He Yunqing hurried to the apothecary, picked out four medicinal herbs, and rushed back to the Qian Residence. He went into the kitchen, prepared the herbs according to the numerical prompts, and set them to boil in a medicine pot. Then he took a palm-leaf fan and squatted nearby to keep watch.
He had only been squatting there a short while when he heard footsteps. Thinking it was Su Jun, he didn’t even look up as he said, “Senior brother, I’m simmering the medicine now. It should be ready in about half an hour.”
But he didn’t hear a reply for a long while. Puzzled, he looked up. What the heck? The person who had come was Zhou Caiyao!
He was a little dazed. Hadn’t the little white flower just been ordered by Su Jun to leave? Why had she come back? Had she come to find him? Could it be that she’d seen him arrive with Su Jun and wanted to fish for information so she could flirt with Su Jun?! Besides, the kitchen was a little out of the way, so if she came here to find him, she wouldn’t easily be discovered.
Zhou Caiyao repeated, “Senior brother?”
One look at the little white flower in front of him gave He Yunqing another idea, and he smiled. “Haha, I thought you were Lord Su. Hadn’t you left?”
“I don’t want to leave yet. I hid just now.” Zhou Caiyao perked up at once. “You just said Lord Su? He… is your senior brother? But why does it seem like you studied different things?”
Even though He Yunqing had read the book and knew that she was deeply in love with Su Jun early on, her shamelessness still stunned him. “Miss Zhou, my senior brother already spoke to you like that. Why haven’t you left?”
To his surprise, Zhou Caiyao said, “I don’t blame him for speaking to me that way. I really was in the wrong today, so it was only right for him to say so. I’m not leaving because… Hey, don’t interrupt me. I have something to ask you. Answer me first.”
“That’s right, he really is my senior brother. We’re both disciples of the Sect Master of the Cloudveil Sect. The Cloudveil Sect lets its disciples choose what to study. He studied martial arts, while I studied medicinal arts. I know, you came to find me because you want to ask me about him.”
Zhou Caiyao was still stubbornly trying to deny it. “Oh, it’s not like that. Actually, I know a little about medicinal arts too. I came to see if I could help you with anything. This place just happens to be a little out of the way, so no one will easily see me here.”
He Yunqing thought, Heh. Keep pretending. I’ve got the script in my hands. Do you think I don’t know what you’re really thinking?
According to the original story, the male lead should have arrived by now. But since he’d stolen the man’s scene, there was no need for him to appear, and he certainly wouldn’t. From here on, things had already started to stray a little from the original story.
But as far as he could tell, the heroine’s romantic storyline with Su Jun was still following the original story. So he looked at Zhou Caiyao with an expression that said he’d already seen through everything. He stared at her until she grew a little unnerved.
“You… why are you looking at me like that?” To cover her nervousness, she took a small stool and sat down too. “I just wanted to help.”
He Yunqing waved his hand. “I don’t need your help. Can’t you see I’ve already got the medicine boiling? You don’t need to hide it from me, either. My senior brother clearly told you to leave, but you still didn’t. What’s on your mind is painfully obvious.”
Zhou Caiyao felt a little embarrassed. “How can you just expose a girl’s feelings like that?”
He Yunqing complained, “You were going to ask me for help anyway, so I’d have exposed them sooner or later.”
Realizing he’d seen through her, Zhou Caiyao stopped trying to deny it and got straight to the point. “Then are you close to Lord Su? What kind of woman does he like?”
“I wouldn’t say we’re close. I was only brought in to help at the last minute today, and I haven’t seen him in years.” When her face fell, he quickly continued, “But don’t worry. I’ll definitely find a way to stay by his side. I also guarantee I’ll find out what he likes. Though I really don’t understand why you’ve taken a liking to my senior brother when he treats you like that, we’ll be colleagues in the future, so I’ll still help you with this little favor.”
Zhou Caiyao said, “Ahem, Lord Su… Although he was very cold just now, it was our first meeting, and I was the one in the wrong. What was wrong with him acting that way? You don’t understand. The moment I saw him, I knew he was the one!”
He Yunqing couldn’t listen any longer and hurriedly cut her off: