She pulled Wen Tingyuan's sleeve, and the two of them stopped.
Qiao Yuyan heard the man say, "My brother's marriage is about to be finalized."
The girl said: "I know that! Didn't you say that we will get married when your sister-in-law comes through?"
"I heard that my sister-in-law gave me a lot of dowry. I'm afraid the betrothal gift prepared by my mother is not enough. I..."
The man's voice lowered as he spoke, "Your father is eager to marry you off and wants a dowry of three hundred taels of silver. I...I really have no choice."
The girl's face became paler, her hand holding the basket turned white due to exertion, and her voice was already trembling due to choking, "Then...then you won't marry?"
"I'm sorry Ying Niang, I, I can't afford to marry you."
Wen Tingyuan looked at Qiao Yuyan's serious face and couldn't help but wonder, "You want to help them?"
Qiao Yuyan frowned and shook her head slightly, "Listen to him."
"Do you not want to marry, or is it really just about the money?"
When the man heard this, he immediately said anxiously: "I want to marry you. We have known each other since we were young. Since I was ten years old, I have said that I want to marry you. This heart has never wavered, but now..."
"Okay!" The woman interrupted him, with a bit of determination in her expression, "If you say so, I will believe it!"
After saying that, without waiting for the man to speak, he turned around and walked away quickly.
The man was in a daze, and then he remembered to catch up.
"What? Do you really recognize me?"
Wen Tingyuan couldn't help but raise his eyebrows when he saw Qiao Yuyan's thoughtful face.
As far as he knew, Qiao Yuyan's time in the capital was not as casual as when he was in Jiangzhou. He spent most of his time at home, and even when he went out, he rarely went to the market.
How could it be possible to recognize such a man and woman?
Qiao Yuyan thought for a while and decided not to let this incident affect their good mood today, so she smiled and said: "I just feel familiar, but I don't know him. I'll ask again later, maybe I made a mistake."
Before Wen Tingyuan could speak, she smiled and took his arm, "Because of this delay, the sun has set. Let's go eat!"
According to Wen Tingyuan, this Xunwei Restaurant is a newly opened restaurant in the capital, but to be able to open in such a place and occupy such a unique location must have some origins behind it.
Therefore, many high-ranking officials and nobles could be seen coming and going. As soon as they entered the door, waiters came forward to greet them.
Qiao Yuyan followed Wen Tingyuan directly to the boat parked by the lake.
The boats are also divided into different sizes. For example, the one they ordered has only one table inside, and a maximum of four people can sit facing each other. It cannot accommodate more people.
There are many larger boats outside. At first glance, they look like houses parked on the lake.
In this part of the lake, the merchants have also made arrangements. Lotus lanterns of different colors are floating on the water, reflected in the water light, and the starry sky on the rainy day and the lights in the distance complement each other.
Although their boat is small, the front deck is not small, and there are clean felt blankets spread on it for guests to lie down and admire the moon.
"Can this boat still be rowed?"
"Since it's a boat, why can't it be rowed?" Wen Tingyuan smiled and pointed to her the scull behind the boat, "You can go farther away later, the night will be more beautiful."
When you arrive at a place like this, whether you eat or not is secondary. As long as the food tastes good, it will leave a good impression on others.
However, it seemed that Wen Tingyuan had specially ordered this table of dishes for her, and they were all based on her usual tastes. In addition, since no one else was around, Qiao Yuyan ate to her heart's content, and Wen Tingyuan even specially gave it to her.
I ordered a small pot of lychee wine.
Sitting on the deck, the vast night sky was dotted with a few stars, but the bright moon was slowly rising from the other side.
The night wind blows over, causing the lotus leaves to sway, bringing with it a faint fragrance. The lights in the water sway and break into gem-like light.
There is a two-story painting boat in the distance. Looking from a distance, it looks like a mirage in Penglai Wonderland projected onto the world.
There was a whisper of singing coming over me like a dream, and through the sound of water, it became more subtle and clear, but it was not like other people's happiness.
Qiao Yuyan and Wen Tingyuan were back to back, neither of them spoke, they just watched quietly.
There was obviously a lot of excitement everywhere, but at this moment, it seemed as if the excitement had isolated a world from them.
Qiao Yuyan couldn't help but think of that time at the eldest princess's meandering water drinking banquet, he came from nowhere, drove a small boat alone, took her away from the place of right and wrong, and then sent her home step by step.
Looking back now, Qiao Yuyan suddenly realized that she had actually been dependent on him for a long time.
I don’t know when it started, but it has already exceeded the normal boundaries.
It's just that she never noticed it and never thought about crossing the line.
What about past lives?
Qiao Yuyan thought about what happened after she returned to the capital in her previous life, as if this person had disappeared from her life.
He occasionally received letters, but they were just ordinary greetings.
Later, she couldn't receive his letter at all. She didn't know whether it was not sent or whether it was detained by the Pei mother and daughter.
When they meet again, she is already someone else's wife, and he is her husband's uncle.
Thinking of this, Qiao Yuyan suddenly remembered that one time, she was probably pregnant with Sister Min's son. It happened to be Wen Liang's birthday in the mansion. In order to please her mother-in-law and her husband, she specially took her dowry and spent it at home.
Had a family dinner.
Everyone in the family was extremely happy. Unexpectedly, he was recalled to Beijing and made a temporary trip back to the Wen family, which shocked the entire Wen family into a panic.
Mrs. Wen kept blaming her for taking care of things in their room, but she didn't know that Wen Tingyuan was coming back.
He also blamed her for being so meddlesome and causing such a huge fuss on a small birthday, so that when Wen Tingyuan returned home, there was nothing but chaos and poor reception.
At that time, she already knew that Wen Tingyuan was the gentle sixth uncle, and she felt that things in the world were unpredictable, surprising and unprepared.
But after all, they didn't meet often, and even when they did, his reaction was very cold, and she gave up any thought of acquaintance.
Unexpectedly, that time he bumped into Mrs. Wen scolding her. For some reason, when she saw him, her tears fell uncontrollably.
Mrs. Wen's face became even more ugly with anger, and then he came over, took the jade pendant from her waist, and gave it to her in front of everyone, saying that he wanted to give it to the child in her belly.
When Wen Qiong and Gang came back and saw this scene, they were very happy, and the whole atmosphere became gentle again.
For this reason, Mrs. Wen did not punish her afterwards. She only said that Wen Tingyuan valued Wen Liang and asked her not to fall short of Wen Liang's dignity.
Qiao Yuyan thought about it from the beginning. She suddenly wanted to know what Wen Tingyuan was thinking when he saw her as the Wen family's wife in his previous life.
"Zingyuan, when did you... start wanting to marry me?"