Chapter 48

TRANSLATED BY MYPEN_22

Yan Shi also clutched their hands together tighter "Don't be anxious, many things are not what they appear to be."

Gao Changgeng raised his fist to smash the door, but the fist was in mid-air but did not come down.

He heard the two men in the courtyard say...

"But what could I do back then? If I hadn't obeyed Gao Changgeng, my mother would have been killed."

At these words, there was a sudden silence in the courtyard.

Hua Ling, already sure that Gao Changgeng was a villain who had robbed a man by force, stretched out a finger and poked it straight into the trunk of a tree, muttering in a low voice, "He's really a bad man."

"Go away." After a long silence, someone suddenly spoke again in the courtyard.

"White Company-"

"You go! Go now!" The voice suddenly became shrill, as if it was shouting with all its strength.

"Bai Lian, don't you love me anymore? I haven't forgotten you all these years, this person in my heart has always been you!"

"Have you said enough? If you've said enough, go away. I don't want to speak to you again, let alone see you again."

Then there was a shove.

Gao Changgeng's raised fist slowly fell, his body felt like it had given out, his originally straight spine felt like it had lost its pillars, and his whole body looked like it had aged over ten years.

Gao Changgeng slowly turned around and walked back slowly with his head lowered and shoulders slumped, as if his soul had been hooked away and only a mindless shell remained.

Yan Shi waited until he was far away before he and Hua Ling stepped out from behind the trees, "Let's go."

"Brother, where are we going?"

"To eat," Yan Shi said, "and ask Gao Changgeng about it."

Gao Changgeng was a big local family, and it was easy to ask about him. Yan Shi did not choose to ask the shopkeeper this time, but took Hua Ling to a stall selling small jewellery after he had eaten and drunk enough, and asked questions while pretending to buy jewellery.

The Gao family has a lot of assets in the local area, and Yan Shi was afraid that if any restaurant was owned by Gao Changgeng's family, it would be bad if Gao Changgeng knew about it if he poked around on his turf.

"You mean the old man Gao?" The stall owner said, "He is a good-looking man, with a good family background and good knowledge.

Yan Shi smiled, "I think this man is not bad either. To be frank, we are not local people, we were just passing through this place on our way to visit relatives, but I never thought that my sister would fall in love with Master Gao at first sight. She has been spoiled by us since she was a child and says she will marry him. Our family is well-off, so we don't care what kind of family they have. If the man is not bad, we plan to find a matchmaker to talk about marriage. But since we are new to the area and don't know him before, I thought I'd find someone to ask around, so I hope you'll tell me the truth."

As Yan Shi said this, he slipped a piece of silver into the stall owner's hand.

The stall owner could not earn that much in a month, so he gladly accepted the silver.

"So that's how it is," said the stall owner, "but your sister is going to be disappointed. This Master Gao is not married, but he is by no means a good match for the young lady."

Yan Shi frowned "I would like to hear more."

"The story began three years ago. Please see, from here to the north, there is a small alley called Qiu Feng Alley, there are two families living in the alley, the Zha family and the Xiao family." The stall owner said while pointing his hand northwards, "Both families had a son who was about the same age. The Cha family's son is called Cha Nan and the Xiao family's son is called Xiao Bailian. These two grew up together since they were young and gradually became attached to each other, making a lifelong commitment."

Yan Shi asked in confusion, "What does this have to do with Master Gao?"

"Don't be in a hurry, listen to what I have to say." The stall owner continued, "When Xiao Bailian was in his teens, his parents died one after another, and not long after that, Cha Nan's father also died. But one day, three years ago, his mother suddenly became very ill and needed a large sum of money to cure her illness. The Xiao family and the Cha family were both small families, and they had no money to pay for his mother's treatment. Although I didn't know exactly what kind of illness his mother had, I had heard that it was not an ordinary illness.

I don't know what kind of disease his mother has, but I have heard that it is not something that ordinary people can afford to cure, and even if they can cure it, they may not be able to save her. Just when Charnan and Xiao Bailian were in a hurry to raise money, Master Gao appeared and told Charnan that he would pay for his mother's treatment as long as Charnan married him."

Yan Shi said, "So Cha Nan has agreed?"

"Yes, if he hadn't agreed his mother would have been dead." The stall owner sighed, "After Charnan agreed, Gao Changgeng immediately brought his mother into the house, found the best doctor for her, and used the best medicine."

Hua Ling tugged at Yan Shi's sleeve "Brother-"

Yan Shi smiled gently at him and stroked his head soothingly, "It's alright." The young princess couldn't stand the thought of people who clearly loved each other but couldn't be together.

Although Gao Changgeng had taken advantage of the situation, he had also helped Zhanan, and it was not possible to determine in just a few words whether this was right or wrong.

"Xiao Bailian must be devastated." The young Princess originally happy face gradually took on a tinge of sadness.

"He was orphaned at a young age, and the bamboo horse he grew up with left him, so only he knows what it's like." The stall owner said, "The second month after Charnan moved to the Gao House, Xiao Bailian married himself off to Lincheng, but his fate was really bad, and the man died soon after he married him. He was a man and couldn't give birth to a son or daughter, so he didn't even have a child to take care of.

"Just now you said that Master Gao did not get married, but now you say that Chanan moved to Gao's house three years ago, what is this about?" Yan Shi was keenly aware of the inconsistencies in the stall owner's words.

The stall owner explained, "Soon after he moved to the Gao Mansion, he had planned to get married, but it was said that it was his natal year, so it was not good for him to get married, so he had to postpone it for a year. The next year was the year of the widow, so it was not a good time to get married either. In the third year, his mother died, and they had to observe mourning for another year, so they have not yet married. However, the two of them lived and ate together, and since Mr. Gao had entered the Gao family, he had gradually handed over the management of the Gao family's property to him, while he himself studied at ease. In order to prevent people from saying anything about Cha Nan, Master Gao even held a banquet at home, saying that Cha Nan was his fiancé, and asking people to call him Second Master. The Gao family's estate is flourishing rather than declining under his hands. If people didn't know about him, they would have thought he grew up as a rich young man."

Yan Shi said, "So Master Gao is really good to Cha Nan."

The stall owner said, "Who would say otherwise? I'm afraid he wouldn't have gone this far if he didn't really like him."

Yan Shi smiled politely, "It seems that my sister is really unlucky, if only she had met Master Gao earlier."

Yan Shi said goodbye to the stall owner and took Hua Ling's hand as he slowly walked back to the inn, just as it was getting dark.

Qu Liujing was waiting for them in the hall, and when he saw them enter, he said, "Gao Chang Geng didn't come and didn't send anyone."

Yan Shi had already expected this, "He won't come today." Then he told Qu Liujing all the news he had received today.

After listening, Qu Liujing nodded, "Then what if he doesn't come?"

"Let's wait and see, if we don't hear anything after tomorrow, then we'll go again."

At this point Hua Ling yawned, and Yan Shi's voice immediately lowered, "Sleepy?"

Hua Ling rubbed his eyes "A little."

"Then go to sleep." Nothing was as important as the little princess sleeping.

Hua Ling lay on the bed, his hands tightly wrapped around Yan Shi's waist, his nose rubbing against his chest "Brother..."

Yan Shi rubbed his hand on his back a few times "What's wrong? But you're not sleepy again?"

Hua Ling shook his head "We've been together all the time, all the time."

"We'll always be together." Yan Shi patted him comfortingly on the back and hugged him tighter.

"I really love love love love brother so much." Hua Ling also hugged Yan Shi tighter, wanting to set him into his own flesh and blood.

"Brother." Without waiting for Yan Shi to speak again, Hua Ling suddenly lifted his head from his chest to look at him with a gleaming gaze, "If I do something wrong and make you angry, will you forgive me? But don't worry I will never do anything wrong to you." Hua Ling was afraid that Yan Shi had misunderstood and hurriedly explained.

"Mingting, no one will never do anything wrong in their life, and neither will I. We are husband and wife, that means we have to understand each other." Yan Shi looked into his eyes and said in an unusually serious manner, "In fact, I always feel that I am not good enough for you. You married me, but I haven't done much to make your life better. I know you must be very lonely when I am not in the house during the day. Even when I return to the house, I have many things to do and very little time to spend with you. I am afraid that the future will be even more difficult, with all sorts of shots and arrows, and I am really afraid that I will not be able to protect you."

This was the first time Yan Shi had said such words to Hua Ling, his voice was slow and sincere, and his eyes were full of love and affection.

"Brother, I'm not afraid of any of this, if I have to die, I will definitely die with you. I'm just afraid, just afraid that if I do something wrong, you will be angry with me and never care about me again." You don't know what I have done behind your back, and the moment you find out the truth, will you still say the same as you do today?

Yan Shi kissed him on the eye "Don't think about it, you're having nightmares again. You have to be good and don't let me worry, okay?"

"Then will brother not want me in the future?" Hua Ling was still a bit uneasy.

Yan Shi's tone was unusually gentle and focused "You are the only one I have in this life."

If you really wrong me, I will never have anyone else in my life. My heart is only this big, and if I give it to you, I won't be able to hold anyone else.