Chapter 20: The Arrival of the Eldest Brother

Qin Xue didn't know whether she had fallen in love with Liu Zhiyan.

Because she doesn't know what love is yet?!

But she knew that she felt differently towards him than towards the other men she had thought of recruiting before.

When she thought of her future husband, all she could think about was having a child as soon as possible after bringing him home, preferably a boy, so that her father could quickly fulfill his wish of raising an heir. She would then continue with her life before marriage, eating, drinking and having fun.

She had never imagined the details of her life with her future husband after marriage.

After Liu Zhiyan opened his heart to her, although she did not directly agree to his feelings, she could not help but secretly imagine that if they really got married, their relationship in the future would be the same as they had been for the past two months.

He teaches and she learns.

The teacher is serious and the learner is calm.

There were some moments when she made fools of herself and laughed out loud, which made them feel annoyed.

And the harmless teasing he would do to her when he was in the mood.

Although the thought was not very happy, every scene that came to her mind was clearly reflected in her mind.

This is unlike anything ever before.

Of course, she had no idea how to express this, so she blurted out, "If I still thought this way, just based on your face, I would have immediately asked my father to agree to our relationship the moment you revealed your feelings. Then, I would have made it a fait accompli with you and had a child. After that, if it works out, I'll let you stay in the Qin family, or send you away if it doesn't. Why would I have to worry about it like this?"

Although this answer was not the confession that Liu Zhiyan expected, it was still satisfactory.

Only when you treat people as reproductive tools to be used when they are useful and discarded when they are not, will you completely disregard the other person's thoughts.

On the contrary, only if you have feelings for him will you stand in his shoes and consider him more.

Even though this girl seemed completely clueless at first, he was content with the progress she has made now.

"Although your steps are a little small, this shows that I'm not the only one working hard on what's going on between us. From now on, just stand there and wait for me, until I approach you. Holding your hand, we'll watch the golden crow break at dawn, the sun set over the long river at dusk, and the fireworks of the world."

Although she couldn't speak such fancy words, she knew that it meant watching the sunrise and sunset with her.

Qin Xue felt that compared to words like, like, and love, she preferred this kind of words that were concretely applied to every detail of life. "Okay, I'll wait for you, waiting for you to take me to watch the sunrise and sunset."

"I can't guarantee that the rest of my life with you will be smooth sailing. But please hold my hand tightly at all times. As long as you hold my hand tightly and don't let go, no matter how big the difficulties are, I have the confidence to solve them."

He didn't want the girl to back down like she did just now when something went wrong.

That would make him feel that he couldn't give the woman he liked a sense of security.

Only incompetent men cannot give women a sense of security.

Thinking of her behavior just now, Qin Xue felt a little uneasy. "You are so perfect. I don't even feel worthy enough to marry you, let alone I want to recruit you as my son-in-law."

To put it bluntly, her intention to back out was simply because she had no confidence that she could grow old with him.

Growing old together was something she had never imagined.

So she was both excited and afraid.

"Then let me tell you, an absolutely powerful person doesn't care about what others think." He could see that although she insisted on finding a son-in-law, she felt it was an insult to men from the bottom of her heart. "If I cared about what others thought, I wouldn't be unmarried at this age."

"Then, will there ever be a time when you don't want to listen to other people's nonsense and just run away like you did before?"

"It's inconvenient to go back and forth there, and no one will know you in Qiongzhou Prefecture?" Qin Xue did not forget what he said. She was impatient with being urged to get married and ran to Qiongzhou Prefecture.

"..." At this moment, Liu Zhiyan felt like he had lifted a rock and shot himself in the foot. "As I told you before, I have never been involved with any woman so far."

"It's not because no woman likes me and wants to marry me, but because I never give them any chance."

Speaking of this, Liu Zhiyan's expression was more serious than ever before. "My mother taught me and my brother since we were young that it's not easy for women to survive in this world. She couldn't control other people, but she asked my brother and me that if we didn't plan to spend our lives with a girl, we shouldn't mess with her."

Of course, his mother also said that if it was a shameless woman who came up to him, there was no need to be polite.

"If I dare to do something like that, even if I run away to the ends of the earth, my mother will catch me back and punish me so that I regret coming into this world."

"In my family, no one disobeys my mother."

It’s not that he doesn’t dare to disobey, but his mother always convinces people with reason.

Qin Xue, who already admired Sister Ye to no end, became more and more amused the more she listened to Liu Zhiyan's words. "Sister Ye is even more amazing than I thought."

"..." Seeing his future daughter-in-law acting like a little fangirl of his own mother, Liu Zhiyan felt upset, but he still had to say what he had to say, "Can you trust me now?"

"I don't actually distrust you." Qin Xue subconsciously twisted the corner of her clothes. She just didn't have confidence in herself.

However, after Liu Zhiyan said so much, she decided to have more confidence in herself.

Of course, she also needs to be more serious and strive to master more foreign languages ​​faster.

"I will definitely hold your hand tightly. Even if you want to run, I will do my best to hold you back." Thinking that women are not as strong as men, she quickly added, "If I can't hold you, I will run with you."

Liu Zhiyan was satisfied now, "That's right."

…

That night, when Liu Zhiyan arrived home, his elder brother had already arrived.

His elder brother Liu Yulan is five years older than him and is turning thirty this year.

From the moment he began learning, he was personally taught by his father. He took the imperial examination at the age of twelve and passed it at the age of fifteen. He then sought a post in a remote area. After two six-year terms, he excelled in the examinations and was transferred back to the capital to serve as a censor in the Six Departments. Six years later, he was transferred again to a provincial government as a third-rank councilor.

Becoming a local assistant official at the age of thirty cannot be said to be unrelated to his parents' high positions, but the protection his parents gave him was only to prevent his achievements from being embezzled by others.

In other words, he earned his position as a third-rank official through his own hard work, not by relying on his parents' influence.

Whether it was the six years when he first entered the officialdom and was assigned to the grassroots level, or the three years he has been serving as an adjutant now, Liu Yulan has never left the place where he works.

This was his second assignment, and the only time in nine years that he left his post for personal reasons.

To be honest, if his mother had not been on a diplomatic mission and was not in the country, and his father had not been forced to leave the capital, Liu Zhiyan did not want to ask his elder brother to come forward.

Because his elder brother is more like a father than his biological father Liu Yunfan.

He actually didn't want to face such a fatherly elder brother.

But, he was the one who invited this person personally, so he still had to face him no matter how much he didn't want to.

So when he returned home and heard that his elder brother had arrived, Liu Zhiyan put away his usual casual attitude and went to his yard to meet him in an orderly manner.

This house was purchased by Ye Qinghan earlier. Although not all of the children might come back here, she still prepared a yard for each of them.

Except for the minimalist style that Liu Zhiyan liked, she did not make any special concessions. The yards of the other three children were decorated according to their respective preferences.

So even though she changed the place, Liu Yulan didn't feel uncomfortable.

He had a good sleep before his brother came back.

When Liu Zhiyan came over, he had just stood up and his hair was still loose.

Liu Zhiyan hadn't seen his brother so relaxed in nearly twenty years, and was stunned for a moment.

Liu Yulan, who recognized his footsteps, hadn't heard him speak for a long time. She looked up and saw him staring at her blankly, "It's been a while since we last met. Niannian, have you forgotten even the most basic rules?" Niannian was Liu Zhiyan's nickname.

A waft of his father's scent hit him, instantly making all of Liu Zhiyan's expressions vanish. He suppressed the urge to roll his eyes and raised his hand to politely greet the man, "Younger brother greets elder brother."

Seeing his barely acceptable greeting, Liu Yulan frowned subconsciously and wanted to say something, but finally held back.

He looked carefully at his brother whom he hadn't seen for a long time.

His face, a combination of all the good looks of his parents, seemed to remain the same as always, neither happy nor angry, without a trace of worldly matters. Coupled with his flowing, wide-sleeved shirt, he gave the impression that he was about to ascend to heaven at any moment.

There were four siblings. When his eldest sister was born, his parents were in mourning and had plenty of time to care for her. When he and his twin sisters were born, although his father had just passed the imperial examination and became an official, his mother was not too busy at the time. Even when she later went to Huguang, she took the three of them with her.

When this youngest brother was born, his parents were busy. Later, his mother even went on a diplomatic mission for three years. When she returned, her brother didn't recognize her at all. During those three years, his father was also in a critical period. It was already difficult for him to bring him by his side and teach him personally. He simply didn't have the extra energy to take care of his youngest son.

People say that the youngest son is the life of his parents, but the youngest son in their family is the most neglected by his parents.

Perhaps because of this, the youngest brother has never been close to his brothers and sisters, or to his parents.

In his impression, this younger brother only seems alive in front of his grandmother.

Logically speaking, if he wanted to start a family, the first person he would want to tell should be his grandmother.

But he wrote a letter, asking his brother to come.

When something is abnormal, there must be something wrong.

Liu Yulan really wanted to know what this good brother, who had always lived a carefree life, was up to. "Tell me, what's the urgent need for lifelong happiness in your letter?!"

The letter Liu Zhiyan wrote to him was short in words, but the content could not be underestimated: I urgently need my elder brother to help me, this is related to my lifelong happiness, it is extremely urgent, I hope you can come soon, respectfully!

"My dear brother, I like a girl. She is the only child in the family and is looking for a son-in-law. I offered myself to be her son-in-law, but people are worried that my words may not count, so they asked me to ask an elder to come forward. I think that an elder brother is like a father, so I wrote to you."