Dandy Escapes From Marriage - Chapter 48

Hui Shang looked at him as his eyes gradually turned fierce, suspecting that he might be disposed of at any moment, and asked, “What do you want to do?”

 

“I beg you! Please don’t expose me!” Liu Shu pleaded.

 

“Brother, you’re my only real brother!” Liu Shu quickly squeezed out two tears, looking very pitiful. “I have my reasons for doing this!”

 

“What reasons?” Hui Shang asked.

 

“You know, A’Ke doesn’t like playboys. I don’t want him to start disliking me so soon!”

 

“But you’re deceiving him.”

 

“I know. When the time is right, I’ll tell him the truth!”

 

“What time? When will it be right?”

 

Liu Shu hesitated for a moment, then said, “After he breaks off the previous engagement, then I’ll tell him!”

 

“I am a monk, monks do not lie.”

 

“If you don’t say anything, can’t you keep it to yourself?” Liu Shu pleaded, “Please help me, pretend you don’t know about this. Can you do that? Besides, think about it, if he finds out from you, he’ll definitely be very angry. We might be really finished then. But if I tell him myself later, he might not be as angry.”

 

Hui Shang pursed his lips and remained silent for a long time.

 

“Hui Shang~ my good brother, Master Hui Shang~”

 

Hui Shang shuddered. “Shut up.”

 

Liu Shu continued, “As the old saying goes, it’s better to demolish ten temples than to break one marriage. Your compassionate monk heart surely can’t bear to break us apart, right?”

 

“When it comes to temples…” Hui Shang suddenly looked at him, “Our temple has been in disrepair for many years due to few pilgrims and hasn’t been renovated for a long time.”

 

“I’ll renovate your temple!”

 

“The path to the temple is quite muddy.”

 

“I’ll pave the way for you!”

 

“The vegetarian meals are the same every day.”

 

“I’ll buy groceries for you!”

 

“The beds are very hard.”

 

“I’ll sleep for you! Oh no, I mean, I’ll replace them with elaborately carved soft beds for you!”

 

“Amitabha, with your kindness, I’ll thank you on behalf of the Buddha.” Hui Shang smiled.

 

“As for my matter…”

 

“What matter?” Hui Shang, looking puzzled, took out a steamed bun from his pocket and continued eating.

 

“Alright, give me some of your bun.” Liu Shu nodded in satisfaction, took out a few silver bills from his pocket, “This is the allowance my mother gave me just now. Take it to repair the temple.”

 

Hui Shang took a look and gasped in surprise, gaining a better understanding of Young Master Liu’s wealth. He handed over half of the steamed bun, “Please enjoy, Young Master Liu.”

 

“Don’t call me Young Master Liu again, be careful not to reveal our secret!”

 

“Alright, Young Master Liu.”

 

“I’ll beat you!”

 

After finishing the bun, the two parted ways. Hui Shang took the silver bills to start repairing the temple, while Liu Shu returned to the rouge shop and was immediately pulled into the backyard by Zhang Mosheng.

 

“You’re back just in time. That young lady has arrived. Come and try it.” Zhang Mosheng said.

 

Liu Shu looked up and saw the girl with a birthmark on her face sitting nervously at the stone table. As soon as she caught his gaze, she awkwardly lowered her head.

 

“Don’t be afraid, I like men.” Liu Shu smiled and approached her, examining her face. “Mosheng will also be here to accompany you. Is that okay?”

 

The woman pursed her lips and nodded softly, explaining softly, “I’m not afraid of you. I’m afraid of others’ eyes, especially men’s.”

 

“I understand. You can close your eyes.”

 

The woman closed her eyes and clearly felt him applying makeup on her face with powder. His movements were gentle. Then he lightly brushed in the direction of the birthmark, continuously outlining with a brush. She was curious about what he was doing.

 

Zhang Mosheng stood aside, observing and learning. Carelessly, he raised his head and saw two heads peering out from the door—Shen Ke and Zhang Moyang were quietly peeking, drawn in by Liu Shu’s focused and serious demeanor, and unintentionally stared for a long moment.

 

Liu Shu also noticed them, turned his head, and met Shen Ke’s gaze directly. The two smiled at each other. He then turned back to continue his work.

 

“Don’t stare.” Shen Ke pulled Zhang Moyang back. “Focus on running the shop properly.”

 

After an uncertain amount of time, the woman heard the sound of Liu Shu placing the paintbrush on the table.

 

“Open your eyes and take a look.”

 

The woman’s eyelashes trembled slightly. She nervously opened her eyes and subconsciously looked at Zhang Mosheng. Zhang Mosheng was gazing at her in a trance. After a while, he held up a bronze mirror in front of her and smiled, “There’s quite a change. Take a look and see if you like it.”

 

In the bronze mirror, the woman’s facial features were delicately enhanced, and the charm of her eyebrows and eyes was magnified. Most importantly, the birthmark she cared about had transformed into a small rose.

 

The bluish birthmark had been extended into a floral branch, blooming into a vibrant red flower. It was bold yet strangely attractive, captivating in its uniqueness.

 

Incredulously, she leaned closer to the mirror until she confirmed that it was indeed her face. Tears welled up in her eyes.

 

“Don’t cry, be careful not to ruin the makeup.” Liu Shu hurriedly handed her a handkerchief.

 

The woman smiled through her tears. “Thank you.”

 

When Zhang Moyang and Shen Ke saw the woman come out to pay, their expressions were equally dumbfounded.

 

The woman still felt somewhat shy under others’ gazes, but when she realized they were admiring looks, her shyness was reduced by a layer. She wished she could always walk with her head held high.

 

“Miss, you’ve overpaid. It’s only three hundred wen.” Shen Ke said.

 

Everyone looked and saw that the girl had actually pulled out ten taels of silver directly.

 

“No… it’s not much. Thank you. Over these years, I’ve spent quite a bit just seeing doctors.” The woman turned to Liu Shu and smiled slightly, “Thank you. I’ll come find you next time.”

 

“My pleasure.” Liu Shu respectfully replied to his important customer.

 

As she walked out the door, she quickly attracted the attention of passersby, all admiring the makeup on her face. Finally lifting her head after years of keeping it low.

 

In less than two days, the number of customers in the store doubled, all requesting rose makeup. Liu Shu was kept busy, and he constantly urged Zhang Mosheng to learn quickly to alleviate the pressure.

 

Zhang Mosheng went back and practiced overnight. Finally, he mastered the essentials, and Liu Shu returned to the village with Shen Ke, not coming to town for several days.

 

It wasn’t intentional laziness, but they finally found a bookkeeper for the store, so Shen Ke no longer needed to help.

 

As for Liu Shu, he planned to come back to study new cosmetics. The woman with the birthmark had reminded him that currently available rouge and powder only enhanced beauty and couldn’t effectively cover obvious scars or flaws. If everyone needed this much effort for makeup, it would be too time-consuming. So he wanted to try creating a powder that could conceal these obvious imperfections.

 

After proposing this idea, the others agreed, so they asked him to return.

 

During this busy time, Shen Ke also kept himself occupied, returning to the village to help with the harvest.

 

Although his father’s letter mentioned him returning to the capital to discuss breaking off the engagement, the Mid-Autumn Festival was just a few days away, and he planned to accompany Xiaowu here before setting off.

 

Now it was time to harvest the rice, and the villagers had already harvested quite a bit, so he finally had time to go to the fields to check.

 

Liu Shu also found time to come along. After all, it was he who planted the seedlings and wanted to see how they had sacrificed so gallantly.

 

The result was not surprising at all. It couldn’t be said that there was no harvest at all, at least it ensured the chickens’ food.

 

“These grains are too small.” Liu Shu pinched a few, and they broke apart with a flick of his fingers. After the rice husks cracked open, the grains inside were pitifully small. “Ah, let’s wait until next year. We definitely won’t grow like this again!”

 

“Yeah.” Shen Ke nodded. “Let’s work hard next year.”

 

Although their family didn’t have much harvest, others did, and they were short of manpower to help. So Shen Ke asked Liu Shu to stay at home and think about cosmetics, while he went to help the villagers.

 

The villagers were used to teamwork. Several families with good relationships would gather to help each other with harvesting. Today they would work at one person’s field, and tomorrow at another’s. The host family would provide meals for the day.

 

In the field, everyone cut rice while chatting and laughing, asking Shen Ke about Xiaowu’s shop. There was envy in their words.

 

“Although merchants have lower status than us, our lives aren’t as good as theirs. I think, Xiaowu, this kid makes money quickly. He’s going to make a fortune soon.” Aunt Zhu said.

 

“That’s right. Ah, our family doesn’t have the brains to do business.” After saying this, Sister Xiang shouted, “Brother Ke, when Xiaowu gets rich later, he won’t live here anymore, right?”

 

At these words, the craftsman who had been silently working suddenly looked up, nervously looking at Shen Ke, as if afraid he would say Xiaowu was about to leave soon.

 

“It’s hard to say.” Shen Ke smiled. “But wherever he goes, he won’t forget you all.”

 

“That’s good,” Sister Xiang said cheerfully. “It’s good to leave our remote and impoverished place. There’s really nothing here to stay for.”

 

Shen Ke slowly suppressed his smile, surveyed the vast rice fields, glanced at the hardworking villagers, and felt an indescribable emotion. If only everyone could live a prosperous life.

 

During dinner, Aunt Zhu prepared a large table of dishes for the guests and even specially slaughtered a chicken.

 

Shen Ke didn’t eat much and was about to take his leave when Aunt Zhu secretly pulled him into the kitchen. She packed several red eggs, two big chicken legs, and a jug of wine for him, whispering, “I guess you’re going back to find Xiaowu. Take these back and eat together.”

 

“Thank you.” Shen Ke accepted Aunt Zhu’s kindness and hurried back to his courtyard. As soon as he entered, he called out for Xiaowu.

 

“I’m here.” Liu Shu opened the window, waved at him, with a steamed bun in his mouth.

 

Shen Ke walked up to the window and saw Liu Shu under candlelight, testing the new cosmetics on the back of his hand.

 

“Are you hungry?”

 

“Kind of, luckily I brought back some steamed buns from town, they’re not stale yet.”

 

“Stop eating steamed buns.” Shen Ke took the bun from his mouth. “Luxury, come.”

 

Liu Fugui caught the bun in his mouth obediently and started eating.

 

Liu Shu looked at his own food, now suddenly turned into dog food, and looked at Shen Ke with a pitiful gaze.

 

Shen Ke smiled and stuffed a chicken leg into his mouth. “Eat this.”

 

“A chicken leg!” Liu Shu’s eyes lit up, holding the chicken leg and began eating. “Have you finished eating so quickly?”

 

“I eat faster, so I came back first.”

 

“Really?” Liu Shu smiled meaningfully. “Since you eat fast, why are you also eating chicken legs? Did you not eat enough and think there’s someone at home?”

 

“Understood.” Shen Ke took out several red eggs and placed them on the windowsill.

 

“And wine, don’t hide it, I’ve seen it.”

 

Shen Ke admitted defeat and also brought out the wine.

 

After finishing the chicken leg, Liu Shu took the wine jug and took a few sips, letting out a satisfied sigh, offering it to him: “Want a sip?”

 

Shen Ke took a sip from his hand, bowed his head and drank it, quickly turning red. Liu Shu was laughing, but indeed he dared not let him drink anymore.

 

“If I had known you two years earlier, with your drinking capacity, I wouldn’t have thought much of you,” Liu Shu raised his eyebrows provocatively, proud, “I’m someone who can drink all night with others!”

 

“Well, then we probably wouldn’t have met, I don’t go to the brothels or the gambling halls to meet friends,” Shen Ke replied.

 

The two men looked at each other and laughed simultaneously, finding it hard to resist the delightful irony of their fate.

 

“By the way, I have to go back to the capital after the Mid-Autumn Festival,” Shen Ke mentioned the main business.

 

Liu Shu was puzzled, curious: “What are you going back for?”

 

“To break off the engagement.”

 

“Really!?” Liu Shu was excited.

 

“Yeah, I have to go back and handle this myself.”

 

“Well, that’s necessary, but you must not get dazzled by the glamour as soon as you return to the capital!” Liu Shu ordered sternly.

 

Shen Ke chuckled, “After seeing someone as charming as you, who else could dazzle me?”

 

“Well, I am indeed the most dashing in the world!” Liu Shu proudly raised his chin, swallowed an egg in one gulp, and almost choked, “Cough, cough! Water, no, wine, give me wine!”