Chapter 19 - 19 018 Mosquito Bite and Broken Heart Grass
Chapter 19: 018: Mosquito Bite and Broken Heart Grass Chapter 19: 018: Mosquito Bite and Broken Heart Grass
After lighting his cigarette, Xie Shang looked up, and amidst the swirling smoke, his gaze collided with that of
Wen Changling, who was outside the alley.
Wen Changling withdrew her gaze first, pretending not to have seen, and supported Jhiang Youyou as they
headed to the side of the road to wait for a car.
Jhiang Youyou had mostly sobered up: “Do you know that group of people?”
“I know one of them.”
Gu Yihuan doesn’t count, as Wen Changling had never directly encountered him at the Gu Family's.
Jhiang Youyou guessed casually: “Xie Shang?”
Wen Changling immediately looked towards Jhiang Youyou.
“Do you also know him?”
Jhiang Youyou said, “A friend of my friend reached the age for marriage, and her family was pressuring her to
wed. She slit her wrists in protest, declaring she would marry no one but Xie Shang. Left with no choice, her
parents shamelessly approached the Xie Family to propose. Xie Shang didn’t show up and just had someone
send a floral basket to the hospital.”
“Did he let her down then?”
“No, he doesn’t even remember her name.”
Wen Changling’s initial reaction was incomprehension, but then, after thinking it over, it didn’t seem so strange
after all; that person was Xie Shang, after all, the very Xie Shang whom even the vicious dog Little Black would
wag its tail at upon seeing.
Jhiang Youyou, affecting a tone like that of a playboy, called Wen Changling “sister” to bring her thoughts back to
the present, and earnestly told her, “Such people are dangerous.”
Yes.
Xie Shang was very dangerous; Wen Changling had already realized this at Lileitu.
Jhiang Youyou must be part of Xie Shang’s circle, or if not, at least someone who could have contact with the
scircle. Wen Changling saw Jhiang Youyou into her car and even took note of the license plate number, then
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtreturned to look for Yan Cong.
The green taxi carrying Jhiang Youyou had already driven past the traffic light intersection and turned left at the
junction.
At the entrance of the alley stood a man, staring in the direction of the intersection.
“Sixing, over here.”
Gu Yihuan was calling him.
His gaze remained fixed and unmovable.
Gu Yihuan approached and peered in the sdirection: “What are you looking at?”
“Nothing.”
Guan Sixing turned his attention away and walked towards Xie Shang’s group. In his hand, he carried a canvas
bag, emblazoned with: The 7th Physics Research Institute.
Unlike Gu Yihuan’s exaggerated punk outfit, Guan Sixing was dressed in a neat white shirt and black pants, and
the glasses he wore were frameless squares. In this restless age, few people possessed such a studious aura as
he.
sok
It was almost eleven o'clock, and Granny Zhu hadn't gone to bed yet, claiming that Huahua was missing.
Wen Changling helped to look for her, and after searching around, discovered that Huahua was perched atop the
courtyard wall, tilting her head back as if admiring the moon. Huahua was very sensible; on normal days,
whenever she approached the Hooked Cymbidium at the back of the yard, Wen Changling would promptly pick
her up and shake her head. After a few such occasions, Huahua understood not to go near that plant.
Tonight, for sreason, Huahua was nestled on the vine-covered wall. Wen Changling brought a ladder,
positioned it carefully, and cautiously climbed up. When she was at a height where she could reach, she lay
halfway over the wall, reaching out to grab Huahua, and before she could touch her, she was spotted—
“Wen Changling.”
The neighbor next door had noticed her.
He had apparently just finished showering, his hair still damp. Wen Changling wondered if she should explain
herself. Would he misunderstand and think she was a voyeur intruding while he bathed?
“What are you doing?”
She explained, “Catching a cat.” She really wasn’t being a voyeur.
Huahua suddenly leaped forward and jumped into Xie Shang’s yard.
Wen Changling: “...”
So annoying.
Xie Shang, looking up, watched her embarrassment leisurely from beneath the wall, “Go through the front door.”
“Oh.”
Wen Changling climbed down the ladder and dragged her feet as she entered through the front door of Xie
Shang’s house.
Xie Shang, like an old man, lay on the bamboo chair in the yard, with a plate of incense lit on the chair next to
him. He looked extremely relaxed with nothing to do but didn’t go to help; instead, he just watched Wen
Changling with her head down, clumsily chasing around the yard after the cat that seemed like it had taken a
dose of stimulants.
Wen Changling couldn't fully extend her arms and legs, for Xie Shang’s yard was filled with many flowers and
plants she did not recognize, all looking quite extraordinary. While chasing, the cat vanished without a trace.
She was sweating profusely, close to shutting down.
Finally, Xie Shang deigned to speak, “Stop looking, it won't get lost.”
Wen Changling indeed no longer wanted to search and dusted the leaves off her pants, turned to look at Xie
Shang, and took back the foot she had stepped forward with.
“Xie Shang.”
He grunted in acknowledgment.
She moved closer, and scrutinizing his face and neck in the light, she asked, “Did you get an allergic reaction?”
Xie Shang turned his face away, “...Bitten by mosquitoes.”
It was clear he was very, very irritated at the moment.
Wen Changling purposely walked around him to stare at his face. Not just his neck, there was also a big, red...
mosquito bite on his forehead.
Lotus Pond Street had plenty of flora, and there would be mosquitoes even before May, which were quite
poisonous.
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The mosquitoes, more reliable than Little Black, finally gave Xie Shang a taste of the world’s dangers. Suddenly,
Wen Changling wasn't feeling so depressed.
“Wait here.”
She ran back to her yard and borrowed a pestle and mortar from Granny Zhu.
The vines of the Hooked Cymbidium had already crept into Xie Shang’s yard. She balanced herself against the
wall, reached for a few leaves, added them to the pestle, and crushed them into green juice.
Xie Shang kept scratching his neck, creating many red marks. His hair was still wet, he wore a white top free of
any design, and the combination of the light, incense, and his eyes made him look somewhat radiant, like... after
the fact. Alright, that description was a bit offensive, Wen Changling stopped her random thoughts.
“If you had helped to catch the cat earlier instead of just sitting there, you might not have been bitten by the
mosquito,” Wen Changling accidentally blurted out what she had been criticizing in her mind.
“So it’s my fault.”
Xie Shang, in a bad mood and with a mosquito bite on his head, was very vivid; he appeared to be holding back
anger, which he restrainedly directed at Wen Changling.
Wen Changling chose silence and continued to grind the medicine.
“What plant is this?” Xie Shang asked.
“Hooked Cymbidium.”
“Broken Heart Grass?”
Wen Changling was surprised, “You know?”
The nHooked Cymbidium was so misleading that very few people knew its other nwas Broken Heart
Grass.
“Heard of it,” said Xie Shang, “Isn't Broken Heart Grass poisonous?”
Wen Changling nodded, brought the pestle and mortar over, moved the incense from the chair to the ground, sat
on the chair, and gestured for Xie Shang to ccloser.
He didn’t move, his gaze firmly fixed on her.
“Wen Changling, | just didn’t help you find the cat.”
His expression said: Miss Wen, are you trying to poisonto death?