Chapter 268: Chapter 112: That’s My Older Sister (Part 2)

The young woman seemed to sense their gazes and glanced in their direction. After giving them a slight nod, she turned her attention back to Zhao Jing.

Wang Jun couldn’t help but blurt out a line of poetry, "A beauty to overshadow the ages, a face that puts the lotus to shame."

He had always thought the ancients exaggerated. ’How could any young woman really be that remarkable?’

All he had ever seen in reality were ordinary women, who at best possessed a simple, girl-next-door charm.

Only today did he realize it was simply because he had never encountered one before.

At that moment, a series of poetic lines, relevant or not, surfaced in Wang Jun’s mind: "The lady by the jug, fair as the moon, her bright wrists like frosted snow," "Her jeweled chignon loosely coiled, her face fair with the lightest touch of powder," and "Her sad, lovely face streaked with tears, like a pear blossom branch touched by spring rain."

A sudden, dull pain flared in his chest. Wang Jun’s eyes flew open as he clutched the spot. "Who hit me?"

De’an glowered at him, his brow furrowed in anger. "Who were you just talking about?"

Realizing he had spoken his thoughts aloud, Wang Jun’s expression froze. He hastily bowed to De’an in apology.

"It was a slip of the tongue! I was simply praising your sister’s beauty, with absolutely no disrespectful intent."

Wang Jun bowed again, pleading, "Mr. Chen, please believe me. I’m certainly not some shameless degenerate."

Chen De’an scoffed. "Just this once. Don’t let it happen again. If I ever find out you dare to... you’d better watch out for my fists! My sister is here to take us home, so I’ll be leaving now. We’ll part ways here."

De’an hurried off. Once he was gone, Wang Jun turned to the others. "I suddenly feel a little sorry for Mr. Li."

’After encountering such a breathtaking young woman at a young age, how could any other girl ever catch Mr. Li’s eye?’

At that moment, Wang Jun finally understood why Li Cun had been so enraged he’d coughed up blood upon learning that Zhao Jing had married Chen Wanqing.

’If that happened to me... I can’t even think about it. The very thought makes my lungs feel like they’re about to burst.’

"Seeing as we’re free right now, why don’t we go visit Mr. Li at the Li family home?"

Huang Chen looked at Chu Xun, who looked at Ding Shutian. Ding Shutian said, "We haven’t sent a calling card. To show up unannounced..."

"Oh, come on. We’re all from modest families. We don’t need to be so particular about those formalities."

"But we can’t possibly show up empty-handed..."

"There are plenty of vendors selling pastries and fruit along the street. I’ll have my attendant pick some up. You don’t have to pay. I’m the one insisting you come, so you’d be doing me a huge favor just by accompanying me."

Wang Jun truly did feel sorry for Li Cun.

’He’s such a good person, but he just has terrible luck.’

’Not only did the woman he loves marry another man, but he’s also stuck with a mother who could break a man’s bones...’

And so, the men bought some pastries and fruit and went to the Li family home to visit Li Cun. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Zhao Jing glanced in the direction they had all departed, discerning their intentions instantly.

But he paid them no mind. He had more important things to do.

"Wanqing, I’ll go home with you."

Chen Wanqing was startled. "You’re going back too? But didn’t the second son of the Wang Family send you all an invitation for a spring outing tomorrow?"

Zhao Jing said, "We’ll go back today, and I’ll simply return with you tomorrow."

Seeing Chen Wanqing frown, clearly disapproving of him making such a tiring trip, Zhao Jing explained, "I need to find a book for the Lord County Magistrate among my father’s old belongings. It’s an old book, and I can’t quite recall where I put it. I’ll have to give it a thorough search once I’m home."

Chen Wanqing’s expression cleared in understanding. "Oh, I see."

De’an walked over just then. His eyes were clear and he didn’t look drunk, but the heavy stench of alcohol on him made it obvious he had had quite a lot to drink.

Chen Wanqing looked at Zhao Jing again. Jing was perfectly composed and immaculate, not a hair out of place, his breathing steady and calm.

He also smelled of alcohol, but it wasn’t overpowering—it was actually somewhat pleasant. ’Not like De’an. Did he fall into a wine vat or something?’

De’an felt terribly wronged. "You think I wanted to drink all that? I was forced! Why do you think Jing looks like he hasn’t had a drop? It’s because all the wine he was supposed to drink ended up in my stomach."

When their fellow scholars were toasting each other, Zhao Jing would only ever take a small sip. Worried that Jing would offend people, De’an had to smooth things over for him, and before he knew it, he’d had too much to drink.

Then, they were called over by the County Magistrate. When the County Magistrate himself poured the wine, how could they dare refuse to drink?

To make matters worse, the County Magistrate was a boozehound who only got more excited the more he drank. De’an, worried that Jing would be drunk under the table and embarrass himself, kept the official company, matching him drink for drink.

The County Magistrate had a grand time drinking, and wasn’t he the one who ended up drinking a ton as a result?

His stomach was burning now, and he felt like he was going to be sick.

In the end, De’an managed not to throw up. He frowned, urging his sister to hurry home.

"I need to lie down. I’ll be fine after a nap. If I stay on my feet any longer, I’m really going to throw up."