Chapter 31: Selfishness

“Shen meimei, Yan-er, quickly come over. It’s here, isn’t it beautiful?” Pleased with himself, he brought Shen Jingshu and Qi Xueyan to a remote place behind the mountain. This place was filled with chrysanthemums and very beautiful, both girls were very astonished.

“Wow, it’s really very beautiful. Are these chrysanthemums wild?” Qi Xueyan was a person that loved beauty; seeing all these chrysanthemums, she immediately loved them dearly.

“These are very different from the chrysanthemums at home as they cover a much larger area, this does not easily happen!”

“Isn’t it beautiful? I found this place accidentally the last time I came here. These chrysanthemums are indeed wild. Although they are all small, little flowers, it is rare for them to grow clustered like this. I heard that Yunyin Temple’s head monk let the other monks transplant the wild chrysanthemums in the vicinity.”

Treating the flowers as something he owned, Qi Shaodong was very proud, especially when he saw Qi Xueyan and Shen Jingshu’s smiling expression. He knew that he had done well this time.

“Do you want to see? Go further in and have a better look at it!”

“But the field is very dense, will there be snakes?” As she mentioned snakes, Qi Xueyan’s face became a bit pale and she was reluctant to go in. Naturally Shen Jingshu was also “not willing”.

“Shaodong gege, Xueyan is right, this field is very dense. I’m afraid it may be dangerous, we can look from here just fine. We had better return quickly, otherwise,  Qi furen will be worried and she will certainly blame you!”

Shen Jingshu said this to appear “considerate” of Qi Shaodong, but in reality, Qi Shaodong had the temperament of a juvenile. Thus, the stronger the resistance, the more he would want to persuade Shen Jingshu to enter the field.

“It’s nothing. Shen meimei, do not worry, I will protect you both. It is late autumn now, the snakes have long been brumating so it will not be a problem. Let’s go, this place is a lot of fun!”

After speaking, he immediately pulled Shen Jingshu into the field. When Qi Xueyan saw the two people leave, she was afraid of being left alone so she followed them.

“Gege, Jingshu, wait for me, I’m afraid of being left alone!” Carefully pulling her skirt, she went inside. In the end, Qi Xueyan was still young, seeing that Qi Shaodong refused to give up today, her heart was very anxious.

Shen Jingshu noticed that Qi Xueyan was a little scared and the corner of her mouth raised in a bit of a sneer. Looking at Qi Shaodong, she felt more and more certain that Qi Shaodong’s maturity and decency was only on the surface and that he was nothing more than a self-absorbed child. She only had to say a few sentences and his vanity was inflated, this kind of person, how was he the slightest bit good? In her past life, she had been really blind.

“Shaodong gege slow down, I can see that Xueyan is almost crying.” This place was deserted, it would indeed be strange if Qi Xueyan, a mere five-year-old girl, was not afraid!

“Yan-er come faster, I asked you to come earlier but you stubbornly refused.” Towards this sister’s timidness, Qi Shaodong was somewhat dissatisfied. He was determined to make Shen meimei happy today, why did his sister always drag her feet?

“Gege go slower, it is hard to walk in this place!” Qi Xueyan loved beauty, she had worn new clothes to go out today. Of course she cherished this moment, but the chrysanthemums were not in a good place and they also had thorns, she was worried that her new skirt would be torn.

“Quick, over there, that side has the best-looking chrysanthemums, do not fall behind.” Qi Shaodong was still young, when he saw Shen Jingshu’s unhappy expression today, he was somewhat anxious. His impatience towards Qi Xueyan started to rise.

If he had known that his sister would hinder him, he would not have asked her to come.

“Gege, this place has a lot of rocks and mud, my shoes are dirty, can we go back?” When Qi Xueyan looked at her little shoes, her heart ached. She was a delicate Xiaojie, how could she walk on this kind of road?

“If you do not like getting dirty, just wait here for us, we will go and quickly come back.”

Finished speaking, he wanted to pull Shen Jingshu away, but just then, Shen Jingshu pretended to see something, her face suddenly changed, “Ah, snake!”

Fiercely throwing off Qi Shaodong’s hand, Shen Jingshu suddenly started to run. When Qi Xueyan heard, naturally she was terrified.

“Ah ah ah, snake, no, I’m scared!” She was so anxious that her feet became unsteady which caused her to trip. Qi Shaodong, who had just come closer, was met with Qi Xueyan crashing into him. Shen Jingshu noticed this and also pretended to behave in a frightened manner by falling on the ground, “Ah!”

“Wuwu, Gege I’m afraid, I’m afraid, snake!” Since Qi Xueyan was really terrified, she held on to Qi Shaodong and would not let go. It was a pity that Qi Shaodong was just a frail scholar. Although he was fearless a moment ago, how could he not be afraid snakes? At that moment, he also had a scared, pale face. Standing up, he pulled Qi Xueyan and ran away. How could he still remember Shen Jingshu behind him?

“Go, quickly go!” The two people were anxious and also very scared, self preservation was a natural instinct, they both involuntarily forgot Shen Jingshu and ran away quickly.

Left behind, Shen Jingshu’s face was filled with mockery as she sat on the ground. Seeing those two people run so far, Shen Jingshu cast away her frightened expression and sneered, “How useless! ” In her past life, Qi Shaodong was just as cowardly and ambitious, but unfortunately, he did not have the ability. Today could be considered an example.

Just a moment ago she “fell”, and now that those people were gone, Shen Jingshu also stopped pretending. Taking a seat under a tree, she looked at her messy clothing but did not straighten them out. After a while, she began to stir up her own emotions, her eyes gradually became moist, and finally, tears began to fall and her eyes reddened.

…

At the moment, Qi Shaodong and Qi Xueyan were escaping without care towards how they looked. They had long wiped the existence of Shen Jinghu from their minds. The two staggered along to find Qi furen, who had just finished the ritual with the monks and was preparing to go find the children. Seeing Qi Shaodong and Qi Xueyan arrive, Qi furen was suddenly terrified, “Dong-er, Yan-er, what happened to you?”

“Mother, there are snakes!” Seeing her own mother, Qi Xueyan cried and ran over. Qi Shaodong did not know what he should do. Usually he was a spoiled young master, but at the moment he had a wretched and pitiable appearance. Qi furen’s heart began to ache, “How could there be a snake? What happened?”

Carefully examining the pair of children, only when Qi furen saw that they both were just a little frightened, she could finally relax. Asking thoroughly about the situation, Qi furen immediately let the temple master look for a doctor to examine the two children. It was only then that she suddenly remembered something, Qi furen suddenly felt anxious, “Dong-er, where is Jingshu? Why are you not together?”

It was only then that she remembered that Shen Jingshu had come along with them. It was clear that everyone in this household was the same, selfish, only cared about themselves, and totally disregarded others!

“Yi! ¹ Shen meimei is still behind the mountain!” At the moment, Qi Shaodong was drinking a bit of calming tea to soothe his nerves. Remembering that they had abandoned Shen Jingshu, his face immediately turned white.

“How could she still be behind the mountain? What’s going on?”

“Mother, I …”

“Quickly explain!” Qi furen was now very anxious; only after questioning Qi Shaodong did she learn everything. Looking at her own son, Qi furen felt resentment that he did not meet her expectations, “Dong-er, you, what can I say to you … … ”

When Qi furen saw Qi Shaodong’s  face filled with grievance, she could not bear to continue scolding him and quickly called servants to go behind the mountain to find Shen Jingshu. In her heart, she prayed over and over that nothing had happened to Shen Jingshu; otherwise, how would she explain it to Shen furen!

Ai! Dong-er, really, how could you have abandoned Jingshu? How would she explain it later?

When Qi furen thought of this, she got a headache. But at that moment she did not have the time to think about that, she had to find that person quickly!

1. Expression of surprise