Chapter 25: Xiao Yan Hui and Qin Ji avoided the crowd and went into a private room...

Chapter 25: Xiao Yan Hui and Qin Ji avoided the crowd and went into a private room...

Xiao Yanhui and Qin Ji slipped away and entered the private room, leaving their personal attendants outside.

The two personal maids looked worried and unwilling.

After all, this was a private encounter with a man, and this behavior was already quite improper, especially considering the man's sensitive status.

Although the previous conflict between the two daughters over marriage was not openly staged in front of them, the three daughters, as people close to the third daughter, were still somewhat aware of it.

Since the Third Miss had already firmly refused the marriage proposal, why would she agree to meet with the Qin family's young master in private? Even if that young master had come to her rescue in a moment of crisis, it was still not a wise move.

But as maids, they knew their mistress wouldn't listen to their advice, so they really had no other choice but to keep their mouths shut.

"Please come with me, ladies. My husband has booked a private room next door. Please sit down, have something to eat, and rest your feet," Qin Xi greeted them with a somewhat ingratiating smile.

Seeing the two women hesitate at the door, she advised them again, "Wouldn't it be more conspicuous for you sisters to stand here? Besides, you're right next door. If your young lady has any instructions, you only need to raise your voice slightly, and the sisters will hear you."

Green Moth hesitated for a moment, but still nodded in agreement. However, before entering the private room, she gave Cat some instructions.

"Go down and tell the two guards following behind that the young lady was frightened and needs to rest here for a while. Let them set up a table and order some food and drink. If they need anything, just call them. It's a good deal for them."

Green Moth glanced down at the two guards standing at the entrance of the Delicacies Pavilion, her tone anything but pleasant.

They're supposed to be guards, but they're completely useless. They don't show up when they should, but now they're conspicuously standing there.

"Yes, Sister Green Moth." Cat went to carry out the task without saying another word.

Putting aside the arrangements outside, as soon as Xiao Yanhui and Qin Ji entered the private room, they immediately smelled a faint aroma of wine.

At first glance, there were five delicious dishes on the table, but none of them looked touched, and two unopened wine jars were placed side by side on the ground.

"Drinking alone? Is this meal to relieve your worries or to forget your sorrows?" Xiao Yan teased, feigning ease.

In reality, she hadn't calmed down at all; she was just pretending to be composed.

It wasn't that she wanted to put on airs, but Qin Ji suddenly uttered that highly suggestive coded message and then asked to chat privately. She couldn't figure out his purpose for a moment, so she didn't want to reveal her weakness first.

"Can't I just have a meal and some drinks here?" Qin Ji stepped forward and pulled out a chair for him in a very gentlemanly manner.

Xiao Yan's gaze lingered on his actions for a moment; clearly, this was not the kind of behavior a man of this era would exhibit.

"Who would simply eat a meal without touching a single dish on the table, and besides..."

Xiao Yan pointed to the three overturned wine glasses on the table: "Drinking from the jar doesn't look like drinking an aperitif. Besides, if I remember correctly, there wasn't much wine left in the jar that was smashed in front of me just now."

Upon hearing this, Qin Ji, who was about to sit down, stiffened slightly for a moment. He knew Xiao Yan had misunderstood, but he managed to cover it up for him.

In fact, it wasn't that he didn't use a wine glass, but rather that the wine glass, which was the one used to signal the order to smash the glass, had already been shattered on the long street below.

The missing cup on the table was evidence that he wanted her dead. Even with Qin Ji's strong mental fortitude, the thought made him feel uneasy when he saw the remaining three cups.

He straightened up again, quickly put away the wine jar and cups, and then deftly went to make tea.

"You probably already know why I called you here. This Zhenxiu Restaurant is my property. Don't worry, neither our meeting now nor our conversation later will be leaked out in the slightest."

Can I say I know nothing?

Honestly, Xiao Yan didn't want to be too blunt with Qin Ji. Even though they came from the same place, they were still strangers in essence, and there was no need to be too open with someone they barely knew.

Why not just leave some things unspoken? If we speak our minds, we'll inevitably develop a relationship and bear the consequences of each other's actions.

"Then... let me recite the process of making ice with saltpeter for you again, and we'll see if it matches up." Qin Ji's eyes held a hint of a smile, but his unyielding attitude was clear.

But his deliberate mention of saltpeter for making ice could be another subtle test, though Xiao Yan's mind was clearly not on that line at the moment.

"Do you know how terrifying it is that you're so brazenly exposing yourself in front of me? It's like a kidnapper not covering his face in front of a hostage. If it weren't for the fact that you saved my life twice and that I could still trust you, I'd probably be worried about you right now."

"What are you worried about?" Qin Ji asked cooperatively.

"I'm worried that you might be planning to vent your experiences and feelings about being alone in a foreign land in front of me, and then kill me, the person in the know." Xiao Yan took a big gulp of tea and sighed helplessly. Her words were tantamount to an open admission of her identity.

"..." Upon hearing this, Qin Ji quickly and subtly glanced at the person opposite him who was drinking tea.

Her expression and actions told her that her words, which had made her sweat profusely, were not a test. She genuinely believed herself to be a good person, and the talk of killing to silence her was just a small joke.

Seeing that Qin Ji didn't speak, Xiao Yan thought he insisted on waiting for a formal ceremony to acknowledge them.

Forget it, I'm scared of him, so I might as well give in to him.

She tilted the cup and poured some tea onto the table. Her fingertips, damp with tea, slid across the surface, creating a frame and a few stars. With just a few strokes, a five-star red flag appeared prominently on the surface.

"Could this mean our code has been matched?"

“The national flag is already out, how could it not match?” Qin Ji couldn’t help but laugh out loud after looking at the picture on the table.

"There's something I don't understand, and I hope you can help me with it."

After Qin Ji nodded, she asked, "After seeing those things that transcend this era, I guessed that there are other people in this world who are in the same situation as me."

So, I've thought I've been quite careful all this time, so where exactly did I go wrong?

This was a very important matter for Xiao Yan.

Qin Ji naturally wouldn't reveal that he had secretly sent people to investigate Xiao Yan Hui, but he had a different response.

“That day at the pavilion in the middle of the lake, I actually woke up around the same time you woke up. I originally wanted to see what tricks your Xiao family was playing. After all, our two families are important partners, and I was sure I had to find out why my Xiao family was being schemed against.”

Seeing Xiao Yan nod, Qin Ji continued, "But I never expected things to develop after you woke up. In fact, I had already become suspicious of your identity at that time."

He shrugged: "Well, how should I put it? Your reaction is actually quite different from that of girls in this era, and you didn't really know how to dress back then."

"So early!" Xiao Yan exclaimed softly.

"At that time, I was just suspicious, but I confirmed that it was on the mountain a few days ago."

Do you remember when, in a life-or-death moment, you blurted out, "I wonder if I can go back after I die?" To others, this might just be the ramblings of someone in a moment of fear, but to me, it was unmistakable proof.

Qin Ji spoke eloquently, and his calm tone and gentle expression made him incredibly persuasive, as if everything he said was the truth. At least Xiao Yan Hui believed him almost without a doubt.

"So it was such a small flaw that you saw through it. Although you're a good person, your intelligence and meticulousness are really unsettling," Xiao Yanhui couldn't help but sigh.

"You've been here for quite a few years now, haven't you? You speak with the accent of this era."

She herself occasionally slips into some modern-sounding verbal tics when she's not paying attention, but Qin Ji doesn't seem to have any of those.

"Indeed, a few years earlier than you." Qin Ji simply nodded and then stopped the conversation.

"Just look at those shops, and I can tell you're doing really well. So why did you suddenly reveal your identity and insist on chatting with me privately? I obviously can't help you with anything."

With her biggest question answered, Xiao Yan took the opportunity to steer the conversation to the main topic.

"I really did ask you for help, or rather, we're helping each other out." Since he had just changed his mind and decided to spare her life, Qin Ji naturally had another way to handle the situation.

"Tell me about it," Xiao Yan said, looking eager to hear the details.

"I know that Miss Xiao Er wanted you to take over the marriage between the Xiao and Qin families, but you refused. Today, my purpose is to ask you to reconsider. Marrying me is actually not a bad deal." Qin Ji's eyes were full of seriousness, which made him seem very sincere.

But when Xiao Yan heard this, her hand slipped, and she almost dropped the teacup in her hand. Her guess had been that Qin Ji had encountered some technical problem and was unable to solve it, so he came to her to try to find out if there was any answer.

Unexpectedly, my guess was completely wrong; he had come to propose!

"I......"

Xiao Yan subconsciously wanted to refuse, but Qin Ji interrupted her, which was rare for her.

“I know you rejected Qin Jia Dalang, but the situation is different now, isn’t it?”

We come from the same place, share similar values, and have roughly the same knowledge base and social understanding. We can support and understand each other, right? And you can gain far more freedom by marrying me than you could from marrying anyone else.”

Xiao Yan returned to silence.

She knew this guy was so smart it was unsettling. Almost everything he said hit her right in the heart.

"What's in it for you?" A deal can only be reached if both parties benefit.

"What I said is beneficial to you, and it's also beneficial to me." Qin Ji could tell from Xiao Yanhui's expression that she was almost convinced.

He smiled and continued, "Moreover, Xiao Quexian is a bit strange, and she is determined to break off the engagement. Maintaining the engagement with her would be a big problem for me, but the marriage between the two families is related to the future cooperation between the two families and some of my subsequent plans. Breaking off the engagement is not a good option either."

“I understand. Simply put, you need a marriage partner right now, and I am your best, or even your only, choice,” Xiao Yan replied in her concluding remarks.

"..." Qin Ji felt that this was not what he meant.

"I can agree, but there are a few conditions." Although it seemed a bit like bullying, Xiao Yan felt that she would be doing herself a disservice if she didn't make some demands since she currently had the upper hand.

"Go ahead," Qin Ji said, thinking he might as well listen.

"The legal marriage age should follow the Marriage Law, right?" What kind of thing is it to get married at fifteen or sixteen?

"Even if I have no problem, neither of the two families will agree." This wasn't Qin Ji intentionally ignoring Xiao Yan Hui's wishes; it was simply that the reality didn't allow it.

Xiao Yan thought about it and agreed with his statement: "So, after marriage, we will be partners for the time being. If we both agree after getting to know each other, we can upgrade our relationship. Is that okay?"

"Of course," Qin Ji nodded.

“You’re a minor until you’re eighteen. You know what I mean, right?” Xiao Yan returned with her second point.

"I understand," Qin Ji replied succinctly.

So...wasn't he the one meticulously planning everything? How come it's Xiao Yan who's constantly making demands now?

"During the marriage, I am not allowed to have any improper relationship with others, and as you just said, it does not restrict me."

"I have no interest in messy relationships." When he said this, Qin Ji's tone carried a hint of coldness, but he concealed it so well that Xiao Yan Hui did not notice it at all.

"You should know that there is no such thing as unrestricted freedom. I can only say that I will give you the greatest freedom I can." Most of what Qin Ji said today was true, except for this sentence, which was a complete deception.

Since the essence of this marriage is control, how can there be any talk of freedom?

However, at this moment, Xiao Yan was clearly quite satisfied with Qin Ji's attitude of accepting whatever was acceptable.

She raised her hand to Qin Ji.

"......"

Qin Ji paused for a moment, then laughed again, gently clapping his own hands together.

A crisp snap signified the conclusion of this temporary marriage agreement.

......

He remained at the same second-floor window of the Zhenxiu Restaurant, gazing at Xiao Yan's departing figure for a long time until she had completely disappeared from sight before turning his gaze away.

The folding fan hidden in the sleeve was pulled out. It was a finely carved sandalwood fan, but now the delicately carved pavilions and towers on the handle were riddled with cracks, and the fan was completely ruined.

This was accidentally crushed by one of his hands when the startled horse charged towards Xiao Yan.

He genuinely harbored murderous intent today, but when he saw Xiao Yan rushing forward to hug the child as the frightened horse was gone, he suddenly changed his mind and saved the child, which was also genuine.

In that instant, the scene overlapped with one he had resented and regretted countless times before—a young man saving a child from under the wheels of a car that was crossing the road.

It felt like a distant past life. Oh, no, that was it, his last experience in his past life.

Looking back now, he can hardly believe that he was once such a passionate person, someone who would risk everything for a stranger.

At that time, Xiao Yan Hui made him suddenly see his former self, a self who was still passionate, had a good conscience, a harmonious family, and a smooth life.

Then, as if out of control, he grabbed the wine jar on the table and smashed it down. At that moment, he didn't even consider that he, who presented himself as a weak and gentle person, shouldn't have such strength and accuracy.

Qin Ji gave a bitter smile, a smile rarely seen on his face. He lowered his head, sighed helplessly, and put the completely broken fan back into his sleeve.

Meanwhile, Xiao Yan, who felt she had won a great victory in the negotiations, stopped in front of a shop.

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The author says: No matter how much he schemed and plotted in his heart, the fact is that Yan Hui'er won a great victory.