Top Scholar

Chapter 207 Dating
The next morning after school, Su Lu went to the Zhu family's house for dinner as usual.

He ate lunch absentmindedly that day. Seeing this, Madam Zhang glanced at Zhu Jie and thought, "Did you frighten the child?"

Zhu Jie had no choice but to tone down his enthusiasm. After the meal, instead of chatting with Su Lu as usual, he let him leave.

After coming out, Su Lu looked up at the sun and asked Zhu Ziming, "Does your sister have any guests today?"

The rules of a wealthy family must be observed; when there are guests, Miss Zhu will not come out to dine.

"I don't know, I didn't see him," Zhu Ziming said. He also had to attend the clan school. However, unlike his sister, he only came back for lunch because Su Lu came over.

"Go and ask," Su Lu instructed.

"Yes, sir!" Zhu Ziming immediately shouted as he accepted the order and dashed off to the backyard.

"What are you doing?" Zhu Zihe asked curiously.

"Don't ask if it's none of your business," Su Lu said.

"I could guess even without you saying it," Zhu Zihe said with a grin. "You look impeccably dressed today, with slicked-back hair and a powdered face, but you seem distracted, and you can't even suppress the smirk..."

As he spoke, he put his arm around Su Lu's shoulder and said with a strange laugh, "What, did you arrange to meet Miss Huang at my sister's place?"

Su Lu pushed his hand away, carefully straightened her collar, and said, "What do you mean by 'arranged'? We met by chance."

"Yeah, we bump into each other every time, sometimes even intentionally." Zhu Zi teased him a couple of times, then asked curiously, "How far have things progressed between you two?"

"The last time we met was during the Qingming Festival outing. How far have things progressed?" Su Lu said with a wry smile.

"Hey, doesn't she borrow books from you all the time? Didn't you take the opportunity to sneak in some personal stuff or something?" Zhu Zihe was quite savvy.

"No," Su Lu said in a muffled voice.

"Nobody would believe you. If you didn't, how did you two end up here?" Zhu Zihe laughed loudly.

~~
Zhu Ziming rushed to Miss Zhu's embroidery room and saw that his sister had already finished eating and was feeding her parrot named Peony.

"What's all the commotion about?" Miss Zhu glanced at him and added two melon seeds to Peony's bowl.

"Brother Qiji asked me to come and see if you have any guests here," Zhu Ziming said, breathless.

"No," Miss Zhu said curiously, "What does he want to do?"

"I don't know, really not?" Zhu Ziming asked again.

"What did you say? Do you think I'm hiding someone?" Miss Zhu flicked a melon seed at Zhu Ziming, hitting him squarely on the forehead.

"Ouch." Zhu Ziming covered his head and stumbled backward, saying, "Then this subordinate will go back to report."

But she bumped right into the maid Haitang who was rushing in.

"Oh dear, young master, who walks backwards like that?" Haitang said helplessly, rubbing her shoulders.

"Sorry, Sister Haitang, I was just joking around with my sister," Zhu Ziming quickly apologized with a smile. "Are you alright?"

"It's nothing." Haitang shook her head helplessly, then reported to Miss Zhu, "Miss, Miss Huang has arrived."

"Huh?" The Zhu siblings both opened their mouths wide.

~~
Miss Zhu wiped her hands clean and came out to greet them. Sure enough, she saw Huang E arriving gracefully, surrounded by her maids.

"Good day, sister." Huang E curtsied.

"You look so beautiful today, little sister." Miss Zhu helped her up, looked her up and down, and teased, "It would be a shame to dress up so carefully to see me."

"What are you saying, sister? I'm just like usual." Huang E's pretty face flushed slightly.

"Really? I feel like it doesn't smell this good before," Miss Zhu said with a smile. "Sister, you came over without even saying hello. Is something urgent?"

“It’s almost Dragon Boat Festival, so I sewed a sachet for my sister. It’s nothing important, so I just brought it over.” Huang E said, taking out a unique seven-colored brocade pouch from her sleeve and handing it to Miss Zhu.

"I am deeply grateful for your care, sister. This is just a small token of my appreciation."

Miss Zhu took it and her eyes lit up. The brocade pouch was like a small, exquisite flower basket, embroidered with colorful silk threads depicting the vibrant flowers and lifelike leaves, as if it contained a basket full of blooming flowers.

"Oh my..." Miss Zhu exclaimed sincerely, "Such skillful craftsmanship, such a beautiful brocade pouch! You must have put in a lot of effort, sister?"

"It's alright," Huang E said with a sweet smile. "I'll inevitably be causing you trouble again in the future."

"No problem, please go ahead and trouble yourself." Knowing the sachet was protection money paid by Huang E, Miss Zhu stopped teasing her. After distancing herself from the maids, Miss Zhu asked in a low voice, "Tell me honestly, did you have an appointment to meet someone here today?"

"Why do you say that, sister?" Huang E asked in a fluster.

"It's nothing, it's just that a young man named Su Lu sent Ziming to ask if I have any guests here." Miss Zhu smiled and said, "I was just wondering when you came. You even said you two didn't have an appointment?" Huang E was delighted to hear this. He was indeed on the same wavelength. He nodded shyly and said, "I always borrow books from Brother Hongzhi. I feel a bit embarrassed. I sewed him a brocade pouch as a token of my gratitude."

"Just to express my gratitude?" Miss Zhu couldn't resist teasing Huang E again; the young talent's shy and bashful demeanor was simply too adorable.

"Sister!" Huang E stamped her foot in protest.

"Alright, alright, I won't tease you anymore." Miss Zhu then smiled and confessed, "I've already had Ziming take him to the rockery behind the lotus pond. The scenery there is beautiful, and it's well-hidden, perfect for a secret rendezvous..."

She sighed and said, "I've had my eye on that place for a while now, but unfortunately, no one wants to go on a date with me..."

"I'll just give him a sachet," Huang E said, trying to cover up her true intentions, but she couldn't wait to turn around and leave.

Miss Zhu watched Huang E's retreating figure, her steps light and quick like a deer's leap, her skirt fluttering like flowing clouds in the wind. She couldn't help but feel a secret envy; it seemed the scenes in the stories were all true.

In this early summer season, Miss Zhu suddenly began to miss spring...

~~
The lotus flowers in the pond have begun to sprout, some are still in bud and others are just beginning to bloom. A gentle breeze carries the fragrance of lotus flowers into the air.

There is an artificial hill made of Taihu stones by the pond, and behind the artificial hill, the flower trellis is covered with wisteria flowers that cascade down like a waterfall.

Su Lu stood under the wisteria blossoms, anxiously gazing at the winding cobblestone path.

It felt like an eternity had passed in the short time he had been waiting, until he finally heard light footsteps.

He quickly turned his back, pretending to be looking at the lotus flowers, and only slowly turned his head back when the footsteps sounded behind him.

Sure enough, Huang E stood gracefully before him.

Su Lu saw that she wore her hair in a double-ringed bun, tied with a light green silk ribbon, and her hair was adorned with kingfisher feathers and pearls. The lapis lazuli tassels swayed gently, making her skin look like solidified cream and her eyes like morning stars. She looked like a fairy who had mistakenly entered the mortal world.

Between the lake-green ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), a sky-blue gauze short ruqun (another type of traditional Chinese dress) partially conceals her fair skin, paired with a peacock blue high-waisted long skirt. A mint green shawl, like a thin mist, drapes her shoulders, jingling as she walks, perfectly blending the nobility of a wealthy young lady with the lively charm of a young girl.

Huang E stretched out her slender, green hand and waved it in front of Su Lu, saying in a coquettish voice, "How can you look at people like that?"

"I'm sorry, it's been such a long time." Su Lu cupped his hands and smiled, "My mind wanted to treat you with courtesy, but my eyes wouldn't listen."

"You're acting like that reckless playboy again!" Huang E feigned annoyance, but was secretly pleased. She would only be disappointed if Su Lu remained as wooden as a block of wood after two months of absence.

"There's no way around it," Su Lu said with a smile. "I was thinking to myself, I have to keep looking, otherwise I don't know when I'll see it again."

"Alright, alright, I know you're not shy anymore." Huang E became even more embarrassed by what she was being said, though she couldn't take her eyes off him either. It had been two months since she'd last seen him, and Young Master Su seemed to have grown taller and even more handsome. His perfectly tailored, moon-white round-necked suit accentuated his refined and gentle demeanor, making one's heart flutter.

Huang E felt her heart beating faster and faster, so she quickly turned her head away, avoiding his gaze, and asked softly:

"How did you know I would come to the Zhu family today?"

"Little Tiantian asked you, what message do you have for me? Didn't you say 'Wei You'?" Su Lu smiled and said, "Wei You doesn't mean 'nothing,' but rather the time of day 'Wei You,' which means from Wei Shi to You Shi, right?"

“The character 酉 can be broken down into 四二八, which is exactly today’s date—April 28th.” After a pause, Su Lu said smugly, “Now we have the date and time, all we need is the location.”

"Alright, alright, I'll listen to how you continue the story." Huang E was both pleased and shy, and she said coquettishly.

"The location is obvious—add a 'beautiful eyebrow' radical to the character '未,' and it becomes the character '朱,' isn't it?" Su Lu said, drawing a stroke in the air and laughing.

"You can't go anywhere too often, so the places you can go are limited. The only place where we can meet in a reasonable way is the Zhu family. So you asked Xiaotian to tell me that you'll be visiting the Zhu family this afternoon!"

"No, you're just making things up." Huang E was overjoyed, which meant that the two of them were indeed in perfect sync.

He naturally refused to admit it, shaking his head and laughing, "Even if I have delicate eyebrows, there should be two lines. I'm not a one-eyed dragon."

“Even a one-eyed dragon has two eyebrows…” Su Lu corrected softly, then said in an even softer voice, “The reason there’s only one is because the character ‘八’ only has one stroke, right?”

"What?" Huang E finally couldn't hold back and reached out to cover his mouth, saying, "Not even a speck! If you keep talking nonsense, I won't talk to you anymore."

"Yes, yes." Su Lu quickly stopped her and said, "I was just making a wild guess. Don't take it to heart if I'm wrong, Xiumei."

"That's more like it." Huang E finally let him go, and took out a sachet that she had carefully embroidered for him from her sleeve, saying, "If you still don't behave properly, I'll throw it in the water rather than give it to you."

"Yes, yes, I will obey." Su Lu then adopted the demeanor of a well-mannered scholar, extending his hands and saying, "Please grant me your favor, Miss."

"Please accept this, young master." Huang E imitated him, adopting the demeanor of a young lady from a theatrical stage. She turned to the side, covered her face with a handkerchief with her left hand, and held the sachet between two fingers of her right hand, gently placing it in his hand.

Su Lu then imitated the young master on the stage, drawing out his words as he bowed and said, "Thank you..."

"Young master, you're too kind..." Huang E also curtsied in a drawn-out tone.

The two burst into laughter as they exchanged gifts.

(End of this chapter)