Encountering Rain at West Lake

Although Nie Yunzhu had thought that after knowing Ning Yi's identity that day, without the connection of repaying a debt, the two people who only knew each other's names in this large Jiangning city might not even meet. However, after a few days, she realized that this idea might not be entirely accurate.

When she woke up that morning, she faintly heard the sound of running footsteps on the road outside the house. When she opened the window, she saw Ning Yi's figure running past. It was then that she remembered that even without the incident of her causing him to fall into the river, this Young Master Ning would run back and forth on this road every morning.

In an era that valued literature over martial arts, especially among scholars, not many people exercised like this. At first, she thought he was being chased, but then she confirmed that this Young Master Ning, who was different in every way, was indeed doing morning exercises, and it seemed that the distance he ran was constantly increasing these days. She felt a bit puzzled, but more than that, she admired him.

After all, it was early in the morning, so it wasn't possible to see him running past every day, but the number of times was still relatively high. Nie Yunzhu considered whether she should go out and say hello, but then she felt that she was being pretentious. In the past, everyone she had met had ulterior motives, and she was afraid of that. Now, this Young Master Ning had not only saved her but also made it clear that he had no designs on her. Some interactions should have been natural. Thinking about it now, she had been overthinking things.

She scolded herself a few times in her heart, and when she saw him running past again that morning, she naturally went out to say hello. Who knew that he would just wave his hand and run away without stopping. She was stunned for a while. Her maid, Hu Tao, who had recovered from her illness, followed her out and asked, "Who was that? Does Miss know him?" Then she curled her lips. "How rude..." But Nie Yunzhu had already smiled softly.

Ha, the friendship of gentlemen is like water… This attitude, could it be considered treating her as a friend?

Autumn Dew, Frost's Descent. After the Beginning of Winter, with the intensified systematic exercise and the accumulation of the previous months, his physical fitness had undergone preliminary improvements. It wasn't obvious on the outside, but inside, he was at least a healthy ordinary person.

In this era, scholars only cared about studying, and their diet wasn't very nutritious. Most people's bodies were even worse than modern-day nerds. Although the Six Arts of the Gentleman included archery and horsemanship, they were basically just slogans, like "comprehensive development of moral, intellectual, physical, and aesthetic education." Ning Yi's body used to be of this quality. To recover in half a year after twenty years of weakness was already quite good.

When running along the Qinhuai River every morning, he would occasionally greet Nie Yunzhu, which was just a nodding acquaintance. Although she was clumsy in things like killing chickens and falling into the river, after seeing her a few more times, he knew that she wasn't a complete airhead—in fact, it was clear from their conversation on the way back after buying charcoal that time. Her clothes were always simple, but she was extremely beautiful, and her figure was graceful and tall. Sometimes he would meet her at the door, waving and saying, "Young Master Ning" with a smile; sometimes he would see her in the kitchen on the side of the small building, with the kitchen window open to the street, either lighting a fire or chopping vegetables, looking up with a smile; sometimes he would see her carrying a wooden basin to the riverside terrace to pour water, and when she saw Ning Yi running towards her, she would wave hello. The morning wind was strong, and it stirred her clothes as it blew from the terrace. The morning sun shone from the horizon behind her, like a goddess walking on water.

A maid lived with her in this building, but she wasn't very pretty, and her figure was short. Ning Yi could roughly guess that the girl had been sick recently.

It wasn't until October that he had some simple conversations with Nie Yunzhu. That morning, he didn't drink water before leaving, and he increased the distance of his run. When he returned, he was covered in sweat, panting, and his throat was parched. He stopped and asked her for a cup of water, and they exchanged a few simple words. The next day, Nie Yunzhu was there again, but he couldn't just run past, so he stopped to rest for a while, and then it gradually became a habit.

"Young Master Ning is truly eccentric, running for such a long time every day. Isn't he tired?"

"It's because I'm tired that it's effective. What's so strange about running?"

"Yun Zhu used to be in the Jinfeng Brothel... I've seen many scholars and talents, but I've never seen anyone like Young Master Ning..." As she said this, she looked at Ning Yi, but Ning Yi had already guessed that she had this experience. He was only a little surprised that she was so frank with him, but he didn't show too much astonishment. After a moment, Nie Yunzhu asked doubtfully, "Could it be that you want to join the army?"

"Ha, with my current body, how can I go to the battlefield? It's just that a scholar is useless, so exercising is always good."

"A scholar is useless... If others heard that, they might criticize you."

He didn't stay long here every day, and they only talked about a few things, but as time went on, the outline of the other's identity gradually became clear. She had worked in a brothel for some years and then redeemed herself and her maid. She bought this beautiful riverside building, but because of her limited knowledge of ordinary life, she made many mistakes.

Nie Yunzhu.

Perhaps she thought his personality was strange, but in Ning Yi's opinion, her personality was also a bit strange. He guessed that she was from a wealthy family when she was young and then was sold to a brothel. After redeeming herself, she didn't want to go down that road again, which was why her life was a bit difficult. This woman's personality must have been a bit stubborn. One day at the end of October, when Ning Yi and Xiao Chan were passing through the Dongji market, they saw her from afar.

At that time, the market was crowded. Ning Yi and Xiao Chan were going up to the restaurant, and when they looked over from afar, Nie Yunzhu and her maid Hu Tao were there, but they were several meters apart in the crowd. It looked like they were there to buy vegetables, or that there were people they knew among the vendors in the market. Nie Yunzhu was still dressed in simple clothes and had a rather ugly headscarf on her head. She was squatting behind a vendor who sold chickens and also helped to slaughter them, holding a hen in one hand and a kitchen knife in the other, cutting the hen's throat and letting the blood drain into a bowl on the ground. She seemed to find it disgusting, pulling her head back as far as possible, but she didn't let go of her hand. After the blood was drained, she threw the hen into a pot of hot water next to her and stood up with satisfaction. Then, she seemed to glance towards Ning Yi's side, probably unintentionally, and he didn't know if she had seen him.

"Young Master, what's wrong?"

Noticing that Ning Yi was standing by the stairs looking towards the market, Xiao Chan asked doubtfully. Ning Yi shook his head. "It's nothing, let's go inside." He turned around with a smile.

These days, people rarely eat chicken. Even if they buy one, they usually take it back and raise it for a few days before killing it. The business of slaughtering chickens for people after selling them probably only existed in markets in big cities like Jiangning, and only if the vendor was imaginative enough.

The next day, sitting on the steps of the riverside building, Nie Yunzhu asked, "Did Young Master see me at the Dongji market yesterday?"

"Yes, why did you run there to kill a chicken?"

"Zhao Erniu and Hu Tao, who live over there, are in love." Nie Yunzhu smiled and pointed to a house in the distance. "His family sells vegetables in the Dongji market. I went there with Hu Tao, so I know some people in the market. Yesterday, when I went to buy things, Aunt Liu, who sells chickens, was too busy, so I went over and said, 'Let me help you.' And I really killed a chicken..."

She smiled happily because of this. Ning Yi was stunned for a moment, then shook his head with a smile. "Why do you have to do that?"

Nie Yunzhu was originally in a brothel. At her age, she was able to redeem herself, which meant that she must have been very popular in those days. Such a woman never lifted a finger, and in many ways, she was probably more refined than ladies from noble families. After redeeming herself, even if her life seemed a bit bumpy, it was still much better than ordinary families. Not knowing how to kill a chicken wasn't a big deal, but he didn't expect her to be so stubborn. When she saw an opportunity, she had to learn how to do it.

"It's always good to learn more things." Nie Yunzhu looked into the distance and said with a smile. After a moment, she looked towards Ning Yi. "By the way, Young Master Ning, can you stop here tomorrow too?"

Resting here had already become a habit, and she didn't need to say it originally. Since she brought it up, there must be something. Ning Yi asked, "What is it?" Nie Yunzhu shook her head with a smile. "You'll know when you come tomorrow."

The next day, when Ning Yi came over, Nie Yunzhu brought a bowl out of the house, which contained several pancakes that had just been fried.

"Young Master hasn't had breakfast yet, right? You can take these pancakes to taste."

Ning Yi usually had breakfast after running and resting enough. At this time, he looked at her with some doubt, sat on the steps and rested for a while, then started eating directly. "What's up?"

Seeing him like this, Nie Yunzhu was also happy in her smile. She also sat down next to him. "How does Young Master think it tastes?"

"Not bad." Ning Yi nodded.

"Then... how does Young Master think it would be if we sold them?"

"Hmm, you're planning to sell pancakes..."

Nie Yunzhu smiled. "Apart from entertaining people with my looks or making handkerchiefs and insoles, the only thing that Hu Tao and I can make that doesn't look too different from other people's is this. Hu Tao learned some of it when she was in the Jinfeng Brothel. It should still be edible... So we're planning to get a small cart and sell some tea and other things..."

Ning Yi was no longer interested in things like doing business. Of course, Nie Yunzhu wasn't really asking for his opinion. This woman was resilient. She seemed beautiful and weak, but she was actually very opinionated. After leaving the brothel, she broke off contact with all her former patrons. Realizing that ordinary life might require killing chickens, she endured the disgust and learned how to do things that she had avoided before. Now she wanted to do things that didn't seem to fit her temperament, which Ning Yi found interesting.

In early November, in the Su family's courtyard, Ning Yi moved his room. He and Su Tan'er moved from the upstairs, which had begun to get cold, to the downstairs. At this time, the winter chill was deep. In the evening, everyone gathered in Su Tan'er's living room, and charcoal was lit in the room, which was warm and cozy. Ning Yi's contact with Su Tan'er thus became more frequent...