Chapter 28: Let’s see who falls asleep first, she’s already tired!…

Like… Wei Yunruo?

The young gentleman was startled. That’s right!

Wasn’t he supposed to like Sister Wei?

But when they were in Changshan Gou, he actually, actually only thought of Li Ruantang. Meng Jun pinched his own cheek hard.

“Ouch-” He let out a low cry of pain, but his mind turned to another comparison.

In fact, when Sister Wei was close, she wasn’t nearly as beautiful as Li Ruantang. Moreover, her words were convoluted, and she didn’t have Li Ruantang’s unique sweet scent.

If it weren’t for his mother not yet returning to the capital, and Li Ruantang losing her memory, he wouldn’t have needed to ask Sister Wei to investigate the situation in the capital.

“Jiu Jiu?” Hu Youning was anxious and lowered his voice, “Now that Lady Li has just escaped a calamity, if you want to leave with Sister Wei, can you wait for two or three more days?”

“Ah Ning, I have important matters.” The young gentleman frowned, not knowing how to explain the misunderstanding to him, after all, he had deceived Hu Youning first.

Meng Jun organized his thoughts and was about to speak again when he suddenly felt his back stiffen.

The young gentleman turned his head in confusion. Light shone through the slightly open door, but there was no person, not even a bird perched there.

He shook his head, “Sister Wei also has her own affairs to attend to.”

“Besides, my wife-master needs me to take care of her. I absolutely won’t leave her at a time like this.”

“Really?” Hu Youning frowned in confusion. Leaving everything else aside, he always felt that Jiu Jiu didn’t seem to be particularly close with this Sister Wei.

But the Wei family had indeed sent someone to notify them.

The young gentleman nodded. Li Ruantang couldn’t remember anything, so naturally, he had to help her take care of more things. Although there wasn’t much he could do.

His slender fingers lightly pressed against the piece of mutton-fat jade hidden in his clothes, the one she had given him. Meng Jun looked very seriously at the slightly relieved Hu Youning, “Ah Ning, you mentioned earlier that there were rabbits in the back mountain valley, right?”

“Mm, there are many. Before, my mother and I often went there to catch some wild rabbits for a taste.” Hu Youning asked in confusion, “Jiu Jiu, why do you suddenly bring this up?”

“Because my wife-master is injured again.”

The young gentleman lowered his eyes silently. She had been poisoned and injured. Although the Hu family had done their best with the food, Li Ruantang had visibly lost weight. If she didn’t have some extra nourishment, he was worried she wouldn’t last until Sister Wei sent back news, and would fall seriously ill.

“So, I… I want to catch a few fat rabbits to nourish my wife-master’s body.”

“You?” Hu Youning pinched his own arm in disbelief. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe in Jiu Jiu’s determination, but such a young master raised in the inner courtyard truly didn’t look like someone who could catch rabbits.

“Ah Ning, will you take me now?” The young gentleman pulled him up, saying, “I learn things very quickly.”

However, the grass on the hillside had just turned green, and it wasn’t the season when rabbits were fat and plump. Hu Youning couldn’t refuse the young gentleman’s earnest pleas and could only sigh and agree, “Then let’s go try our luck.”

In the twilight, the gate of the Hu family’s courtyard closed with a soft creak.

The two young men crouched and slipped out of the courtyard one after another. The back mountain wasn’t far from the Hu family’s home. Hu Youning first instructed Jiu Jiu on some points to pay attention to.

The two then surrounded the rabbit holes, but whether it was bad luck or not, they came up empty-handed several times in a row.

As the sky was about to turn completely dark, it became difficult to see clearly while hiding in the grass.

Hu Youning gently patted the shoulder of the young gentleman who was still guarding the last spot, “Jiu Jiu, why don’t we go back first-”

“Shh!” Slender fingers suddenly covered Hu Youning’s lips. When he quieted down, Meng Jun winked towards a spot not far away, and they both looked at the rabbit that was curled up in a ball, nibbling on grass.

Although not as plump as in autumn, it was still round and chubby, squatting there like a fluffy ball.

The young gentleman’s eyes brightened several degrees. He tiptoed after Hu Youning as they stood up, but the rabbit was alert. As soon as it heard a slight sound, it immediately prepared to run.

Meng Jun’s heart raced, and he lunged straight at the rabbit. His fingers just managed to tightly grasp the pair of hind legs that were kicking vigorously.

“Jiu Jiu!” Hu Youning hadn’t expected the young gentleman to move so quickly. He stepped forward and grabbed the back of the rabbit’s neck, skillfully tying it up and putting it in the small basket.

“Are you alright?” The young master before him was in a sorry state, with the exposed part of his wrist scraped badly by the ground, showing many fine bloody marks.

Hu Youning looked at it with concern, “If Lady Li sees this, she’ll surely blame me for not taking good care of you.”

“How could that be.” The young gentleman patted off the dust clinging to his clothes, his lips curving upward, “My wife-master isn’t that kind of person. Besides, I won’t let her find out.”

“But-” Hu Youning furrowed his brows worriedly, but before he could finish, Meng Jun said, “When we get back, I’ll just cover it with my sleeve like this. My wife-master has been exhausted for a whole day and night, she won’t have the extra energy to notice! Ah Ning, don’t worry. Even if, even if she does notice.”

The tip of the young gentleman’s ears turned red, “I’ll just say I fell in Changshan Gou.”

Now, just mentioning the three words “Changshan Gou” made Meng Jun’s heart feel both sweet and numb. He coughed lightly a few times to suppress his unease, thought for a moment, and then said, “Ah Ning, why don’t we say you caught this rabbit?”

“Me?” Hu Youning’s steps faltered as he carried the small basket, not quite understanding.

The young gentleman nodded, “If we say it was me, my wife-master definitely won’t believe it. And you’ll still have to help prepare the rabbit later. You’ve contributed the most. My wife-master is very clear about gratitude and grudges. If she remembers your kindness, she’ll be more attentive when helping you find a suitable family in the future.”

After this incident, Meng Jun had also seen Hu Youning’s true nature, and he genuinely considered Ah Ning as a friend.

Although he had earlier intentions of matchmaking, now that Li Ruantang’s future seemed uncertain, if the imperial decree truly couldn’t be reversed, it wouldn’t be right to match Ah Ning with her.

As he thought about it, the young gentleman gradually began to feel some regret. He should have asked Sister Wei to take a letter out earlier in the day.

Counting the days, his mother should already be on her way back to the capital.

She wanted him to be Li Ruantang’s husband so much, she shouldn’t stand idly by.

“Jiu Jiu.”