The Comeback of the Cannon-Fodder Supporting Actress

Chapter 399: Chapter 92: I’m Just a Face-Lover 34

After sending off Wu Ni, Anning sent a letter to Wang Chunhua to invite her to hang out.

Wang Chunhua had just had a quarrel with Yue Zhong’s mother and was feeling frustrated. Upon receiving Anning’s invitation to hang out, she immediately got ready and went to the Xiao Family to find Anning.

The two agreed to go shopping together, then went to the theater to watch a play, and also bought a few pieces of jewelry at the Silver Tower.

While shopping, Anning also told Wang Chunhua about needing to borrow her manor.

Wang Chunhua generously said, ”Feel free to borrow it, you can go whenever you want.”

After the play, Wang Chunhua also found out what Anning was going to use her manor for.

She was quite curious, ”Take me with you when it happens. Honestly, I’ve never seen someone perform a ritual before.”

Anning smiled, ”There’s nothing interesting to see, but if you want to go, you can. Just make sure to behave yourself and don’t touch anything I tell you not to.”

Wang Chunhua knew the stakes involved and immediately agreed: ”I’ll listen to you. Whatever you ask me to do, I’ll do. Whatever you tell me not to do, I definitely won’t.”

Anning was busy preparing for the ritual.

Meanwhile, back in Prefecture City, Xiao Yuan was scratching his head in frustration while taking an exam at the exam hall.

The topics for this Prefecture Exam were ones Xiao Yuandou had encountered before.

He answered quite quickly, but there was one particularly peculiar question that Xiao Yuan didn’t know how to answer.

He thought for a long time, and when he finally had an answer and was about to write it down, he remembered some things Anning had said to him, which made him ponder once more.

By the time Xiao Yuan had finished answering the questions, they were beginning to collect the papers.

He hurriedly put down his pen, waited for the ink on his paper to dry, and then went to hand it in.

When he came out of the exam site, Xiao Yuan felt rejuvenated. He returned to his rented room, took a bath, changed his clothes, and then planned to head out for some fun.

However, before he could leave, a house servant surnamed Yu, who worked as a chef, came over with a gloomy face.

”Young Master, there’s something I need to tell you.”

Xiao Yuan stopped in his tracks: ”Go ahead.”

Chef Yu’s round face made it seem as though all his features were scrunched together, which looked somewhat comical.

He rubbed his face: ”Before you entered the exam hall, didn’t a Young Master Qian give you some pastries to eat? Later, since you didn’t eat them, you told me to feed them to the dog.”

Xiao Yuan thought about it and realized this did happen.

”What about it?”

Chef Yu’s face was filled with distress: ”After the dog ate the pastries, it got diarrhea so bad that it’s become weak. It seems barely alive.”

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yuan’s face turned pale: ”Where is that dog?”

Chef Yu led Xiao Yuan to the backyard. When they arrived under a willow tree, they saw a big black dog lying there.

Xiao Yuan remembered this dog – it was usually very spirited, a good guardian for the home. But now it couldn’t even stand up, its eyes devoid of life, lying motionless on the ground. If it weren’t still breathing, Xiao Yuan would have thought it was dead.

Seeing the condition of the black dog, Xiao Yuan thought back to that plate of pastries.

Young Master Qian and Xiao Yuan both were Qingyuan people, and they were quite familiar with each other, having played together in the past.

However, Young Master Qian was different from Xiao Yuan. While Xiao Yuan had always played carefreely, having hardly ever studied before,

Young Master Qian was rather ambitious. He always studied at the academy and only came out to have fun when he was free. Among their group of friends, Young Master Qian could be considered diligent.

In the county examination, Young Master Qian also participated.

Xiao Yuan claimed the top spot, whereas Young Master Qian ranked second.

At the time of the Prefecture Exam, Young Master Qian also arrived early. The room he rented was quite close to Xiao Yuan’s, and he had visited Xiao Yuan several times, even inviting Xiao Yuan to go out together.

But Xiao Yuan remembered what Anning had said – he promised her that he would behave honestly before the exam, so he definitely wouldn’t go out with Young Master Qian and directly declined his invitation.

On the day before the exam, Young Master Qian specially sent someone to deliver some pastries to Xiao Yuan.

These pastries were all favorites of Xiao Yuan, and they were made with great care. Xiao Yuan originally wanted to eat them, but he remembered Anning’s warning not to eat things given by others, so he quickly put them down.

Actually, he didn’t think much of it at the time, but he trusted Anning a lot and was willing to heed Anning’s advice; since Anning said not to eat, he didn’t.

Later, when he took the pastries outside, he happened to encounter a big black dog eyeing them eagerly, its face practically begging to eat them. Xiao Yuan also happened to meet Chef Yu, so he had him feed the pastries to the big black dog.

After that, Xiao Yuan didn’t think about it anymore.

Little did he know that when he returned from the exam, the big black dog had already become like this.

Xiao Yuan felt very sorry for the dog: ”Have you found a doctor? Find a doctor to take a look at Big Black.”

Chef Yu sighed, ”Which doctor is willing to come and look at a dog.”

That was true too.

Xiao Yuan thought for a moment, then turned and called a house servant: ”Go find out who is the best doctor in Prefecture City, and once you’ve found out, go to that doctor and get some medicine to stop diarrhea.”

The house servant ran off immediately after Xiao Yuan finished speaking to get the medicine from the doctor.

At this moment, Xiao Yuan had no mood to go out and enjoy himself anymore; he went back to his room, sat down, and felt quite unsettled in his heart.

As long as Xiao Yuan wasn’t extremely foolish, he could tell that this was Young Master Qian deliberately harming him.

Perhaps Young Master Qian was resentful that Xiao Yuan topped the county examination list, surpassing him, so he laced the pastries with a laxative before sending them over, hoping Xiao Yuan would eat them and become so weak from diarrhea that he wouldn’t be able to attend the Prefecture Exam.

This person really harbored petty resentments and had dubious intentions; Xiao Yuan knew he had to stay far away in the future.

However, Young Master Qian’s actions against him were noted by Xiao Yuan, who would naturally find a way to seek justice later.

Here in Xiao Yuan’s spot, he had almost missed the exam, while far in the south, Mr. Xiao was especially happy.

He traveled at the speed Anning recommended, and by the time he reached Quan City, it was nearly dark; Mr. Xiao didn’t rush to look for goods and instead rested first.

The next morning, he went to the seashore, initially planning to buy some seafood to be cooked and eaten.

Who knew that while he was walking, he would encounter a Western merchant.

The merchant looked rather destitute, his clothes dirty and tattered, and he himself listless.

He almost bumped into Mr. Xiao, who steadied him with a hand and spoke a few kind words.

Seeing Mr. Xiao’s attire, the merchant knew he was wealthy and followed Mr. Xiao back as if clutching at a lifeline, all the while pitching the goods he brought.

Mr. Xiao wanted to buy some imported goods, such as perfume, glass mirrors, and gemstone spices.

However, the Western merchant brought some seeds, books, and many mechanical devices and intricate gadgets.

Of course, he also brought fabrics and gemstone spices, but these made up only a small part of his goods.

If he wanted to sell gemstones and the like to Mr. Xiao, Mr. Xiao would have bought them without a second thought.

The merchant, however, was obstinate; he intended to sell everything as a whole, and if not all was bought, he wouldn’t sell anything.

Mr. Xiao was somewhat angry; he wanted to refuse the merchant.

However, just as he was about to speak, he remembered Anning’s advice.

Anning had told him that he would encounter a Western merchant on this side and to buy the entire ship’s cargo.

Having experienced the incident with the water ghost, Mr. Xiao was now an ardent fan of Anning.

He believed in whatever Anning said.

Regardless of making a profit or a loss, he checked the goods with the merchant.

The merchant had indeed brought a lot of goods, most of which merchants from the Dajing Dynasty wouldn’t typically buy.

Although Mr. Xiao was quite disappointed, he still bargained with the Western merchant and bought all the goods.