CH 82

He has arrived, he came from the capital with his research project (uninvited guest)

In the days after Cao Yun left, the two people left to watch the teahouse alone didn’t wait for Ming Qin and Murong Yan to come back as planned. Instead, they were greeted by an 『unexpected visitor』 who nearly scared Song Shu Qing to death.

“Zi Yan, can we please not work today?”

Dragging her feet and blocking the stairs on the first floor, Song Shu Qing turned around and looked up at the woman behind her with a world-weary expression. “Can’t we just take the day off and close the shop?”

With a sigh of resignation, Zi Yan looked at the shadow guard standing behind her, burying her face in her waist, and gently stroked her head. “It’s because of your attitude that I can’t figure out how old you really are.”

“I don’t want to work, no matter how old I am,” Song Shu Qing whispered, hugging the woman in front of her. “Even if I live to be a hundred and become an old lady, I still won’t want to work.”

“Did I tire you out too much yesterday, that’s why you…” Zi Yan blinked, looking guilty. “So, should we take it easy today?”

Suddenly looking up, the previously sluggish shadow guard jumped back quickly without even looking at her feet, and swiftly moved behind the counter. “What are you talking about? I’m feeling energized now and I’m more than happy to work.”

Her gaze was sharp.

“As an outstanding young person who balances work and personal life well, serving my wife is a piece of cake. Sleeping in separate rooms is completely unnecessary.”

Song Shu Qing had a stern expression on her face as she wagged her index finger and made the 『NoNo』 gesture.

Although Zi Yan was used to Song Shu Qing’s smooth talk on a daily basis, hearing her lover speak such embarrassing words without a hint of shame still left her speechless.

Oh well, at least she had succeeded in getting her motivated to run the shop properly.

Zi Yan relaxed and began organizing the tea cabinet.

But before noon, Song Shu Qing, who was in the middle of making tea for customers, suddenly rushed over to Zi Yan and hugged the woman who was keeping the accounts. She then ignored the shop and ran straight up to the third floor.

The mess from the previous night still hadn’t been cleaned up, and the air was filled with a sweet and cloying smell.

But Song Shu Qing couldn’t care less about all that. She grabbed Zi Yan’s arm and urgently said, “Zi Yan, let’s elope!”

Ignoring the bewildered person in front of her, she continued, “Although I don’t have a lot of money, I won’t let you starve. Hurry up and pack your bags, let’s run away from here together.”

“Wait, don’t panic.” Frowning, Zi Yan calmly asked, “What happened? Why do we suddenly need to run away?”

“The doctor… no, the Great Demon King!” Song Shuqing’s head was throbbing, she pinched her own philtrum to stay alert. “He’s here, he’s come from the capital with his research project!”

Zi Yan looked puzzled, but heard banging on the door outside and an old man shouting loudly, “Miss Song, Miss Song!”

The sound of knocking on the door was intense.

“I have been looking for you so hard.”

“Get away from here! Don’t come any closer!” Song Shu Qing leaned against the door and listened to the persistent calling from outside. After a while, she seemed to have struggled for a long time, and said to the woman in front of her with a tragic expression, “Zi Yan, you have to remember, no matter how I change in the future, I love you.”

Then she turned around and opened the door, holding back Wang Wei who wanted to rush into the room. She grabbed the old man’s collar and took him downstairs, “I told you a hundred times that I don’t want to do research. I don’t want to go bald at such a young age, and I don’t want to be in the lab all day. Why are you still pestering me? And you even came all the way from the capital.”

Her voice was not as gentle as when she was speaking to the woman just now, but full of helplessness and annoyance.

“Miss Song, I have a new research direction, and I need your help,” the small old man Wang Wei arched his back and crouched his legs, allowing the shadow guard to carry him down the stairs like a little chick.

“I really don’t want to go back to the academy,” Song Shu Qing said, hands on her hips. She felt a headache coming on, looking at the man who had been placed on a stool. “Besides, I’m a married woman now, not a lonely spinster! I really don’t have time.”

“How can you say that? What does a wife matter? Song Shu Qing, we need to change the world together!” Wang Wei’s face turned red with excitement, his eyes blazing like two 100-watt light bulbs. “And we have funding now. We can finally do research without eating dirt.”

“Funding?” The woman looked up at the key word, her face suddenly serious.

“Yes, Song Shu Qing.” Wang Wei gestured with his hand. “I have received sponsorship from the royal family. I can do whatever research I want. And if you become my assistant, I’ll think about giving you a monthly salary…five taels of silver.”

“Wu… thirty taels of silver,” the woman blurted out a high price.

“Fifteen taels of silver,” arms crossed, Wang Wei attempted to compromise.

“Forty taels of silver.” Song Shuqing looked serious.

“Why did it go up again?” Wang Wei angrily stroked his non-existent beard and sighed helplessly, “Twenty taels of silver, no more.”

“Okay, deal,” Song Shu Qing reluctantly agreed to a better deal than she had anticipated.

“But…” Suddenly, she thought of something and pondered for a moment. “I still have work at the teahouse, so I can only come in the evening.”

“That’s fine, for the sake of academic research, we should work tirelessly day and night. You can come in the afternoon, and I promise it won’t be too exhausting for you,” the old man said confidently, patting his chest.

However, Song Shu Qing had been rolling in society for a long time, and she just rolled her eyes, not believing the man’s empty promises at all.

Damn it, if it weren’t for the money and the huge debts, she wouldn’t have to work herself to death.

She had given too much and had no choice but to bow her head!

Rubbing her temples in frustration, Song Shu Qing saw Zi Yan coming downstairs and restrained herself from speaking ill of the man sitting next to her, holding the woman’s hand in a pouty manner. “Zi Yan, I said something wrong just now…”

“Hmm? What did you say wrong?” Zi Yan looked at her pitiful lover and the strange old man sitting next to her, confused once again.

“I shouldn’t have said 『no matter how I change in the future, I will always love you』. Struggling to hold back tears that weren’t there, Song Shu Qing corrected her previous words.

“I should have said, 『no matter how I change in the future, you must always love me』.

After a few days, Zi Yan finally understood why Song Shu Qing said those words to her.

Although she didn’t understand what Song Shu Qing meant by “this is even more absurd than the ‘996’ work schedule,” she could see the dark circles under her eyes and her obvious exhaustion.

After finishing her work at the teahouse during the day, Song Shu Qing had to go to Wang Wei’s place across the street to work on something that Zi Yan couldn’t identify. They would work late into the night.

Although Zi Yan wanted to stay up and wait for Song Shu Qing’s return, she always fell asleep before her, only to wake up in the morning and find herself being held in Song Shu Qing’s arms, tightly snuggled up together in the single bed.

Even during their waking hours, they barely had any time to spend together. As soon as the teahouse closed, Song Shu Qing would dash out like a tornado, and if she was delayed, they would hear the old man threatening to dock her pay by complaining to the shadow guards.

This intense schedule continued until Murong Yan and Ming Qin returned from their trip, and things finally eased up a bit.

Song Shu Qing hugged her junior sister tightly, and if it weren’t for Murong Yan’s presence, she would have probably hugged Ming Qin tightly and kissed her passionately.

She looked gratefully at her junior sister, feeling like she was a savior in her life, radiating with a halo of light. “Qin Qin, have you come to rescue your senior sister? If you didn’t come back, I feel like I’d have more needles in my hair than hair left.”

“Senior sister, you’re hugging me so tight…” Ming Qin patted her now slimmer senior sister and asked with concern, “Do you want to take a break and rest? I’ll take over for a while.”

“No! I need to get that damn report done as soon as possible for that annoying old man… Oh wait, I mean the report that Wang Wei assigned me.” Song Shu Qing released her arms and rushed out of the teahouse, leaving only the sound of her footsteps behind. “If I finish it early, I can spend more time with my dear Zi Yan.”

As she watched her senior sister walk away like a gust of wind, Ming Qin knelt down to adjust the hem of Murong Yan’s skirt, then rested her chin on the woman’s knee and asked, perplexed, “Senior sister is so tired, but hasn’t Yan Yan reminded her to pay back the money?”

Taking a sip of tea, Murong Yan replied calmly, “Yes, but I don’t need the money, so even if she doesn’t pay me back in the end, it’s okay.”

“Well, then maybe I can tell senior sister not to worry so much,” Ming Qin suggested, tilting her head.

“I think your senior sister is aware of that,” Murong Yan explained patiently, looking at the puzzled expression on Ming Qin’s face. “She knows she can take Zi Yan away from that brothel at any time, either through my power and wealth, or even her own skills as a former shadow guard.”

“But… she doesn’t want to be involved in what might seem like an act of charity or pity from the powerful to the weak, given the tragedies that have already been caused by the abuse of power.”

“Your senior sister still cares about Zi Yan’s feelings because she treasures her,” Murong Yan said with a smile. “Although she usually doesn’t act seriously, she can be gentle and reliable in critical moments…”

“Albeit in a roundabout way.”

As she watched Ming Qin still looking puzzled, Murong Yan leaned down and kissed her forehead. “Ah Qin, you don’t have to understand.”

She reached out and adjusted the red accessory on the ear of her shadow guard. “After all, whether it’s exerting pressure from above or using pity that has nothing to do with love, as long as it can bind you to me, I will go to any lengths and use any means without hesitation.”

“Are you not afraid of me being so ungentle, Ah Qin?”

“Hmm? Why should I be afraid?” With her eyes closed comfortably, Ming Qin tilted her head back. “You are my only desire. Why should I be afraid?”

The woman lowered her gaze and looked at the pure and sincere expression on the shadow guard’s face. “As expected…” She blinked lightly. “Ah Qin should continue to be like this, not too clever.”

“Just follow me, love only me.”

“That’s good.”