The morning came and went. Tao Hua hadn't realized it, but upon all the exhaustion of such a busy day, he'd passed out straight into his book.
But that wasn't an uncommon thing for him. When this happened, it usually involved the book being tossed somewhere across the bed, lying next to or under him, or even accidentally thrown off the edge.
In the end, no book was safe from his sleeping habits!
Due to such awful sleeping standards, Tao Hua had a terrible night's rest. He'd often wake up through the night, unsure of whether or not he actually slept, and toss and turn. His thoughts were loud, and they just wouldn't shut the fuck up.
When he slept, he'd experience questionable dreams. These dreams ranged from horrific to absolutely and intimately absurd.
The second was a new feature to his barrage of sleeplessness. It caused Tao Hua to snap his eyes open and breathe in the night, gasping as if he'd never once tasted air.
Before he knew it, the birds were chirping their morning turns, and suddenly the door was swung open with a loud bang!
Morning had officially arrived.
To his reluctance, he was dragged out of bed by none other than the very person who promised to find him that morning: Gui Chang.
As she tugged him along the corridors, Tao Hua let out a whine. His eyes were so swollen many servants assumed he had turned into an old man! Even Tao Hua was beginning to believe such, considering the aching state of his back, thighs, and legs.
The books, mostly—books will not and never have made for a good mattress.
When the two finally reached the courtyard of the Tao Estate, Tao Hua winced at the light that poked through every small lattice hole, searing his blurry eyes.
The sun had hardly a chance to grace the skies given how ear it was that its glare still peeked past the pine trees of Buzhi Forest, but had yet to dare cross it.
The sun was positioned just below the trees, peeking just at the tip of the treetops. It remained in limbo, not yet decided on whether or not it was ready to cross that threshold. This made the rays all the more obnoxious and targeted.
Tao Hua tightened his grip on Gui Chang's hand and, as he sluggishly followed behind, reached his other hand up to an eye, wiping away the sleep.
It's too early for any of this, he thought, trying to focus on the back of Gui Chang's head. How is she alive?
Tao Hua assumed it had to be some type of superpower, as this was her daily schedule. Wake up, handle the servants, and check over the estate. This woman was a force to be reckoned with within the Tao Estate, and without her, well, it was better used as a gentlemen's hideout.
As Gui Chang ran around the estate, ordering the other servants around and preparing for tonight's banquet, Tao Hua awkwardly stood amid the hustle and bustle, bashfully waving at each passerby.
If he wasn't ignored, he'd receive a scornful glare. None of them wanted to be acquainted with such a useless bother.
Tao Hua couldn't possibly comprehend their reasoning. Wasn't this banquet for him and Gui Chang? To commemorate their union and celebrate it with other high-ranking officials of the country?
Most acted as if it were his father's.
Oh well, there were more urgent things on his mind.
Investigating the estate grounds, Tao Hua surveyed the area for his lost book. Maybe, just maybe, it had fallen out of his hands after everything that happened the day before in his tizzy of a wander.
He checked every pillar, banister, tree, and even under the preparation tables! From one nook to the far-off cranny, ridden with little critters and pebbles.
Alas, his book was nowhere in sight.
So, after a morning filled with an exhaustive and fruitless search, Tao Hua wistfully placed himself before a table of food, playing chicken as he picked at each plate. One small piece, and another, he shoved a seed between his teeth and sulked, vacantly staring at nothing.
"If no' here, den it has to be dere—"
Slap!
Startled, he spat the seed out of his mouth. It bounced off the table and hopped along the stone-tile path, Tao Hua watching as his head bobbed along with it.
Not even that seed wanted to stay by his side. Tipping his head to the side, Tao Hua glanced over at the culprit. It was Gui Chang, and she didn't look happy.
Her hand was in the air, and a scowl darkened her entire face.
All Tao Hua could do was offer her a silly, ashamed laugh before bringing his hand to his mouth and pressing the reddened area against his lips. Despite the wrinkles around her frown, it wasn't enough to scare Tao Hua back into rationality. He just stared down at the food, feeling a wave of hopelessness completely wash over him.
It didn't go unnoticed by Gui Chang. She was a rather observant person, and even if she tried to threaten Tao Hua into usefulness, there was no reasoning with how much Tao Hua loved that book of his.
This was her weakness and what had made Tao Hua believe she'd turn out to be a mother worth a million gold coins. Even if his experience with mothers only ever existed in fairytales.
So, one thing led to another, and that's how the two ended up standing right in front of The Bookstore, past Siyue Town's busy market of familiar faces.
"We're here to find your book, that's it," said Gui Chang. She had her arms crossed and was glancing up at the decrepit state of the sign, almost as if it offended her. "In and out. Understood?"
Tao Hua offered her an appreciative smile and nodded. He slid open that flimsy door, holding it in place for Gui Chang to enter. Even if he was considered useless, Tao Hua wasn't the type to forget his manners, or how to treat a woman.
Kinda.
He was learning.
As she walked in, the shopkeeper peered up, halfway raising his hand until it froze. Normally, this greeting was offered to the only person to walk in and out of those doors; however—and for the second day in a row—it was another new face.
Somehow, that statue managed to blink, watching as Gui Chang examined the space, disgruntled and refusing to acknowledge the shopkeeper.
Was the little brat somehow making friends? The shopkeeper didn't know, but he was astonished all the same. First a tall and handsome man, and now a small, cute woman. Perhaps they'd stepped into another realm, or he was going crazy.
As Tao Hua slipped into the shop and gently closed the door, he offered the stunned shopkeeper a small smile before rushing next to Gui Chang.
"What exactly does it look like?" asked Gui Chang. "Size? Colour? Title? You don't exactly let any of us touch it. How you ended up losing it is still a mystery."
Tao Hua glanced up, looking from one side of the room to the other. From his little nook, all the way to the shopkeeper's desk. However, it wasn't the book he was looking for.
"Tao Hua!" Gui Chang shouted. "What does it look like?!"
"Ah! Oh, um, sorry," he offered her a bashful and apologetic smile. "It has a flower on it."
Unhelpful. Gui Chang, defeated, closed her eyes and exercised her fingers as she tried to come up with a plan—any course of action to find this book, leave, and focus on her heavy list of tasks as the soon-to-be-head woman of the Tao Estate.
Whatever the matter, she just needed to find any and all books with flowers on them and present each to Tao Hua. How difficult was that?
Apparently, by a lot.
As they rummaged through the shop, she checked each book one by one, while also wiping away most of the dust. Tao Hua, however, dilly-dallied, his eyes occasionally drifting away from the shelves and toward the door every so often. Each time he did this, Gui Chang would snap his fingers and give her a confused and frustrated stare.
This happened often, up until the shopkeeper couldn't quite hold back his curiosity and approached the scavenging pair.
"I'm sorry—pardon my intrusion, mister and madam, but I can't help but wonder what you're looking for?"
Perfect! Someone who might actually have an answer. Gui Chang pushed past Tao Hua and immediately took this opportunity to ask, "We're looking for a book."
The shopkeeper mostly just stood there, his lips pinched and his eyes slowly travelling from one book pile to the other. He replied, "Mhm?" and nothing more.
As said, the customer is always right!
"It has a flower on it, and this one—" She reached for Tao Hua, tugging him into view by his arm. Shocked, Tao Hua just stared wide-eyed at the shopkeeper. "—forgot it here yesterday. Did you happen to put anything away? Did anyone else come in and maybe take it?"
The shopkeeper glanced at Tao Hua, and then Gui Chang, and then toward the table that he and Lord No-Name sat at yesterday. "Well, no. This one here and the young gentleman were the only two who entered my shop yesterday. Normally it's just this one…but somehow he keeps bringing people."
Tao Hua's entire face stiffened, and in a begging plead, he directed it toward the shopkeeper. Alas! The shopkeeper was quite a stupid man, and hadn't seemed to catch on, leaving Tao Hua to drown in his own misery of lies and secrets.
"Keeps bringing people?" Gui Chang squinted her eyes, turning her head to look at the face that refused to look at her. "Go on."
Now, who in all of Siyue Town would join the village letdown to a place they had no use for? Gui Chang's entire body vibrated with suspicion.
"Oh! Well, if you insist, Young Miss," the shopkeeper said. Tao Hua's heart began to race, and his hands trembled with sweat. "An awful, awful barterer! I've never had anyone in my shop so convinced they were right than that man! I imagine the Young Miss isn't anything like him. For such a handsome young fellow, you'd think--"
In the spur of the moment, Tao Hua ripped his arm from Gui Chang, reached for the books they'd piled up on the table, and clumsily held them in his hand as if they were ready to tip over in an instant. With a steaming look of determination, he peeked over them and said, "We're buying all these, sir! Posthaste! E-Every single book! P-Please help…"
The shopkeeper's attention was completely stolen by the mere mention of money. He ignored the offended girl and turned to Tao Hua, assisting him with the books. "Of course, young master! Allow this elder to assist you!"
Somehow, this also succeeded in distracting Gui Chang. She completely forgot what they were talking about, or her concerns with whoever it was Tao Hua was with, and focused on just how much money she was going to have to fork out.
"Are you looking to make your father angry…again?! No! We're not buying any of these!" She reached between the two, slapping away the shopkeeper's hands. "Stop it!"
But Tao Hua was already struggling, and just as Gui Chang intervened, the pile of books pummelled straight to the ground, bending the pages and tearing out a few.
Many were designed with flowers—mostly informational, gardening; others filled with pages upon pages of poetry. Nothing Tao Hua would typically read.
And most importantly, not a single one was his book.
Chapter end.