Chapter 13 – The Capital (3)
[Call request from next door host, do you want to receive?] Fourteen asked Su Xin for her permission on how to deal with the unexpected call.
Oh? Receive it.
Su Xin remembered that this thoughtless system didn"t tell her when her coworker was busy, leading to a refused phone call and was even greeted with swearing. For a moment, Su Xin shrank a little in shame inside. Stupid Fourteen!
[Sun Yixiao here, coworker is waiting for a reply.] The bright and clear female voice sounded in Su Xin"s mind. It was unlike the electronic sound of Fourteen and it made Su Xin feel a little dizzy adapting to this new voice in her head.
[Su Xin.]
[Oh, oh, h.e.l.lo.. Forgive me for not being hospitable the last time you called. I was a bit busy when Fourteen reached me, so ahem.. ]
[It was nothing. I completely understand.]
[Oh, I"m so relieved. Thank you. Actually, I just came to say h.e.l.lo and to know how you"re doing. If you have any problems that can"t be solved, in the future you can talk to me. At this point Fourteen"s calls should not be turned down. After all, it is a task-oriented system and is quite responsible.]
[All right, thank you.]
When the conversation was cut off, Su Xin sat on a chair and pondered on Sun Yixiao"s offer. Su Xin had not figured out what questions she was going to ask, and there was no problem that couldn"t be solved at hand. Although there was curiosity for this other coworker of hers, Su Xin was not the kind of person who loves to chat. So, she placed it at the back of her mind and decided only to ask if she needed to.
For now, she must focus first on her mission.
From the information provided by Fourteen, the prince"s hobby is to stroll around the city and flirt with girls as the womanizer he is. Perhaps, he enjoyed the attention every time he graces these common places with his presence.
It"s been half a month since Su Xin came to the capital but some things had already changed with her in that short span of time. Su Xin who arrived in the capital jobless was now a seamstress in an embroidery house, thanks to the grandma landlady who helped her.
How lucky of her, the original owner"s body was already accustomed to needlework. Thus, it only took a little practice for Su Xin to produce decent works. She made use of her old gowns and made purses out of it which she presented as samples to the embroidery house. She also came with a recommendation from her landlady and thus was hired right away.
Though the pay was not impressive, it kept her and Shu Juan from living on the streets. At this time, she had not yet encountered the fifth prince. The world must be against her, ah!
After a day"s work, Su Xin bought a roast chicken wrapped in oil paper on her way back. While on the road, she accidentally b.u.mped into someone and tightly protected the wrapped chicken from falling.
"Sorry." Su Xin checked the wrapper for any tears. Seeing as her precious meal was still intact, she was satisfied and prepared to leave.
“Wait a minute, hit me and walk away so easily?" Although this was a threatening statement, the man"s voice was pleasant and seductive. This made Su Xin stop on her tracks.
“Gongzi, is there something wrong?” Su Xin faced the aggravating man who had a smirk on. In fact, she can"t tell whether the man just b.u.mped into her intentionally or unintentionally for this purpose only. What a flirt.
It was only then that she realized, she was looking at the fifth prince, Yu Hongliang.
Finally! This must be her lucky day.
Yu Hongliang looked at Su Xin with her arms holding the chicken protectively in her chest with an unreadable smile1. He thought she was quite alright. All the girls in the capital would blush in a heartbeat at the sight of him—even those who did not see his affectionate eyes. However, in front of this woman, there was no such thing.
She was more concerned about the chicken than him!
Nevertheless, she was good looking. As good looking as the women he had seen in his life—and they were the best. Today, he was supposed to buy a roasted chicken and have little feast with the little idiot but he knocked into a beauty instead.
“That accent.. You"re not from the capital, are you?”
“I"m from the south. Anyway.. Gongzi2, what"s the matter?” Su Xin followed Fourteen"s advice which was to play hard to get when she meets the prince.
Fourteen said that for this kind of chauvinistic and dignified men, it"s best to keep them at arm"s length to arouse their interest. However, it can"t be too much, otherwise they"d think she was playing hard to get. Just the right amount of tease and then do something that would make him feel this was something brand new and exciting.
When Su Xin heard Fourteen say this, she felt like this AI had a story. It sounded like it was speaking from experience.
“Fifth master, is buying a roasted chicken that difficult? You were taking so long that I already bought the wine and then you"re still empty-handed here and uselessly hitting on a young lady, tsk."
Su Xin heard a very familiar womanly voice from not far away while Yu Hongliang turned around, embarra.s.sed.
“Little idiot, what"s the rush? Come here.”
“Says who? You are the idiot.”
The woman came over to his side with a bounce in her step and was immediately stunned to see Su Xin.
It was none other than He Yunshu.
“Xue Yao!”
He Yunshu strode past Yu Hongliang, b.u.mping into him and hugged Su Xin tightly.
“Yunshu.”
Long time no see, Miss Mary Sue.
T/N: This chapter was so long so I had to split it to 3 parts. For those who may be wondering, my chapter parts range from 900-1400 words. If you see any errors or have suggestions, please comment below.
似笑非笑 (sì xiào fēi xiào) – like a smile yet not a smile (idiom)Gongzi – Honorific used for son of an official/n.o.bility. Usually dukes and lords. Don"t know the English term for this. My Lord doesn"t quite fit it.