Chapter 38
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Chapter 38:
From then on, they became more competitive with each other.
However, Mi Hongbao grew up smoothly and rarely argued with girls. Even at home, if Mi Hongbao made a mistake, his mother would scold him more than listen to his excuses. So, arguing with Li Chunzhou made him seem clumsy, often failing to provoke her, ending up blushing and angry.
Yet, Mi Hongbao became more daring with each setback, relentlessly provoking Li Chunzhou day after day. Each time he failed, he would stay awake at night, clenching his fists in frustration, unable to sleep even at three in the morning.
Mi Hongbao was carefree among friends, often recounting embarrassing childhood stories of how his mischief made his mother angry and led to her hitting him.
After telling the story many times, those around would cheer and laugh heartily, creating a cheerful atmosphere.
Back then, General Mi had just died in battle not long ago, and Mi Hongbao was at the age of seven or eight, too young to fully understand the seriousness of his father’s death. With his mother’s high expectations weighing on him, Mi Hongbao felt suffocated and rebellious, causing mischief all day long at home and getting beaten regularly.
It’s hard to tell if his spoiled personality was intentionally indulged or brought out through punishment.
Later, his mother somehow relaxed her control over him, allowing Mi Hongbao to become a useless person, as long as he didn’t go too far, she wouldn’t interfere actively.
As Mi Hongbao spoke more excitedly, laughing and gesturing, "My mom broke several sticks hitting me! But I never yielded. She told me to go east, but I insisted on going west, so she hit me even harder."
People around showed shocked and amused expressions, praising Mi Hongbao, laughing with him, "General Mi’s brother is indeed amazing!"
Only Li Chunzhou’s calm gaze went through the crowd around him, gently falling on him.
For the first time while recounting these things, Mi Hongbao saw such sorrowful looks in others’ eyes. Gradually, he couldn’t laugh anymore, the smile on his face slowly froze.
Unable to hold back, Mi Hongbao pushed through the crowd and stood in front of Li Chunzhou, who was sitting and drinking tea, asking sharply, "Why are you looking at me like that?"
Instead of replying sharply as usual, Li Chunzhou stared at the faint scar on his wrist and softly asked, "Does it still hurt now?"
Mi Hongbao had a moment where he seemed to not understand what she was saying, his throat felt tight, he tried to speak but no sound came out.
Mi Hongbao was overwhelmed by a sour feeling in his heart, he could not control himself for a moment, and said in a muffled voice, "It doesn’t hurt anymore."
"That’s good," nodded Li Chunzhou.
As Li Chunzhou was about to turn her head back, Mi Hongbao suddenly felt very upset. His eyes started to turn slightly red, he hastily rolled up his sleeve, showing her the scars on his arm, "But there are still many scars left, these…"
He couldn’t continue with his words, his eyes stung, not understanding why he was saying these unnecessary things.
Li Chunzhou reached out her hand, gently touching the faint scars on his forearm. Her eyes were calm and gentle. Mi Hongbao, in a daze, heard her say, "It’s okay, it’s all in the past, little sir."
That night when Mi Hongbao returned from Spring Flowers Tower, he didn’t lose his temper at home for the first time. He sat quietly in his own courtyard for a whole hour.
Till this day, Mi Hongbao still remembers the beautiful night sky of that evening, with not a single cloud in sight. His mind was filled with thoughts of Li Chunzhou, remembering her smile and her voice. He tried to distract himself from thinking about her, but Li Chunzhou was like a raging wildfire in a storm, taking away all his attention.
Mi Hongbao looked at the scars on his arm, remembering Li Chunzhou’s soft and warm touch that had just been there not long ago. The slightly itchy feeling from her touch remained, even growing wildly inside his heart.
It felt like an invisible hand passing through his chest, gripping Mi Hongbao’s heart entirely. This hand squeezed his heart with each heartbeat, making the pounding sound strongly and continuously against his ribs.
From that night on, Mi Hongbao started noticing Li Chunzhou more and more. From feeling awkward at first, to gradually realizing his feelings for her, he couldn’t pinpoint when he actually started liking her. Ever since their first meeting, he cared a lot about Li Chunzhou, but was confused about his own emotions.
He used to tease her in an annoying way before, just to get her attention. As Mi Hongbao became aware of his feelings, their relationship became more harmonious and closer. However, the more they got along, the more possessive Mi Hongbao felt inside.
Sometimes, Mi Hongbao even disliked Li Chunzhou. He disliked how she seemed friendly and smiling towards everyone, how she gave wooden carvings to others just like she gave to him, how she took his expressions of liking her as jokes, and how close she was with his cousin.
Surprisingly, they had known each other for a longer time than he realized. Why…?
Despite feeling annoyed in his heart, every time he saw Li Chunzhou, Mi Hongbao couldn’t resist subconsciously wanting to get closer to her.
He didn’t know before that loving someone meant accepting everything about them, the good and the bad, all in one go.
Love is useless, yet loving is also futile.
***
When Li Chunzhou heard that Mi Hongbao was going to give her Lotus Root Cake tomorrow, she shook her head and refused. There were other people around, and she didn’t want anyone to say anything bad about Mi Hongbao. So she acted a bit distant and said, "You know me, I’m not good at guessing if I like something or not, so please don’t give it to me tomorrow. It’s a hassle for you and a waste of things."
After saying that, she smiled at Mi Hongbao until he felt a little embarrassed. Just then, it was Mi Hongbao’s turn to be asked a question. The person holding the cards was familiar with Mi Hongbao and had drunk a lot. With a smirk, he asked, "Hey, Mi Hongbao, when was the first time you experienced love?"
Young noblemen like them usually have maidservants to teach them about relationships before they come of age. Besides taking care of daily life, it’s also to help them release their energy, so they don’t harm their bodies. If they get married without learning self-control, it might cause problems later.
Most of the young men present had a knowing smile on their faces. The attendants lowered their heads and looked shy. Some younger ones didn’t act well, and when Li Chunzhou noticed, she raised an eyebrow and couldn’t help but smile.
"Get lost!" Mi Hongbao glared at the young man asking the question. He felt embarrassed to admit he was still inexperienced. He couldn’t lie in front of Li Chunzhou by claiming he had been intimate with others, so he picked up his glass of wine and accepted the teasing.
"Wait, wait! If you don’t want to answer, let’s change the question," a young man across from him called out with a smile. He glanced at Li Chunzhou beside Mi Hongbao and playfully asked, "Hey, Mi Hongbao, when was your first kiss?"
Amidst the laughter of the crowd, Mi Hongbao quickly glanced at Li Chunzhou, cleared his throat, and said, "Oh, that? I was sixteen!"
Li Chunzhou looked at him in surprise because she remembered that Mi Hongbao was only fifteen this year.
Mi Hongbao seemed to understand what she wanted to ask. After sitting down, he leaned in and whispered to Li Chunzhou, "I hope you can come to my sixteenth birthday party, Lady Chun doesn’t need to give me anything… just teach me, that’s enough."
After speaking, his face turned red. He slightly moved away from her, looking at her expectantly and asked, "Lady Chun, will you come…?"
Under the table, Li Chunzhou lightly hooked his tiger’s mouth with her pinky finger, smiling silently and said, "Of course."
Before Li Chunzhou could look back, the cards were already passed to her, and it was her turn to answer the question.
A man with a stern face, unclearly pondering for a moment, looked up and asked, "I wonder if Miss Li can answer a question that has been troubling me for days?"
Li Chunzhou smiled at him and replied cheerfully, "Sure, but I’m not sure what the matter is that you need me to answer, sir."
"It’s simple," the man locked his gaze on Li Chunzhou’s dark eyes, trying to find traces of guilt or clues on her face, "Is there any connection between Mr. Liu’s death and you?"
Li Chunzhou observed his expression and guessed from his age that he was a promising young man promoted by Liu Yuming.
She kept her smile unchanged, didn’t defend herself in front of everyone, but changed the subject, raised her glass and said, "I’ve heard that Minister Liu had a liking for men. Sir, you seem to have greatly benefited from Minister Liu, but since you intend to trouble me, it seems I have no choice but to…"
The man who asked the question had a change in expression when he heard Li Chunzhou mention "greatly benefited," realizing that the spotlight had shifted from Li Chunzhou to him.
Just as Li Chunzhou was about to drink her wine, someone suddenly grabbed her hand. She looked over and saw Mi Hongbao standing in front of her, glaring at someone across the room. He said, "You shameless liar! Do you really think Lady Chun, a weak woman, could kill Minister Liu?"
At first, the man speaking was careful about his identity and didn’t mention his earlier words again. He sat down awkwardly.
Because of their argument, the room fell silent at the banquet. Li Chunzhou looked at Mi Hongbao, and when he finally sat down, she took his hand and placed it on her knee. With his palm facing up, she wrote, "Do you really trust me?"
Mi Hongbao didn’t say anything, just pressed his lips together and held her hand tightly.
Qi Leyuan, a curious chicken, had his fill at the banquet and then went back to Li Chunzhou, quietly reading through the chat records. Suddenly, he pecked Li Chunzhou quickly and typed in the chat, "!!! Something big, come back to discuss."
Li Chunzhou glanced at the message on the screen and then looked away. The sky outside was getting dark. She adjusted her clothes and asked Mi Hongbao for a coat.
With a faint smile, Li Chunzhou gazed at Mi Hongbao before leaving. She said to him, "I’m going first, A’bao."
Although Mi Hongbao wanted to leave with her, Li Chunzhou stopped him and made him sit back down.
Mi Hongbao watched her as she walked away. When his gaze shifted, he noticed Li Zhexuan following Li Chunzhou. This made Mi Hongbao frown in annoyance.
Li Zhexuan seemed to feel something, slowly turned his head back, locked eyes with Mi Hongbao, pondered for a moment, and revealed a strange smile that looked practiced, without any flaws.
If Li Chunzhou had seen the expression on Li Zhexuan’s face at that moment, she would naturally understand that Li Zhexuan was trying to show kindness to Mi Hongbao.
Li Zhexuan’s attitude towards others completely depended on Li Chunzhou’s emotions. He would understand the world through feeling Li Chunzhou’s feelings, share her emotions, and imitate her actions, like a piece of rib taken from her body.
But this smile in Mi Hongbao’s eyes was completely seen as provocation and arrogance. He glared back at Li Zhexuan fiercely and grumbled, "What are you looking at? Get lost!"