Jinshi and Maomao Short Stories Collection

Stay with me! Part 4

Notes:

And here comes the longest chapter!

I hope you'll like the little "encounter" between Jinshi and Maomao *grin*

Maomao was absolutely sick and tired. Completely fed up.

There were just no better expressions to describe her current mood.

With a deep frown on her face and a dangerous look in her eyes that were sparkling with irritation, she was stomping outside, carrying an empty laundry basket on her back in order to collect the dried laundry from the clotheslines. Letting out snorts from time to time and generally giving off a menacing aura that kept most other people away from her.

It almost seemed as if there was a little thundercloud floating just above her head.

Almost a week had already passed since her awakening after having passed out during the incident with the ritual. And yes, she felt absolutely fine and perfectly capable of carrying out most of her usual tasks without any issue at all.

However, a certain someone didn't seem to share that opinion of hers...

The apothecary let out an exasperated sigh and looked around. He was nowhere to be seen. What a blessing!

Ever since that fateful day, Jinshi had been watching her like a hawk, and no matter what it was about, be it work or whatever that required being on your feet, he was always there to remind her of her wound and not to overdo it.

Always! Almost as if he had developed a sixth sense for it and was just waiting for another opportunity to scold her. In fact, Maomao was wondering whether his own work suffered from it. But whatever, that wasn't her problem.

Every single day, it was the same old story:

"Apothecary! Why are you running?! Your wound will reopen!" when he had caught her walking a little faster than usual through the hallway.

"Apothecary! No!" when she intended to sweep the floor in one of the rooms, snatching the broom straight out of her hands,

"Apothecary! Don't!", pulling her away from a herb she had wanted to pluck.

It was so suffocating!

Pha! As if she didn't know how to watch out for herself! After all, she wasn't a toddler anymore, thank you very much!

Well, yes, it was true that her wound had opened up a few times during the last days, but it had always been quickly stitched up anew and was now healing rather nicely. She was certainly already limping less than in the beginning. In other words: it was really nothing to make such a big fuss about!

But no matter how much she was glaring at Jinshi as if he was a mud stain on a recently washed garment, he just kept buzzing around her like an annoying mosquito, sucking her dry of all her patience.

Maybe that guy was already immune to her glares, who knew.

Now, perhaps it should be mentioned that it took a lot to make the stoic Maomao truly angry. And Jinshi had completed that task rather successfully, to the point of awakening the desire in her to shout some... uhm, highly inappropriate words at him. That was really an accomplishment in itself.

However, despite everything, Maomao still couldn't claim that she hated the young lord, in fact, she never had, and of course, didn't pronounce any words dedicated to him that she would regret later, either, but...

...but today was the day she had done something else, which might be considered equally bad. Maybe.

Maomao gritted her teeth at the mere memory.