The sound of Guqin disappeared once the spice burned itself out.
Yun Xiangxiang turned her head aside. She saw Song Mian sitting behind the Guqin where its sound came from.
It was the most ancient seven-stringed Guqin. Yun Xiangxiang didn’t know anything about it. However, she did play in a lot of ancient-era dramas in her previous life. Sometimes they would hire a professional to perform. Of course, it would be pre-recorded sometimes.
Yun Xiangxiang didn’t feel that it was appropriate to judge it since she knew nothing. However, Song Mian’s performance was magical. It made the listeners relax unconsciously.
Yun Xiangxiang felt that Song Mian playing the Guqin and Master Song burning the spices might possibly be the best treatment they could give. Perhaps it was even the first time they did it.
They finally had the flower feast in the Song Family’s manor at noon. Yun Xiangxiang was dazzled when the dishes were served.
All of them had flowers as their main ingredients, no matter if it was stir-fried dishes, soup, or snacks.
It was a collection of peony, yellow chrysanthemu.m, jasmine, honeysuckle, wintersweet, rose, clove, Chinese rose, Chinese peony…
It was the first time that Yun Xiangxiang discovered that so many flowers could actually be turned into dishes. Every single one of them was very eye-catching.
“Can I take a picture of them?” Yun Xiangxiang loved to snap pictures of great food the most.
“Of course, of course. Come more often if you like it. There’s still tons of flowers that can be made into dishes,” Master Song tried to use good food to lure her into visiting.
Yun Xiangxiang smiled abashedly, but did not continue the conversation. She took her phone out and started snapping photos. She finally chose one where all the dishes were in it and blurred the tables surrounding them before posting it on her wall, with “A feast of a hundred blossoming flowers; the most gorgeous lunch” as the caption.
Li Xiangling and Song Meng knew that Yun Xiangxiang was together with her legendary boyfriend. Li Xiangling showed a face that said: lecherous.
Song Meng commented below the post: This isn’t lunch. It’s bragging to us singles.
She even added a few lemon emojis (🍋) following that.
Yun Xiangxiang sat around for a while after lunch before she got up and had to leave. Master Song knew that she had work to do, so he didn’t try to persuade her to stay even though he didn’t want her to go. He only asked her to come over more often.
There wasn’t any appropriate gift for Yun Xiangxiang now considering the orchid that he gave last time. He did give Yun Lin a very elegant dagger though.
Yun Xiangxiang didn’t want to ask about the value of the dagger. She only warned Yun Lin to be careful.
Master Song even deliberately knocked on the window when they got into the car. When it rolled down, he said to Yun Xiangxiang and Song Mian, “Be safe, you two.”
Yun Xiangxiang’s first response was to politely reply, “You have to watch your health too.”
Yun Xiangxiang thought that something wasn’t quite right as the car was coursing through the road.
Shouldn’t Master Song be reminding Song Yao who was driving if it was regarding traffic safety? Why would he remind her and Song Mian?
Since she had a mature soul, Yun Xiangxiang suddenly remembered about Master Song’s earlier misunderstanding about her living together with Song Mian…
Her face suddenly became hot. She unconsciously moved to the side to be as far away from Song Mian as possible.
“What are you doing, Big Sis?” Yun Lin who got squeezed into a corner looked at his sister incredulously.
“Big Sis feels a bit dizzy. Let’s change seats. You’ll sit in the middle,” Yun Xiangxiang’s reaction was swift. She came up with a suitable excuse.
“Oh, okay. Are you alright, Big Sis?” Yun Lin went to the middle and sat there out of concern.
Yun Xiangxiang rolled the window down and felt better when she felt the breeze brushing through her. “Your Big Sis is fine.”
Song Mian had his head lowered to read the book on his lap all the while. However, the edges of his lips that curved up exposed what he was thinking.
Yun Xiangxiang didn’t dare to go and find Song Mian after she got home. Coincidentally, Coco had already taken Guan Zi over. Yun Xiangxiang now had a reason to go for training.
She learned how to sit and stand from Guan Zi first. Yun Xiangxiang spent quite a while learning those two simple looking poses.
“Move your hands together. Your arms must feel natural. The clothes would only display their soft curves that way…”
“Look ahead, but keep your eyes slightly down when you stand. It looks polite and modest that way…”
“Square your shoulder, straighten your back. You cannot be stiff, or else you won’t have that air…”
Yun Xiangxiang stood for two hours, where Guan Zi corrected every single detail for more than ten times before she was satisfied.
Yun Xiangxiang got even more tired when it came to the sitting pose. That era’s sitting pose involved the closing of both knees. The hip would rest on the heels, while the instep would kiss the floor. Her hands would be on her lap.
She had to sit right and sit proper. How would she guarantee that the dress would look good when she sat?
How should she move her hands when she sits? How should she sit on different occasions? How would she portray her countenance when she was sitting?
The afternoon flew by with those points and a whole lot of other details to pay attention to.
Yun Xiangxiang still went up to have dinner with Song Mian that night. She didn’t use that hour or two to work too much when she thought about him leaving tomorrow. She chatted with him all the time.
It was a casual chat. Yun Xiangxiang would do the asking for the most part. She asked about Song Mian’s past. He would answer her in earnest.
“When’s your flight tomorrow?” Yun Xiangxiang asked when it was almost time for her nine o’clock practice.
“Five in the morning,” Song Mian answered.
“I’ll get up and send you off?” Yun Xiangxiang didn’t want him to leave now.
Song Mian kissed her on her forehead,” You don’t have to. It’s my own private jet.”
Yun Xiangxiang only remembered that Song Mian was different from her. He didn’t need to buy any tickets. “How long will the flight take?
She had never been to any African countries in her previous life. She heard that it would take more than ten hours of flight.
“I need to make a stop somewhere else. It will be around eight o’clock at night when I arrive there,” Song Mian answered.
It was great like that. He could take a good sleep after he landed. Yun Xiangxiang pecked on Song Mian’s cheek, “Good night. I’ll be waiting for your return.”
“En,” Song Mian sent Yun Xiangxiang down.
Yun Xiangxiang who woke up at five the next morning didn’t go to wash herself up or practice first. Instead she went upstairs.
Nobody came to the door when she pressed the doorbell. Her fingerprint was registered in the door’s system. The aroma of dishes welcomed her once she entered. Yun Xiangxiang trotted to the dining hall.
All of the dishes were packed nicely in insulated boxes. A slip on them written by Song Mian read: Remember to eat your breakfast. I’ll make more for you when I return.
A teardrop fell down her cheek. Yun Xiangxiang’s heart felt warm. It stung her.
She only understood that Song Mian left at five because he was making breakfast for her.
Yun Xiangxiang quickly sorted out her thoughts and whipped her phone out before texting Song Mian: I’ll wait for you.
It was Yun Xiangxiang’s first time experiencing missing someone after Song Mian left. It didn’t affect her life however.
She needed to work harder so that the next time Song Mian saw her, she would be a better version of herself.
Learning about that era’s knowledge, figuring out the script, and etiquette training consumed most of Yun Xiangxiang’s time.
The occasional free time was used to call her family and video chatting with Song Mian.
Song Meng and Li Xiangling left dejectedly when they took a weekend off to visit Yun Xiangxiang and saw her learning intensely. They could only wait for her to ask them out when she had time.
Guan Zi said that Yun Xiangxiang had achieved the best results after twenty days of learning with her. Yun Xiangxiang then called Wu Zhao.
Lin Jialiang called her just after she made an appointment with Wu Zhao. He said that they would need to go to Hong Kong University to promote “Justice and Selflessness” which would be premiering in Hong Kong at the end of the month.