Chapter 43 Borrow Money

After Yan Mu thought it over clearly, she felt like her heart was a little calmer.

She was going to leave after completing her mission, so it was impossible for her to accompany Yu Yuan forever. 

It’s fine as long as he doesn’t like me.

Yan Mu was sitting on the edge of the bed, lost in thought, when Yu Yuan came up from behind again.

“What’s Ah Mu thinking about?” Yu Yuan softly asked.

“It’s nothing,” Yan Mu pulled away from Yu Yuan, then stood up to put on her shoes.

“Dinner’s almost ready, let’s go help,” Yan Mu said.

Yu Yuan stared at Yan Mu for a while, and only nodded once he saw that she didn’t look unhappy.

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This is so much better than Father Yan’s! As expected of people from the palace.

Yan Mu sighed in her heart as her chopsticks quickly moved. She couldn’t stop eating.

Yu Yuan sat beside her, so Yan Mu easily picked up a piece of thigh meat for him. 

“It’s delicious! Try it,” Yan Mu’s eyes were lit up like stars.

Yu Yuan was stunned, then slowly put the chicken into his mouth.

“This boy can actually still eat meat,” a man exclaimed in amazement. “When I first started doing this job, I couldn’t even look at a tiny bit of meat or fish for an entire month. This boy is pretty good.”

He spoke so softly that only Ah Bu beside him heard.

Remembering Chu Cong’s orders, Ah Bu glared at him and said, “Qi Er, His Highness said that these matters should be kept from Lady Yan, so you’d better not let her hear.”

“I got it, I got it,” Qi Er picked up a steamed bun, dipped it into the chicken gravy and ate it with gusto.

Ah Bu was the leader of the small troop and Qi Er was the deputy leader, so both of them were able to eat at the table.

The other eighteen men weren’t so lucky. All they could do was wait helplessly on the side until they were done eating.

Worried that Yan Mu would notice his strangeness, Yu Yuan forcibly endured his nausea and ate a large bowl of chicken.

“Geez, your stomach will burst from eating so much,” Yan Mu said worriedly.

“I want to quickly grow taller, so I have to eat more,” Yu Yuan said.

After speaking, he took another bite of his steamed bun, trying to suppress the queasiness in his stomach.

“Don’t worry, you’ll grow very tall in the future,” Yan Mu said, as she recalled what she wrote about Yu Yuan’s height.

“If I grow even taller, will Ah Mu like me more?” Yu Yuan looked at Yan Mu expectantly.

Yan Mu originally wanted to say, “I already like you now,” but she remembered her previous speculation, so she forcibly changed her words, “We’re friends, no matter what you become, I’ll like you.”

She deliberately emphasized the word ‘friends’. 

“Mmm,” Yu Yuan’s expression stayed the same as he continued to chew on his steamed bun with his head down.

Yan Mu carefully glanced at him, and seeing that Yu Yuan didn’t have any special reaction, she was relieved.

It seems like I’m really overthinking things.

She was Yu Yuan’s first friend, so it was normal for him to treat her special.

Yan Mu also lowered her head and started to eat.

Yu Yuan forcefully stuffed the steamed bun into his mouth.

It wasn’t that he didn’t catch Yan Mu’s hint.

Yu Yuan had long noticed Yan Mu’s poorly concealed tentative gaze.

But, so what? Yan Mu was the only light in his life.

He would never allow his light to escape. He wanted to turn desire into a chain to firmly bind Yan Mu to his side.

His mouth stuffed with steamed buns, Yu Yuan struggled to swallow them down.

Maybe Yan Mu regretted it, regretted saving a monster like him.

Yu Yuan picked up a cup of water and gulped it down.

With a monster like him around her, Yan Mu shouldn’t think about being with anyone else.

Yu Yuan placed the cup on the table and smiled at Yan Mu, “I’m full.”

“Okay,” the young girl lifted her head with a steamed bun in her mouth, looking like a little white rabbit with her bulging cheeks.

Her gaze was still so clean and clear, completely unaware of what a paranoid decision Yu Yuan had made just now.

There were bread crumbs on the edge of her soft pink lips.

Yu Yuan bent down and wiped off the crumbs for Yan Mu as if nothing had happened.

“Ah Mu, do you want to go for a walk with me²消食 (xiāo//shí) – to aid/help digestion?” Yu Yuan softly asked.

“Wait a moment,” Yan Mu wiped her mouth, “I need to discuss something with Chu Cong.” 

Just now, she couldn’t stand the gazes of the men who hadn’t eaten yet.

Just think, what sane person could stand having a group of hungry men helplessly looking at them from the side while they were eating?

Besides, Yan Mu had her own selfish reasons.

Yu Yuan wasn’t a person who was good at socialising, and there was a high chance that he would be working with these people in the future.

She gave favors to win them over³卖人情 (mài//rénqíng) – give favors for selfish ends; win gratitude by giving favors, hoping that these men would also treat Yu Yuan slightly better in the future.

Yan Mu wiped her hands and said to Chu Cong, “I think they’ve had it hard, I’ll serve the rest of the steamed buns and chicken and let them eat.”

Naturally, Chu Cong wouldn’t refuse Yan Mu for such a trivial matter. Besides, these people were his trusted aides, and he didn’t want them to starve either.

So he lazily looked up and said to his men, “Remember, this is a favor from Lady Yan.”

After speaking, he said to Yan Mu, “You don’t need to serve it out either, just let them go to the kitchen and eat by themselves.”

Yan Mu nodded.

The men first thanked Chu Cong, then smilingly⁴嬉皮笑脸 (xīpí-xiàoliǎn) – an idiom; grin cheekily; smile and grimace; make faces; all smiles; smiling mischievously or ingratiatingly thanked Yan Mu.

“Lady Yan is such a kind person, I’m sure she’ll marry a good husband in the future,” said the livest member of the group, a younger man named Xiao Gao.

Yan Mu knew that he meant no harm, so she smiled and let it go.

In comparison, Yu Yuan stared at Xiao Gao for a long time.

Yan Mu didn’t notice what was happening between Yu Yuan and Xiao Gao. Now that dinner was almost over, Father Yan was cleaning up in the kitchen and only Chu Cong was left at the dinner table.

Yan Mu had something to say to Chu Cong, so she asked Yu Yuan to step away for a bit.

Who knew that as soon as the words left her mouth, Yu Yuan would lover his head like he’d received a heavy blow, looking crestfallen⁵萎靡不振 (wěimǐbùzhèn) – dispirited and listless (idiom); downcast.

“What’s wrong? Did you eat too much?” Yan Mu was startled.

“Ah Mu doesn’t want me anymore,” Yu Yuan pitifully said.

“……I do want you,” Yan Mu sighed.

Yu Yuan’s possessiveness is getting stronger and stronger.

“Then why is Ah Mu asking me to leave?” Yu Yuan asked unhappily.

“Am I not allowed to talk to other people?” Yan Mu put her hands on her hips, acting as if she was about to get angry.

Sure enough, Yu Yuan didn’t speak anymore.

I mustn’t be willful, otherwise Ah Mu won’t like me anymore.

I must hold back.

Yu Yuan pursed his lips.

He was disheartened and left, looking back every few steps.

Chu Cong was watching the show on the side with great interest.

I didn’t expect Yu Yuan to have such a day⁶也有今天 (yěyǒujīntiān) – (coll.) to get one’s just deserts; to serve somebody right; to get one’s share of (good or bad things); every dog has its day.

Thinking about how Yu Yuan was always going against him, Chu Cong felt extremely happy.

If it weren’t for his status as a prince, Chu Cong would’ve wanted to mockingly laugh at him. 

The corners of his mouth rose wildly and he asked Yan Mu, “What do you want to talk to me about?”

Yan Mu hesitated for a long time before she said, “Can you lend me some money?”

“Oh?” Chu Cong raised an eyebrow.

He knew that Yan Mu sold manuscripts that she wrote, and based on the Yan family’s standard of living, she didn’t seem to be short of money.

Yan Mu isn’t a woman who loves vanity, so if she’s not short of money, why does she need to borrow from me?

“It’s like this……” Yan Mu chose her words carefully and said, “Yu Yuan’s mother died young, but she left him a keepsake. Back then, he was still young, so it was taken away and pawned by his uncle .”

“I want to redeem that keepsake,” Yan Mu said hesitantly, her face slightly blushing.

For the first time in her two lifetimes, she had to bow down to borrow money from someone.

Yan Mu felt extremely embarrassed.

She lowered her head, not daring to look at Chu Cong.

Chu Cong didn’t ask how much she needed because he could afford to lend out any amount of money.

His concern was, “Yan Mu, how are you going to pay it back?”

Yan Mu bit her lip, then turned around and took out a large stack of manuscripts, placing them in front of Chu Cong.

“Care to learn about custom manuscripts?” Yan Mu cheerfully said as she looked expectantly at Chu Cong.

The manuscripts she gave to Chu Cong were the most popular plots of Dian company⁷Based on Google results, it seems to be Qidian (起点), a website to read Chinese novels,  iykyk. 点家 (diǎn jiā) is probably the short name for it..

Both ancient and modern men should have no resistance to male channel novels.

As expected—

Chu Cong had just flipped through a few before he found the kind that interested him.

Yan Mu leaned over to see.

She had thought that Chu Cong would like harem novels, but unexpectedly, he liked immortal cultivation novels.

But when she thought about it, Chu Cong had a noble status and wasn’t short of women, so harem novels weren’t really attractive to him.

Sure enough, the emperors of past dynasties are still most fond of immortal cultivation.

Yan Mu secretly sighed.

“Are there any more of these?” Chu Cong looked at Yan Mu with excitement after quickly flipping through the manuscripts.

“They can be customized for you,” Yan Mu said.

“Well then, quickly finish them,” Chu Cong delightedly felt like these stories were very novel, “Push back writing the other manuscripts.”

“Yan Mu,” Chu Cong suddenly came up with a brilliant idea, “Do you want to open a bookshop?”

“Bookshop?” Yan Mu was stunned, then she understood Chu Cong’s intention. “You want me to finish writing these manuscripts and print them into books for sale?”

Yan Mu was excited.

Wow, even in modern times I didn’t have any physically published books, but here in ancient times I can! And it will be more than just one book!!! 

In an instant, Yan Mu began looking at Chu Cong like he was her bankroller daddy.

“Yes,” Chu Cong nodded, “There are no such books in the capital, and for manuscripts that even I find novel and interesting, other wealthy young masters and ladies would surely find interesting as well.”

Although Chu Cong wasn’t short of money, he couldn’t help but get excited when he thought of the large amount of silver⁸currency in ancient times that could be earned after the bookstore was opened.

After Chu Cong and Yan Mu finished discussing the manuscripts, Yan Mu left.

Yu Yuan sat in the doorway, listening to the two chatting enthusiastically in the room.

 While no one was around, he peeked through the crack of the door.

Through the crack, he saw Yan Mu’s face flushed with excitement, looking as if she was having a good conversation with Chu Cong.

Yu Yuan’s gaze instantly darkened, his nails digging deep into his palms.

He pursed his lips, forcing himself to look away.

Yan Mu seemed to get along well with Chu Cong.

She would never show that kind of expression in front of him.

Does Yan Mu like Chu Cong that much? Does she like him enough to throw me aside?

Yu Yuan was furious.

The sound of soft footsteps came from the room.

As soon as Yu Yuan heard them, he knew they were Yan Mu’s footsteps.

So he quickly adjusted his expression and showed a grieving and pitiful look.

The door creaked as it was pushed open.

Yu Yuan lifted his head helplessly and dejectedly, and softly said to Yan Mu, “You finally came out, I’ve been waiting for you for a long time……”

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The author has something to say:

Yu Yuan: Wifey said she only wants to be friends with me? Fine, my character will blacken.

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Edited by: Gaze