Du Min and Yang Shi exchanged glances and giggled again.
In a moment of distraction, there were actually two pairs who had taken a liking to each other in the house.
Bai Sheng: No, sisters, only one pair! Sister Jing definitely doesn't have feelings for Brother Ji!
After pouring tea, Huang Gousheng discreetly withdrew. However, he found some bamboo poles and intended to help Lu Hao set up a drying rack for her clothes outside her room.
Lu Hao had not mentioned these things, but Gousheng had thought of them.
Gousheng was a thoughtful and considerate man.
In contrast, Bai Sheng increasingly despised her Brother Ji.
She sat in the bamboo pavilion for a while, thinking, and decided to offer some guidance to her unpromising Brother Ji.
She felt that if she didn't guide him, he would never be able to marry a wife in this life, let alone marry the one he loved.
"Brother, come here for a moment," Bai Sheng returned to the main hall and tugged at Ji Chenghe's clothes.
Ji Chenghe turned around, "Little sister, what is it? Why were you angry just now?"
Not only was I angry, I wanted to hit someone!
Bai Sheng glanced at him, pulled him aside, sighed a long sigh, and then, as much as possible, adjusted her emotions, saying with a look of disappointment and anger that he couldn't live up to expectations: "Brother, that bouquet of flowers was indeed what I wanted you to give to Sister Jing. But, what I meant was, you should present that bouquet as if you picked it yourself, as 'you' giving it to Sister Jing, not me giving it to you, do you understand?"
Ji Chenghe thought for a moment, then suddenly slapped his head: "Oh dear, I... why am I so muddled? Little sister, then... then... what should we do?"
"What else can we do? Just let it be!" Bai Sheng said irritably. "And also, just now I said that you mentioned Sister Jing liked flowers, that was to help you connect and create a sense of ambiguity. Why did you have to blurt out 'I never said that'? Huh? Why, Brother?"
Bai Sheng poked Ji Chenghe's chest with her index finger, making him retreat step by step.
"Oh, my heavens! I... I..." Ji Chenghe covered his forehead with his hand, wishing he could slap himself hard twice.
Bai Sheng tiptoed, patted his shoulder, and said earnestly: "Brother, if you want to marry Sister Jing, the road is long and arduous. In the future, you need to be more mindful. It's best to learn from Brother Gousheng."
"Learn from Gousheng?" Ji Chenghe was puzzled. Gousheng had just learned to read, was not as handsome as him, and his job was not as respectable as his. In terms of male charm, he should be far superior to Gousheng, right?
So why should he learn from him?
Bai Sheng pursed her lips and nodded, "Brother Gou likes Sister Hao Hao. His dating skills, Brother, you're miles behind!"
"Dating skills?" Ji Chenghe heard this term for the first time. "Does it refer to the skill of 'a fair maiden, to be cherished with music'?"
Bai Sheng nodded, "Something like that. Brother, observe more, reflect more, and summarize more in the future. See how he dates girls."
Ji Chenghe straightened his chest and said solemnly: "However, I believe that sincerity wins true hearts. Schemes and tricks seem ostentatious and insincere. I don't like them."
Bai Sheng nodded: "What Brother said is absolutely right, and I agree with Brother's view. However, no matter how sincere you are, if you can't express your feelings and keep them bottled up inside, it's all for naught, isn't it?
Can you say that what Brother Gousheng did for Sister Hao Hao was not sincere?"
"Well... not really," Ji Chenghe stammered.
Bai Sheng corrected him: "Brother, what I mean by skills is only the skill of expressing one's feelings to the other person, not fake schemes lacking sincerity."
"Hmm, that makes sense," Ji Chenghe seemed to understand.
Bai Sheng patted his shoulder again, encouragingly: "Brother, keep it up."
Ji Chenghe pursed his lips tightly, clenched his fists, and said: "Alright, little sister, I will. I will become a support for Bai Jing on her path to pursuing her dreams." As for how to become a support, he would have to plan it carefully later.
Bai Sheng was finally relieved.
However, it was Gousheng's turn to be uneasy.
He discovered that from a certain day onwards, a pair of eyes were constantly fixated on him. The source of those eyes was none other than Master Ji.
Gousheng felt inexplicably panicked. He didn't think he had shown any signs of being gay, so why did Master Ji's gaze make him so scared?
Moreover, Master Ji often held a small notebook and frowned as he wrote something down.
Master Ji was twenty-one or twenty-two years old, handsome and dignified, and was also a county magistrate. He was still unmarried and didn't even have a concubine. If this wasn't a sign of being gay, what was it?
Gousheng was anxious and distressed for several days, and finally mustered the courage to have a private chat with Master Ji.
He wanted to bravely tell Master Ji that he liked women and not men!
The two walked to a place a few hundred meters away from their home.
Huang Gousheng picked at his fingernails, hunched his body, and said respectfully: "Master Ji, there are some things I'd like to tell you. You... please don't be angry, okay?"
Ever since his little sister praised Gousheng for being good at dating, Master Ji had a much higher opinion of Brother Gousheng. He smiled kindly and said, "Brother Gousheng, what do you have to say? Speak boldly, I will not be angry."
Huang Gousheng gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and said, "Master Ji, I like women, I don't like men!"
Ji Chenghe was bewildered. "I know."
"You know?" Huang Gousheng's eyes widened abruptly.
"Yes, I've known for a long time, I've always known!" Ji Chenghe thought Brother Gousheng might not be thinking straight, why was he saying these things to him out of the blue?
"Then why... why do you still look at me so clingingly every day?" Huang Gousheng was very confused.
"I look at you every day? And clingingly?" Ji Chenghe pointed at his own nose with his index finger and asked Gousheng incredulously. Then, he suddenly understood and shouted, "Huang Gousheng! You have great courage! You dare to assume I'm gay!"
Seeing Master Ji's furious anger, Huang Gousheng immediately knelt down with a plop and kowtowed, "I'm sorry, Master Ji, I misunderstood. Then why do you look at me that way every day? And carry a small notebook?"
Ji Chenghe put his hands on his hips, breathing heavily. After finally adjusting his emotions, he told Gousheng what Bai Sheng had said about Gousheng being a dating expert and that he should learn from Gousheng. As for why he often carried a small notebook, it was because when he saw important points, he needed to take notes, as a poor memory is worse than a bad pen.
"So that's how it is," Gousheng said, suddenly relaxing. He rubbed the back of his head and smiled smugly. He himself didn't even realize he was good at dating... dating girls. The eldest sister's observation skills were truly sharp!
Ji Chenghe glared at him, "It's not like that, what else could it be? How could I, such a strong and valiant man, be gay?" Ji Chenghe patted his chest with a loud thud.