It was obvious that Zhang Dalang was highly guarded. If Xiao Ran said anything too provocative, he would certainly fight Xiao Ran to the death.
Xiao Ran had not expected this fellow's baleful aura to be so frightening.
Although Xiao Ran was not afraid of fighting Zhang Dalang, there was no need for it.
Winning would bring no benefit, while losing and accidentally taking two cuts would be truly miserable.
He feared this kind of reckless person who did not value his own life.
“I mean no harm. Don't get agitated!”
“Let's talk this out!”
“Take it easy!”
Third Lady tugged at Zhang Dalang's arm. “Elder brother, young master isn't a bad person. Young master gives me delicious food.”
Third Lady pointed at the calcium milk biscuits inside the kao lao basket.
“Yesterday, young master even gave elder sister and me fish and apples!”
Zhang Dalang's expression softened considerably. “What exactly are your intentions?”
“Let me tell you this: if you dare set your sights on my younger sister, I won't let you off!”
Xiao Ran could tell that this was not an empty threat. He really was capable of doing it.
Zhang Dalang squatted down, set aside his sickle, and reached out to tidy Third Lady's hair.
The baleful aura in his eyes vanished. When he looked at Third Lady, there was reluctance as well as guilt in his gaze.
Xiao Ran also noticed the change in his eyes, but did not know why it had happened.
“Elder brother, Third Lady.”
Zhang Erya came over as well.
They were indeed siblings, with some resemblance between their brows.
“Young master!” Zhang Erya had not expected to encounter Xiao Ran again.
“Second Lady! What a coincidence to meet you again!”
Zhang Dalang glanced at Xiao Ran. He always felt that Xiao Ran had ulterior motives, so his gaze was unfriendly.
“Let's go!” Zhang Dalang said expressionlessly.
“Thank you for young master's gift!” Zhang Erya smiled at Xiao Ran.
Third Lady smiled and waved at Xiao Ran, which counted as acknowledging him as a good person.
Watching the three siblings leave, Xiao Ran did not linger and prepared to return.
The two sisters currently had a good impression of Xiao Ran; only Zhang Dalang still held hostility toward him.
Zhang Dalang always felt that Xiao Ran had another purpose. In fact, his instincts were not wrong.
Xiao Ran did indeed have an ulterior motive.
Third Lady picked up a Calcium Milk Biscuit. “Elder brother, elder sister, this is delicious. Have some.”
Zhang Dalang and Zhang Erya each took a biscuit. Zhang Dalang's expression was complicated. “Third Lady, you mustn't casually accept things from strangers. No kindness is without a reason. That person may have ulterior motives.”
“Elder brother, young master is a very good person. He even helped me pick up millet ears!”
“You're still young. You don't understand.”
Zhang Erya gently broke off a piece of Calcium Milk Biscuit. She had not expected it to be so crisp. She put it into her mouth, and her expression changed the next moment.
“This pastry...”
Third Lady was delighted. “Elder sister, isn't it delicious?”
Zhang Erya nodded. “Elder brother, you should try it too.”
Only then did Zhang Dalang take a small bite. He likewise revealed a surprised expression; he had never eaten such a pastry before.
“This can't be cheap...” Thinking of this, Zhang Dalang became even more convinced that Xiao Ran's intentions were impure and that he had ulterior motives. He even felt that Xiao Ran's objective was far from simple.
He had actually brought out pastries like these.
Third Lady did not think too much about it, and her favorable impression of Xiao Ran soared.
The roads in this era were not very good, and Xiao Ran could not possibly go too far.
The poor roads were secondary. More importantly, there were rules in this era that forbade people from wandering around freely.
Especially for an unregistered person like Xiao Ran, staying put obediently was safer.
Otherwise, trouble could easily arise.
Xiao Ran returned to the water pool and prepared to go fishing to pass the time.
His mobile phone had no network, so he found it rather boring.
Fishing was still more interesting. He returned to the mountain cave and took two boxes from the trunk.
The boxes he had used earlier were still on the ground because he had no bait.
There were plenty of fish in the water pool. He did not even need chumming now to achieve one catch after another.
And they were all big fish.
The sound of horse hooves came from afar. Xiao Ran picked up the telescope and looked over.
Someone was riding over on horseback.
It was not Li Shimin and the Others, but a stranger.
Xiao Ran lowered the telescope and paid no attention.
This place did not belong to him, and there was nothing he could do about it.
The young man riding the horse approached the water pool, looked around, and locked onto Xiao Ran's position.
He slowed down and headed toward Xiao Ran.
Xiao Ran furrowed his brows. He was an unregistered person, and his clothing and appearance were also unusual. He did not want to associate with other people.
The Zhang Erya sisters were an exception.
The young man dismounted not far from Xiao Ran and hurried toward him.
Xiao Ran also became wary.
“May I ask if you are Young Master Xiao Ran?” The young man looked at Xiao Ran. His clothing and appearance matched the person he was looking for.
He had short hair and dressed differently from ordinary people.
Xiao Ran set down the fishing rod and slowly stood up. “That is me. May I ask what this is about?”
Since the other party had called him by name, Xiao Ran had already made a guess.
The only people who knew Xiao Ran's name were Li Shimin and the Others, whom he had gone fishing with earlier. No one else knew it.
“Young master, someone asked me to deliver a letter to you.” The young man handed the envelope to Xiao Ran.
Xiao Ran reached out and accepted it. “Thank you!”
“There's no need to thank me, young master. It is merely my duty!”
“Who sent this?” Xiao Ran still could not help asking.
“I don't know either. I was merely entrusted with delivering it.” After saying this, the young man turned and walked to the other side.
Xiao Ran looked at the envelope. The words that caught his eye were 【To Young Master Xiao Ran, please open personally】.
“The handwriting is truly beautiful.” Xiao Ran did not understand calligraphy, but he still found it pleasing to the eye.
Fortunately, the writing was neat Regular Script. Xiao Ran truly could not understand the other styles.
Private manuscripts generally used cursive script, while inscriptions used clerical script.
The Zhenguan Period coincided with the early height of Regular Script in the tang dynasty. Ouyang Xun's “Ouyang style” and Yu Shinan's “Yu style” were regarded as models by the court and country.
Xiao Ran opened the letter and immediately felt much better.
Viewed individually, those characters resembled little celadon tea cups, their left-falling and right-falling strokes like the arcs of the cup rims, and their horizontal turns like the ring feet beneath the cups. Yet when combined, they formed an entire tea setting, with the cups and saucers arranged in a pattern all their own.
Most wonderful of all was the blank space between the strokes. Unlike ordinary official documents, which were packed so tightly that no air could pass through, these characters resembled sparse bamboo shadows in a spring courtyard. When the breeze passed, flowing gaps appeared between the characters, and even the fragrance of ink seemed able to slip through them, carrying the faint coolness of Mica powder on xuan paper.
There was no signature, but Xiao Ran guessed that it was Li Lizhi.
The words at the beginning were merely polite formalities. The important part was at the end, where she said that Xiao Ran should feel free to ask for help if he needed anything.
Xiao Ran murmured inwardly, “Could she know that I lied? Does she know that I have no household registration?”
Xiao Ran looked up and saw the young man holding his horse by the shore. He showed no intention of leaving.
“Brother, are you waiting for me?”
The young man looked at Xiao Ran. “Does young master have any message for me to deliver, or a reply letter?”
Since the other party had written a letter, logically speaking, he should write a reply letter as well.
But when he thought of his own handwriting, Xiao Ran abandoned the idea.
Most people could not write more than a few characters a year because of electronic devices. What they wrote was crooked and slanted, scarcely different from ghostly scribbles.
He would not even need to wait until the next day. If he looked at what he had written two hours later, he would not recognize it himself.
After seeing Li Lizhi's handwriting, Xiao Ran truly had no such thought left.
“Please tell her that I appreciate her kindness, but I don't need anything for now!”
“All right, I will remember that.” The young man prepared to leave.
“Brother, wait a moment.”
Xiao Ran remembered that there was still half a package of calcium milk biscuits in the box. He wanted the young man to take them to Li Lizhi and the little princess.
He packed them in a transparent plastic bag and walked over to the young man. “These are very crisp and break easily. Please handle them carefully and take them back to the person who wrote the letter for me.”
“All right!”