She Doesn’t Want the Face-Blind Husband

Chapter 51: New Directions

TL NOTE:

Hi,

I have a new job, so I’d be super busy now. I’d do my best to keep this updated as much as possible.

I’m sorry to everyone who’s been an avid reader of this novel. I’ll do my best to post another release next week, to keep up with the releases. 

Anyways Happy Reading~

* * *

“Gu Sicheng, it’s a great honor to have you here tonight. Would you like to have a drink?”

The shopkeeper of Xiangyang Restaurant had always been good at recognizing people.

The first time he saw Gu Ningxi was a year ago when he was with the people from the Ministry of Rites, and then the second time was when he went to visit the Gu Mansion to return the things he left behind, and they haven’t meet again after that.

He looked at the man in scarlet clothes from a distance tonight, he seemed to have lost some weight, and his shoulders slumped.

The shopkeeper still recognized that the handsome gentleman he met before was the same gentleman in front of him, and it was Gu Ningxi, so he greeted him casually.

He didn’t expect that this official who got drunk till he couldn’t walk last time, entered his restaurant again, so he hurriedly rushed out to greet him.

The shopkeeper led Gu Ningxi past the bright lobby where the girls were persuading him to drink and the customers were laughing, all the way to the quiet elegant room,

“You don’t drink a lot, do you? There are some sweet drinks in the restaurant, women like them too, would you like to try them?”

Gu Ningxi didn’t like it, he didn’t know what he was thinking, he simply followed someone who was leading him into the wine shop.

Once he sat down, he felt inexplicably relaxed, and nodded without any other choice,

“Gu Sicheng, we’ve brought your drinks.”

A short time later, the room was filled with the smell of wine, and the taste was very light.

Gu Ningxi poured himself some, first slowly then faster, three small cups down later, his jade porcelain cheeks were flushed, and his body gradually warmed up a little.

He suddenly wanted to laugh, and sure enough, he let out a loud one.

The shopkeeper, who was standing by the table and was waiting to assist him with some side dishes, was startled when he heard the sound.

So he raised his face and asked,

“Gu Sicheng, what’s wrong?”

“Shopkeeper, you have seen my wife, right? Tell me, is my wife the best woman in the world?”

Gu Ningxi laughed again, before his breathing calmed down, he then put his elbows on the low table, rested his chin on his palm, looking seriously at the other party, with his eyes brimming with color.

The shopkeeper doesn’t know, but in Gu Ningxi’s eyes, he is just a little chubby person with flat tiles as his face, so the flattering smile he plastered on, was useless, and the folds squeezed out of the fat around his eyes, looked like there were a few lines around the tiles, which only made it hard for Gu Ningxi to perceive his subtle expressions.

The shopkeeper just cheerfully replied to the guest,

“Of course. I was honored to meet with Madam Gu before, and I was able to see her graceful bearing. Her quiet demeanor really concealed her graceful and generous complexion. Alas, there are too few such elegant words in my stomach to describe her. In short, I just envy Gu Sicheng and his wife, you are really a pair of immortal couples!”

Gu Ningxi filled his cup to drink, while listening.

He put the empty glass cup on the table but failed to stabilize it.

As soon as he let go of the cup, it fell to the ground.

Sishu hurriedly picked it up, and the shopkeeper’s voice was interrupted.

He wants to continue, and listen to everything about his wife.

So Gu Ningxi firmly held on to the table, and thought that he was still stable, but in fact, his head and neck has been slightly tilted to the side, he then said,

“Shopkeeper, I’ll buy your wine as much as I can, but please, tell the details of the scene, when you saw my wife again okay?”

The shopkeeper answered,

“Since Gu Sicheng wanted to take good care of this small shop’s business, then I will be sure to accompany you well. If I remember correctly, I visited your house on the 22nd day of the 12th lunar month. I packed up the items you left behind and returned them to your mansion. I sent the post all of a sudden, and this poor one was worried, for fear of offending the noblewoman. So I didn’t expect Madam Gu to greet this poor one inside her flower hall. As soon as she saw this poor one, she was smiling, gentle and very amiable…”

Gu Ningxi was brought back to the day, after the shopkeeper left the mansion, he told his wife about the fact that he could see Mo Qiqi’s face clearly.

After he finally came clean about it, he thought that the good days of their husband and wife would finally come back… But how come it has turned into this now?

After he listened to the shopkeeper’s stories, he felt drunk even more, and Gu Ningxi felt the voice of the other person passing by his ears, but he couldn’t understand his meaning.

He supported himself and said,

“I won’t go back home, I’ll just sleep here.”

The next moment, he fell down on the table with a bang, his face hit the hard table, and his cheekbones seemed to be a little redder.

The next day, Gu Ningxi woke up lying inside the guest room of the restaurant, while facing the dazzling sunlight, and exhaling a long breath.

It was already late, he was still wearing his official robe yesterday, so he simply went to the Ministry of Rites immediately, and his colleagues were talking about him in whispers.

During the office break, Gu Ningxi thought of the shopkeeper’s vivid description last night, as if it brought him back to the days when the couple hadn’t separated, and a smile appeared on the corner of his lips.

Although it was quite bothersome to have a headache after drinking too much, it is still good to be able to chat with others about his lady.

So, Gu Ningxi went straight to the Xiangyang Restaurant after work, and invited the shopkeeper to drink, while listening to him repeat what he said about his wife last night.

It went on for two consecutive nights, on the eighteenth and nineteenth day of the first lunar month.

❖

On the seventeenth day of the first lunar month, Tao Xinhe was still distraught, and when she thought about Jichang Bo, she felt dizzy, this is when Cheng Jia came to visit.

She hastily arranged for her servants, and told them that they were not allowed to tell the third miss about it.

She then came forward to ask Cheng Jia about his purpose.

After giving her a salute, Cheng Jia said,

“Lady Tao, did we not manage to entertain you well at the house yesterday? My father asked me to apologize to you.”

Tao Xinhe rubbed the center of her brows in a loss of composure, how could she speak ill of that person in front of his son?

Ji Changbo’s devious trick is really ingenious, even though she is full of resentment towards him, she can only reluctantly deal with it now,

“It’s nothing serious, don’t worry about it. I’m embarrassed to see you go through the trouble to come here just because of this.”

Cheng Jia shyly smiled and changed the subject, he then expressed his original intention.

Tao Muxian, whom he had just recently met, wrote to him, asking him to find some strong men to guard the Tao Manor.

He told his father about it yesterday, and Ji Changbo dispersed his private guards and allocated four people to him as a favor.

Cheng Jia brought four of them to show Tao Xinhe for her to take a look.

Tao Xinhe didn’t understand why her younger brother suddenly entrusted Cheng Jia with this task, and searched hard in her memory, only to remember that the day she had her divorce with Gu Ningxi, he said some nonsensical words to him and Tao Muxian respectively.

He said to pay attention to people entering and leaving the manor.

Her silly brother actually took it seriously.

Tao Xinhe politely declined his offer, thanked Cheng Jia, and asked him to bring them back.

Cheng Jia was so busy since he had to work under his foster father, whom he respected and looked up to a lot, but he even had to go on his way to their manor to do the task her brother had entrusted him, which was quite embarrassing.

Moreover, the younger brother of the Tao family asked him for the favor, but his elder sister refused, as if treating him like a joke.

So with a bit of anger, he half-jokingly said,

“I guess it’s because I don’t have enough weight in Jushi’s eyes, I have to ask my father to send them instead.”

Tao Xinhe exclaimed,

“No!”

She didn’t want to have anything to do with Ji Changbo at all.

After looking at Cheng Jia’s expression, she understood the other party’s displeasure, and then came up with a compromise,

“Cheng Jia, I have always regarded Ning Niang as a younger sister, so let me be presumptuous, and treat you as my brother-in-law. I was the one who didn’t think about it just now. Well, how about it, since you have worked so hard to find these people, and everyone in the Tao Manor appreciates it. Although there is no need for them, I will have them stay in the Manor for half a month as guests. After that you can bring them back, what do you think?”

Cheng Jia did not explain that these four were his father’s subordinates.

Tao Xinhe didn’t want to keep them at first, so she didn’t ask about their origin, only after she had said these words out of her mouth did she realize that they might have something to do with Ji Changbo, right?

She then asked him in vain,

“I don’t know where the four men you brought came from?”

Cheng Jia smiled heartily,

“When Ning Niang talked about you, she always said sisters-in-law this and sisters-in-law that. So I also respect Tao Jushi. Therefore, it’s my honor to help you a little. These four people have clean and simple backgrounds, so Jushi can use them at ease. They can come in and out with you or Qiangniang, and you can feel safe with them around, and it’s no problem for them to scare anyone with ill intentions. I guess this can be regarded as me, completing Muxian’s favor as well. When he comes back, he must treat me to a drink.”

Having said this, Tao Xinhe cheered up, parted her lips in response, and sent Cheng Jia out of the manor.

She turned around and politely asked the four strong and robust men to help themselves in the outer courtyard.

The Tao Manor will take care of their food and shelter, so they don’t need to do anything.

One of the men thought that Tao Xinhe didn’t trust their abilities, so he was sweating profusely.

They started punching and kicking each other to the flesh, and showed their strength in front of the new master who they had been instructed to take good care of.

Tao Xinhe couldn’t stop laughing, so she had no choice but to agree that when the women in the mansion went out, these men could also accompany them to the carriage, and when they’re free they were to teach some martial arts to people in the outer courtyard, and the other members of the Tao family.

With such an arrangement in mind, both the host and guests are eventually satisfied.

❖

He wasn’t aware about it during the night of the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, but afterwards, the shopkeeper soon learned about the big news of Gu Ningxi and his wife’s separation from the other guests from the people of the Ministry of Rites, and he found the whole situation very strange.

On the night of the nineteenth, the shopkeeper, who already felt a little familiar with Gu Ningxi, poured sweet wine for him, and couldn’t help asking,

“Gu Sicheng, you won’t have work tomorrow, so you can drink freely tonight. I heard that you and your wife have separated, is it true that you don’t see each other anymore?”

Gu Ningxi’s drinking capacity is increasing day by day, after drinking five cups tonight, he still felt a little sober, unlike a few nights ago where he was already slumped after just a few drinks, so when he heard the question made by the shopkeeper, his heart felt like it was pierced by a sword.

The lights in the restaurant were dimly lit, and the smell of wine was everywhere.

Gu Ningxi, who was in the middle of it, felt as if he would get drunk if he stayed for a while longer.

Gu Ningxi unknowingly confided his thoughts to the shopkeeper and said,

“I miss her. But she said that plum blossoms don’t mix with the melon field, do you understand? She is afraid that I will ruin her reputation, so she refuses… To see me.”

The shopkeeper’s politeness accompanied him with a sigh, and actively suggested,

“Gu Sicheng is still in love with your wife. If she doesn’t want to see you, then… What about sending her gifts? Which woman doesn’t like beautiful beads, flower jewelries, clothes and accessories? Oh, your wife… Ex… Is your sweetheart, and you should know what she likes, so why don’t you send her some?”

Gu Ningxi who was pouring himself three more cups of wine, threw aside the Acacia bone cup, looking like he was about to laugh or cry,

“Why should I give a gift? I am worse than a stranger to her. I am guilty. I have other women involved and I can’t get rid of it. Besides, someone else has already given her a favor. Is it necessary for me to give her anything?”

“It turns out that… Your Madam can’t tolerate you taking in another woman? Then Gu Sicheng has to make a decision, either you break off your relationship with that woman, or forget about your wife.”

“I can’t forget her! She’s already rooted deep inside my heart, how can I forget her?”

Gu Ningxi clasped his hands behind his head, his voice sounded like a murmur, with tears dripping quietly on the table.

His tears were mixed with the wine overflowing from the glass, and it disappeared without a trace.

“Then cutoff the relationship with the outside woman. Just give that outside woman money and things, find her a husband who suits her, and fulfill her wishes. It can always be resolved.”

“But she only wants to be with me. What should I do?”

“Because of your deep affection for your wife, no matter what kind of fairy a woman is, if they really follow you, they won’t be able to win your heart. She just didn’t understand it for a while. This is just a guess, but are you afraid to talk about these things to that woman? So you have been acting reserved about this matter? I think you should be more ruthless, if there is any promise you made out of the heat of the moment, then you should retract it immediately, before it gets worse. This is for the good of everyone.”

Gu Ningxi seems to have found the next direction he could take, so he clasped the small arm of the shopkeeper through his clothes and said,

“Thank you for the guidance!”