Chapter Forty-Seven: Is He Really Blind?

"That's right," Third Brother said, a bit puzzled himself. "Three hundred catties of charcoal, I'm absolutely certain." When adding charcoal, it had clearly been exactly three hundred catties—how come there's not less, but even more now?

"It's not a scale error," Wu Ning said, grabbing a handful of charcoal dust. "There are a lot of leaves in here, and even the kindling at the bottom has all turned to charcoal." When they loaded the kiln, they must have put in at least two hundred catties of leaves as well.

The old clan patriarch was stunned at this revelation. Of course—the leaves count toward the weight, and the kindling isn’t insignificant either. But this way, the measurement can't be accurate. After all, buyers want chunks of charcoal, not just the powder, no matter how much it weighs!

At that thought, the old patriarch immediately instructed Third Brother, "Go call all the kiln workers over. Let's try a kiln with the best materials." Wu Ning was speechless at this. "Patriarch, it's almost nightfall. Let's do it tomorrow!" The old man seemed so excited, like he was ready for a night shift. It's just a kiln of charcoal, isn't it?

But Wu Ning chose to ignore him. He himself had spent more than half a month just for this kiln of charcoal. "This is grown-up business, not your concern!" The patriarch started lecturing again. "Go home and sleep; you’re not needed here anymore." Well, that's like killing the donkey after it’s done grinding.

Too lazy to argue further, Wu Ning called Wu Qi and Wu Li to head home. They weren't needed here anymore anyway.

—

As soon as they arrived home, Huzi greeted them, "Ninth Brother, why are you only just back?" Wu Ning frowned, "What is it? Is your mother up to something again?" Huzi grinned, "My mother’s fine, but there's a very pretty young lady who waited here for you all day. She just went back to the city!"

"What!?" Damn! Wu Ning finally remembered Qin Miaoniang from this morning. "She waited all day? For me?"

"That's right!" Huzi nodded. "She sat by the stall the whole day and brought us a lot of customers too!" Wu Ning felt unsettled. Why was she waiting for him? If they'd just run into each other by chance, that would be normal, but coming especially to find him and waiting all day was a little unnerving.

Could it be... could she have realized he wasn't blind and had come seeking revenge? Still, priorities mattered—even if a beauty had waited for him all day, the charcoal kiln was more important right now.

Even though he'd been driven back by the old patriarch, Wu Ning was still anxious about how things had turned out at the kiln. After all, even if the technique wasn’t yet perfected, the output was already much higher than the old methods. Just that alone should be enough to save the charcoal works, right?

—

The next morning, Wu Ning left the stall, planning to check on the kiln. But as he glanced down the hill, he saw—oh, no—Qin Miaoniang was coming again.

Wu Ning felt himself growing uneasy. What should he do? Should he keep pretending to be blind? Or not? In the end, he decided to meet the situation as it came. If Qin Miaoniang came up and started something, he’d cut his losses and run—no more pretending to be blind. But if she didn’t know, then he’d keep up the act.

He sat at the front of the stall, looking straight ahead, pretending not to see Qin Miaoniang approaching. Neither revealing that his eyes were good nor giving anything away. Perfect.

Qin Miaoniang was as cool and aloof as ever. Of course, this silly girl had no idea the blind youth before her was only pretending. She stepped up, bowed slightly, and greeted him, "Greetings, young sir!"

Good! Wu Ning cheered inwardly. He immediately let his gaze go unfocused and fumbled to his feet. "Are the two guests here for some soup?" His performance was quite convincing—acting as though he didn’t know the girl before him was the same Qin Miaoniang he’d sheltered with on that rainy day, merely a blind youth discovering new customers.

Unfortunately, his Oscar-worthy acting was a little off today. "Eh?" Qin Miaoniang’s maid, Xianglan, paused at his words, tilting her head suspiciously at Wu Ning. "How did young sir know there were two of us?" Until now, only Qin Miaoniang had spoken; Xianglan hadn’t said a word.

Uh-oh! Wu Ning cursed inwardly. "Well... just now, didn't you both speak together?" "No, we didn't!" Xianglan said, even more suspicious. Qin Miaoniang, too, furrowed her brow. Xianglan leaned in, peering closely at Wu Ning's 'blind' eyes. "Could it be young sir can see?"

He had to improvise—quickly and convincingly. "Ha!" Wu Ning forced a laugh, then composed himself and sighed with feigned sorrow. "I only wish I could see! Surely the world must be dazzling and colorful..."

"But if you can't see, how did you know there were two of us?" Xianglan cared nothing for his poetic lament, and pressed her question.

Wu Ning had already planned for such an eventuality. He replied calmly, "Hasn’t the young lady heard? Those without sight often have keener hearing and smell." He pointed to his heart. "Though my eyes are blind, the eyes of my heart are very bright."

As he said it, even Wu Ning felt a little nauseated by his own pretentiousness. Damn, he thought, that's some high-level nonsense. He went on, looking at Xianglan, "My nose is quite sensitive. This young lady carries a faint fragrance, pure as a lotus, surely unadorned by powders—a simple, elegant air." Then, turning to Qin Miaoniang, "But your mistress bears a richer scent, elegant as an orchid—distinct from yours. I could tell you apart by scent alone."

Xianglan immediately burst into giggles. This young sir really knew how to talk—pure as a lotus, so elegant... She’d never been praised like this before.

Little did she know Wu Ning was mocking her in disguise. "Elegant air"? If you're elegant, how could there still be an 'air'? It was just a way to say she was plain and didn’t use makeup—he couldn’t praise her any further. But, regardless, Xianglan was utterly taken in, her little hands twisting shyly as she savored her so-called "elegance."

But Qin Miaoniang was not so easily fooled and still frowned. "Young sir, if you can tell how many people by scent, how can you tell that I am the mistress and she the maid?"

Wu Ning froze. He’d misspoken. "Well... that is..." His face flushed. He realized he needed to be honest, or the whole act would fall apart. "To answer you truthfully, young lady..."

"In fact..."

Was he about to confess he wasn't blind? No! Clever as ever, Wu Ning wasn’t about to abandon his performance. "Actually, as soon as you spoke, I recognized who you both were." He looked embarrassed and stammered, "The day we met in the rain, although I couldn't see your face, young lady... your voice is like an orchid in the shade, lingering in my memory ever since."

Qin Miaoniang was left speechless, and so was Xianglan. Xianglan glanced at her mistress, thinking, how can this be fair? How does my lady have so much charm that even a blind man is smitten?

Qin Miaoniang herself felt flustered, her cheeks burning. She never wanted to recall that rainy day. Even though she had many admirers in Fangzhou, even the arrogant Sun Bo'an only dared speak of her behind her back—no one had ever flirted with her so directly.

Who would have thought, today she’d be so openly confessed to by a blind youth? Her breath quickened, her heart raced, and she looked at Wu Ning, completely at a loss.

Was he a scoundrel? Yet the blind youth before her looked so open and sincere, pure and unblemished. And... somehow, Qin Miaoniang sensed something else—a blind youth, yearning for the beauty of the world, tinged with sorrow yet full of resilience.

For a moment, she didn’t know whether to turn and flee or simply stand there, rooted to the spot.

—

Yesterday, an unexpected matter meant one less chapter was posted. In the next day or two, Cangshan will find a way to make up for that missing chapter. The reputation must not be tarnished.