"Alright, your foot isn't convenient for walking, so you should head home quickly tonight."
Du Lanyue wanted to stay and play with Gu Qingcheng, but since her foot was injured, it would be too shameless to insist on staying.
This was their first meeting, and she didn't want to leave a bad impression on Gu Qingcheng.
Du Lanyue reluctantly nodded and said, "Okay, then I'll go home first."
"I'll accompany you back," Gu Qingcheng said solicitously, calling for a carriage and accompanying her home.
It was worrying for a girl to travel home alone by carriage, not just at this time, but even in modern times, taking a taxi late at night could be concerning.
Du Lanyue was very happy.
But soon, she felt the journey home was too short, as if it was over in the blink of an eye.
Du Lanyue pointed to the depths of the alley and said, "That's my home. You should come visit when you have time."
"Okay."
Gu Qingcheng also knew it wasn't convenient to visit someone's home late at night, so she didn't insist.
She helped Du Lanyue out of the carriage. Du Lanyue said she could walk the rest of the way herself. Gu Qingcheng didn't force her to escort her further. Seeing her enter the alley, she called for the carriage to take her back to where she came from.
Arriving at the place where they were guessing lantern riddles, Gu Qingcheng searched for Mi Guo but couldn't find him. She figured he might have gone back.
Mi Guo was quite resourceful, so Gu Qingcheng wasn't overly worried.
As expected, when she returned to the inn, she saw Mi Guo already eating supper.
"Where did you go? I waited for you for a while," Gu Qingcheng asked.
Mi Guo felt a bit embarrassed to say he had escorted a young lady home. He was worried that the lady might misunderstand and think he was flirting, and that she would laugh at him. So, he said, "I went to exchange my prize and didn't see you either!"
Mi Guo spoke with such righteous indignation that it struck a chord with Gu Qingcheng. She hadn't, in fact, waited for Mi Guo the entire time.
Uh, she had gone to make a friend.
Gu Qingcheng felt a little guilty.
She touched her nose, gave a dry laugh, and didn't pursue the matter further.
After they finished their supper, they went to bed to sleep soundly.
Gu Qingcheng slept very comfortably. Out of habit, she lingered in bed for a while. Before she had fully woken up, someone knocked on her door.
"Who is it?"
It turned out to be a waiter from the inn.
Gu Qingcheng had to get up and open the door, her eyes slightly dark circles, and asked, "What is it?"
"Ah? Young Master Gu, I'm sorry to disturb your sleep. I didn't expect you to still be asleep. My apologies!" the waiter said fearfully.
"It's okay, but what's going on?" Gu Qingcheng asked, yawning.
"Oh, it's like this. There's a young lady outside looking for you."
The waiter dared to call Gu Qingcheng because the young lady was very beautiful, and he assumed Young Master Gu would be happy.
"Ah? A young lady?" Gu Qingcheng's mind hadn't quite caught up yet, but she felt it would be impolite to keep someone waiting for too long. She said, "Please ask her to wait a moment, I'll be right there."
Gu Qingcheng went back to her room, got dressed, and then went to the inn's reception area.
At the reception, a young lady was looking down, idly fiddling with the jade bracelet on her wrist.
When Gu Qingcheng appeared, the young lady looked up and saw her. Her eyes lit up, and with a hint of shyness, she said, "Qingcheng, it's me!"
"Ah? It's you? Miss Lanyue, why are you here so early? Didn't you sleep in a bit?"
Gu Qingcheng smiled. With a friend here, her morning grumpiness immediately vanished.
"I'm sorry to disturb your rest," Du Lanyue said uneasily.
She herself had not slept well all night, thinking of Gu Qingcheng's handsome and innocent demeanor, and his heroic posture when shooting arrows. Her heart was filled with longing.
If only they could get married, how wonderful that would be! She was sure her life would be very happy.
Just thinking about how gentle and considerate he was, rushing her to the doctor as soon as he heard about her sprained ankle and even accompanying her home...
Du Lanyue tossed and turned. She finally managed to fall into a light sleep just before dawn, but woke up again after a short while.
Finding she couldn't sleep, she got up and busied herself for a while before coming to see Gu Qingcheng.
Gu Qingcheng quickly waved her hand and said, "I should be getting up too. I usually don't sleep this late. I was a bit lazy today."
Lanyue handed Gu Qingcheng a sachet embroidered with exquisite flowers.
Gu Qingcheng took it casually, puzzled, and only then realized it was heavy and filled with copper coins. It was actually a coin purse.
Wow, it was so beautiful.
"Qingcheng, this is for the medical expenses you paid for me yesterday," Du Lanyue explained.
Seeing Du Lanyue's insistence on repaying her, Gu Qingcheng thought she didn't want to be indebted to her, so she said, "Okay, it's just a small amount of money, yet you're still worried about it. This sachet is truly beautiful. I'll wash it and return the sachet to you later."
"No need to return it, I embroidered the sachet myself. You can keep it if you don't mind," Du Lanyue quickly said.
She watched Gu Qingcheng casually tuck the sachet into her embrace, and her heart filled with a surge of sweetness.
"Alright, thank you then. I've always found it inconvenient not to have a coin purse."
Upon hearing this, Gu Qingcheng accepted it without further politeness.
Nowadays, people had to make many small items themselves, like pouches and handkerchiefs. She didn't have the skill to embroider; forcing her to embroider was like demanding she practice archery more.
Now that she had a beautiful coin purse, how could she not be happy?
Indeed, having friends was wonderful.
"Qingcheng, you haven't had breakfast yet, have you? This is the lean meat and preserved egg congee I made, and these are the fried pancakes I made myself. Please try them."
Du Lanyue was truly thoughtful, bringing hot breakfast.
Surprised and delighted, Gu Qingcheng took out the congee in the inn's dining room and drank it, and also ate the fried pancakes.
"Your cooking skills are excellent. Sister, I'll have to learn from you in the future."
Gu Qingcheng, having eaten someone else's food, naturally lavished her with praise.
Her own advantage was equally obvious: she was good at complimenting others.
The congee, which had been simmered for a long time, combined with the selected lean meat and preserved eggs, tasted truly excellent.
Gu Qingcheng finished eating, still wanting more.
After she finished, she picked up the bowls and chopsticks to leave.
Du Lanyue quickly stopped her and said, "You don't need to wash them; I'll take them back to wash."
Gu Qingcheng thanked her, and then asked, "Sister, you got up so early. How is your foot now?"
"It's much better. The ointment from yesterday was effective, and it doesn't hurt this morning. I just can't walk long distances, but I've called my family's carriage."
Hearing that she had a carriage, Gu Qingcheng was no longer worried.
Du Lanyue placed the used bowls and chopsticks into a food container and reluctantly bid her farewell.
Gu Qingcheng also hated to see such a lovely sister leave, so she said, "When your foot is better, let's go for an outing by the river."
Du Lanyue quickly nodded and said, "Okay, I'll call you in a few days."
"Alright."
Gu Qingcheng escorted her to the outside of the inn. She saw a carriage parked there, with a large character "Du" written on its side.
In this era, those who could afford carriages were not ordinary people. This carriage was comparable to a Porsche or Ferrari in later generations.
Gu Qingcheng understood that this Sister Du was from a prominent family, which explained her knowledge, grace, and gentle demeanor.
After watching her leave, Gu Qingcheng then went to find Wang Dapeng and asked him to summon the prospective shareholders in the city to discuss the investment matters.
It was time to finalize the decisions and pay the funds.