Hearing Qi Ying ask about this, Shen Xiling thought for a moment and said: “There were indeed some troublesome matters, but I can still handle them myself.”

After a pause, she looked at him again, revealing a beautiful smile as she said: “When I can’t manage anymore, I’ll come find Young Master to help me.”

Another little bit of coquetry.

The more she grew up, the more she liked acting coquettish compared to when she was little, and she also became more clingy to him than in childhood. Once she hadn’t seen him for some time, when they met again she would be especially delicate and charming.

Though Qi Ying didn’t say so, he actually liked her this way in his heart – he knew she was only like this in front of him, always proper and well-behaved before others.

Young Master Qi’s usually cold and clear features became very gentle at this moment. Those phoenix eyes glanced at the little girl, then he said lightly: “Mm, come find me when you have problems.”

Though he said this, he actually knew in his heart she wouldn’t easily come to him. She was a very contradictory person – clearly so dependent on him, so fond of acting coquettish with him, yet when truly encountering difficulties she always supported herself alone. At least in these three years, she had never come to him about business troubles, and even when he actively inquired, she always said everything was fine.

Hearing him say this, Shen Xiling felt warmth in her heart.

She indeed wouldn’t run to bother him at every little problem, but as long as he was there, she would feel secure inside, as if she always had someone backing her up.

So she responded softly: “Mm, I understand.”

By now the clouds of steam from the steamer had dispersed. Two plump crabs nestled together, their color very bright and beautiful. Shen Xiling turned around and somehow produced a tea set from somewhere, poured two cups of hot ginger tea, handed one to Qi Ying, and the two began eating the crabs, one each.

Autumn was the best season for eating crabs. Suzhou’s lake crabs were renowned throughout the world and especially delicious. What Shen Xiling had steamed were two female crabs – the most delicious part was the crab roe.

As she tried to pry open the crab shell, she said to Qi Ying: “Originally I wanted to pour some osmanthus wine to drink – I felt it would better suit the autumn mood. But thinking that Young Master had been drinking at the family banquet today and had probably already had much wine, I changed it to ginger tea instead. This tea…”

She was only halfway through speaking when an already-opened crab shell suddenly appeared before her eyes, filled with rich, oily crab roe, golden yellow.

Shen Xiling was stunned. Following his slender, beautiful fingers holding the crab shell, she looked up at him and saw him lowering his head to crack crab legs while casually and naturally saying: “I’ll open your shell, you eat this one.”

Shen Xiling pursed her lips and didn’t immediately take the shell from his hand. He looked up at her, raised an eyebrow, and asked: “What’s wrong?”

She blinked and said: “No need, I can do it myself…”

Qi Ying glanced at the crab she had been struggling with for a long time without opening the shell, smiled, and didn’t argue with her further. He simply continued holding out the opened shell for her while looking at the unopened one in her hands: “Give it to me.”

So matter-of-fact.

Shen Xiling felt a sweet, tingling sensation rise in her heart. She didn’t act coy or refuse anymore, said “Oh,” and exchanged with him.

Eating crab was time-consuming work. To get to the snow-white crab meat, one had to not only remove the shell but also break the crab in half, then dismantle the crab legs section by section – very troublesome and requiring some strength.

Shen Xiling had originally thought that eating together with Qi Ying would take longer and they could talk more. She hadn’t expected that though time was indeed drawn out, she ended up troubling him to continuously care for her. He worried both about her cutting her hands and that she was too weak to crack things open, so he kept peeling crab for her, dismantling crab legs into small sections to give her. He himself hardly ate anything.

Shen Xiling felt both that this was troubling him and sweetness from his such meticulous care. Moreover, she was quite clever, knowing to secretly sit closer to him while he was taking care of her. With just a turn of her head, her nose would touch his clothing.

She really wanted to lean against him.

Shen Xiling, you must restrain yourself.

She admonished herself thus and sat up straighter.

But the light, shallow sandalwood fragrance from his clothes made her feel slightly intoxicated without drinking wine. The moonlight was clear and moist. The lotus flowers in the pond had passed their blooming season and were somewhat withered now, but their fragrance remained pleasant. Beside her, the sounds of him cracking crab shells came and went intermittently – it was an extremely fine autumn night.

Her heart became even more restless.

At this moment she heard him say: “Are you free in a few days? I’ll take you autumn sightseeing.”

Hearing this, Shen Xiling perked up, again lifting her head to look at him. Seeing her bright eyes, Qi Ying found her very endearing. If not for his hands being dirty at that moment, he would definitely have been unable to resist smoothing her hair.

He heard the little girl answer happily: “Really? – Wonderful, when?”

Her delighted appearance was far too endearing. When those beautiful eyes lit up, they always made those watching feel increasingly cheerful. Qi Ying was drawn into a faint smile by her, then put down his crab to think and said: “In a few days, when I have my rest day.”

No wonder Shen Xiling was surprised – he indeed rarely took her out together. Carefully calculated, it had almost never happened, since he was always busy, and later she became busy too. The two rarely had times when both were free.

She didn’t know why he suddenly had such inclination, only felt happy in her heart. Hearing this, she counted on her fingers to calculate the days, saw that his rest day was the day after tomorrow, and became even more delighted. But then she heard him coolly warn her: “At that time I’ll test your riding skills.”

Hearing this, Shen Xiling’s face fell.

Though she had spent most of her energy on business these years, she was still studying and learning with him.

The six arts of a gentleman – ritual, music, archery, charioteering, writing, mathematics – the others were manageable, but in archery and horsemanship she really had no talent. However, Qi Ying was very insistent about this matter, constantly urging her to practice riding diligently. Actually, seeing her weak constitution, he intentionally had her use this to strengthen her body and health.

Though Shen Xiling understood his good intentions, she really couldn’t handle this horseback riding business. After practicing for three years she still hadn’t made much progress. She felt afraid whenever she encountered it, could barely manage to ride slowly, but once the horse got frisky and even trotted, she felt it would shorten her life.

Seeing her downcast face, amusement flashed through Qi Ying’s eyes. Though he had no intention of letting her off, he still offered words of comfort: “It’s fine, I’ll stay with you the whole time.”

But Second Young Master Qi’s comfort didn’t win any favor with the little girl. She even complained inwardly – that’s not staying with me, it’s just watching me. Does he think I can’t tell? Naturally she felt no comfort from this and her expression remained poor.

Qi Ying shook his head with a smile, said nothing more, and just handed her another crab leg segment.

But she had already begun worrying about having to ride horses in a few days and felt she couldn’t eat anymore. She shook her head and said: “I’m not eating anymore.”

The little girl looked like she was throwing a tantrum. Qi Ying found it somewhat amusing and didn’t argue with her. Seeing that without realizing it he had already fed her an entire crab and estimating she was probably somewhat full, he didn’t force her to continue eating.

He picked up a nearby towel to wipe his hands, then remembered something and called to her: “Wenwen.”

Shen Xiling turned her head to look at him in response, but her brow was still furrowed, making him smile.

He chuckled once. That urge to reach out and smooth her hair emerged again. He restrained himself from doing so and instead said: “Next February is your coming-of-age ceremony. Mother also mentioned this to me today. I wanted to ask your own thoughts – how do you want to handle it?”

Hearing this, Shen Xiling was stunned, murmuring: “Coming-of-age ceremony…”

Seeing no joy in her eyes but rather a hint of worry, Qi Ying thought she was afraid the ceremony wouldn’t be handled properly, so he said: “You needn’t worry. However you want to do it, we’ll follow your wishes.”

Shen Xiling looked up at him once. The worry in her eyes hadn’t dispersed, and there was even a faint melancholy, making Qi Ying’s heart sink, not knowing why she was like this.

He heard the little girl respond softly: “Mm, alright.”

Having spent much time together, they had become very familiar with each other. Each other’s words and actions, even just a glance, could reveal what the other was thinking. Especially since Qi Ying was nearly ten years older than Shen Xiling and had trained in officialdom for many years – to him she was like a blank sheet of paper, and he could see every thought in her heart, down to the finest detail.

Though he now sensed she felt somewhat uncomfortable, he couldn’t immediately determine the source of this emotion. She had changed considerably in these three years. Perhaps because she had taken over business affairs, she had become more generous and cheerful than in childhood, no longer as cautious and careful as before. But some personality traits were inborn – for instance, her sensitivity. Even now, it remained the same.

He couldn’t be sure for the moment. Seeing her expression carry a touch of loneliness, his heart filled with increasing pity. After thinking, he still asked her gently: “What’s wrong? Why are you unhappy?”

When he asked, she again lifted her face, turned sideways to look at him with those beautiful eyes, the emotions within very complex.

She stayed silent for a while, then asked him: “Can I not have the coming-of-age ceremony?”

Qi Ying was stunned, sensing her resistance to the ceremony and feeling somewhat strange. He asked: “Why not?”

She pressed her lips together and didn’t answer for a long time, only lowering her head again and saying somewhat sullenly: “…I just don’t want to have it.”

This was both coquettish and somewhat willful. Qi Ying laughed, thinking the little girl was throwing a small tantrum.

She was occasionally like this. He knew she liked him to coax her, and he was willing to coax her. At this moment he went along with her wishes and said: “The coming-of-age ceremony is one of the most important great rituals in a woman’s life – how can you not have it? If you don’t like ostentation, we can keep it simple, but we can’t not have it.”

His voice was gentle and very patient. Shen Xiling also wasn’t unaware of the significance of the coming-of-age ceremony for women.

She just… remembered his words from three years ago.

“When she grows up, she’ll naturally leave.”

Shen Xiling had never told Qi Ying that three years ago she had overheard this conversation between him and the Sixth Princess. This matter had long passed, and bringing it up again would seem pointless. But though she didn’t mention it, she had always remembered these words in her heart, feeling a hidden fear throughout these three years.

She didn’t know what, in his eyes, would count as her having grown up.

When she was managing the cloth shop business before, she had even felt worried, afraid of doing too well all at once and making him feel she could already stand on her own, then he would make her leave. Therefore at that time she had even deliberately caused a few small problems, occasionally complaining to him about the hardships of commerce, hinting that she was still far from grown up, still far from being able to take care of herself.

But now she was about to come of age.

When a woman came of age, she was considered an adult. No matter how much she resisted, she was still approaching that day one day at a time. When that day came… would he make her leave?

Author’s Note: Daddy-type boyfriend, suitable for home and hearth PS: The part I spoiled on Weibo last time will be in the next update