30: Chapter 30: The Mystery of the Old House (Part 4)

"Oh, little brother, don't be afraid, I'm just a bit too curious."

Not knowing what forbidden word he had heard, the NPC in front of her covered his ears and hid under the table, "Don't, don't."

"Curiosity killed the cat."

Qian Ye also mimicked him and crouched down, saying in an eerie voice, "Curiosity killed the~ cat meow~"

"Ah!"

The little brother was so scared he bolted upright, knocking the entire table over to the ground.

Qian Ye patted his shoulder, "Hey, brother, what's wrong with you?"

"Are you having an episode?"

The little brother lowered his hands, looked around, saw that nothing had happened, and seeing the overturned table, hurriedly righted it.

"Hey, you still haven't answered me, what was wrong with you just now?"

"Is something wrong with your body?"

"Ah, yes, yes..." The NPC brushed her off, clearly not wanting to communicate with her anymore.

Qian Ye's eyes swept over the righted table; interesting, the red pattern revealed on the back when it was overturned was exactly the same as the one she had seen on the main gate.

Qian Ye tormented all the NPCs here and obtained some scattered pieces of information.

Chatting like this, it lasted until breakfast time.

Outside, an NPC dressed in a chef's outfit pushed a cart filled with breakfast.

Qian Ye swept her gaze over the NPCs present; after the man appeared, they all seemed exceptionally well-behaved.

"What a dining hall full of stories." Qian Ye admired it with great interest.

That NPC was really quite responsible, distributing every breakfast portion correctly. Qian Ye stared curiously at the breakfast in front of her; actually, it was quite hearty and looked pretty good.

Most importantly, these looked like normal meals.

Qian Ye watched them after they received their breakfast; they didn't look happy at all, acting as if they were facing a great enemy, with very serious expressions.

"Brother, is the breakfast here not good?"

"No!" Qian Ye's words were like stepping on his tail, making him instantly bristle.

"Oh, so you like it then."

"Then I'll give you this portion to eat too."

"Let you have double the happiness, don't thank me too much." Qian Ye pushed all the breakfast in front of him in one go, not forgetting to make a peace sign.

The NPC revealed a smile that was uglier than crying; he really thanked her so much.

Qian Ye rested her chin on her hand, smiling faintly as she watched him eat the breakfast bit by bit with tears in his eyes.

"Wow, congratulations, you've gained double the happiness today."

Anyway, the rules said three meals a day were mandatory, but it didn't say you had to eat them yourself; as long as the person showed up, it was fine.

Breakfast settled, Qian Ye stretched, hmm, one place checked off successfully; where should she go next?

"Since there's a young master, there should be an old man, right?" Qian Ye muttered to herself, excitement flashing in her eyes.

She wondered if there were other young masters; she also wanted to have a sweet romance.

The boyfriend in the last dungeon was too disobedient, always running around, causing her to never have a proper, serious romance.

After leaving the dining hall, she hadn't walked many steps before she saw the sickeningly sweet Wu Yan and her boyfriend.

Qian Ye ground her teeth; no way, she also wanted a sweet romance.

She would definitely be able to meet her own true love too.

Wandering around aimlessly while reeking of jealousy, she didn't look closely at the surroundings. When she looked up, another courtyard appeared before her eyes, the gate tightly closed, with several rows of bamboo planted on both sides of the entrance.

The wind blew gently, brushing against the bamboo leaves and making a rustling sound.

"Meow~"

Hearing the cat's meow again, Qian Ye raised an eyebrow. Aside from the shrill cat cries heard at night, she hadn't seen a single cat in this Ancient Mansion during the day.

The sound was right in front of her now, so naturally, Qian Ye wouldn't miss it.

She went up to knock on the door, and the door automatically opened.

Once the door opened, there was a stone path, with bamboo still planted on both sides.

It seemed the owner living here must love bamboo very much.

Qian Ye had no self-awareness as a Guest, strolling inside as if she had entered her own home.

After walking for a while, a corridor appeared on the left. Qian Ye headed straight for the end, and rows of houses appeared in her view.

"Who are you?"

"Who let you in?"

"Presumptuous!"

Qian Ye turned her head, and another NPC appeared at the entrance of the corridor.

Judging by what he said, he must live here.

"I am..."

"Cough, cough, A-Lu, what's the matter?"

A weak, clear male voice suddenly sounded behind Qian Ye, and her eyes lit up.

This voice, she could handle it.

Turning around, she saw a man leaning on a cane, wearing a plain white robe, coughing every now and then, his refined face bearing a sickly pale complexion.

Wow, did this person hear her inner thoughts?

Qian Ye instantly turned into star-eyes; ah, isn't this where her boyfriend comes from?

Tee-hee, it was finally her turn for a sweet romance.

"Tee-hee~"

"Young lady?"

"Young lady?"

"Is this a fool?"

Qian Ye snapped back to reality for a moment, blinked, ah, sorry, she had over-imagined and was too engrossed.

Subconsciously, she hurriedly smoothed her makeup, looked at the man in front of her, lowered her head a bit shyly, and then looked at him again.

"Th-that, can I ask you something~"

The man was stunned, then smiled faintly, "You... cough, cough, cough, young lady, what is it that... cough, cough, you want to ask?"

Qian Ye blinked, suddenly leaning in close to him, "So, do you have a partner?"

"Par...tner?" The man looked puzzled, seemingly not understanding what she meant.

"Hmm, I mean, are you taken?"

The man shook his head.

"What about a fiancée?" Before the man could answer, Qian Ye waved her hand; a fiancée was fine, as long as he wasn't married.

???

The man looked blank.

"What does the young lady mean?"

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Qian Ye watched him with heartache, as if he wanted to cough his lungs out.

"Ah, what I mean is, it's just that I've taken a liking to you."

"Tee-hee, I'm still missing a boyfriend, and you just happened to appear."

The man shook his head with a wry smile, "Little girl, don't joke around."

"Cough, cough, let alone this broken body of mine."

"Besides, cough, cough, little girl, cough, you haven't even come of age yet, right?"

Qian Ye crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes slightly, "Why do you seem so much like an ancient person?"

The man was stunned.

The NPC on the side whispered a few words in his ear.

Qian Ye's ears twitched; ah, how embarrassing, she didn't mean to overhear that.

The NPC said in the man's ear: Ancestor, it is now the 22nd century.

The man's eyes showed sudden realization.

"Ah, so much time has passed again."

"What has passed for so long?" Qian Ye's clear, bright eyes stared straight at the man.

Looking through her eyes, the man was dazed for a moment.

"These eyes are truly beautiful." The man couldn't help but raise his hand.

Qian Ye happened to step to the side, "Wow, there's actually a sea of flowers here."

The man came back to his senses.

Watching her back, listening to her voice, this reaction—it was even more like her.

After admiring the flowers, Qian Ye turned back and asked again, "Are you willing to be my boyfriend~"

The NPC on the side dutifully explained the meaning of 'boyfriend' in his ear.

Qian Ye looked at him with a smile, already calculating that if he didn't agree again, she would have to take some forced measures.

After the man heard A-Lu finish explaining, he was stunned for a moment, then smiled, "Okay."

"If you..."

"Eh, you agreed."

"Not bad, not bad." Qian Ye clapped her hands; really not bad, this boyfriend looked like the very obedient type.

"Ember Stain."

"My... my name."

"boyfriend, hello, my name is Su Ye."