After the meal, Zhao Ziheng went to find Bai Shiqi.
She had soaked until her skin was flushed red, the soles of her feet and palms wrinkled and whitish, her large eyes watery. With her hair loose, she made Zhao Ziheng stare dumbfounded: "Shiqi, looking like this, you really are..." Really a bit girlish.
He swallowed the rest of his words, afraid of being chased and beaten by Bai Shiqi.
He used to think they were both good-for-nothing playboys, but this journey had made him realize the gap between them was too vast. It was better not to challenge her bottom line casually.
Bai Shiqi flicked her hair, striking a pose: "Really handsome, right?"
Zhao Ziheng still couldn't resist being a smart aleck: "Shiqi, being full of yourself is a sickness that needs treatment!" This earned him a flying kick from Bai Shiqi.
Bai Shiqi roughly towel-dried her hair, tied it up while still dripping wet, and dragged Zhao Ziheng outside.
Pulled along at a trot by her, Zhao Ziheng kept asking: "Shiqi, what's the hurry? Where are you taking me?"
Little did they know, they bumped into Zhao Wujiu at a corner, who was being pushed out by Shu Changfeng for some fresh air... and from his direction, he seemed to be heading towards Bai Shiqi's room.
Bai Shiqi held a grudge. She had been disdained as dirty by Zhao Wujiu, and after returning, she kept sniffing herself incessantly, nearly scrubbing off a layer of skin. Seeing Zhao Wujiu again, she wasn't as warm as usual.
Zhao Wujiu noticed the two running over hand-in-hand. His gaze swept over Bai Shiqi's face, and he realized with a headache—she truly had no awareness of being a woman.
He put on a stern, disapproving face, his attitude severe: "Where are you two going? You're not kids anymore, why are you still so reckless?"
Zhao Ziheng hunched his shoulders, already the first to back down: "Cousin, you're out for a walk after eating?"
Bai Shiqi's attitude was perfunctory: "Well then, cousin, you enjoy your slow walk. Ziheng and I have things to do." She dragged Zhao Ziheng's hand past him and continued forward.
Shu Changfeng really wanted to stop her and tell her: Young Gang Leader Bai, my master was worried you weren't feeling well and came specifically to check on you!
But Bai Shiqi walked too fast, Shu Changfeng didn't dare speak out of turn, and Zhao Wujiu wasn't one to explain himself, so they could only watch helplessly as the two left hand-in-hand.
Bai Shiqi dragged Zhao Ziheng all the way to the bottom hold. Along the way, they encountered men from the ship who all greeted her cheerfully. Bai Shiqi shooed them away: "All of you, go back. I'm going down to play."
The bottom hold, aside from storing cargo, was damp and dark. What was there to play with?
But the Young Gang Leader always had many playful ideas. No one stopped her. The ship's captain, hearing the news, even came personally to unlock the brass lock on the hold for her: "Young Gang Leader, what are you looking for?"
Bai Shiqi instructed him: "Find two men to guard here. Don't let anyone in. I'm going in to play."
Zhao Ziheng was dragged into the bottom hold. A damp, musty smell hit his nose. Pinching his nose, he wished he could leave: "What kind of smell is this?"
Bai Shiqi covered his mouth with her hand: "Shh—don't talk!"
Zhao Ziheng nodded repeatedly to show he understood before she released him. Learning his lesson, he lowered his voice: "What did you come here for?"
Bai Shiqi said as if it were obvious: "To catch mice!"
Zhao Ziheng's voice trembled: "M-m-mice..." Cousin, save me! I accidentally boarded Bai Shiqi's pirate ship!
Bai Shiqi lightened her steps and crept in quietly. Zhao Ziheng, still shaken, tried to sneak out while she moved forward, but was swiftly dragged back by her: "What are you running for?"
Zhao Ziheng dropped the act this time, his face woeful as if begging for mercy: "Brother, those are mice! The thing I fear most in my life. If you want to catch them, go yourself. Don't drag me along, okay?"
Bai Shiqi was taken aback: "You're afraid of mice?"
Zhao Ziheng nodded frantically, so vigorously that Bai Shiqi suspected his neck was on a spring, moving with particular rhythm.
"Then... do you think cousin is afraid of mice?"
"He should be, right?" Those things are disgustingly nasty, squeaking and biting everything.
Zhao Ziheng glanced at her warily: "What are you planning to do?"
Bai Shiqi smiled amiably: "Not doing anything."
Zhao Ziheng didn't believe her nonsense for a second. If you're not doing anything, why would you come to the bottom hold to catch mice for fun? Bored out of your mind?!
But right now, he really didn't want to know what Bai Shiqi was planning. He just wanted to leave quickly.
"Shiqi," he swallowed hard, "can I... go out now?"
Bai Shiqi hadn't planned on his help anyway. What could a delicate young master like him do with this task?
With a wave of her hand, she pardoned Zhao Ziheng: "Go guard the door for me."
Two quarters of an hour later, Bai Shiqi emerged from the bottom hold carrying a small, bulging cloth bag. Zhao Ziheng, at the hold entrance, could vaguely see the bag squirming incessantly in the dim light. His face turned pale as he backed away: "Shiqi, you..."
Bai Shiqi seemed somewhat dissatisfied with her haul: "Searched for a long time and only caught five. A bit few."
Zhao Ziheng wanted to run, but she blocked him with the small cloth bag: "Don't run, Ziheng. I need to ask you for another favor."
Not just one favor, he'd agree to ten or eight! Zhao Ziheng now truly felt that when he first met Bai Shiqi and got beaten up, he got off lightly. If she had brought out a bunch of mice back then, it would have scared him to death.
He forced a smile uglier than crying: "What's with the formality between us brothers? Just say it. I'll handle a hundred things for you properly!"
Bai Shiqi's face brightened: "Later, go to cousin's cabin door. Use any method you can to get Shu Changfeng away!"
Zhao Ziheng now felt the task was rather daunting.
Getting Shu Changfeng away wasn't hard, but when cousin later found out they were colluding to do mischief, wouldn't he skin him alive?
"You'll do it or not?"
Bai Shiqi wickedly waved the small cloth bag in front of him. Zhao Ziheng immediately stopped hesitating: "I'll go right now!"
Zhao Wujiu leaned back in his wheelchair, holding a book but lost in thought. His mind was full of Bai Shiqi's eyes, hazy with steam from the bath, her obviously soaked-through, peach-like cheeks, and her hand holding Zhao Ziheng's.
Before knowing she was a girl, he had remained calm and self-possessed, at most considering her a troublesome lad, unbearably mischievous, making one want to guide her onto the right path.
But the troublesome lad had turned into a troublesome girl, and the feeling became somewhat complicated.
Having trained in martial arts for years, his five senses were sharper than an average person's. Even lost in thought, he could hear low voices at the door. Listening carefully, it was Zhao Ziheng and Shu Changfeng. Then footsteps faded away. He had no idea what scheme Zhao Ziheng was plotting.
A moment later, he heard extremely light footsteps reach the cabin door. He leaned back, pretending to be asleep, placing the book on his chest, and squinted to see—first, half a head peeked cautiously around the doorframe, quickly scanning the cabin. Finding him asleep, it withdrew with great delight.
Zhao Wujiu: What is this troublesome child up to?
A wrinkled paw...
One lively, squirming rat was stealthily released into the cabin, followed by a second, a third, a fourth, and a fifth.
Having long lived in the dark, damp bilge, the five rats were quite disoriented by the sudden brightness. Their beady little eyes darted around, and instinct drove them to scurry towards dark hiding places.
Zhao Wujiu even heard the sound of Bai Shiqi's muffled, mischievous giggle at the doorway. Through the slits of his eyes, he caught sight of half a head peeking in to watch the fun, hair still damp. He sighed helplessly, opened his eyes, and casually grabbed five walnuts from the fruit bowl on the table, hurling them out. The five rats were killed on the spot!
Bai Shiqi: "..."
Bai Shiqi stood frozen, dumbstruck.
—Weren't they saying Cousin was afraid of rats?
Shouldn't he have been scared out of his wits, screaming his head off?!
—Weren't they saying Cousin was a civil official?
What kind of civil official uses dried fruit as throwing weapons?!
She stared blankly at the five dead rats on the cabin floor and the five walnuts that had struck the rats yet remained intact, now rolling away. She was so shocked she even forgot to pull her head back.
Zhao Wujiu's face was stern, like that stern-faced school dean from her previous life when she'd broken a window. In an icy voice, he said, "Get in here—"
She still remembered the trembling in her legs back then, and the anxious, pounding of her heart. After all her years of mischief, this was the first time she felt truly out of her depth.
—Her father, the Bai Gang Leader, was fierce, but he had his limits.
In that moment, the only solution Bai Shiqi could think of was to turn tail and run. Unfortunately, she had only taken one step when Zhao Wujiu picked up two more walnuts, his voice threatening: "Try running. I dare you."
The five dead rats on the floor were a pitiful sight, their brains smashed out.
Bai Shiqi felt a chill on the back of her head. She lifted her toes and shuffled in, forcing a weak smile. "Cousin—"
Zhao Wujiu: "Come here."
Bai Shiqi stared at the two walnuts in his hand, weapons in disguise. She wished the few steps could take the time of walking ten miles, but the cabin was small. No matter how slowly she moved, she soon stood before Zhao Wujiu.
Zhao Wujiu's face was frosty, his tone like an order: "Turn around and sit down."
Bai Shiqi thought: Is he going to make me turn around so he can smash one of these on my head?
The crisis-response skills honed by years of mischief kicked in, and Bai Shiqi habitually admitted fault: "Cousin, I was wrong! I'll never dare do it again!"
Zhao Wujiu almost broke character. Keeping a straight face, he repeated his command: "Turn around and sit down!"
Bai Shiqi turned around in a daze and sat at his feet. Immediately, her hair was loosened, and a cloth was draped over her head. Feeling fingers moving through her hair, she was stunned: Zhao Wujiu was drying her hair?!
Wasn't he... furious?
Zhao Wujiu began scolding her as he dried her hair: "Such a young age, and you don't learn proper behavior. Always scheming and causing trouble. Have the bruises from your father's beating healed yet? Do you want a few more? Should I have Shu Changfeng fetch your father later?"
Bai Shiqi closed her eyes in exasperation—Not again!
Was this guy the junior fellow disciple of the Tang Monk?
Zhao Wujiu continued his lecture: "You, a..." He almost said "young lady," but swallowed the words. "Don't think you can get away with running around with wet hair just because you're young. When you get a migraine later and are rolling around in bed clutching your head, you'll know what regret is..."
Bai Shiqi: "..."
Ziheng, save me!
