Because Su Tang had been delayed a while, when she finally reached Madam Qian, she was running a bit late. When Madam Qian spotted her she said with obvious relief, "Miss Tang, you're finally here."
"I'm sorry, something happened on the way and I was delayed. Here are today's fish balls." Su Tang apologized.
Madam Qian shook her head. "It's alright. I was just a bit worried when you didn't come at the appointed time, I thought something might have happened to you. I'm just glad that you're alright."
Then, after carefully examining the fish balls, Madam Qian gave the money to Su Tang and then took the fish balls away.
After delivering the fish balls, Su Tang took Su Nuo and went to the Song residence as she did every other day. She went directly to Song Yi and greeted, "This disciple greets master."
"Ah, there you are!" Song Yi, who was painting, saw that Su Tang had arrived and nodded happily. But when he saw that she seemed to have something to say, he set down his brush and asked, "What's wrong?"
"It's like this: your disciple has an appointment with someone this afternoon. It will probably not be until just before dinner that I can come to learn from you today, master." Nowadays Su Tang had to study and practice her writing every day so if she wanted to go out and meet Luo Xingchen, she naturally had to first ask for permission from Song Yi first.
When Song Yi heard Su Tang say this, he just agreed without asking her any questions. Although he was always telling Su Tang that she had to work hard and be diligent during their usual bickering, Song Yi knew that Su Tang was actually a rare genius and, apart from her unusually ugly handwriting, her other talents were not bad at all.
Also, he never forgot that Su Tang's family situation wasn't very good, and he knew that she had to work very hard to make money. So, of course, he wouldn't try to restrain her at times like this. If anything, he was just a little worried that Su Tang's temperament might be a bit too restrained.
After all, Su Tang wasn't a girl from one of those large and noble families, rather she was just a peasant girl. Because of that, he hoped that Su Tang would always be able to live as freely as she liked.
So when he heard that Su Tang was going to meet someone, he didn't ask her too many questions, he just told her to come back early. At any rate, Song Yi knew that Su Tang knew that she could pull out his name to solve any difficulties she might encounter.
At times like this, Song Yi had decided to just let Su Tang grow on her own, without his interference.
After cooking a meal for her master, Su Tang stuck around to eat with him before heading out alone. Very soon, she was at the door of Mingxiang Pavilion.
Before she stepped inside, the orange cat appeared, 'I listened in a bit as you asked me to, but it seems that those two aren't working together. That two-legged beast called Yang Fude doesn't seem to be well acquainted with Luo Xingchen at all. Still, be careful.'
The orange cat quickly reported to Su Tang about what he had learned. Back when she had first seen Luo Xingxing today, Su Tang had immediately felt that he was quite unusual. Her first thought had been that maybe Luo Xingxing and Yang Fude were working together, so she asked the orange cat to follow them and find out. But, unexpectedly, the two didn't seem to be together at all.
'Really? That's interesting.' When she saw the orange cat's report, Su Tang just smiled and then stepped into Mingxiang Pavilion.
When the waiter of Mingxiang Pavilion saw Su Tang step inside, he saluted and asked politely, "Young lady, are you here alone, or are you looking for someone?"
Su Tang was dressed simply but the waiter didn't seem to look down on her at all because of it. When she saw that, Su Tang nodded and asked. "Well, I'm looking for a young man surnamed Luo, I don't know..."
"Ah, indeed there is such a person. May I ask the young lady to come with me." When he heard that Su Tang was looking for a man surnamed Luo, the waiter immediately invited her to step inside and then led her up to a private room on the second floor.
The waiter knocked on the door and then ushered her into the private room. When Su Tang stepped through the door she saw Luo Xingchen and Yang Fude were both there waiting for her with two servants standing by. Luo Xingchen was drinking tea and when he saw Su Tang coming in, he put down his teacup and stood up. "Young Miss Su, there you are."
Su Tang turned back to the waiter who led her here and gave him a nod. "Thank you."
When the waiter saw Su Tang thanking him, he quickly waved her off and then stepped out while closing the door behind him. Once he was gone, Su Tang finally turned to greet Luo Xingchen and Yang Fude, "Young Master Luo, Shopkeeper Yang."