Chapter 176 - I Knew Your Aim the First Time I Met You (1/2)

The flour seemed almost weightless for Li Chengru, but he was the capital’s most handsome man and would not normally have done this. If people in the capital knew what he was doing, they would certainly laugh at him. Success, however, always came at a price, and he would do anything if he felt it truly necessary.

Soon, Li Chengru stopped in front of Ye Xiaoxian’s house. She took over carrying the flour and said, “Thank you.”

“My pleasure,” he replied. “Please feel free to ask me for help. I’m staying at Jun Lai Lodge.”

Ye Xiaoxian smiled slightly at him.

He smiled back. He couldn’t help thanking Fengsheng in his mind. Fengsheng’s method works! She’s smiling at me!

Fengsheng had told him that this was called “sounding out” in the novels. If Ye Xiaoxian didn’t detest him or take him as a lecher, she might have a good impression of him. If she smiled, this meant that she totally trusted him. As such, he was able to finish his task early.

Since that episode, he had been in a good mood. Of course, he was not complacent. There was nothing for him to be complacent about. After all, he was such a das.h.i.+ng man for whom all ladies would line up to marry, let alone a village woman. But this marked the first step to his success, so it was reasonable for him to feel rather pleased with himself.

That day, he wasn’t picky about the food he had disgusted and instead had a good appet.i.te. He enjoyed his dinner while asking Fengsheng, “What should I do next?”

Fengsheng replied in deadly earnest, “Keep approaching her. In order to do this, you must buy her snacks by yourself from now on.”

Li Chengru’s face fell. “Do you mean I should be your servant and buy breakfast for you?”

“No no, I don’t mean that. I mean breakfast can bring you closer to each other.”

Recalling the melodramatic plots from the novels, he explained, “Young master, what you must do is not only buy her snacks. There is more. For example, when you give her money, you can pretend to touch her hand by accident. But you can’t do it brazenly, or you will be regarded as a lecher. You’d better brush her hand lightly for no more than a second, giving her heart just a flutter rather than a surge.”

Growing impatient over the long-winded speech, Li Chengru interrupted, “Stop. Show me how to make her heart flutter.”

They then began practicing how to pa.s.s the money. After repeating the move umpteen times, Li Chengru finally got the hang of it.

The next day.

A light rain began to fall in the morning. Only a few customers braced the rain to buy Ye Xiaoxian’s snacks. Some of them were wearing straw raincoats and some were holding oiled-paper umbrellas.

After handing some snacks to a customer, Ye Xiaoxian looked up to find a das.h.i.+ng white-robed man holding a yellow umbrella in the drizzling rain. His perfect stature and breathtaking face resembled Eros. Her heart suddenly skipped a beat.

Just then, his lips curved in a brief smile. According to Fengsheng’s theory of love, if Ye Xiaoxian fixed her eyes on him, this meant she must have been fascinated by his angelic appearance.

“Good morning, what would you like today?” Ye Xiaoxian smiled as she turned her attention back to her business.

Since there was n.o.body around them, Li Chengru felt free to carry out his plan. He said, “Mrs. Xiao, my name is Li Chengru. I would feel it my honor if you would call me ‘Chengru’ or ‘Mr. Li’.”

Ye Xiaoxian was more than confused. Why did Li Chengru tell her his name?

He went on saying, “Sorry to call you ‘Mrs. Xiao’ all the time. Could you tell me your name? What would you like me to call you?”

Ye Xiaoxian didn’t like being called ‘Mrs. Xiao’ because Xiao Baoshan had, in a way, abandoned her. It always made her feel very awkward. So she said rather flatly, “Little Ye.”

“Got it, Little Ye,” echoed Li Chengru.

Ye Xiaoxian asked, “Mr. Li, what would you like to buy?”

Then, Li Chengru ordered some snacks that Fengsheng and he usually ate. Of course, he didn’t forget to buy quite a few ‘rabbits’.

She bagged the snacks up, calculated the price and said, “40 copper coins in total.”

“Okay.” Li Chengru took out a small ingot of silver and placed it on the table. Gentlemen usually did so in a courteous and considerable manner. However, when she gave change to him, he hooked his fingers slightly and brushed across her palm.

Feeling his touch, Ye Xiaoxian couldn’t help looking up at him.

But he soon pulled his hand away and smiled at her. “Little Ye, see you. Have a good day!”

It was as if nothing had happened. Thoughtfully, she watched his figure fading away in the rain.

In the days followed, it became sunny again. As he had done last time, Li Chengru came to buy snacks and said “good morning” to her. But he didn’t stay to chat because there was a long queue waiting to buy breakfast.