Controlling Mu Qingqing

"You want me to smell it? I'm not your husband!" Xu An rolled his eyes and said.

"Husband? You really have a punch-worthy mouth!"

With a loud bang, the bedroom door suddenly flew open, and a pair of furious, blazing eyes closed in right in front of Xu An.

They were so close that he could practically feel the faint, elegant fragrance radiating from her.

Xu An was startled.

"What are you trying to do? Don't be ungrateful like a dog biting Lu Dongbin!"

From the little girl, Xu An had already learned about this woman's formidable martial prowess. If she really decided to hit him, wouldn't his frail frame fall apart?

"What's a dog biting Lu Dongbin supposed to mean?" Mu Qingqing froze for a moment.

Then she realized it certainly wasn't anything nice, and anger surged onto her face once again. "Calling me stinking wasn't enough, now you're cursing me too! Make yourself clear, what do you mean by this? Are you trying to chase me away?"

"Who cursed you? You're the one being unreasonable and overbearing here."

Xu An was somewhat speechless. "I bought a bath barrel for you out of the kindness of my heart. It's because I care about you. Who knew your tone would be so sharp? You still expect me to have a great attitude toward you?"

"Besides, isn't it common sense that you'll smell if you don't take a bath? How is that deliberately insulting you?"

"You—"

Mu Qingqing was choked with anger.

Yet, upon second thought, she couldn't help but reflect on whether she had overreacted.

Perhaps this fellow truly meant no malice and was simply concerned about her.

Moreover, she was living under his roof, eating his food, and her very life had even been saved by him. Treating him this way now did seem rather excessive.

However, seeing Xu An's current attitude, she couldn't bring herself to lower her pride and apologize.

Xu An glanced at her and said, "I really didn't mean to chase you away just now. If I wanted you gone, I would have chased you off long ago."

"However, it now appears that you are uncomfortable living in my home. In that case, you should leave tomorrow—better yet, leave right now."

"You saved Yan'er, and I saved you. We're even now; neither of us owes the other anything!"

Having said that, Xu An turned around and walked away!

"Hey... wait a minute!"

Mu Qingqing suddenly panicked.

She was currently severely injured and penniless. If she left this place in a hurry, where else could she find a more suitable sanctuary to recover?

Although she could reveal her identity and seek help from the local authorities, the official circles were tangled in complex relationships. Given her special status, rashly exposing herself would undoubtedly cause endless trouble.

Therefore, barring absolute desperation, she would never make that choice.

And this household, for the time being, was actually quite decent.

At the very least, the husband and wife were both kind-hearted, took good care of her, and harbored no malicious intentions.

Especially Su Yan'er—she grew quite fond of her.

"What else is there?"

Xu An asked in a cold tone.

Mu Qingqing hesitated for a moment before saying, "You're supposed to be an educated scholar and a man as well. Can't you be a bit more broad-minded? Are you really going to chase me away just over this?"

"If you're uncomfortable staying here anyway, why bother lingering? Just leave. Our family's temple is too small to accommodate someone as noble as you."

Xu An was certain she wouldn't leave, so he deliberately gave her a hard time.

He was, after all, the master of this household. If he didn't show some backbone, wouldn't he end up being manipulated by this woman instead?

That simply wouldn't do!

Furthermore, this woman hadn't offered a single apology yet and was still standing on the moral high ground trying to guilt-trip him.

This showed that she didn't take him seriously at all in her heart.

"You—"

Mu Qingqing was once again rendered speechless by his retort, a stifled frustration welling up inside her.

Yet, as a divine constable, she naturally understood that Xu An was merely making his stance clear at this moment.

If she continued to stubbornly clash with him, she feared she would really have to pack up and find another place to heal.

Thinking of this, her tone softened as well. "Alright, alright, Young Master Xu, it's my fault, okay? My attitude was bad, I misunderstood your intentions, and I treated your kindness like a dog's lung. Please don't chase me away, alright?"

"Hmph, my pure intentions can be witnessed by heaven, earth, and the sun. You were the one who misunderstood in the first place."

Seeing that the other party had finally conceded and spoken softly, Xu An naturally stepped down from the metaphorical stage.

If he kept putting on airs, they really would have a falling out.

This woman was merely a tiger trapped in the plains for now; once she recovered from her injuries, she would undoubtedly soar back into the skies like a giant dragon.

If he truly offended her to death, he would undoubtedly face disastrous consequences.

Besides, she had saved the little girl, which proved she wasn't a bad person, and Xu An had no desire to burn bridges with her.

Who knew, he might even need her help in the future.

Such a powerful patron was one he could hardly hope to cling to unless she was temporarily stranded in shallow waters.

Xu An gave a dry cough and said, "Just focus on recovering from your injuries in peace. If you need anything, let me know in advance. From now on, I won't meddle in your business anymore. Of course, provided it's within my capabilities—if your demands are too high, I won't be able to help."

With that, Xu An left the room.

"Who would've thought this fellow is not only full of tricks, but also rather prideful."

Mu Qingqing couldn't help muttering under her breath before turning around to step back into her room.

...

"Since this woman doesn't know what's good for her, I'll just use it myself. I was originally thinking of buying another one when Haitang arrived, but now that's saved me the trouble."

Carrying the bath barrel, Xu An returned straight to his own bedroom.

Before long, Li Erzhuan arrived.

The two men didn't make sugar tonight.

The upcoming order for white sugar was quite substantial, so they needed to map out a comprehensive plan first.

Consequently, both of them spent the entire evening working on preliminary preparations and strategies.

"Erzhuan Brother, you'll have to trouble yourself to go up the mountain tomorrow and chop two cartloads of firewood. Naturally, the more, the better."

As they were wrapping up, Xu An said.

Although Li Erzhuan still harbored doubts about Xu An's venture into making white sugar for business, seeing his confident and calm demeanor, he readily agreed.

"Don't you worry, I'll go chop three or four cartloads tomorrow and pile them right up for you in the backyard."

"Alright, thank you for your hard work."

Xu An smiled and nodded.

After Li Erzhuan left, Xu An began planning out the details on his own once again.

In truth, he was still short of quite a bit of silver. After all, he currently had less than eight taels of silver at home, which fell far short of the production costs.

This part of the funding would require negotiating with Song Ziyan.

They would have to advance the reservation deposit from their end.

At the same time, various tools needed for producing the white sugar still required further procurement.

This financial gap alone amounted to around twenty taels of silver.

If the white sugar was delivered in batches, they could probably manage the turnover, but that would complicate matters significantly.

Moreover, winter was fast approaching, and when heavy snow blocked the mountains, charcoal would also become scarce, requiring advance preparation.

That represented yet another expense.

Nevertheless, every beginning is hard, yet Xu An felt no discouragement; instead, he was filled with drive.

...

Inside the side room, the little girl and Haitang lay quietly flat side-by-side on the bed.

Beneath the mound of the quilt, one side was clearly towering and round like a peak, while the other showed virtually no undulation.

Neither of them spoke, yet neither fell asleep either, creating a somewhat awkward atmosphere.

Haitang suddenly broke the silence.

"Yan'er sister, how did you and Xu Big Brother meet?"

"My husband and I... we met through a matchmaker, and then I married him."

The little girl hesitated before answering.

"Is that so?"

Haitang sighed softly. "How nice!"

"Yeah, my husband is so, so good to me."

Whenever Su Yan'er spoke of Xu An, her eyes would light up brilliantly.

Yet, sensing Haitang's depressed mood, she turned over and asked, "Haitang sister, you seem to be in low spirits. Is something troubling you?"

Haitang also turned over, meeting the little girl's gaze with a smile. "I wouldn't quite call it being in low spirits, I'm just rather envious of you, Yan'er sister."

"Envious?"

The little girl shook her head, utterly perplexed.

In her eyes, Haitang was dressed in gorgeous attire, looked beautiful and graceful, and undoubtedly appeared to be a young lady born into a wealthy and prominent family.

As for herself, she had suffered from hunger and cold since childhood, and was even despised as a jinx whom everyone avoided for fear of bringing bad luck. If she hadn't met her husband, she probably would have starved to death sooner or later. What on earth was there to envy?

"Yan'er sister, would you like to hear a story? My own story!"

Haitang suddenly spoke up.

Su Yan'er, harboring a lingering curiosity about what kind of affluent household Haitang hailed from, immediately nodded. "Yes, I'd love to. Please tell me, Haitang sister."