Lady of Fortune, Jiao Niang

t know that Qi Yun had thought about it so much, nor was she hurt.
However, after hearing Qi Yun’s words, Ye Jiao perked up in interest: “What can I do?”

Qi Yun’s eyes swept around the room and saw that there weren’t many things that could be used for entertainment.

In fact, Qi Yun knew quite a bit.
He knew some piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, but none of these were easy to pick up.

After pondering it, Qi Yun said: “Give me time to think about it.
I’ll figure it out after dinner.”

At that moment, Qi Yun thought of the plum handed over by Ye Jiao.

He took one of them and was about to put it in his mouth, but found that the plum wasn’t fully whole and had a bite taken out of it.

The bite was not big; it bit through the red skin and exposed the yellow flesh, making it look particularly conspicuous.

Qi Yun looked at Ye Jiao with surprise.
Jiao Niang was holding her chin and looking at him with a smile: “I tasted it.
This one is sweet and delicious.”

Tasted it?

Qi Yun looked down at the plum in his hand and then at her: “Why don’t you eat it?”

“I just ate three or four and they were all very sour.
I only found these two sweet ones.” Ye Jiao still held her face and looked at him expectantly.

Qi Yun heard this but did not move for a long time.

He needed to lower his eyes to hide his emotions, and pressed his mouth to hide his joy.

Ye Jiao blinked, feeling a little strange: “Xiang Gong, can’t what I had bitten be given to other people…” As she said this, she reached out to take the plum from Qi Yun’s hand, thinking how there’s a lot to learn about being a human.

However, Qi Yun’s eyes flashed slightly.
He stopped Ye Jiao’s hand and gently grasped the soft fingertips of his wife with his other hand.
Qi Yun softly said: “You can’t take it if others have bitten it, but I want what madam has bitten.” With that, he bit into half of the plum. 

Ye Jiao couldn’t help asking him: “Is it sweet?”

Qi Yun didn’t look at the plum, but looked at her instead and nodded: “Sweet.”

Very sweet, like honey.
Sweetened all the way to the heart.

Ye Jiao smiled and put her hand in Qi Yun’s palm, not wasting any opportunity to hold hands.

Qi Yun grabbed her backhand and watched her smile, but Qi Yun didn’t know what he himself was smiling at.

However, after Qi Yun ate two plums, he suddenly remembered: “Jiao Niang, you just ate three sour plums?”

Ye Jiao nodded.

Even though Qi Yun knew that Ye Jiao had good intentions, he stretched his fingers out and squeezed her face: “Don’t eat so much next time.
If you eat too many plums, it’ll hurt your spleen and stomach.
Tell the kitchen not to cook chicken later tonight.”

Although Ye Jiao knew a lot about medicinal herbs, it was because she grew up in the deep mountains.
Refined medicinal herbs were found all over the ground.
As the queen of nourishment, Ye Jiao naturally recognized a lot.

However, she knew little about the interaction of these foods.

She looked at Qi Yun with bright eyes: “Xiang Gong, you know all this?” Qi Yun was about to say that he learned it from a book but heard Ye Jiao’s soft voice: “Xiang Gong is really awesome.”

Before, when Qi Yun heard these words he would humbly deny it.
But now that he’s heard it many times, he’s become used to it.

If Jiao Niang praised him, he’ll just listen.
Plus, he liked to hear it.

At this time, there was a knock on the door and Tie Zi’s voice came in: “Second Young Master, Second Young Lady, Steward Song from the wine shop is here.”

Although Ye Jiao knew that Qi Yun was in charge of the liquor and pharmacy businesses, she had never seen the stewards of these two shops visit the house.

Qi Yun wasn’t surprised at all and said to him: “Let Steward Song wait for me in the study.”

“Yes.”

Ye Jiao stretched out her hand and grabbed his wrist.
She pressed her fingertips slightly on his pulse, and asked: “Can you go out?”

Qi Yun held her hand instead: “The doctor said I can go out, but not at nighttime for fear of the cold.
It’s not a problem during the day.”

Ye Jiao also felt that his body was much better now, but she didn’t dare slack off.
She ran to the cabinet and took out a thick robe for him to put on.
Then she stared at him and fixed his collar and cuffs.
After taking two steps back, she thought for a moment: “Should I go with you?”

Qi Yun rarely refused Ye Jiao, but this time he shook his head: “No need.
Jiao Niang, go rest.
You don’t have to walk with me.” However, Qi Yun told Ye Jiao in detail: “I called Steward Song here to discuss the winery with him.
We’ll be in the study room and I won’t go far.”

The Little Ginseng tilted her head slightly: “Is something wrong with the winery?”

“The wine shop is very good, and there’s nothing wrong with being lukewarm (with business).
We just have to plan well going forward.” Qi Yun spoke and gently squeezed her palm: “Because I married you, I can’t live like I did before.”

After reading the ledgers for so long, he finally made a constitution.
Qi Yun prepared to think more carefully about things which he was previously too lazy to deal with.

His Lady loved to eat and play, so he naturally had to find a way to make her life a bit better.
So much better that she didn’t have to think so much about a bowl of apricot cheese.

Jiao Niang happily ate the sour plums and left him the sweet ones.
Of course he also wanted to work hard to protect her.

When he was leaving the house, Qi Yun suddenly bent down and kissed Ye Jiao on the top of her head before opening the door and leaving in strides.

Ye Jiao leaned against the door frame and held her head, looking at the back of the man who hurried away with some confusion.

Is this… a special way of saying goodbye?

Understanding dawned on the Little Ginseng’s face.
Learning to be human is really a long process.

***

The author has something to say: 

Ye Jiao: This way of saying goodbye is very curious, I’ll remember!

Qi Yun: … I always feel like I’m teaching the Lady strange things.

***

Translator Notes:

Celebrating this project getting revived with 2 chapters to start the week – enjoy! Future update schedule will be Tuesdays, Thursdays, and maybe an extra chapter thrown in that week.
I’ll be reading alongside while translating – thanks for joining the ride and your patience while I figure out this whole translation thing!