Translator: Flying Lines

  Third Xing ordered the strongest wine, “Tipsy Princess”, downed two large cups and then put his cup down loudly on the table. He then scolded, “Damn Xiao Baoshan, I thought he was an honest thickhead but I actually got tricked by him!”


  Skinny and the other dared not make a noise.

  Third Xing then continued, “So I wonder why he’s been going sailing like crazy lately and agreed to work for any kind of client. It turns out that he was making a name for himself and now a lot of clients only want to hire him. It was us who got those clients before but now they’ve all been won over by Xiao Baoshan.”


  Skinny Monkey said timidly, “I was reminding you before that maybe you shouldn’t ask for such a big share. He couldn’t be happy with fifty-fifty.”


  “If he wasn’t happy why didn’t he just say so? He said nothing whatsoever. He’s obviously played a trick on me!”


  “Even if it’s ten-ninety from now on we are still the winners. Xiao Baoshan himself equals to ten men. We won’t suffer any loss. We might as well ask him go sailing more often, right?” said Skinny Monkey.

  Third Xing gulped his wine again.

  Ye Xiaoxian went back to the kitchen and her lips could not help but curve.

  Xiao Baoshan……this thickhead? Humph, he was not thick. He was not thick at all when others were trying to trick him.

  But Ye Xiaoxian also stopped being worried about him, as long as he was not pushed around by others outside……

  Several days later Xiao Baoshan returned from Fu, bringing back a lot of stuff. He was back at dawn before the restaurant opened up. Everyone was gathering and busy in the yard, washing vegetables and tidying up.

  Li Hongmei spotted her son and shouted in excitement. “Oh, Baoshan’s back?”


  She then said with a motherly pity, “Baoshan, you’ve got thinner again? And darker? You almost look like a lump of coal.”


  Xiao Baoshan did not answer this question, simply removing the things from his shoulder and putting them down, then saying to Li Hongmei, “Ma, I’ve bought something for everyone. Help me to hand them out!”


  “What are they?” asked Li Hongmei.

  Xiao Baoshan had been getting more and more civilized lately and even brought things back home after going sailing.

  “Here’s some cotton cloth from Fu. It’s getting colder now. I saw that this cotton cloth is better quality than the stuff in our town, firm and thick, so I bought some for us to make some clothes. Little Five, Little Six and Xian, you all have some.”


  Little Five, Little Six and Xian heard that they had also got some cotton cloth, they hurriedly put down their work, wiping their hands clean and rushed over.

  In this era it was a big deal for ordinary poor folk to make some new clothes. They usually had to be really resolute in buying cloth to make new clothes in the new year. Some even had to wait two or three years to get a new outfit.

  Xiao Baoshan had bought blue cloth for Little Five and Little Six which could be made into jackets and was sufficient for making a full-body outfit. The cloth he bought for Xian was dark red.

  Xiao Baozhu also joined them. Xiao Baoshan then took hers out. It was pink with flower patterns and the style was a bit better than Xian’s. Still, Xian did not mind. She was already so happy that she would have new clothes.

  Xiao Baozhu was very satisfied with hers. She saw some diners wearing clothes of similar styles. Only young ladies could afford to wear clothes made of such material. It seemed that she was one step closer to being a lady. Xiao Baozhu decided that when her new clothes were done she would wear them every day, as Scholar Wong may visit at any time.

  Ever since Scholar Wong rescued them last time he had not been there for a long while. No one knew what he was busy with back at home.

  Xiao Baoshan then took out Li Hongmei’s cloth. The one for Li Hongmei was dark red with a floral pattern. The only difference with Xian’s was that it had the flowers. Li Hongmei was middle-aged, so she did not care very much about her appearance. She was happy so long as she would get new clothes to wear.

  “Baoshan, what about the one for Little Ye?”


  She had taught Xiao Baoshan a lot last time. She hoped that he had not bought Little Ye the same style as Baozhu’s or even hers. If he had, Ye Xiaoxian would not even bother wearing them.

  Meanwhile, Ye Xiaoxian was washing vegetables. Although she heard that Xiao Baoshan had brought something home she was not looking forward to it at all.

  She thought: Isn’t it just the same as what he got for everyone else? What’s so special about it?

  So, she did not even stop washing the vegetables.

  Until she heard Xiao Baoshan say, “There are two for little Ye Xiaoxian. One is for her to wear in the kitchen and the other is for everyday wear.”


  Xiao Baozhu saw them and shouted involuntarily, “Brother, aren’t you unfair? Why are these ones for sister-in-law so pretty?”


  Xiao Baoshan really held two kinds of materials. One was gray, for her to wear in the kitchen perhaps, but the exterior was linen and the filler was cotton, so the clothes wouldn’t look unflattering on her. The quality was much better than those of Qinghe.

  Xiao Baozhu was so envious holding the cloth and said, “Brother, why didn’t you buy the same one for me? I like sister-in-law’s.”


  Xiao Baoshan looked at Ye Xiaoxian and then said to Xiao Baozhu, “When you get married in the future, ask your husband to buy it for you.”


  Ye Xiaoxian’s heart fluttered.

  What does Xiao Baoshan mean by this? He’s recognized her as his wife?

  Li Hongmei’s eyes glittered.

  Baoshan has finally got his head on straight?

  “Baoshan, so what you mean is that Little Ye is your wife, so you bought something special for her, but Baozhu is only your sister, so you won’t buy the best one for her, right?”


  Xiao Baoshan frowned slightly, feeling what Li Hongmei said was just painting legs on a snake. Needless.

  Ye Xiaoxian wiped her hands, walked in front of Xiao Baoshan and took the two pieces of cloth, then looked up to meet his gaze.

  She saw starlight in his eyes. He looked at her with eagerness in his eyes. Ye Xiaoxian lowered her head slightly and said, “Thank you.”


  Xiao Baoshan then simply took out the bangle from his clothes, giving it to her. “And this.”


  The cloths were bought for everyone, it was just that Ye Xiaoxian had a better quality one, but as for the bangle, that was specially for her. Xiao Baoshan thought to himself that the reason Ye Xiaoxian had been so distant with him lately was, on the one hand, because of the gift, and on the other hand, maybe she had lost faith in him.

  Especially when Scholar Wong had showed up, Xiao Baoshan felt a sense of crisis. During the time he was going sailing he had missed her a lot. In fact, he had never been intimate with her apart from that night they were drugged by Li Hongmei. So, now he was thinking of confessing his affection for her.

  That was right. He was a thickhead before as he had not confirmed his feelings. Once he had confirmed that he would be determined.

  Seeing him give only her the bangle and that there was nothing more for the others, she found it rather unbelievable. She then asked Xiao Baoshan, “Did you only buy an accessory for me?”