I became the Counterpart of the Winner in a Period Novel-Chapter 260 - 257: Nighttime Roasted Lamb Leg

After An Jian left, Jiang Mingyue sat in the courtyard with Lightning watching the stars.

Meanwhile, next door

Jiang Ming’an came back after socializing, vomiting all over the way. If he had known the wine was so bad, he wouldn’t have gone.

He took the keys to open the door and noticed there was light inside. Jiang Ming’an instinctively paused, then stepped in.

Under the light, there was someone lounged comfortably in his recliner, leisurely fanning themselves. Their eyes met, and the person sprang up, eyes instantly sparkling like stars.

"Bro, you’re finally back! Where have you been? Why didn’t you take me along? Do you know how long I was waiting for you?"

This... these words, as if from a wife checking up on him, shattered the small warmth in Jiang Ming’an’s heart to pieces.

"I say, Xie Yunhai, did you climb over my fence again? Next time if you dare do it, I’ll call the police."

"Oh, come on, bro, you’ve said that a hundred times." Have you ever broken a finger of mine?

"Huh! Bro, did you drink fake wine?"

Mentioning the wine made Jiang Ming’an quite angry.

"Alright, I’m going to take a shower, don’t follow me."

Xie Yunhai: "..."

In a short while, Jiang Ming’an came out in a change of clothes, forgetting to dry his hair. No worries, someone already had a dry towel ready in hand.

While helping him dry his hair, Xie Yunhai started a conversation.

"Bro, Yueyue seems to be staying next door tonight."

Jiang Ming’an didn’t even blink after hearing this.

"Bro, there seems to be a man at her house."

"Shush!" If glances could make noise, it would be this sound.

Xie Yunhai shrugged: "It’s not Yan Jinzhi. Otherwise, I would’ve gone over to visit already."

Not Yan Jinzhi? This can’t be!

The next moment, someone burst into the house next door.

Lightning just tilted its head, and continued watching stars with its owner.

"Where’s the guy? That wild man?" He barged in with a menacing question that left people speechless.

Jiang Mingyue pulled him over speechlessly: "Bro, what are you on about? That’s An Jian, a colleague from the Southern Institute, here on business."

Jiang Ming’an glanced over at Xie Yunhai who followed in. At that moment, he wanted to beat him up so much.

Xie Yunhai awkwardly rubbed his nose: "Ahem! My bad, I should’ve gotten the facts straight."

Jiang Mingyue: "..."

"Bro, did you drink?"

Jiang Ming’an instinctively lifted his sleeve to sniff.

Nothing at all!

Great! There’s no silver here substance!

"Trying to fool me? Yueyue, you’ve got some guts! By the way, don’t stay here, come to my place, I left a room for you."

Jiang Mingyue got up instantly: Great!

Just moments ago she was worried she might have to live in the space instead.

Over at the next courtyard, Jiang Ming’an started to complain he was hungry.

"Serves you right for just drinking and not eating?" He said this but went back to grab a fresh lamb leg from next door.

Jiang Ming’an’s eyes lit up when he saw it.

He took it and admired it for a moment: "Not bad, my little sis loves me the most."

Soon a fire was built in the courtyard, and the firelight on everyone’s face made it seem like they were all smiling warmly.

Jiang Mingyue noticed that her brother seemed like a useless guy in front of Xie Yunhai, who did all the work, while her brother at most passed things along.

The marinated lamb leg was set over the charcoal fire, and after a while, the scent made Lightning start circling the fire, as if trying to find the right angle to snatch the meat.

"That’s enough! Wait a bit and there’ll be some for you, don’t get too close, or you’ll become roasted wolf meat."

Lightning unhappily nudged its owner with its wolf head: Heartless owner, still want to eat it?

By the time it was cooked, not just the wolf, the three humans there almost drooled.

"Smells so good!" Jiang Ming’an sighed.

Xie Yunhai used a dagger to slice the meat for the two, skillful and neat, leaving just bones in a short while which he used to try and tempt Lightning, who disdainfully rolled its eyes.

Lightning: Hmph! The stuff master feeds me is better than what you humans eat, why would I want these meatless bones?

"So tender! The aroma is killing me. Lightning, come over, your big cousin is giving you some."

This made the other two sneer.

After eating enough, Jiang Mingyue went back to her room to sleep.

She was grateful for the room her big cousin prepared, completely in line with her aesthetic and living habits, so she didn’t feel out of place, and after feeling comfortable, she slept soundly.

Early the next morning, Jiang Mingyue felt something was dragging her quilt off the bed, she was one to get angry, whichever thief dared come, she’d never lose in a tug of war, and snatched back the quilt, but the next second it got dragged again.

After several repeats, Jiang Mingyue suddenly opened her eyes, realizing it wasn’t a dream, at that moment Lightning was biting her quilt downwards.

"Huh! Lightning, what’s up?"

Lightning nodded very humanly.

Jiang Mingyue quickly got dressed and washed up, then rushed to her own courtyard next door.

As she opened the door to number 43, the person standing in front of the door to number 42 turned to look.

Their eyes met, and seeing Lightning following Jiang Mingyue, An Jian grinned and fed some already prepared sausages.

"Mr. Jiang, Yuan Qingqing has returned, my people followed her. This time she secretly went to a household in her hometown and came out with nothing particular in hand. My people asked that household, they claimed they have good relations and visit each other."

"Seems reasonable enough!"

"Yes, Yuan Qingqing brought gifts when visiting."

"Reciprocating favors? Though I still think something’s off, what about you?"

An Jian furrowed his brow, having checked Yuan Qingqing’s network again last night, still found nothing useful.

"Seems you find it strange too."

"It is strange. You mentioned yesterday might be Yao Qiu’s memorial day."

"Yes! If it’s a memorial day, relatives would visit out of remembrance. If Yuan Qingqing also went for the memorial, it would be a nightmare for the wicked. But to perform a memorial, there must be something..."

An Jian had a sudden insight: "Are you suggesting paper money and incense? How dare they? These days, doing such things would risk losing one’s life if reported. Recklessly seeking death?"

"That’s why Yuan Qingqing had to run back to her hometown."

An Jian’s eyelid twitched wildly: "So, that household is actually in the business of making paper offerings?"

"Seems likely."

"But Duke of Thunder’s men clearly saw Yuan Qingqing not carrying anything out."

"It’s too easy for a woman to carry some paper offerings on her body."

An Jian’s face grew dark.

In this era, women’s clothes were typically loose, allowing them to easily tuck something into their waistband, and with the clothing down, nothing shows.

"Let’s go and take a look."

The two of them got on their bikes and pedaled furiously.

They intercepted Little Chao, who came to relay a message.

"Brother An, Mr. Jiang, Yuan Qingqing just entered People’s Park, Duke of Thunder asked me to inform you."

"Do you know what she’s doing?"

"Brother An, once inside, that woman sat by the lotus pond feeding fish, she seemed to have grains in the bag she was carrying. When I left, she was still sitting there, nearly fifteen minutes."