The next day.
Lin Ting kept her promise and brought Duan Ling to the Study she co-owned with Jin Anazi to meet him.
The Study was tucked away in a quiet, secluded alley.
Few people passed by, and the surroundings were so silent they could clearly hear their own footsteps. Â
Before arriving, Lin Ting had told Duan Ling about opening the Study and about her business partnership with Jin Anazi, no longer hiding anything from him.
Duan Ling walked ahead and asked, “You’re doing business in the Jianghu world; aren’t you afraid of danger?”
Seizing the chance to praise herself, Lin Ting said, “I’m smart, and I’ve studied Wugong for five years—it wasn’t for nothing. Of course, you taught me well too. I’ve been doing Jianghu business for almost a year now, and I haven’t met anyone who can beat me.”
He glanced at her.
Lin Ting added, “Not counting you and Jin Anazi, I mean the people I meet during business—none are my match.”
Like Duan Ling, Jin Anazi had started practicing martial arts daily since he was very young, each with over ten years of experience.
Lin Ting, on the other hand, had only begun learning Wugong at thirteen, far behind them, and for now couldn’t surpass them.
Duan Ling smirked faintly, “Does Young Master Jin live here now, in the Study?”
“Yes. Staying at an inn costs money; living in the Study doesn’t. Since we own it, it’s best for him to stay here—keeps the books from being stolen, and he can tidy up when he has free time.” Lin Ting’s little scheme was working smoothly.
He stopped in front of the Study’s door and asked, “Didn’t you say the Study was just a front for your business?”
Lin Ting pushed the door open and stepped inside first, leaving Duan Ling to close the door behind her.
“The Study is a front, yes, but all these books were bought with real money. I can’t just let someone steal them. Having him live here is the best option.”
He said nothing, following her in.
Inside, Lin Ting didn’t see Jin Anazi and called out, “Jin Anazi?”
Duan Ling followed behind her.
Lin Ting turned to him and said, “Looks like Jin Anazi went out. Do you want to wait for him, or come back another day?”
At that moment, Jin Anazi’s cool, clear voice came from the backyard, “I’m fixing the roof back here. It’s leaking wind and rain.”
It had rained lightly the night before.
Lin Ting immediately led Duan Ling to the backyard.
“Leaking wind and rain? The books are okay?”
Jin Anazi replied, “I knew you’d worry about the books first. Don’t worry, I covered the roof with something else last night.”
Lin Ting was fully relieved.
“Good, if the books are safe.”
Otherwise, drying them out would be a massive task, and some might be ruined.
Jin Anazi had no response.
“Thank you for your hard work,” Lin Ting finally said kindly.
“How much longer until the roof’s fixed?”
She stood below, unable to see the roof’s condition even on tiptoes.
“Soon.”
In the backyard, a bamboo ladder was set up.
Jin Anazi stood on it, holding tiles and concentrating on repairing the roof without glancing down.
“I told you a few days ago there wouldn’t be business, so you coming today—was it for something else?”
Lin Ting looked up at the ladder and said, “A childhood friend of mine wants to meet you.”
‘A childhood friend?’ Jin Anazi recalled Lin Ting mentioning two childhood friends—a brother and sister.
He finally looked down, eyes first landing on her, then on Duan Ling, before introducing himself, “I am Jin Anazi.”
“I am Duan Ling.”
At this moment, Duan Ling couldn’t see Jin Anazi’s face clearly—his face was hidden behind a mask.
Jin Anazi carefully finished fixing the broken roof, then slowly climbed down the ladder.
Upon landing, he still didn’t remove the mask and asked calmly, “Why does Young Master Duan suddenly want to see me?”
Duan Ling smiled faintly, staring straight at Jin Anazi’s mask, peering through the slit at his eyes.
It was as if he could tell a person’s true appearance through their eyes.
“I’m curious who she learned other martial arts techniques from, so I wanted to meet Young Master Jin.”
“I see.” Jin Anazi put away the ladder and went to wash his dust-covered hands.
After washing, without drying his hands, he turned around and asked, “Young Master Duan is the one who taught her Wugong for five years?”
Lin Ting had only said she had two childhood friends, never revealing who taught her martial arts, so Jin Anazi guessed it was Duan Ling.
Duan Ling admitted, “Yes, that’s me. Does Young Master Jin think I taught her poorly?”
Lin Ting suddenly interrupted, biting into a large, round apple.
She hadn’t swallowed yet but jumped in, “Impossible. You taught me so well—I’ve improved by leaps and bounds these past few years.”
Whether she had improved or not was something she felt herself.
Like solving math problems, only she knew if she succeeded or not.
Jin Anazi said with a meaningful tone, “I also want to say that Young Master Duan taught very well.”
Lin Ting had always been obsessed with making money and learning Wugong, asking him to teach her some moves.
Since her martial foundation wasn’t bad and she seemed talented, Jin Anazi figured teaching her wouldn’t be troublesome.
Unexpectedly, she almost drove him crazy.
Though smart, she liked to overthink and get stuck in dead ends.
No matter how he guided her, she wouldn’t come out.
Worse, she dragged others into her traps.
He had almost fallen for it several times.
So Jin Anazi greatly respected anyone who could teach Lin Ting for five years without losing their mind.
Duan Ling scanned the backyard and suddenly said, “I’d like to speak privately with Young Master Jin.”
Though he spoke to Jin Anazi, his eyes were on Lin Ting.
Jin Anazi had no objection.
Lin Ting thought they’d discuss Wugong matters.
“Alright, you two talk. I’ll wait inside, but don’t keep me waiting too long.”
She went inside to read.
Time flew while reading.
Unaware, half an hour passed.
Lin Ting shifted her gaze from the book, rubbing her slightly sore neck, and looked toward the backyard, separated by a curtain.
‘Why weren’t they done yet?’ Closing the book, she rummaged through a box for snacks, only finding a few dry hu bing (thin crispy biscuits), which she ate all of.
But the hu bing was so dry she began to choke.
Duan Ling came in and saw Lin Ting desperately gulping water so he asked: “What’s wrong?”
She finished a bowl of water before her throat felt better, no longer choking.
“My throat’s dry. Are you done talking?”
He walked over to her.
Jin Anazi eyed the crumbs on the table and the open cabinet, rolling his eyes.
“Did you eat the stuff I bought again?”
Lin Ting was unapologetic and replied, “You two chatted for half an hour; I had to find something to pass the time or I’d have died of boredom.”
Jin Anazi ignored her.
She tempted him, “When I make a fortune, I’ll buy you some treats from Shixiang Pavilion. No, not just some—I’ll buy the entire Shixiang Pavilion. We’ll eat whatever we want whenever we want.”
“I hope I live to see that day,” Jin Anazi retorted sarcastically.
“Don’t worry, you’ll live to see it. There’s an old saying… I remember now: a calamity lingers for a thousand years.” Lin Ting said seriously, matching his sharp tongue.
Jin Anazi couldn’t help but throw a book at her.
Lin Ting grabbed Duan Ling’s hand and dashed out, dodging the book.
“We have business, gotta go first.”
Outside the Study, Lin Ting slowed her pace and teased Jin Anazi, “He’s got a bad temper; you can’t even joke with him.”
Duan Ling looked down slowly at their hands intertwined.
She’d been in too much of a hurry to hold his wrist as before and had just grabbed his hand outright.
Now their fingers were tightly locked.
His heart inexplicably skipped a beat.
Lin Ting hadn’t noticed holding Duan Ling’s hand and kept walking toward the alley exit.
As they left the alley, a carriage painted with the Xie Family emblem passed by.
She suddenly asked, “Duan Ling, as an Imperial Guard, do you know the court officials inside and out?”
Duan Ling followed her gaze to the fading Xie Family carriage and instead of answering, asked back, “You want to ask about the Xie Family?”
Lin Ting sighed to the sky.
“It’s not me who wants to ask about the Xie Family—it’s my mother. She wants me to meet with the Xie Family’s Fifth Young Master. Soon, she’ll be at Nan Shan Pavilion for matchmaking with Xie Qinghe. I still haven’t persuaded Li Jingqiu to cancel it.”
Duan Ling’s fingertips twitched.
Lin Ting felt a scratch in her palm and realized she was still holding his hand, so she naturally let go without thinking.
Before deciding to have Lin Ting meet the Xie Family’s Fifth Young Master, Li Jingqiu had asked if she had a special someone.
Lin Ting said no.
At first, Li Jingqiu didn’t believe her, but after confirming it was true, she looked somewhat disappointed.
Since then, Li Jingqiu secretly arranged the matchmaking.
Even when Lin Ting sensed something was wrong and lied about having a special someone to avoid it, Li Jingqiu didn’t believe her, suspecting the lie was to dodge the meeting.
Lately, Lin Ting was troubled by this.
After her birthday celebration yesterday, she had momentarily forgotten, but seeing the Xie Family carriage today brought it back.
Her head ached slightly as she asked Duan Ling, “Has Madam Feng ever arranged matchmaking for you?”
Duan Ling shook his head, “No.”
Lin Ting looked at him enviously and asked, “Madam Feng hasn’t arranged anyone for you? Why? You’re four years older than me, so why isn’t anyone pushing you to marry? It’s unfair.”
Duan Ling lowered the hand she’d just been holding and replied, “You don’t want to meet the Xie Family’s Fifth Young Master?”
Lin Ting stood on tiptoes and brought her face close to his, her expression as unwilling as could be.
“Do I look like I want to?”
Duan Ling’s eyes reflected her face.
After a moment, he replied, “No.”
Lin Ting stepped back and asked, “How old do you plan to be when you marry?”
Although he hadn’t married in the original story, she still wanted to know his thoughts.
“I don’t plan to marry.”
She bought two skewers of Bingtanghulu from the street and gave him one.
“Your parents wouldn’t agree either. You’d end up like me—forced into matchmaking.”
Duan Ling smiled without replying.
Lin Ting ate a candied hawthorn and glanced at their shadows on the ground.
Suddenly, she had an idea.
“I have a great solution, but it depends if you agree.”
“What solution?”
She lowered her voice, afraid of passersby overhearing, “From now on, my ‘special someone’ is you, and your ‘special someone’ is me.”
Since neither planned to marry, they could cover for each other, avoiding endless matchmaking demands as long as they stayed unmarried.
It was an old-fashioned plan but effective.
Lin Ting was willing to try anything to avoid matchmaking.
“What do you think?”
Duan Ling seemed not to catch her last sentence and repeated, “My special someone is you, and your special someone is me?”
“Yes. You pretend to like me; I pretend to like you. That way, no one will arrange matchmaking for us. It’s good for both of us—a win-win.”
He didn’t object, smiled and asked, “What if they want us to marry later?”
“If that happens, we’ll think of other ways to stall. Judging by the current situation, we can at least delay for a few years—and enjoy some quiet time.”
Just thinking about it lifted Lin Ting’s mood.
Duan Ling agreed without much hesitation, “Alright, we’ll do as you say.”
Lin Ting bit off the last candied hawthorn.
“My mother already doesn’t believe me. We can’t just go to her and say I like you or you like me.”
He handed her the untouched skewer.
“Here.”
She swallowed and asked, “You’re not eating?”
“You eat it.”
Since she had paid, Lin Ting didn’t refuse and took it, continuing, “We have to let her ‘accidentally’ find out that we like each other.”
Duan Ling called out to the hawker who had been wandering about with the Bingtanghulu, bought a few more skewers, and softly asked, “How do you want Mrs. Li to find out we like each other?”
Lin Ting munched on a skewer but kept her eyes on the ones he just bought.
“Let me think.”