CHAPTER 756: CHAPTER 756: CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE

Gu Jinli finished speaking and gently tip-toed out of the courtyard she lived in, towards the wall near the Qin family. She scaled the wall quickly but had barely secured her grip when she saw Qin San Lang’s big head.

She let out a startle and nearly fell off, but Qin San Lang quickly grabbed her: "Are you alright?"

Gu Jinli glared at him: "Why did you scare me? I almost fell down."

Despite her complaints, Qin San Lang was not angry. Instead, he pulled her up onto the top of the wall, then jumped down into the small alley between the two families’ walls and handed her a cloth bag: "Fruit, there are red fruits and mountain pears."

Gu Jinli was pleasantly surprised: "You really bought fruits."

Qin San Lang nodded and smiled: "Go ahead and eat, these have just been washed. There are another two baskets uncleaned, I will bring them to you tomorrow."

Gu Jinli smiled and nodded, picking up a red fruit and taking a bite: "Mmm, delicious, sweeter than the ones you brought back last time. Didn’t you say that these red fruits are difficult to procure? Where did you get a whole basket full?"

Qin San Lang replied: "They were my reward for the winter training exercise."

Eating a red fruit, Gu Jinli asked: "A reward? Aren’t the rewards for the garrison’s winter and night training exercises always horses or weaponry? Why is it fruits this time?"

"I traded them with horses; these red fruits were gifts from General Guo’s house. I saw them and traded the rewards of two horses for them." Qin San Lang took out a white handkerchief, giving it to Gu Jinli and gestured for her to wipe the red juice from her mouth.

However, Gu Jinli did not take the handkerchief but angrily said: "You traded two horses’ worth of rewards for a basket of red fruits, are you stupid? Horses are so valuable. And these are the Military Office’s horses, you just traded them like that, will the people under you accept this?"

Gu Jinli was visibly upset, pointing at him and saying: "You’ve become dumber."

Qin San Lang smiled, pressing down her finger, and wiped the corner of her mouth with the handkerchief: "Do not worry, General Guo even praised me for doing the right thing."

He explained: "For the past three years, Tianfu County Soldier Station has always won the rewards for winter training and night training. Other counties’ soldier stations were very resentful. This winter training exercise, three other counties’ soldier stations joined forces to set traps for us, but they didn’t gain any advantage and were dealt with by me. However, this situation cannot be allowed to worsen; this time, I didn’t take the horses and exchanged for the red fruits instead. The two horses were distributed among the other two counties’ soldier stations."

He added: "Only assassins work alone; commanders must unite all the soldiers."

After listening, Gu Jinli praised: "Indeed you haven’t gotten dumber; you’re still so smart."

Qin San Lang heard this and smiled, habitually praising: "Xiao Yu is also very smart."

After speaking, he casually used the handkerchief to wipe the corner of her mouth again.

This time, Gu Jinli finally reacted, her cheeks instantly turning hot, she snatched the handkerchief and stepped back a few paces, wiping her own mouth: "I’ll do it myself!"

Watching her act fiercely out of shyness, Qin San Lang was overjoyed; his Xiao Yu was still so adorable.

Gu Jinli saw his eyes brimming with laughter as he watched her and snapped: "What are you staring at? Haven’t seen a beauty before?"

Qin San Lang stepped forward, getting closer to her, and replied: "I have, and quite often at that, but I just can’t get enough."

Gu Jinli: "..."

It’s over, it’s over, this guy is getting better and better at flirting; she fears she might not be able to resist.

She threw the handkerchief at him: "It’s dirty, take it back and wash it yourself."

Qin San Lang obediently took back the handkerchief: "Alright."

He then advised: "Mountain pears are cooling; do not eat them raw, make a sweet soup with them instead."

He had heard from his dad that his mom loved tasty treats and once ate too many pears during winter, which upset her stomach and caused her pain all night. He didn’t want Xiao Yu to suffer from a stomachache.

He then mentioned the Lin family: "Section Leader Lin wanted to force his way into the Prefecture garrison but was expelled from the Military Office; his sister has come to her senses and engaged herself to the son of a blacksmith in their town; they are no longer planting Mingya Grass, so they won’t bother you anymore."

Gu Jinli frowned upon hearing this: "Come to her senses? They’re even giving up on planting Mingya Grass? What did you do to make the Lin Family People have this realization?"

Were the most crooked ones in the Lin family not Lin Leniang, Mrs. Lin, and the Lin couple, these money-grubbers willing to let go of him, their golden son-in-law? Ready to abandon Mingya Grass, their money tree?

Qin San Lang said, "I did use a little trick."

He told Gu Jinli about the pranks Erxi and the others had executed, which made Gu Jinli couldn’t help but laugh: "That’s a clever move. Great Chu people believe in this deeply, disasters encountering ghosts and such, it will scare the Lin family’s mother and daughter-in-law enough for a whole year."

Qin San Lang raised both hands to shield her from the night’s cold frost, looking down at her smiling face and said, "Indeed, they’re scared to death, a few scares and they’ll behave. Xiao Yu, don’t worry."

His voice was especially tender when he uttered the last few words, causing Gu Jinli’s head to feel a bit dizzy. She looked up at him, only to see him looking down at her, smiling so charmingly!

Gu Jinli: "..."

I can’t handle this, I can’t handle this, I must leave.

"I got it, you should head back, go to sleep early."

Brother Qin is too good to her, she couldn’t stay with him for too long, or she might fall into a pit.

After Gu Jinli finished speaking, she wrapped the cloth bag containing the fruits around her hand, ready to climb over the wall, but she wore too many layers, and her first attempt to kick up failed to reach the top of the wall.

She: "..."

Qin San Lang said, "I will get you a ladder."

Gu Jinli got angry and turned around, "Are you looking down on my skills?"

Qin San Lang shook his head, "No, Xiao Yu is very skilled."

Gu Jinli huffed: "As long as you know."

With that, she gathered her energy and quickly climbed up the wall, standing on top of it she looked down at him, "You should go back, bring the fruits tomorrow, and I’ll make you something delicious."

Qin San Lang smiled and nodded: "Alright."

He watched her jump off the wall, the sound of her footsteps growing fainter until he heard the sound of a courtyard door opening, then he turned around and went home.

The next morning, he went to Gu Jinli’s house and brought two baskets of fruits.

True to her word, Gu Jinli made him a fried pear cake.

After peeling the mountain pears, cutting them into pieces, steaming them, and then mashing them, she mixed in some flour and glutinous rice flour to form balls, shaped them back into pears, and fried them in oil. They were ready to eat once out of the pot.

"Here." Gu Jinli handed a piece of the fried pear cake to Qin San Lang, "I didn’t add sugar, it’s just a bit sweet, it should taste just right for you."

Qin San Lang took it, took a bite, and smiled, "It really is just slightly sweet, very delicious, and suits my taste."

He liked everything Xiao Yu made.

"Second Sister, I want to eat too." Brother Cheng had been drooling over it for a while, if he didn’t get some soon, he would call his eldest brother to the kitchen, preventing the two from having a private conversation.

Qin San Lang took a plate of fried pear cakes from the stove for Brother Cheng, "Take this to Third Grandpa and Third Grandma."

Brother Cheng: "..."

You think you can get rid of me with a plate of fried pear cakes? No way!

Seeing that Brother Cheng wasn’t leaving, Qin San Lang pulled out a blunt short knife, "Your knife is done, take it and have fun."

Brother Cheng’s eyes lit up; boys always find it hard to resist weapons, especially when he had been longing for a knife for so long.

He immediately grabbed the knife and the plate, smiling, "Brother San Lang is so nice, I’m off to take the fried pear cakes to Third Grandpa and Third Grandma."