Love from the Male Protagonist's Harem

LFTMPH Chapter 32-Surprise Gift Box Part 2

Translated by Snowfall77

The following day.

With her upgraded {ghost and shadow}, Xia Ge’s wishes were fulfilled and her clandestine time on the back mountain was undiscovered……as she dug holes all night.

To no avail.

And before she knew it, dawn was about to came.

In the deep darkness of early morning, Xia Ge slunk back to her hut, clutching her ill-gotten gains—namely a clump of weeds.

She threw her small miscellaneous collection of spirit grasses and wood onto the table.  Staring at the disordered heap, Xia Ge couldn’t help her incredulity at ending up so empty-handed: “Where were the Liuli trees?  Why couldn’t I find any Liuli trees?  What in the world?”

Altogether, she’d probably dug about three feet of dirt up, and not a single Liuli tree to be found.

In order to get something, she’d plucked some spirit grass before coming home.  But even then, she couldn’t identify many kinds of grasses, so her yield was predictably small.

Unbelievable!

The system attempted to be comforting: [Don’t Fret Over It……This Mix Of Grasses……You Can Sell Them For Points To Spend At The Mall.]

Xia Ge tried to raise her spirits: “How many points are these worth?”

Quickly calculating, the system answered: [……Twenty.]

Xia Ge: “……”

So, digging up dirt the whole night was now worth 20 sanitary napkins.

A whooping 20/300 of a Surprise Gift Box?

Societal integrity.

It was being lost.

Despair.jpg

But, no matter how desperate the situation, there was nothing to be done about it at the moment.  Glancing out at the color of the sky, Xia Ge sold her stolen assortment for points, then changed from her black clothes to her hemp clothes.  Shaking off her dejection, Xia Ge assumed the attitude of a righteous Danfeng outer disciple.

“All right, time to go to Suxi Pavilion.”

Utterly shocked, the system blurted: [This Early?!]

Xia Ge: “I am the outstanding outer disciple of Danfeng #88!  Senior Sister’s heart will be moved to see me being so industrious.”

Even if a thief was frustrated in the field, they must still be proud in the workplace!

From here on out, she was going to study hard and improve every day!

==

Having finished her morning rounds and about to head up to Suxi Pavilion, Gu Peijiu encountered Ye Ze.

The young man was wearing his well-fitted red and white Danfeng dress, his red ribbon was tied straight, and his expression a tad overly docile: “Senior Sister.”

Gu Peijiu stopped: “What is it?”

When she’d recommended Jianfeng to Ye Ze, Gu Peijiu had also given him a three-day leave.  That’d been why Ye Ze had been able to leisurely wait for Xia Ge the day before.

“I’d like to……wait until Danfeng’s entrance examination is over before I go to Jianfeng.”  Ye Ze bowed his head.  “I hope Senior Sister will allow this.”

Remembering the past day’s events at Suxi Pavilion, Gu Peijiu felt she had a pretty good idea what Ye Ze was thinking.

Gu Peijiu pondered Ye Ze’s request for a moment, then asked: “Why?”

“Senior Sister,” Ye Ze raised his head, regarding Gu Peijiu with earnest eyes, “When I was 6, I lost both my father and my mother.  I was completely alone, without a friend in the world.”

Ye Ze involuntarily clenched his fists, and like someone recalling a painful memory, he closed his eyes for a second: “My late parents taught me that a friend until death is not to be abandoned.”

""

“……Senior Sister, please grant my request.”

A friend until death?

A little surprised, Gu Peijiu considered again, but in the end gave a small nod.

“Yes.”

If this was the case, there was no harm in talking to Chang Lan.

“Thank you, Senior Sister.”  Ye Ze bowed his head again and then quietly left.

Gu Peijiu simply shook her head.

It was somewhat unexpected, Ye Ze……

Ye?

Slightly frowning, Gu Peijiu considered the boy’s back as he was walking away.

Hadn’t there been a Ye family in Gucheng with a famous reputation, until one night they were all massacred?

However, judging the time and wanting to get to Suxi Pavilion, Gu Peijiu put the matter out of her mind.  However, with a few graceful flashes, she silently went down the mountain first.  On her return, she carried a basket of steamed buns in one hand.

""

Using a shortcut, Gu Peijiu quickly arrived at Suxi Pavilion.  According to the sun in the sky, she’d arrived punctually.

The stream ran crystal clear, cicadas buzzed, a few clusters of hydrangeas were blooming, and Gu Peijiu noticed that the door to Suxi Pavilion was unexpectedly half-open.

……had the little slickster actually come early?

Surprised, Gu Peijiu stepped forward, gently pushing the door open all the way.  Inside the pavilion, the windows were open and sunlight warmed the whole space.  There, cross-legged on a cushion, upper body draped over a small table with head down, the fine-featured boy slept.

Gu Peijiu slightly raised an eyebrow.

What was the point of coming early if you’re just going to sleep?

Still, her footsteps were soft as she went up to the sleeping boy.  Only when she was by his side, did Gu Peijiu notice that underneath his head and arms was a red danshu.  Glancing at an exposed half of a page, Ge Peijiu saw drawings and notes done in ink.  The boy had written about the order and technique of throwing ingredients into a furnace in painstaking detail.

Taking a closer, second look, Gu Peijiu realized the notes were what she’d explained to the boy in the days before.

Not a word missed, clear as day.

Gu Peijiu remembered that yesterday, except for the green dan, Xia Wuyin’s hands had been empty when he’d left with Ye Ze.  And his danshu had been blank.  Looking at it again today, it was already brimming with notes.

Observing that the ink was only half-dried, she supposed that the boy had come early to catch up on his work.

A third check on Xia Wuyin’s notes……

Some of things Gu Peijiu had said only once, and some were rather difficult, yet the little slickster had remembered them clearly and written them all down.

He was a smart boy, but he was too prone to using flirtation as an easy way out, too sneaky.

Gu Peijiu put down the basket of buns: “Xia Wuyin.”

If she let the boy sleep too long, the buns would get cold.

“……mmm……”

Xia Ge’s head was groggy, but she thought she heard a beautiful voice in her mind.

—–“The road is lost……don’t know how to return……”

—–“The bones of the dead are grieving……waiting for their ruler to return……”

“Xia Wuyin.”

The clear and calm voice of a woman, like pearls and jade falling onto a dish, sweet-sounding to the ears.

The scent of sandalwood diffused.

“……don’t make a noise……”

Xia Ge muttered, shifted her position, and fell asleep again, her left cheek firmly planted onto the pages of her danshu.

Gu Peijiu had stretched out a hand to stop it, however her movement was too slow.  The boy was going to get half-dried ink all over the left side of his face.

Now Gu Peijiu’s hand ran along the soft black hair tied with a green ribbon.  Staring at the boy’s right cheek, well-covered with ink, for a long time, Gu Peijiu neglected to call his name a third time.

Xia Ge remained in a deep sleep.

Finally the young lady in red and white pulled aside the cloth that covered the buns.

The delectable aroma of buns wafted through the air, driving away evil nightmares almost immediately.

Hungry from not eating breakfast, Xia Ge’s sleepiness was driven by the smell of food, her eyes popping open like a ferocious beast of prey on the hunt.

Tallyho!—–Steamed buns!

好好学习，天天向上 [hǎo hǎo xué xí tiān tiān xiàng shàng]

study well and make progress every day

生死之交[shēng sǐ zhī jiāo]

be sworn to live or die together; a friend until death; a friendship of life and death; friendship between the two sharing each other’s fate