Chapter 139: Did He Know This Woman?

Mother Dong brought two people over.

The one walking in the front looked like a capable, seasoned elderly steward, while following behind him was a young gentleman dressed in white. His appearance was refined and elegant, with a posture as upright as a bamboo. What drew the most attention were his handsome eyes, brimming with a gentle smile that revealed an innate elegance and warmth.

Yet, one inexplicably felt that he was not someone to be underestimated!

Unlike Chu Liuchen's occasional hints of harmless elegance, he looked more carefree, and his mind seemed even more tranquil.

The smile carried in those starry eyes always warmed people's hearts.

In her previous life, after entering the capital, most of the heart-warming moments she could perceive had been given by him. Yet, it was also because of him that she became a widow, and ultimately an abandoned wife driven out of the Left Prime Minister's Mansion.

If Qi Baiyu had not recommended her to be a court painter to paint portraits for the palace maid candidates, she would have had nowhere to return to on her maternal family's side, and her husband's family would not have taken her in, leaving her with no choice but to wander the streets!

Even so, Qin Wanru was still grateful to him. At least during the few months he was alive, he treated her very well, teaching her to study medicine, teaching her to raise eaves-nest swallows, and guiding her to slowly let go of her emotional knots and learn to smile again...

Yet all of this vanished completely after his death!

This person had brought a ray of warm light into her life, only for it to completely vanish with his death. Afterwards, she was ruthlessly driven out of the Left Prime Minister's Mansion. As to why she was driven out, that memory was very blurry. Some events from her previous life seemed to be blocked by something, and she could never quite recall them; it seemed she had been reprimanded because of her looks.

Subconsciously, she reached out to touch her head. Her head felt dull and ached slightly, making her very uncomfortable!

She was deeply grateful to him, and she hoped she could save him before his body was harmed! This was even her original motivation for studying medicine!

In the previous life, he was both her teacher and her friend; how could she not be stirred upon seeing him again in this lifetime?

"Excuse me, is this young lady the one who wants to buy the shop?" Wen Xichi stopped in front of Qin Wanru, asking with a warm smile. Although there was a hint of surprise in his gaze, he smiled very politely, not neglecting her simply because she looked young. He swept a calm and detached glance over that excessively delicate young face.

After finally steadying her mind, Qin Wanru stood up, bowed deeply and respectfully to Wen Xichi, and raised her head. Her pale little face blossomed with a radiant, beautiful, and brilliant smile!

"Indeed!"

"Please sit!" Wen Xichi looked at Qin Wanru with curiosity, sizing her up a few more times before smiling and gesturing for her to be seated. Though young, her bearing was composed, and her features were so exquisite. Even though her complexion currently appeared overly pale, paired with those tender cherry lips, it inexplicably gave one a sense of stunning beauty.

One could only imagine what kind of peerless beauty such a girl would grow up to be!

What was even rarer was that amidst such excellence, there was a natural allure at the slightly upturned ends of her eyebrows, yet her demeanor remained completely proper and poised. At a glance, she clearly came from a family with impeccable upbringing.

That brilliant smile, utterly devoid of any craftiness, inexplicably stirred a sense of fondness in others. As the younger son of the Left Prime Minister, Wen Xichi had seen many young ladies from noble families, but none seemed to capture attention quite like her.

"Young master, are you the one selling this shop?" Qin Wanru forcefully suppressed the shock in her heart and asked slowly. In her previous life, she had no idea that Wen Xichi owned such a shop.

However, having entered the Left Prime Minister's Mansion under the guise of dispelling bad luck through marriage, aside from seeing Wen Xichi, she truly knew nothing else; otherwise, she would not have ended up driven out of the house in the end.

When she married into the household, Wen Xichi was already confined to his bed and unable to rise. He was awake very little each day, and later on, he would remain unconscious for days on end, until finally, he could hold on no longer and passed away at a tender age.

To Qin Wanru, he was more like an older brother. Whenever he was awake, he took great care of her and taught her with utmost gentleness, never giving her a cold look just because she didn't understand something.

He was naturally intelligent and exceptionally quick-witted; Qin Wanru certainly could not compare to him by a long shot, yet even so, she was never once scolded as foolish!

His illness had originated from a fall into water, and the person Qin Wanru had sent Wang Feng to find that day was none other than him. She had to find a way to warn him to watch out for that pair of man and woman, ensuring he would not have to drag around a sickly body and meet an untimely death as he had in her previous life.

Biting her lower lip, a trace of tearfulness flashed in the depths of her eyes, making her bright eyes all the more captivating.

Wen Xichi looked at Qin Wanru in surprise. He felt that the young lady before him seemed unusually agitated upon seeing him, looking almost as if she were about to cry. Her delicate cherry lips were pressed tightly together, and though she suppressed all her emotions, a deep, swirling darkness rolled within her eyes, leaving her lovely gaze damp and glistening.

Had he ever met this young lady before?

Wen Xichi thought about it briefly and dismissed the notion. It was impossible that he had ever met her; had he truly seen such an outstanding girl, it was impossible he would have no impression of her.

"It's not me. It's a friend of mine who happened to have business elsewhere, so he entrusted me to negotiate the price with you, Milady," Wen Xichi said with a warm smile. "I heard that the price was already discussed yesterday; what does Milady think of it?"

Mother Dong had indeed asked for a price yesterday, and Qin Wanru had come today to inspect the shop before making a final decision.

"How will the brocades and embroideries inside be handled?" Qin Wanru calmed herself and asked slowly, lifting a piece of embroidered trim near her feet. Wen Xichi was very clever; she could not let him notice anything amiss!

"If Milady wants them, of course, they can be bundled together and sold to you as well," Wen Xichi smiled.

"Can't they be included together with the shop?" Qin Wanru asked with a smile. Raising her head again, she had already tucked away all emotion from her eyes.

"No. These brocades and embroideries are of the finest quality. It's just that this storefront wasn't properly managed, and we couldn't come up with a reasonable way to attract customers, which is why it became so desolate. My friend had no heart for shopkeeping, which is why such fine goods were left in this state."

Wen Xichi spoke unhurriedly.

"Didn't you say he was returning to his hometown?" Qin Wanru blinked her bright, beautiful eyes and asked in confusion.

"He originally planned to return home, but later decided against it. However, my friend feels that running an embroidery shop like this isn't quite to his liking. Since someone wants to buy it, he originally intended to part with it anyway, which is why the price is so low. We had planned to wait a bit longer, but since your subordinate came to inquire, I simply stated our intentions."

Wen Xichi smiled, explaining the entire sequence of events in just a few words.

So not only was it cheap, but it was also a stroke of good fortune. Looking at the piles of embroidered trims all over the floor, Qin Wanru truly felt it was a pity. Perhaps because it was a man running the shop, he hadn't cared deeply or paid much attention to these goods, leading to poor management that forced the shop out of business. She was very tempted by the embroidery trims and brocades before her.

Since she intended to open such a shop, she would naturally need to purchase a batch of brocades and embroidery trims anyway; acquiring them alongside the shop was the ideal scenario.

"Then... can we not pay for them all at once?" Qin Wanru had calculated the money on hand and realized she didn't have that much.

Paying for just the shop was enough, leaving some remaining capital for operational flow, but if she wanted to purchase this entire batch of goods as well, her funds would become rather tight. Yet, she had no wish to trouble the Old Madame and her mother.

The family was also looking into matters concerning shops, and neither the Old Madame nor her mother had much liquid silver on hand.

"No! The price is already very low, and my friend's intention is naturally to sell everything together. That way, even if it's a bit cheaper, it at least spares us a great deal of trouble."

Wen Xichi smiled gently.

Qin Wanru bit her lower lip, turning her pink, tender cherry lips a shade of pale white. Her distinct black-and-white eyes rested on a point in the air, showing that she was considering the feasibility of this proposal.

Wen Xichi's gaze fell upon her face once more. When Qin Wanru had been looking at him earlier, he hadn't felt it proper to stare back, but now that she was lost in thought, it gave him a chance to observe her more clearly.

The girl before him was indeed breathtakingly beautiful. Even with a touch of childishness, her delicate features were beyond the power of brush and ink to capture, resembling the ethereal and spirited beauties found in ancient texts, yet possessing an extra layer of vibrancy and dazzling allure.

Childishness, transcendence, and captivating charm seemed to weave together harmoniously in her, making one unable to resist looking at her a few more times. She truly was a stunning girl.

Holding a purely appreciative sentiment, Wen Xichi glanced at Qin Wanru a few more times before politely lowering his gaze, a trace of a smile involuntarily crossing his face. If his close friends and confidants were to see that he had one day secretly stolen extra glances at a girl, there was no telling how shocked and teasing they would be.

His close friends had all claimed that if he kept going like this, he could simply become a Buddhist monk right away.

"If you truly lack the funds, there is a money shop right across the street when you step out; you can use the shop as collateral for a loan!" Lifting his head once more, Wen Xichi wore a renewed smile, gentle and warm.

His words served as a reminder to Qin Wanru. Her eyes lit up, the tightly bitten corners of her lips relaxed, and her clear, sparkling eyes rolled with quick wit. "Very well, let's settle on it! I will pay for the shop first to buy it, and then use the funds obtained by mortgaging the shop to purchase the goods inside. However, since it still counts as paying the full amount all at once, the items inside must be sold to me at a fifty percent discount! That way, it also spares your noble friend the trouble, doesn't it?"

"Agreed!" Wen Xichi suddenly found himself admiring the young girl before him, agreeing to the request on a whim.

Initially, he had only thought her appearance exceptional, but he hadn't expected her to be so intelligent and decisive. During their conversation, she was adept at seizing the weaknesses revealed in others' words and striking with precision, leaving one with no choice but to seriously consider her proposal.

If she were a young man, he couldn't help but wish to forge a deep friendship with him; what a pity she was a female!

"Then let's set it for five days from now. Five days later, I will bring the silver to purchase the shop. However, I will have to trouble this young master—wondering if you might act as a guarantor for me by then, so that I may secure the funds more quickly." Qin Wanru thought for a moment, her sparkling eyes shifting.

Being a stranger newly arrived in the capital, securing a loan using the shop as collateral wasn't a simple matter. She didn't really understand the intricate ins and outs of it, but she knew that if Wen Xichi could vouch for her, the process would be much faster and smoother.

Wen Xichi furrowed his brow, initially intending to refuse, but upon catching sight of those dark, limpid eyes, he paused. His handsome brows lifted slightly; while he wasn't particularly fond of meddling in other people's affairs, passing the task to a friend would be best.

"If... if you truly cannot find anyone else, I can ask a friend of mine to stand as your guarantor!" Wen Xichi said slowly. He had always disliked meddling in idle matters, so pushing it onto his friend was the best option.

"And if... if he is unwilling?" Qin Wanru asked, looking at him with wide, pleading eyes.

"If he is unwilling, I will guarantee it myself!" Wen Xichi thought for a moment, his voice indifferent, though his reluctance was plainly visible.

"Then I thank you greatly, Young Master. May I ask your esteemed name?" Qin Wanru stood up happily, dipping into a slight, sideways curtsey toward Wen Xichi. When she raised her head again, her eyes were brimming with a radiant smile.

At that moment, the smile warmed the young man's heart, which had been as calm and tranquil as a placid lake!

Did he know her...?