“Come help me watch the medicine furnace,” Mo Sigui said.
Mei Tingzhao frowned unhappily. “We’re both apprentices. Why should I help you watch?”
“Ahem!” Yaoyue suppressed a laugh, almost choking. Many people of Mo Sigui’s age were already married with children. How could he still be considered a boy? Probably… he wasn’t even a virgin anymore…
“I’ll give you an interesting prescription later,” Mo Sigui tempted.
Mei Tingzhao glanced at An Jiu, pursed his lips, and smiled, dimples appearing on his cheeks. “Five, or no deal.”
“You little opportunist! Deal.” Mo Sigui cursed but agreed generously.
Mei Tingzhao immediately grabbed a palm-leaf fan and scurried out to squat by the kiln.
“Cousin, let me take you to Elder Zhi,” Mo Sigui said eagerly.
“Shouldn’t we announce ourselves first?” Yaoyue reminded.
Mo Sigui waved his hand dismissively. “Two old men huddled together, what’s there to announce? We won’t stumble upon anything we shouldn’t see, don’t worry.”
“You jest,” Yaoyue gently tugged at An Jiu’s sleeve, indicating that Mo Sigui was truly unreliable.
“So fussy!” Seeing Yaoyue’s displeasure, Mo Sigui changed his tone. “But I like it when women are fussy, it shows carefulness. What kind of woman isn’t careful?”
An Jiu was never fussy, but she didn’t care about Mo Sigui’s words.
“They’re in the herb garden, still some distance away. Let’s head there first,” he explained.
“You know how to tease people. Why didn’t you say so earlier?” Yaoyue complained.
Mo Sigui hadn’t been formally included in the family register, so his status in the Mei family had plummeted. The Mei family had plenty of money, so they didn’t skimp on his food and necessities, but the servants’ attitudes towards him were vastly different from before. Moreover, he didn’t maintain his dignity, always appearing carefree and nonchalant. Even some stewards dared to lord over him. Yaoyue’s politeness was already quite courteous.
Mo Sigui grinned, “Let’s go.”
The two followed him out through the side door. He racked his brains trying to engage An Jiu in conversation, but despite talking for a while, he received no response.
“You must be very sad about your aunt leaving, cousin?” Mo Sigui decided to use a stronger approach.
Yaoyue quickly interjected, “You must be tired from all this talking. Why don’t you rest?”
An Jiu remained impassive, but Mei Jiu was deeply saddened. These words had truly struck a painful chord.
Seeing An Jiu’s unchanged expression, Mo Sigui grew even more curious. “Cousin…”
Sensing Mei Jiu’s sadness, An Jiu turned her head and coldly stared at him. “Try saying one more word.”
Having already gone too far to back down, Mo Sigui was now certain something was amiss with her. She simply stopped hiding it.
Yaoyue, walking behind them, couldn’t see An Jiu’s expression. Although she felt the tone was off, she assumed it was due to intense sadness and anger.
Mo Sigui pursed his lips, his bright eyes never leaving An Jiu, as if he wanted to crack open her skull to see what was wrong inside.
This was the fervor of a doctor toward a patient, not unfamiliar to An Jiu. She had faced many such gazes before.
“We’ve reached the herb garden,” Yaoyue said, spotting the bamboo fence in the distance.
An Jiu stopped. “I hate you,” she said, looking at Mo Sigui. “So don’t let me see you again…”
The latter half of her sentence remained unspoken, but her eyes conveyed the message clearly: if he continued to cause trouble, there would be consequences!
This was an outright threat!
“Ahem.” Mo Sigui wanted to retort, but the atmosphere was so cold and solemn that he suddenly felt he might be out of his depth. He laughed dryly, “Don’t be so serious, it’s scary… I’ll go inform the two elders!”
With that, he quickly slipped away.
Yaoyue was stunned for a moment, then smiled, “My lady is so impressive. He won’t dare to bring up sensitive topics so carelessly anymore!”
An Jiu didn’t think so. Mo Sigui could be summed up in three words: shameless!
If he truly learned his lesson, he wouldn’t repeatedly seek trouble. An Jiu felt that if there was a next time, she would have to eliminate him! Because she despised doctors from the depths of her soul, and she despised shameless doctors even more!