Chapter 341 (2/2)

How could Sangsang continue eating noodles after seeing that guy? With white noodles still dangling from her lips, she grinned as her willow-like eyes narrowed, foolishly smiling with a mouth full of food. She spoke with a lisp, ”Ning Que...”

Ning Que smiled at her with his eyes scrunched up, which looked like crescent moons that did not exist in this world.

Suddenly, Sangsang found there were others behind Ning Que—one being a scholar, and the other, a girl wearing a white skirt. The girl was beautiful, with a particularly lovely round face.

Sangsang immediately realized that her mouth was filled with noodles, so her face must have looked plump and definitely not as beautiful as the girl's. Somehow, she was fl.u.s.tered.

She hurriedly put down the bowl, and quickly sucked the noodles hanging from her lips into her mouth. But she nearly choked herself on the noodles. While coughing, she said softly, ”Young master, you are back!”

Then she lowered her head to look at the tip of her shoes, not saying anything else.

Mo Shanshan silently stood beside Ning Que, but withdrew a little bit.

She was somewhat happy, eager, and uneasy when invited by the Eldest Brother of the Academy to visit Chang'an. But one could not find such emotions on her peaceful and indifferent face. She knew why she was uneasy. Sometimes, she even wondered if her expectation of being in Chang'an was actually her expectation about Ning Que, or his little handmaiden.

Following Ning Que, she entered the Old Brush Pen Shop and saw the little handmaiden eating noodles on the wooden bench. The first time that she saw her, she knew that this was the person she had wanted to see. That little handmaiden was Sangsang.

The Sangsang that appeared at the very beginning of the Chicken Soup Calligraphy.

The Sangsang that Ning Que always mentioned.

During the summer nights, Mo Shanshan had scanned over the Chicken Soup Calligraphy beside the Ink Lake numerous times, so she was clearer than others, even Ning Que, about what absolute trust and intimacy were hidden in those disordered strokes of that handmaiden's name. So, she had been wondering what kind of handmaiden Sangsang was.

In the gra.s.sland palace, she said that she liked the Big Black Horse of Ning Que. In the Snow Fields, she said that she liked the calligraphy of Ning Que. And finally, when she was almost dying at the Front Gate of the Devil's Doctrine, she calmly said what she liked was not only the horse and the calligraphy, but also Ning Que.

At that time, she thought that she would die, so she just followed her heart to say so. Yet, she did not die in the end, and what she had said could not be withdrawn now. So, she was convinced that she really liked Ning Que, and was even more eager to see Sangsang.

But she felt a bit surprised when she actually saw Sangsang today. Because the girl was not the usual beautiful handmaiden that one would often see on the streets, but just a darkish, thin, and ordinary girl. She had not totally grown up because of her young age. In addition, when she held onto the big bowl and smiled with noodles hanging from her mouth, no one could have any other feeling than pity for her.

Facing such a little handmaiden, Mo Shanshan felt that her previous a.s.sumption and even her uneasiness before arriving in Chang'an had gone to extremes. So, she felt a bit ashamed and silently lowered her head after blankly looking at Sangsang for some

Sangsang for some time. She was now looking at the tip of her shoes and did not say anything else.

It looked a bit ridiculous seeing both Sangsang and Shanshan looking at the tip of their shoes, and the Old Brush Pen Shop was shrouded in a strange atmosphere.

Ning Que was immersed in the happiness of seeing Sangsang again, so he did not even notice it. As for the Eldest Brother, although he appeared to look up and down at the displays in the shop and seemed to have noticed nothing at all, he actually slightly sighed in his heart.

Sangsang suddenly emerged from her daze with an ”Ah!” and said in a flurry, ”I will pour tea for the guests.”

She bowed to the others, took her bowl from the table, s.n.a.t.c.hed the other one from Chen Pipi, who was also in a state of shock, and hurriedly went into the backyard.

Ning Que was surprised when seeing her little figure vanish behind the curtain. ”Although she is as busy as before, after such a long time of not seeing each other, why didn't she come to hug me?”

Whether he had noodles in his mouth or not, Chen Pipi always appeared to be chubby, with a face that was even more round than Mo Shanshan's.

He did not realize what was happening until Sangsang s.n.a.t.c.hed his bowl as quickly as a whirlwind. Seeing the scholar, who was holding his hands behind his back, he quickly sucked the noodles into his tummy, dashed behind him, and made a deep bow, saying respectfully, ”Greetings, Eldest Brother!”

The Eldest Brother turned back, and could not help smiling at his serious posture. He shook his head and slowly said, ”Pipi, you are not the Youngest Brother of the back of the mountain anymore, you should behave...”

Hardly had he finished his words when Chen Pipi open his arms and hugged him. He said joyously and sadly, ”Senior Brother, finally you are back! No one knows where the Headmaster has gone off to have fun now, and then n.o.body could control Second Brother. He was so dominant and forced us to study ancient etiquette. The Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters were angry, but didn't dare to go against him. Eleventh Senior Brother was almost driven crazy and inserted cotton into his mouth as long as he could find any. So, you should take charge of the situation!”

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