At first glance, the living room layout seems to be the same as before, but when you look at the details, everything is different. For example, there is a pot-bellied vase with flowers on the wall table, and there are green cloth cushions on the chairs.
In the words of the clerk Liu Zhou, it was really a waste to let the bad old man who was the shopkeeper use the living room.
"Sister Ji, sit down." Xin You greeted with a smile, picked up the teapot and poured two cups of tea.
There are two grains of rock sugar in the chrysanthemum tea, which makes it taste sweet and refreshing. Ji Cailan drank several sips and praised without hesitation: "The tea here is really delicious, Sister Kou."
"Sister Ji, please come here often."
"Sister Kou, just don't mind me always disturbing your work."
"How come, I'm not busy either. The bookstore has a shopkeeper, a clerk, and a craftsman, but I'm the only one who's idle."
Ji Cailan felt that her new friend was happy with everything, and she smiled even more: "That's good. Sister Kou, has the second part of "Painted Skin" been written? Can it really be sold in early September?"
"should be no problem."
"Great!" Ji Cailan stroked her hands and resisted asking whether Wang Sheng saw a beautiful girl or a fanged demon from the window.
She is not that ignorant to ask such embarrassing questions.
Xin You took a sip of tea and said, "By the way, why didn't Sister Zhou come with us?"
Hearing Xin You mention Zhou Ningyue, Ji Cailan sighed: "My cousin has been in a bad mood recently, and she didn't say anything when I asked her. I invited her here today, but she doesn't want to go out."
"I saw that Sister Zhou was in a good mood that time."
"Yeah, who knows what happened." Ji Cailan was a little worried.
She only has two brothers, and she has always treated her cousin as her own sister. My cousin was not happy, and she had no fun playing.
"I have something. Sister Zhou might be happy when she sees it."
"what?"
"Sister Ji, wait a moment."
Xin You walked out and whispered a few words to Xiao Lian who was staying in the library. Xiaolian nodded and walked quickly.
"Sister Kou, can't you tell me what it is first?" Ji Cailan couldn't help but asked curiously.
Xin You smiled: "If you tell me, there will be no surprise. Sister Ji will see it later."
Xiaolian didn't let the two of them wait long before she opened the curtain and came in. She handed an object wrapped in green cloth to Xin You and silently exited.
Xinyou opened the green cloth outside, revealing a booklet without a cover.
Ji Cailan's pupils trembled.
What's this! Could it be the legendary little book? Not wearing any clothes!
Although she has not read it, she has accumulated rich experience by reading so many stories over the years. Occasionally, she will know the existence of such villain books from the one or two sentences that the characters in the story occasionally mention.
This...if Sister Kou invites her to watch it, will she watch it or not?
Ji Cailan hurriedly glanced at the door, feeling extremely conflicted for a moment.
Although Xin You knew a lot, she had a blind spot in her knowledge about books with little people. Looking at Ji Cailan's reaction, she had big doubts in her heart.
Why did Miss Ji suddenly become so sneaky?
"What's wrong with Sister Ji?"
"No, it's nothing."
Xinyou pushed the booklet over: "Open it and take a look."
"Ah, this, is this appropriate?" Ji Cailan had an extra pamphlet in his hand, speaking a little incoherently.
She's not ready yet!
Xin You became more and more confused: "Why is it inappropriate? I showed it to Sister Ji, and Sister Ji won't show it to others casually."
Ji Cailan:!
But Sister Kou's kindness is hard to refuse, otherwise... let's take a look.
Ji Cailan was heartbroken and opened the booklet.
What he saw was a man dressed as a scholar stopped on the road and was chatting with a woman. The woman has a graceful figure and is very beautiful.
This picture is not black and white, but colored. Whether it is the flower hairpin in the woman's hair or the skirt embroidered with flowers, they are all depicted in great detail, as lifelike as if the man and woman are right in front of them.
Ji Cailan turned to the second page without realizing it, and another vivid picture appeared.
"How's it going? Does it look good?" Xin You's voice sounded with a smile, pulling Ji Cailan's attention back.
Ji Cailan raised her head suddenly and pointed at the picture on the booklet: "This, could this be the scene where Wang Sheng met Mei Niang on the road?"
"It's pretty accurate to the description in the article, right? I drew out the scenes in the upper part of "Painted Skin" on a whim. What do you think, Sister Ji?"
Ji Cailan blinked awkwardly.
She was overthinking it. She just turned all the way back and thought the one without clothes was at the back!
But the excitement soon outweighed the embarrassment. Ji Cailan's eyes were burning and she pressed the booklet with both hands: "Sister Kou, you are so awesome. How did you come up with the idea of drawing the story!"
"Maybe she's too busy. Sister Ji, do you think Sister Zhou will feel better after seeing this?"
"Of course it will." Ji Cailan nodded vigorously and blurted out the words of invitation, "If sister Kou is okay, let's go find my cousin together and let her be surprised by this."
"Okay." Xinyou agreed happily.
The two of them walked out of the bookstore together without hiring a carriage. They chatted and walked to Zhou Ningyue's house unknowingly.
"Cousin, look who's coming!" Ji Cailan shouted happily while still in the yard.
Although Xin You was worried, she never smiled sincerely when she was with a simple and lively girl like Ji Cailan.
The door to the west wing opened, Zhou Ningyue walked out, and saw Xin You next to Ji Cailan with a surprised look on her face: "Sister Kou?"
Xin You didn't respond immediately, and the scene changed before her eyes.
It's daytime. Zhou Ningyue stood outside the door and seemed to see something. The basket in her hand fell to the ground, she stumbled and turned around while running. She ran to the courtyard and fell to the ground, with a look of pain and horror on her face.
It was her father Zhou Tong who was chased out of the house.
"Sister Kou——" Seeing Xin You was silent, Zhou Ningyue shouted again.
When Xin You came back to her senses, the girl with a sweet smile in front of her overlapped with the terrified girl in the picture. The contrast made people feel particularly complicated.
Fortunately, Xinyou has been like this since she was a child. Although she can't be calm about those sudden scenes, she can be calm on the surface.
"We haven't seen each other for a few days. Sister Zhou seems to have lost some weight." Xin You greeted calmly, while she quickly analyzed the scene she saw in her mind.
Zhou Ningyue made a lot of noise from the moment she accidentally dropped the basket to the moment she fell. However, when Zhou's father chased her into the yard, no one else showed up.
Zhou's mother, maids, servants, cooks, and servants, no one showed up.
Could it be that only Zhou Tong and Zhou Ningyue, their father and daughter, were at home at that time?
This situation is so strange.
Xinyou noticed the basket that fell to the ground with confusion.
The small wicker basket turned sideways, the floral cloth covering the basket slipped, and the mooncakes were scattered all over the floor.
Moon cake——Xinyou’s heart skipped a beat.
Is that the Mid-Autumn Festival?
If it was the Mid-Autumn Festival, the possibility of Zhou's mother not being at home would be very small if no one else told her.
Thinking again of Zhou Ningyue standing outside the door and suddenly throwing down her bamboo basket and running out in fear, Xin You had a guess in her mind.
(End of chapter)
