she looked at Lin Mengya, a sincere smile appeared on her kindly face.

Old Uncle Bai and she might not be people who were refined, but they were attentive and meticulous. It was apparent that they had made an effort to keep the medicine shop, as well as the girls’ room and the courtyard, neat and tidy.

“You’re back, Elder Sister! Our greetings of peace to you.”

A bunch of children wearing padded cotton coats dashed out from the heated room and surrounded Baiji, jumping and cheering. However, when they spotted Lin Mengya, they followed the instructions of their parents and greeted her fearfully with a bow.

“What was that for? Please rise. This is our first meeting, but I did not bring any trinkets with me. The next time I visit, I’ll bring you some nice snacks and something to play with. How’d you like that?”

Although Mr. and Mrs. Bai were living a better life now in that they were no longer lacking financially, the children were still wearing old coats, which only looked slightly better than what they used to wear in the past.

All three children, consisting of two boys and a girl, were all looking healthy and very adorable.

Lin Mengya squatted so she could be at eye level with them. As she touched their heads, her heart was filled with indescribable joy.

“If you are a Miss, why are you wearing men’s clothes?”

Baiji’s second younger sister, who was the youngest of all the children, had her hair in two braids. Her watery eyes were filled with puzzlement.