Chapter 50: The Arrival of the Flower Festival
If I were not myself, and the person just now was not me, would she have shown the exact same attitude?
A surge of anger churned in his heart, and his mood inexplicably soured. This feeling came so swiftly that even he found it entirely uncontrollable.
Seeing Mo Yu's foul expression, Lin Chuyi could not help but puff out her cheeks in frustration.
Hey, hey! She had practically let him see everything, yet he was too stingy to part with a mere twenty taels of silver. How utterly miserly.
After Mo Yu managed to suppress the strange emotions roiling within him, he turned his head and caught sight of Lin Chuyi's pouty, indignant expression.
"What is the matter?"
Lin Chuyi glanced at him, then quickly looked away. "Nothing."
Her feelings were so obvious that how could Mo Yu possibly miss them? Was this lass actually angry over money? Could it be that mere silver mattered more than her own reputation?
This was a question he simply could not wrap his head around, no matter how hard he tried.
Mo Yu gave a helpless, gentle chuckle. "Name your price, and it shall be yours."
Lin Chuyi stared blankly at Mo Yu, her hand still propping up her chin, failing to process his words for a moment.
"Do you need me to write an IOU?" Mo Yu naturally reached out and took Lin Chuyi's hand in his, gently rubbing the palm that she had reddened from slapping earlier.
The soft and tender texture startled him immensely. He had never known a person's hand could be so supple, almost as if it possessed no bones at all.
As she pondered over Mo Yu's words, the realization dawned on Lin Chuyi—did this mean he agreed?
At this thought, her mood instantly brightened to the extreme, causing her to completely overlook the fact that her hand was still captured in his.
"No, no, no, there's no need for an IOU," Lin Chuyi waved her hands repeatedly, then added, "If there's nothing else, I'll be taking my leave. Rest well, Brother Mo."
With that, she stood up cheerfully and trotted toward the door. Upon reaching the threshold, she did not forget to turn back and call out, "Brother Mo, it's forty-eight taels, remember!"
Mo Yu was still momentarily dazed by the sudden loss of the soft texture in his palm, but upon hearing this, he could not help bursting into laughter.
"Naturally, I will not forget."
Having received a definitive answer, Lin Chuyi beamed with joy. She carefully opened the door, peeked out furtively to ensure the coast was clear, and then scurried away like a little thief.
Sneaking around like this inside her own home must have been a first for her.
Watching that retreating figure, a dark flash crossed Mo Yu's eyes, and an inexplicable emotion lingered at the tip of his heart, refusing to dissipate.
Mo Yu's injuries healed at an astonishing pace. After a few days of recuperation, he had completely recovered. Who knew what kind of ointment Physician Li had applied to him, but even the scars on his body had faded significantly.
One had to know that when Lin Chuyi rescued him, he had been on his last breath, teetering on the edge of death. To heal this quickly was truly nothing short of miraculous.
As time flowed on, Muming Town finally ushered in its once-every-three-years Flora Festival.
After a few days of inquiry, Mo Yu finally understood that this Flora Festival was not just any ordinary flower festival. The so-called flowers referred to eligible young maidens, while the admirers were naturally promising young talents.
To put it bluntly, this was a large-scale matchmaking festival, though winning the heart of a beauty was by no means an easy task. Just as the sky was beginning to turn pale, the entire household was already up and about. Following several days of decorations, the streets and the estate were decked with colorful lanterns and festoons, brimming with a lively and festive atmosphere.
As for the young women and men hailing from other villages and towns, they had already checked into the inns two days prior, waiting solely for the auspicious hour today to set off immediately.