Chapter 1664: Days of Walking with Swagger
Gu Jinli was a very alert person. Although she was sleepy, she didn’t fall into a deep slumber. As soon as she smelled the scent of peach blossoms, she perked up and forced herself to open her eyes.
In the bright candlelight, a few branches of peach blossoms swayed in front of her.
The peach blossoms, like snowflakes, brought a refreshing fragrance. She sniffed them happily, but what delighted her more was: "You’re back."
Hey, Brother Qin wasn’t kept busy at the government office after all; he was able to come back and rest.
"Yes, I’m back." Qin San Lang listened to her laughter, looked down at her smiling face, and felt a surge of happiness, asking with concern, "Is Xiao Yu very tired?"
Gu Jinli shook her head and hugged his waist: "Not too tired, just stayed up too many nights recently. Now that I’ve stopped working, I feel a bit sleepy."
Not wanting Qin San Lang to blame himself, she pointed at the peach blossoms, "Did you pick these for me?"
Qin San Lang nodded: "Yes, just for you."
Hearing this, Gu Jinli laughed and played with the two flower branches in her hand, "They are pretty, even prettier than the Meihua."
The petals of the peach blossoms were more intricate than the Meihua. Each flower branch was dense with blooms, quite beautiful.
She happily said, "There are peach blossoms here in the Northwest, so we won’t worry about not having peaches to eat!"
Peaches are sweet and crisp, also very delicious.
When Qin San Lang saw her eyes brighten when talking about eating fruits, his heart melted and also felt itchy. He cupped her face, kissed her lips softly, and asked while nibbling, "Do you like eating fruits that much?"
Gu Jinli wanted to answer but was silenced by his greedy kisses. Only when her breathing became difficult did he reluctantly release her, saying, "Wait a while, when the Northwest is more stable, I’ll have someone bring you some red fruits to eat, they are sweeter than peaches."
Peaches were abundant in He’an Prefecture, and because Xiao Yu loved eating fruits, he had tasted them. The flavor was indeed a bit sour, not sweet enough.
Gu Jinli laughed and said, "Okay, then I’ll make fruit-filled tarts for you."
"..." Qin San Lang thought about those sweet, fruit-filled tarts and, hesitating for a moment, earnestly said, "Let’s stick with grilled fish, I like fish the most."
After speaking, he looked at her delicate face and felt the softness of her body in his arms, unable to resist wanting to kiss her again.
But Xiao Yu was sleepy, and he couldn’t bear to tire her out, so he suppressed the impulse and said: "Xiao Yu, you get some sleep first. I’ll go bathe and then come back to accompany you."
Gu Jinli nodded but worriedly asked about his meeting with several generals: "You weren’t made things difficult for, were you?"
The heart of man leans towards jealousy. He had achieved such great war merits; she was afraid he would be envied and deliberately troubled.
Qin San Lang smiled and said: "No, General Cheng and General Zhou both look out for me, possibly wanting to promote me, to support a good helper... It looks like they really lack capable fighters in the army."
Qin San Lang, born to the nobles, had trained in the army and knew well the difficulty for ordinary soldiers from farming families to rise in the ranks. Many times, the war merits they earned through near-death experiences would become their superiors’ achievements in the end.
This time, he was lucky. With General Cheng, General Liang, and the Lei Family’s Trading Team helping, along with Xiao Yu’s contribution of medicine, his war merits hadn’t been swallowed by others.
Based on tonight’s attitude from General Zhou, he was quite sure that the military was indeed short of people, to the point where the generals were willing to support him without thoroughly checking his background.
He also told her about Qi Vice Magistrate still coveting the Insect Attractant, reminding her: "Be careful of the people sent by Qi Vice Magistrate. Avoid going if invited by the Vice Magistrate, ask Granny Lei for help to decline."
Gu Jinli smiled and said: "Don’t worry, I’m on guard. And you know my capabilities, besides, you’ve left me plenty of manpower, we definitely won’t suffer a loss."
Qin San Lang felt more at ease after hearing this, but still felt guilty. If only he were more capable, Xiao Yu wouldn’t have to deal with these upper-level challenges.
"Xiao Yu, give me some time, and I’ll make sure you can live life with ease." He promised, his eyes infinitely determined and earnest, his woman should live such a life!
"Pfft~" Gu Jinli laughed out loud, pulled at his face and said: "Alright, I believe in you. But don’t put too much pressure on yourself, I just hope you can live happily."
Qin San Lang kissed her, speaking in a gentle voice: "As long as you’re here, I’ll be very happy."
Gu Jinli couldn’t take it anymore, her face turning red as she pushed him saying: "Hurry and go bathe, sleep. You have to report to the government office tomorrow, being late won’t be good."
Then she handed him the peach blossoms in her hand: "These branches, put them in a vase."
As for the two branches in her hand, she tied them to the bed head, just like on the westward road when he had picked Meihua for her and tied them to the carriage roof.
"Sure." Qin San Lang took the peach blossoms, found a vase to place them in, and carefully arranged them to look better before grabbing his clothes to go bathe: "I’m off, I’ll be back soon."
"Okay, okay, go on." Gu Jinli waved her hand at him, knelt on the bed, and took a string to tie the peach blossoms.
Qin San Lang watched with a smile, standing still for a while. When he saw she was almost finished, he finally took steps and left.
𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢
Over a quarter of an hour later, he returned after bathing. Gu Jinli had already tied the peach blossoms and was lying on the bed looking at them. When she saw him return, she pointed at the peaches and asked: "Pretty, aren’t they?"
Qin San Lang, while drying his hair with a cloth towel, replied: "Yes, they are pretty."
He then said: "Xiao Yu, if you’re sleepy, go to bed first. I’ll come to accompany you once my hair is dry."
"Okay." Gu Jinli nodded, lying on her side, resting her head with one hand, watching him sit at the bedside drying his hair, while with her other hand, she tugged at his hair, saying: "Let’s pick a day and cut our hair, it’s too long and hard to manage, and it also absorbs nutrients."
Qin San Lang was stunned, looked back at her: "Hm? Absorbs nutrients?"
Gu Jinli nodded: "Yes, hair is just like the flesh on our bodies, it’s nourished by the food we eat. The longer the hair, the more nutrients it absorbs, so it’s better to cut some off. But we can’t let the family find out."
Mrs. Cui and the others thought cutting hair was like chopping the head, something bad, almost a matter of life and death.
Qin San Lang, however, didn’t oppose it: "Alright, we’ll pick a day and cut a section of the tips."
There’s the ancient example of cutting hair in place of the head, but from ancient times till now, it’s not that hair can’t be cut, just that one should choose a good day, bathe, and then cut it.
"Alright." Gu Jinli responded, very happy, but she was indeed sleepy and fell asleep soon after.
Seeing this, Qin San Lang smiled, dried his hair, crawled into the quilt, hugged her, kissed her lips, and fell asleep embracing her.
Because Qin San Lang was back, Gu Jinli slept very soundly, but while she was sleeping sweetly, she suddenly sensed someone kissing her, that person was even pressing down on her, heavy, making her want to kick him off!
She instinctively lifted her foot but couldn’t kick the person pressing down on her, her leg was pinned and pushed back down.
Gu Jinli was furious, she snorted, wanted to punch him, but then she heard that person say to her: "Xiao Yu, don’t be afraid, it’s me... I missed you."