Chapter 566: Persuasion
Chapter 566: Chapter 566: Persuasion
In the courtyard, Alton was enthusiastically talking with Su Qing and her friends. His witty and funny way of speaking made Li Huan and the others willing to chat with him a bit longer.
Thanks to her friends’ analysis, Ye Qingqing was no longer paying much attention to Yarn. Yarn, however, kept stealing glances at Su Qing from time to time. He thought his gazes were subtle enough, but he had no idea Su Qing had noticed long ago. She was simply pretending she hadn’t.
After a while, the other guys returned one after another. Seeing Yarn and Alton, they also eagerly joined the conversation. Then, while the men were deep in their chat, Su Qing and the other girls quietly slipped back to their room.
"There’s still some time before dinner. Why don’t we play cards?" Liu Juan suggested.
"Sure, come to Qingqing’s and my room," Li Huan said with a smile.
"Okay."
Li Huan had brought two decks of cards. There were seven girls in total. Niu Wenying didn’t particularly like playing cards and wasn’t very good at them, so the other six split into two groups to play Fight the Landlord. Meanwhile, Niu Wenying fetched a handkerchief from her room and sat quietly to the side, embroidering it while watching the two games.
Niu Wenying had a naturally quiet disposition. Though a woman of few words, she was multi-talented. Her ancestors were from Su City, and although her family had later moved to Liao Province, she had inherited their traditional art of Suzhou Embroidery. In fact, she showed signs of surpassing the masters who came before her. All her friends from dorm room 206 had received embroidered gifts from her, such as handkerchiefs and sachets. Su Qing had filled these sachets with small pellets to repel insects and aid sleep, and now everyone carried them.
After a few rounds of Fight the Landlord, Sun Xiaowen’s and Liu Juan’s faces were covered in white paper strips.
"Ugh, today is a disaster! I keep losing," Sun Xiaowen said defiantly, peeling the paper strips off her face. "This won’t do. I’m going to take a walk. When I get back, we’ll have a rematch!"
"Alright," Ye Qingqing said with a grin. "We’ll wait for you. Let’s see if you can win back your losses."
"Wait for me, I’ll go with you," Liu Juan called out, quickly following Sun Xiaowen out the door.
While waiting for Liu Juan and Sun Xiaowen, the other girls gathered around Niu Wenying to watch her embroider. Today, she was working on jasmine buds, just about to bloom. On the pale yellow handkerchief, the white flower buds and green leaves came to life in a corner of the fabric with Niu Wenying’s every stitch. It was incredibly beautiful.
"Wow, that’s so beautiful," Li Huan said. "Wenying, look at me, look at me! I’m still short one handkerchief."
As she spoke, Li Huan batted her eyelashes at Niu Wenying, trying to look cute.
Niu Wenying chuckled softly. "Don’t worry, I’m making one for each of you. They’ll be different colors, so you can all pick the one you like later."
"Hehe, as long as you embroidered it, I’ll love it," Chen Meizhen said with a grin.
Li Huan laughed and gave Chen Meizhen a gentle push. "Meizhen, you know, with that tone and expression, you sound just like a sweet-talking scumbag."
"Mhm, she really does," Su Qing agreed, nodding and holding back a laugh.
"What are you talking about? I’m just genuinely expressing how much I like it, okay?" Chen Meizhen retorted indignantly.
"But you really do, hahaha!" Li Huan laughed. "I heard that’s exactly how Meng Chenghui from Xiangcheng sweet-talks girls."
Ye Qingqing nodded in agreement. "That is pretty scummy. Super scummy."
Chen Meizhen blinked and was about to say something when she heard the door open. She turned to see Sun Xiaowen and Liu Juan rushing in.
Seeing them, Ye Qingqing laughed. "No need to rush, you two. We were waiting for you."
"Hey, forget the cards for a minute! Listen, Xiaowen and I heard some news," Liu Juan said, her face alight with gossip.
"What is it?" Even Niu Wenying couldn’t help but ask with a smile, seeing the gossipy expressions on both Liu Juan’s and Sun Xiaowen’s faces.
"It’s about those two foreign men." Sun Xiaowen closed the door and hurried over. "Do you guys have any idea who they are?"
"Who are they?" Ye Qingqing couldn’t help but ask.
"You know how Chen Weijun and the other guys were just chatting with those two foreign men?" Sun Xiaowen began. "Well, they hit it off and ended up introducing themselves. And guess what? The one named Yarn is from the Hall family! They’re super powerful and apparently famous in the business world. The other one, Alton, is from the Smont family, and they supposedly have ties to the Imperial Family. They’re both from these huge, prominent families. The reason they’re in Beijing is that Yarn wants to invest in a perfume factory. He needs flowers for it, and someone recommended he come here to do some research."
"Such impressive backgrounds," Chen Meizhen said in surprise. "No wonder they seemed so distinguished. It must be their upbringing."
"Exactly! And there’s more," Liu Juan added. "I heard that Yarn guy only came to Hua Country to invest in a factory because he’s running away from an arranged marriage."
"What!" Li Huan’s eyes went wide. "So you’re telling me this Yarn guy has more than one woman mixed up in his life!"
As soon as Su Qing heard this, she knew who Liu Juan meant. ’It must be Angela,’ she thought. ’Back then, Angela snuck aboard the Jixiang just to chase Yarn. After everything that happened, she’d definitely cling to him and never let go. Yarn’s in a pretty pathetic situation, actually.’
"Chen Weijun and the guys are impressive, finding out so much in such a short time," Su Qing remarked. ’They even managed to find out about Angela.’
Sun Xiaowen laughed and said, "You guys might not know this about Chen Weijun, but everyone in our class says he’s got the makings of a detective. When it comes to digging up information, no one’s better than him."
Sun Xiaowen’s comment made all the girls laugh.
After the laughter died down, the girls all turned to look at Ye Qingqing with serious expressions.
Ye Qingqing felt her skin crawl under her friends’ intense gazes. "Why are you all looking at me like that?"
"It’s a warning," Li Huan said. "Qingqing, from the sound of it, that Yarn guy is not a good partner. Not only does his family have an arranged marriage for him, but he also already has another girl on his mind. Don’t be a fool and get emotionally invested. You can’t get involved with a man like that. His heart will never truly be with you."
"Right," Liu Juan nodded. "Qingqing, especially since he’s from a prominent family and a foreigner to boot. A relationship with someone like that is bound to be full of drama, and you could get really hurt. In short, he’s just not a good choice."
The other girls all nodded. "Li Huan and Liu Juan are right."
Ye Qingqing didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. "It was just a moment of weakness this morning. I’ve already calmed down. Don’t worry, I’m not going to go looking for heartache."
"That’s good." Hearing Ye Qingqing’s words, the other girls all breathed a sigh of relief.