Chapter 49: Do You Like Wang Lantian?

I walked over to Liu Xiangdong’s desk and sat down across from him. Straightening my back, I glared at him. “Liu Xiangdong, why have you been staring at me like that?”

A faint smile curled at Liu Xiangdong’s lips before he said, “I just want to see what exactly makes a man like you different from the rest of us normal men.”

What did he mean? Different from the rest of us? Could he have seen through me and realized I’m a woman? No, my acting can’t be that bad.

I forced myself to stay calm, not wanting to lose my composure. “What do you mean?”

Liu Xiangdong laughed a few times before saying, “You want to know what I mean? Your little affair with Ma Wencai is obvious to everyone, Liu Yiqing. Keep pretending and you’ll only make yourself look worse.”

My affair with Ma Wencai? Me and him…? Just as I was about to question Liu Xiangdong, Liang Shanbo came over and stopped me, pulling me back to my seat. “Hey, Yiqing, don’t listen to his nonsense. Let’s just eat.”

Liu Xiangdong leisurely sipped his soup and added, “Liang Shanbo, you and Zhu Yingtai aren’t exactly innocent either. It’s rare to see roommates glued together like you two.”

Zhu Yingtai angrily picked up her food and left the dining hall. I had no appetite either, so I took the soup from Gu Xinlian back to my room. When I pushed the door, it was locked.

Already in a bad mood, now locked outside, I kicked at the door in frustration. “Ma Wencai, open up! Open the door!”

No response. What the heck? I set the soup down by the door and gave the door a hard kick, breaking it open. Honestly, ancient security systems really were terrible.

A heavy smell of alcohol hit me as I entered. Ancient wine really was pungent. Ma Wencai sat on a stool, a pot of wine on the table. He had just poured himself a full cup, glanced coldly at me, then tilted his head back and downed it.

“Why are you locking the door?” I asked, carrying the soup to the table and placing it in front of him. “Miss Xinlian asked me to bring you this soup. Drink it.”

Ma Wencai acted as if I didn’t exist, pouring himself another cup and raising it to his lips. I took the cup from him. “You just got better. You can’t be drinking.”

He snorted and snatched the cup back. “I don’t need you to worry about me. Go care about that Wang Lantian instead.”

Wang Lantian? Why is it always Wang Lantian? How exactly did he get on Ma Wencai’s nerves? I moved the wine cup and pot to the edge of the table and placed the soup in front of him again. “You haven’t eaten, right? This is from Miss Xinlian. Don’t disappoint her kindness.”

“I don’t want it,” Ma Wencai said coldly.

I rolled my eyes and sighed. “What’s wrong with you? Who upset you again? Is it Liu Xiangdong? Don’t listen to his nonsense.”

My first instinct told me Liu Xiangdong’s words had already reached Ma Wencai’s ears.

Ma Wencai stared at me for a while, then got up and locked the door. What was he planning now?

“Why are you locking the door?” I asked.

He sat down with his back to me, silent for a moment, then asked, “Why did you lie to me?”

Lie to him? I immediately replayed everything in my mind. Where did I lie? Had he figured out something about my identity? Oh no, Wencai, could you be any more perceptive?

“What are you talking about? I don’t understand,” I said honestly. I really didn’t understand.

Ma Wencai turned to glare at me, pouting in frustration. “You told me that night you didn’t have anyone you cared for.”

“Yes, so what?” I had no one. I wasn’t lying.

“You still won’t admit it?” Ma Wencai looked incredulous. “Fine, then tell me, when we went down the mountain to find Tao Yuanming, I saw you buy a fan. Where’s that fan?”

What did a fan have to do with having someone you cared for? Such a strange person. “I bought the fan. It wasn’t with your money. Why do you care where I put it?”

“You…” Ma Wencai stood, furious, then seeing my innocent look, sat back down. “The fan Wang Lantian took today was the one you bought.”

“So what? You broke his fan first. You shouldn’t have to pay him back. The fan I bought fits Lantian’s taste perfectly.” Thirty taels of gold—what a pain.

“Then why did you lie and say you didn’t like him? If you don’t like Wang Lantian, why give him a fan?” Ma Wencai stood and questioned me.

I looked at him helplessly. Even after becoming a government official’s son, he still didn’t understand the basics of etiquette. I really don’t know how the magistrate taught him.

“Ma Wencai, whether I like him or not, whether I gave him the fan or not, that’s none of your business. Why are you getting so worked up?” I sneered. Please don’t tell me he likes me. I don’t fall for a man’s sweet talk—I keep my eyes on what’s in front of me, not what’s just out of reach.

“I…” Ma Wencai suddenly grabbed my shoulder, his voice urgent. “Do you really like him? How can you like him?”

“Oh, I don’t, really. I wouldn’t like anyone. Let go of me.” If I were Liu Yiqing, if I could stay forever in this timeline, I might actually like a refined gentleman like Wang Lantian. But I’m not.

“Why? Why won’t you like anyone?” Ma Wencai didn’t let go but gripped tighter. His strength was so great it made my shoulder ache.

“Let go! It hurts… Ma Wencai!”

As I struggled, there was a knock at the door. “Yiqing, are you alright? Is something wrong?”

“Yiqing, are you in there?”

It was Wang Lantian and Liu Yitang’s voices. Why had they both come to me? Ma Wencai’s grip loosened slightly, and I shoved him away, moving to open the door.

It really was them.

“Big brother, Brother Lantian, why did you come together?”

“I was discussing business with Young Master Wang, so we came together,” Liu Yitang said.

Ugh, business again. What could be so important?

Wang Lantian glanced around the room. “Yiqing, what were you two arguing about? Did Ma Wencai bully you again?”

“Wang Lantian, stop spouting nonsense,” Ma Wencai said.

Wang Lantian rolled his eyes at Ma Wencai disdainfully. “Whether I’m lying or not, you know the truth yourself.”

Liu Yitang smiled politely and patted Ma Wencai’s shoulder. “Yes, Wencai, we were just talking about you two. There are all kinds of rumors in the academy now. You both need to be careful. So I plan to have Yiqing move into Young Master Wang’s room.”

“Why? Who’s spreading these rumors? I want to confront them,” Ma Wencai said as he headed out the door.