Chapter 587: 294 Red Dust (First Update)

There are hundreds of big and small wealthy families in Jiangzhou, but there aren’t many that matter to Zhao Qin.

Most of these families maintain their relationships through marriage, so it’s like a ball of yarn, the more you try to untangle it, the more tangled it becomes.

She remembers that the Li family has a relative with the surname Liu.

Liu Muxue smiles and says, “Li Qingyao is my cousin.”

Now it’s Li Jiaojiao’s turn to be surprised: “You are actually Li Qingyao’s cousin?”

“Guaranteed genuine.”

Ming Jing walks out from behind the curtain and sees the three of them blocking the doorway, looking at Liu Muxue: “What’s going on?”

Liu Muxue sports a bun on her head, with a small bulge on top and a crystal hairpin on the side, looking cute and stylish.

She grins and asks, “Do you know Li Qingyao?”

Ming Jing nods.

“She’s my cousin, and this sister here recognized it right away. Amazing.” Liu Muxue looks at Zhao Qin.

“You must be Li Qingyao’s maternal cousin. I’ve heard of it, the Liu family from Liuxian Town in Huaiyang is quite famous.”

Liu Muxue raises an eyebrow, “May I know your name, Sister?”

Zhao Qin adopts her socialite demeanor, “My last name is Zhao, with a given name of just one character – Qin. Since you and Ming Jing are friends, and I’ve been friends with your cousin for a long time, there’s no need for us to be polite.”

“Sister Zhao, I’m new here, so I’ll need to learn from you if there’s anything I don’t understand.” Liu Muxue almost gagged at her own words.

But it worked well, at least Zhao Qin happily agreed.

Li Jiaojiao walks behind them, staring at Ming Jing and Liu Muxue’s backs, and snorts, “She’s just from a small town, why are you giving her so much face?”

This doesn’t fit with Zhao Qin’s style.

Zhao Qin is wearing a bright makeup today, and her high ponytail adds a touch of spirit to her. She smirks at the words.

“Stop thinking about fun and games all the time. Do you really think Liuxian Town is just a small town? Last year, Shen Zhou visited them personally only to be chased out with a broom. The hairpin on her head has a Pink star high-quality pink diamond, one carat for one million US dollars.”

Li Jiaojiao gasps: “Is it the Pink star pink diamond that was auctioned off at Sotheby’s for 50 million US dollars by a Hong Kong jewelry company eight years ago?”

Zhao Qin neither confirms nor denies, “The Liu family is not just an ordinary wealthy family.”

Li Jiaojiao licks her lips, “But they’re just nouveau riche.”

Zhao Qin scoffs: “Forget it, I don’t feel like explaining to you.”

“Zhao Qin, aren’t you even afraid to offend her?” Li Jiaojiao carefully probes.

“Ridiculous! Is there anyone I, Zhao Qin, am afraid of?” Zhao Qin says this, but she doesn’t really think so. She’s not a fool. The Liu family has no conflicts of interest with The Rans, so why should she needlessly offend people? Moreover, the most powerful aspect of the Liu family is not wealth but connections – that’s their foundation.

However, Li Jiaojiao’s frivolous mind wouldn’t understand all of this, so she doesn’t bother to explain.

“That Zhao Qin, I noticed her looking at you a bit strangely, you didn’t steal her crush, did you?”

Ming Jing frowns, suddenly recalling Zhao Qin asking about Xi Yu at the karaoke place not long ago.

Seeing Ming Jing ignoring her, Liu Muxue continues: “Hmph, what a snobbish socialite, not even worthy of tying my shoelaces, especially that Li Jiaojiao. I didn’t miss the disdain in her eyes, these self-righteous ladies.”

They arrive at the stables while talking, “It’s your first-time horse riding, pick a gentle-tempered horse.”

Liu Muxue rolls up her sleeves, excitedly roaming around in the stable.

Finally, she chooses a little black horse.

At this moment, the horse trainer says: “Miss has a good eye. This Snowflake is a warm-blooded horse from the Netherlands, with a gentle temperament and light-footed, especially suitable for beginners.”

“Snowflake? I like its name.”

The horse trainer smiles: “Miss, take a closer look. The black coat of it has white spots, like snowflakes, so it’s called Snowflake.”

Liu Muxue gazes into the little horse’s eyes, “I have a connection with it. It’s the one.”

Ming Jing lets the horse trainer lead the horse out. The horse is not tall and is still a young horse, with a gentle temperament, making it the most suitable for a petite beginner like Liu Muxue.

Ming Jing helps her put on protective gear, a helmet, elbow and knee pads, and checks the stirrups and saddle, before explaining the essentials of horse riding to her.

Being naturally brilliant, Liu Muxue has excellent memory and can learn anything quickly. After Ming Jing finishes explaining, she can’t wait to get on the horse.

“Wait, Muxue.” Ming Jing hands her a handkerchief.Li Muxue was taken aback, “Do what?”

“This is a handkerchief scented with agarwood. In autumn and winter, horses shed hair, and the air is dry, which can cause dust. Tie it around your mouth and nose to protect yourself.” Ming Jing walked up to Li Muxue without waiting for a response and tied the handkerchief around her nose and mouth.

Ming Jing was a head taller than Li Muxue. Muxue looked up at her. Ming Jing’s background was a vast blue sky, white clouds, and glaring sunlight.

Li Muxue squinted her eyes, hiding her inner excitement.

“If you were a man, I would have married you no matter what.”

Ming Jing’s hand paused as she tied the knot, but she quickly withdrew and adjusted Li Muxue’s riding attire.

“You will meet a good man someday.”

Li Muxue grinned, “The man that I like…-”

He has the same scent as you.

“One day, he will come to marry me on a colorful auspicious cloud.”

During her teenage years, Li Muxue was moved to tears by the love story of Zixia Fairy and the Supreme Treasure, swearing that she would have an extraordinary love life that wouldn’t be inferior to Zixia’s.

“Ming Jing, do you think you will get married?” Li Muxue suddenly asked.

Ming Jing smiled, “Why do you ask that?”

“Because I want to know if you monks who grow up in seclusion really see through the world? Or if you just haven’t met someone you’re fond of.”

She said the word—”you guys.”

Ming Jing put a helmet on Li Muxue.

Under the sunlight, Ming Jing’s eyes were so indifferent that they almost had no color, as pure as colored glaze.

“The mundane world is vast and interconnected, with endless appearances due to people’s imaginations. But when you disperse the fog and escape the maze, it’s nothing but a coffin filled with dust.”

Li Muxue grabbed Ming Jing’s hand, “Don’t give me that cryptic talk again, I just want to know, will you ever fall in love with someone?”

Ming Jing smiled, looking directly into Li Muxue’s eyes, “I don’t know about the future, but you haven’t finished what you have to do today. Why think about things that haven’t happened yet? Aren’t you wasting your present?”

“There’s plenty of time for me to talk about Zen, but today, we are here to learn horse riding. When you’re on a horse, don’t let your thoughts wander, eliminate all distractions, and focus on the present moment, every breath.”

Ming Jing led a horse over, holding the reins, “Get on the horse.”

Feeling unconvinced, Li Muxue snorted softly, dissatisfied with the reply.

With both hands on the reins, Li Muxue stepped on the stirrup with one foot, swung her long leg over, and sat steadily on the horse’s back.

A confident smile appeared on Li Muxue’s face as she looked triumphantly at Ming Jing, as if saying, “Look how amazing I am.”

Ming Jing led the horse forward, “Straighten your back, gently squeeze the horse’s sides with your legs, adjust your breathing, and synchronize with Snowflake’s…-”

Zhu Xiangxiang and Zhu Shaodan came out in their riding outfits and saw the scene on the horse field. Zhu Xiangxiang asked, “Who’s that girl? How come I’ve never seen her before?”

Even Zhao Qin probably doesn’t have the privilege of getting riding lessons from Ming Jing herself.

Zhu Shaodan curled her lips, “I don’t know her. Why didn’t she teach you how to ride a horse?”

The staff led the two to the stables to choose horses. After making a selection, the coach personally accompanied them and explained the precautions.

Zhu Xiangxiang held the horse, her heart racing with nervousness.

Li Jiaojiao rode past Zhu Xiangxiang, scoffing, “If you aren’t up for it, don’t pretend to be. Horse riding isn’t a joke. Be careful not to fall and bruise your butt.”

She rode away, leaving behind a haughty laugh.

Zhu Xiangxiang pursed her lips, got on the horse under the coach’s guidance, and began to walk in a circle around the horse field with the coach leading her by the reins.

Most beginner girls started this way.

Zhu Shaodan could already control the horse by himself. Boys seemed to have a natural gift for this and could learn it instinctively.

Zhao Qin rode beside Ming Jing, smiling as she looked at Li Muxue, “Not bad, you learn fast. Ming Jing is a good teacher, you don’t know how many people are envious of you.”

Li Muxue looked around and saw many people in the vast horse field, staring at her with envy when Ming Jing appeared.

Li Muxue couldn’t help but straighten her back and raise her eyebrows in pride.

Not far away, there was a building with large floor-to-ceiling glass windows on the second floor facing the horse track. The entire horse track could be seen from there.

“This is the financial report of the horse club for the past half a month. Since the horse race, the brand effect has continued to strengthen, profit has gradually increased, and it has increased by 500% compared to the same period last year. The government has taken an interest in the promotional value of the horse race, and we’ve discussed future cooperation… but there’s one condition…-”