Tang Si dragged him to a noodle stall by the roadside and sat down.

“This is how eating should be—comfortable,” Tang Si said.

Muruo kept a straight face, his eyes showing as much disdain as humanly possible.

He randomly grabbed two chopsticks from the bamboo tube and poked them at the table.

Muttering under his breath, “To think that I, Muruo, suave and elegant, am actually eating noodles here with a wild girl. We don’t go to perfectly good places but come here instead.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Tang Si across from him struck him hard on the head.

“What’s wrong with here? This place is great—eating here is straightforward and refreshing. Unlike you, actually running to that kind of place to eat, not afraid of being choked to death by the rouge scent.”

“At least there are beauties to accompany me. Eating with them is quite fragrant.”

“What’s so good about those women?” She slammed the table in interrogation.

“Everything is good. At least they don’t constantly fight and kill like you do.”

“When have I been fighting and killing?”

“And another thing—at least they wouldn’t be like you are now, making a scene on the street.” Muruo rolled his eyes at her countless times.

Tang Si hated most when people compared her to others. She straightened her body, chin raised high. “Look at me carefully. Am I really not as good as them? Where am I lacking? Is this young lady not as beautiful as they are?”

Her voice was loud, immediately drawing the attention of people around them.

They all began discussing.

Muruo felt he had lost all face. He raised his hand to cover his face and asked her, “Why are you so angry?”

“You’re asking why?” She stood up abruptly. “You blockhead, do I have to spell it out completely for you to understand?”

Huh?

Muruo didn’t understand, and that woman huffily ran off.

What the hell was that?

Just then, the noodle stall owner brought up two bowls of noodles. “Young master, your noodles.”

He nodded, staring at the two bowls of noodles in front of him, then suddenly understood something.

Uh!

He exclaimed in shock, “No way, right?”

Yes way!

Tang Si has fallen for you, you smelly brat!

His whole body shuddered. He quickly pulled out some silver, placed it on the table, and went to that brothel from earlier.

Not because he coveted beauty, but simply as a personal interest and hobby.

He loved beauties but wasn’t obsessed with them.

After that day, every time Tang Si saw him, she couldn’t help lowering her head, always feeling extremely shy. She had hoped to receive a response from Muruo, but that brat acted as if he knew nothing.

Playing dumb!

As for Jingrong, after the blow from the cooking incident, he gave up the idea of continuing to cook and switched to raising chickens instead.

He specifically cleared out a courtyard and raised a hen, staring at it eagerly every day, hoping it would hurry up and grow, feeding it every day. But later, feeling that one chicken was too boring, he went out for a stroll and bought back a rooster, planning to make them a pair. The result was predictable—before he knew it, the two chickens became three, then a crowd, and he raised a whole courtyard full of them.

The “cluck cluck cluck” of chicken sounds filled the entire courtyard.

At first, Jingrong found the sounds pleasant, but later, he was driven absolutely crazy by the noise and found it annoying. So he simply dumped this chicken-raising mess directly on Lang Bo.

Absolutely revenge!

Just because last time when delivering porridge, he accidentally interrupted his prince’s romantic moment, he had to be tormented like this.

Lang Bo sat on a large rock in the courtyard, holding a long bamboo stick in his hand, poking at the ground aimlessly.

He didn’t forget to complain: “Raising chickens, raising chickens—buys the chickens himself but doesn’t raise them himself.”

These words he only dared say behind his back. If he said them in front of Jingrong, he wouldn’t dare—otherwise, he’d definitely be torn apart by five horses.

“Cluck cluck cluck~”

The mother hen led her baby chicks in a line, slowly waddling past him.

“Keep clucking? Keep clucking and I’ll slaughter you all.”

“Cluck cluck cluck~”

The lead hen brought her little chicks to surround his feet, calling incessantly.

He really had no solution!

He truly didn’t dare slaughter them.

Otherwise, he’d be buried along with them.

As for the owner of the chickens, he was currently pulling Ji Yunshu in his room to practice painting.

His calligraphy skills were excellent, but when it came to painting, he was a complete amateur.

Ji Yunshu had originally been resting in her room but was forcibly dragged up by him. With no choice, she could only teach him to paint the simplest thing—bamboo. And Jingrong was indeed a very dedicated child.

Patient!

And with a strong desire to learn!

The bamboo he painted went from looking like chopsticks at the beginning to becoming more and more formed. Then this fellow became somewhat arrogant and volunteered to paint a portrait!

So, for the first time in her life, Ji Yunshu became a model.

She sat motionless, waiting for him to paint.

About the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

“Done!”

The portrait was complete.

He joyfully brought the portrait over to show her.

But the moment she saw the portrait, Ji Yunshu’s heart collapsed.

The figure painted was indeed a person, with a nose and eyes, eyebrows and ears—nothing missing, and the facial features were in the right positions.

But when these features were combined together, it clearly wasn’t her at all.

And it was extremely ugly!

Who was this person? She stared for a long time and couldn’t recognize them.

Ji Yunshu was at least an elegant and refined beauty.

Not wanting to discourage Jingrong’s confidence, she smiled and comforted him: “At least you used the colors well.”

Jingrong understood her meaning. His spirit was once again wounded. So he threw down the brush.

Whoever the hell paints again is a dog.

After so many rounds of tormenting activities, he finally settled down and stopped causing trouble.

Taking advantage of the nice weather, he properly took Ji Yunshu boating.

Drifting on the lake!

One bamboo raft, one expanse of lake water—the atmosphere was perfect.

This should have been an opportunity for the two of them to be alone, but when Muruo heard he was going boating, he tagged along too. And when he tagged along, naturally Tang Si followed as well.

The bamboo raft was crowded with people. The boatman rowed the raft, drifting all the way downstream.

Jingrong sat at the stern, with a pot of wine beside him. Muruo sat at the bow, also with a pot of wine beside him.

Ji Yunshu and Tang Si were sandwiched in the middle.

“The scenery is infinitely beautiful!” Muruo suddenly exclaimed as if possessed.

“Idle people don’t know the mood!” From the stern, Jingrong picked up his words.

The implication was that this beautiful scenery was spoiled by the presence of Muruo and Tang Si, these two third wheels.

Hearing this, Muruo laughed loudly, then tilted his head back to drink, saying nothing more.

But one could imagine just how foul Jingrong’s mood was.

Ji Yunshu understood their earlier exchange, but Tang Si just stared there blankly.

What was all that about!

Shaking her head—she didn’t care about any of that.

Anyway, she was absolutely delighted, because whenever she encountered water, she couldn’t contain herself.

In Houliao, as far as the eye could see, there was nothing but grassland. Being able to come here made her even happier than having a good meal.

She directly took off her shoes, dangled her bare feet in the water, and from time to time used her feet to flick water toward Muruo, who was drinking at the bow.

Water splashed on his cheek and back, but Muruo didn’t care and continued drinking.

Like a robot.