Chapter 117: Chapter 118: Offering Oneself as a Betrothal
Pei Huaian lifted his eyes to look at her, teasing, “Being a father to Xiao Linzhao wouldn’t be so bad.”
Shao He chuckled lightly, not taking his words seriously, and turned to stand before a tall and thick bamboo. She looked up, watching as bamboo leaves drifted down and landed on her face.
“I haven’t smelled this fresh scent in a long time. It’s really nostalgic!” Shao He closed her eyes and sighed.
A smile curved the corners of her mouth, shining like the spring sunshine, warm and brilliant.
Pei Huaian stood still, watching her with a flicker of an unusual expression in his eyes.
Pei Huaian retracted his gaze and slowly walked towards her, “Come on, I’ll take you to see other places.”
...
His voice was very deep, as if it came from the depths of his throat, and it was particularly comforting to hear.
Shao He opened her eyes and pushed him forward, leading him away, and the two of them arrived at a small courtyard within the estate. The courtyard wasn’t big, but it was arranged very beautifully, filled with various flowers and potted plants.
Shao He stopped in her tracks, taking in the beautiful scenery around her.
“What do you think, do you like it?” Pei Huaian asked.
Shao He nodded her head and laughed, “It’s nice, even better than I imagined.”
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Pei Huaian was slightly taken aback, “As long as you like it.”
Shao He turned her head to look at him, raising her eyebrows and asking, “Could it be that you had someone bring all this here on purpose?”
Pei Huaian lowered his eyelids, hiding the emotions in his eyes, “I just had them clean up here before we arrived, it wasn’t too deliberate.”
This made the servant boy behind him quickly lower his head, remembering that the master’s instructions had been quite different.
The master had asked them to make sure to choose some precious and rare flowers and exotic plants for the courtyard. Now he said it was just a cleanup, but these words were something they only dared say in their hearts.
Shao He seemed not to notice the servant boy’s change in expression and continued walking forward, speaking as she walked, “Thank you for showing me such beautiful scenery. I wonder how I should repay you.”
“If you feel like you owe me something, why not repay me with something else?” Pei Huaian said.
Shao He halted, turned to look at him, batting her large eyes and asking in confusion, “What could possibly repay the favor I owe you?”
Pei Huaian stared into her eyes, speaking slowly and earnestly, “You!”
“Pff—cough… cough cough…”
Shao He could not help but chuckle, covering her mouth, a bout of violent coughing overtaking her.
Seeing this, Pei Huaian shook his head helplessly, and after she finally stopped coughing, he said, “I was just joking with you, look how scared you got.”
Though he said so, his heart felt quite dejected.
Looking at the person before her, Shao He suddenly noticed the exceptional exquisite features of his face, fair-skinned and with defined facial structures, especially those deep, mesmerizing, phoenix-shaped eyes that seemed to hold endless magic, enticing someone to indulge in them.
She squinted her eyes, her pupils rolling mischievously, a naughty smile on her lips, and then she suddenly leaned in close to Pei Huaian to scrutinize him carefully.
“You’re not bad-looking yourself. If you really married me, you would be the one at a loss,” Shao He stood up straight, her hands on her chest as she regarded him.
Now, not only did she have a child with her, but also Chu Yu as a huge trouble. Everyone avoided her like the plague, let alone consider marrying her.
Her words made the corners of Pei Huaian’s lips turn up slightly, “In that case, why don’t you offer yourself to me.”
Shao He tilted her head, pondering for a moment, then nodded in agreement, laughing, “Hm, it does seem like a pretty good idea!”
A look of surprise crossed Pei Huaian’s eyes, as he hadn’t expected Shao He to agree so readily, but the next second pushed him back to reality.
“Too bad, I don’t want any more trouble.” Shao He shrugged helplessly and turned around to see a sweet osmanthus tree not far away, running towards it excitedly, not expecting to find one here.
Pei Huaian pursed his lips, about to say something, but retracted his words when he saw the person running farther away.
Shao He walked to the sweet osmanthus tree, plucked a flower, and placed it in her mouth, immediately, a rich and fragrant taste filled her entire mouth.
“Qingxia, quickly go get a basket. Let’s pick some osmanthus to make osmanthus cakes,” she said.
Qingxia hurried off and soon returned with a basket. The master and servant picked a full basket of osmanthus flowers, almost uprooting the entire tree.
Pei Huaian, holding the babbling Xiao Linzhang, walked in, pointed to the osmanthus tree and patiently taught, “Big tree.”
“Eh eh.” Xiao Linzhang flailed his arms, excitedly yelling.
“No, it’s a big tree.”
The little guy had been attracted by the big tree earlier, wanting to climb and play. Now being held close, Xiao Linzhang gaped with a joyful laugh, kicking his legs and waving his chubby little arms about.
Pei Huaian doted on him, his mouth curving at the corners, but his gaze couldn’t help drifting toward the not-far Shao He, watching as she busily worked, his eyes growing tender.
“Book, book.” Xiao Linzhang looked toward the person behind him, pointing at the tree and saying.
When Pei Huaian heard his indistinct words, he came back to his senses, took out the embroidered handkerchief to wipe the corners of Xiao Linzhang’s mouth, and taught him again with patience, “It’s not a book, it’s a tree.”
“Book…”
“Tree, sweet osmanthus tree.”
“Book book… eh, eh.”
No matter how many times Pei Huaian taught him, Xiao Linzhang kept saying ‘book,’ leaving Pei Huaian both amused and frustrated.