Meng Qing only said his family was in the silk business. Seeing Guan Yue asking too many questions, he began to look displeased, saying, “Captain Guan, what case are you investigating, asking so many questions? If not for Miss Yi’s sake, I couldn’t be bothered to entertain you. We’ve been standing here for so long. Would Captain Guan like to come in for a meal?” Then he turned and walked away.
Yu Yi apologetically said to Guan Yue, “Captain Guan, I’m afraid I can’t see you off.”
Guan Yue shook his head, “It’s fine. Miss Yu, please go back. I’ll take my leave now.” He mounted his horse, gave a light command, and the blue-spotted horse galloped away, quickly becoming a small dot.
Yu Yi caught up with Meng Qing, seeing him looking around and muttering to himself, “This place is quite nice, perfect for retirement. Are you planning to retire here?”
Yu Yi whispered, “Why are you here? Is there a mission?”
Meng Qing replied, “I’m just visiting a retired old partner.”
Yu Yi, seeing he wasn’t being serious, didn’t know whether to be angry or amused, and stopped asking.
They walked silently along the stream for a while, then Meng Qing said, “Although the scenery is nice, it gets boring after a while. Won’t you invite your old partner in for a sit?”
Yu Yi frowned slightly, “You should go. If my mother sees you, it’ll be hard to explain.”
Meng Qing sighed dramatically, “Didn’t you think about who just helped you out? You’re trying to chase me away right after I solved your problem. How ungrateful.”
Yu Yi couldn’t help but laugh, “I’m sorry. I’ll definitely thank Young Master Meng properly in the future.”
“Not a bit sincere.”
Just as Yu Yi was about to respond, she heard a voice: “Sister Yi.” Yu Ting ran out from behind the bushes, her hair messy with a dried leaf, her dark little hands clutching two round objects.
Yu Yi inwardly groaned, knowing she’d have to explain this to her mother.
Meng Qing crouched down, very interested in what Yu Ting was holding, and asked, “What’s this?”
“These are wild chestnuts! They’re really good when roasted with meat. Big brother, haven’t you tried them?” Yu Ting reached out to show Meng Qing her harvest.
Being only six, her small hand could barely hold the four or five wild chestnuts, and as she opened her hand, two chestnuts rolled off.
She let out an “ah” sound, and then saw Meng Qing swiftly reach out and grab the wild chestnuts in mid-air before they could fall to the ground.
Meng Qing handed the wild chestnuts to Yu Ting: “Make sure you hold onto them properly this time.”
Yu Ting looked at her small hands, then at his large palm, and directly placed all the wild chestnuts from her hands into his palm, saying in a crisp voice: “Big brother hasn’t eaten chestnut-roasted meat, so these are for you to eat.”
“That’s great.” Meng Qing stood up laughing, putting the dozen or so muddy wild chestnuts into his chest, “Thank you very much.”
Yu Ting was extremely happy, and after being thanked, she became even more enthusiastic: “Ting’er will go pick some more for big brother to take back.” Saying this, she turned to run into the forest.
Yu Yi quickly called her back: “Ting’mei, don’t go, it’s getting dark, you can’t play in the forest anymore.”
Yu Ting turned back somewhat frustrated, but then thought of something and looked at Meng Qing, asking: “When is big brother leaving?”
Meng Qing glanced at Yu Yi and shook his head “sadly”, “Your sister doesn’t like big brother, she just tried to chase me away, so big brother will be leaving soon.
“
Yu Ting looked disappointedly at Yu Yi: “Sister Yi, why don’t you like big brother? He’s very nice, Ting’er really likes him.”
Yu Yi was put in an awkward position by Yu Ting’s question and momentarily didn’t know how to respond. She glanced at Meng Qing and saw him smiling and looking at her, which suddenly made her a bit angry. She turned and said: “Because he…” But she paused and couldn’t think of anything specifically bad about Meng Qing, so she ended the topic, taking Yu Ting’s hand: “Ting’mei, it’s getting dark, let’s go back inside.”
“What about big brother?”
“He’s about to go home.”
Yu Ting looked at Meng Qing, and seeing that he didn’t deny it, she pouted and followed Yu Yi towards the main courtyard.
Chapter 62: Yu Yi’s Spacetime (12)
Yu Yi, pulling Yu Ting, had barely walked a few steps when they saw Yu Song-shi walking out of the main courtyard, looking around. Yu Ting raised her hand, shouting: “Mother!”
Yu Song-shi looked over and was momentarily stunned to see Meng Qing. Meng Qing bowed to her from a distance, and Yu Song-shi quickly curtsied in return. Then Meng Qing walked towards Yu Song-shi, and as he passed Yu Yi, he whispered so only she could hear: “You can’t blame me for this.”
Yu Yi’s eyebrows twitched, and she glared at Meng Qing’s back, but felt inexplicably happy inside.
As evening approached and the room grew dim, Yu Song-shi lit a lamp and invited Meng Qing to sit, asking, “What is your honorable surname, young master?”
“Unworthy of mention, my surname is Meng, given name Qing, courtesy name Fei Yu.”
Yu Song-shi found that although Meng Qing was dressed luxuriously, he was humble and polite, and her impression of him was quite good. She invited him to dine at the manor, which he accepted.
During the meal, Yu Song-shi only inquired if he was from Longdu and the purpose of his visit. Meng Qing answered everything without revealing any gaps. Yu Yi ate with her head down, thinking that her mother would surely ask detailed questions later, and she would need to help cover his lies.
After the meal, Meng Qing took his leave. Yu Ting was the most disappointed, asking: “Big brother, will you come back tomorrow?”
Meng Qing smiled: “If Ting’mei hopes big brother will return, then big brother will come.”
Yu Ting happily nodded: “Okay, big brother must come back tomorrow.”
Yu Yi was about to see him off, standing and straightening her rumpled dress. In this brief pause, her mother gently pushed her from behind, “Go see Master Meng out.” Yu Yi smiled bitterly – her mother was probably worried she would never get married.
Outside the courtyard gate, Meng Qing rolled up his sleeve and sent a program to her personal terminal. Yu Yi opened it and was surprised to find it was a street map of Longdu, with a red dot indicating a tracking device.
So he had just come to partner with her on a mission. Yu Yi felt somewhat disappointed. She looked at Meng Qing, “Is this your mission target this time?”
Meng Qing said, “No, this is for Officer Guan.”
Yu Yi was greatly surprised, asking, “When did you…” Then she realized, “That knife.”
Meng Qing nodded, “He’s already starting to suspect you, so you should be careful and pay attention to his movements.” His earlier performance with Officer Guan’s knife was not just to “expose his ignorance,” but to secretly attach a tracker to the knife’s guard.
Yu Yi felt both grateful and inferior to him.
After these few words, Meng Qing walked to his carriage, “Okay, I’ll stop here. I’m leaving.”
He was about to board when Yu Yi asked, “Why did you really come this time?”
Meng Qing turned and said, “I told you when we first met.”
“No mission?” Was he purely here to see her?
“Perhaps you have a mission to entrust to me?” Meng Qing asked with a smile.
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Yu Yi smiled, thought for a moment, and said, “Actually, I do.
