Tomorrow evening, Brother Soan must come to the pleasure cruiser alone. Kunny will give herself to you along with her virginity, please...bestow your gentleness on me...."
After finishing reading the letter, Soan Jingor felt that a surge of joy rushed to his head. He rose to his feet, his face flushing bright red, and then paced the room restlessly while grasping hold of the slip of paper.
"Kunny... Kunny... you're mine now! I will definitely rescue you out of the pleasure cruiser, that hellish place, and give you a decent status as my wife!" He clenched his fist and muttered in a muffled voice. It seemed that he had forgotten all about Kunny's instructions of staying away form the ship on Fragrance Silk Festival earlier on.
After a long period of feverish excitement, Soan Jingor gradually calmed down.
"But Kunny had told me not to go to the ship on Fragrance Silk Festival to avoid being tricked out of my money."
He thought for a while as he turned sober. He stood rooted on the spot with hesitation.
"After I meet Kunny, I will ask her why she had instructed me not to go to the ship. Perhaps she has some special reasons."
Overjoyed, Soan Jingor began to raise the money. Ten thousand silver coins was not a small sum to him either. He had spent his savings these few years all on Kunny over the past few months. To collect such a large amount of funds in a short span of time was still challenging to him. Although Kunny said that she would cover over half of the sum, Soan Jingor wasn't a man who would let his woman to pay in place of him, for anything.
"Whatever, I will go and borrow some money from my elder sister."
Soan Jingor was currently in no mood to continue his meal. He hurriedly ran out of the door yet paused in his steps abruptly. Something crossed his mind.
"It's really something to celebrate! Although Kunny shyly wants only me to take her home, I still want to share such a delightful news with my friends and celebrate it together. " Soan Jingor hurriedly walked to a desk and sat down. He was going to write letters to his only two friends now.
But just as he began to write, he dithered and put down the pen.
"I shall drop the idea. Better I go to the ship that day alone, in case some unexpected things happen and stand in my way. After I take Kunny home, it is not late to inform them of this event either. "
He then went to look for his elder sister and borrowed fifteen thousand silver coins' worth of silver certificates, using the excuse of his investment in some business.
With the gold flowed into his coffer, everything was all set now.
.............
As the Annual National Examination drew near, Le Finn sent Qiki to Le Xaan along with the silver certificates of a thousand silver coins, replenishing Le Xaan's funds.
Le Xaan was well aware that the family was selling its properties in Gourian City to prepare to migrate to another city. Due to the explosion, many people currently shared a similar plan as the Le family's. Thereby, the price of the real estate in Gourian was declining drastically. On top of that, to purchase properties in the destination of their migration, the family had to tighten their belts and save enough wealth.
In allowing him a thousand silver coins, the family already punched well above its current financial standing. After all, the family was swaying in the midst of wind and rain now.
As time flew by, Le Xaan gradually put the tragedy of Wein Zikua behind him and started to enhance his strength and find side hustles to make money.
"Almost heaven, Mountainside City,
East Hill Mountain, Pine River.
Life is old there, older than the trees,
Younger than the mountains, growing like a breeze.
Country roads, take me home,
To the place I belong.
...."
Expressionless, Le Xaan stood in front of a window and listened the shrill male voice singing a song.
Around 3 o'clock during the early morning, he was woken up by the noise. Then, he saw columns of people parading the street up and down. The voice of the singers were high-pitched and brutish, making for a ear-offending tune.
At the moment, a long procession of people were heading for the city center, signaling the start of Fragrance Silk Festival. They were clad in blue or red. The majority of them were aged above forty. The blares of horns and the clamor of drums and gongs mingled with shouts and singing voices.
Le Xaan found it curious that the inhabitants on the street didn't complain a single bit about the noises but instead fervently joined the queue, marching along down the street. Some of them follow suit, singing or shouting. And there were teams of sheriffs maintaining order.
"Yong Master..." Qiki, bleary-eyed, pushed open the door an walked in. She put a tray of Egg yolk milk puffs on the table while rubbing his eyes, saying, "Here's your breakfast. The millet porridge isn't done brewing yet. Today there are no meat buns but some egg yolk milk puff on sale."
"Egg yolk milk puff is the festival delicacies here." Le Xaan drew the window shut and turned to look at Qiki.
Since they met a few months before, Qiki seemed to be growing ever more beautiful. And her chest became fuller, describing an enlarged curve on her profile. Even though the collar of her dress was not V-shaped, Le Xaan could still catch a glimpse of the outline of two rounded fair breasts and a deep abyss in between while looking down diagonally.
"Oopsie, Young Master, you are so bad!" Qiki hurriedly screened her bosom with one hand, pursing her lips. "The clothes I had brought along now unfits me. Recently I've been growing so fast..."
Le Xaan said with a smile, "Alright. I will take you to buy some clothes these few days."
Immediately, Qiki's face creased in a frown.
"Don't bother. Our family is not as wealthy as it used to be now. Even your expenses on tonics couldn't be ensured. There are so many things that we need to spend money on..."
Le Xaan was stunned and then felt embarrassed. The family was in such a worrisome financial situation that even Qiki knew that they need to be thrifty. Yet, he seemed to be unaware of it.
After Qiki came to Mountainside City, she lived in one of the rooms in the dwelling. A personal maidservant of Le Xaan, she could be considered as part of his belongings. Perhaps in the future, Le Xaan would take her as a concubine, and if that came true, it's a marrying-up to her.