Xiao Yunying pinched up a few shredded radish pieces to show her: "This is a grater, specially designed for grating vegetables. It's fast and produces uniformly thick shreds, saving more time and effort than cutting with a knife."
"Sister Yunying, did you design and have everything in your house made by yourself?"
Xiao Yunying noticed that Duan Yingying's tone was more lively than before, and wanted to help her shift her focus and stop thinking about those sad memories, so she said a few more words.
"Yes, I'm lazy and greedy. In my spare time, I like to think about food and ways to be lazy and save effort. I slowly came up with this idea."
"Sister Yunying, you are so smart."
Xiao Yunying turned the half-cleaned radish around and said, "You're very smart too. You can tell what the sink is for after watching me use it just once, and you understand everything else immediately after I tell you once."
"I'm not particularly smart. At most, I'm more observant and quicker to react than others. I just can't come up with these useful things."
"Being observant and reacting quickly are both signs of intelligence, just in different directions."
Xiao Yunying really wanted to say, "Girl, actually I'm not that smart either. Most of these things aren't what I thought."
Duan Yingying stopped what she was doing: "Sister Yunying, listen, isn't someone knocking on the door?"
Xiao Yunying listened intently and said, "It really is. I'll go take a look."
He went to the courtyard and opened the gate. Outside, Yang Tianyun stood holding the porcelain basin that had held the mutton from yesterday and a basket of brown sugar steamed cakes, and said in a loud voice:
“Yun Ying, your house is too far from the front door. It takes a long time for you to hear me when I knock on the door.”
Xiao Yunying froze for a moment: "I see. Let me think of a way to solve this problem."
Her family does have this problem; her parents have mentioned it.
"I've brought you a porcelain basin, and some brown sugar steamed cakes that my mother just made. I asked you to bring them over."
Xiao Yunying held out her hand and said, "Give it to me, and please thank Aunt Yang for me."
"There's too much for you to carry. Let me take it inside for you."
"Oh? You're coming in?"
She didn't dare to step aside, afraid that Yang Tianyun would come in and say something he shouldn't have.
“Yun Ying, don’t overthink it. I’ll take you in and come out right away. It won’t take up much time. I remember what you said yesterday: to avoid being seen with men.”
She had to carry the whole basket of steamed cakes with both hands; with the porcelain basin, it was impossible to put them all in at once.
"Then come in, Brother Yang."
Xiao Yunying didn't close the door. She and Yang Tianyun went into the kitchen, found something to put the steamed cakes in, and cleared out the basket for him.
Yang Tianyun put his things down and then noticed someone washing vegetables near the water tank.
"Oh, this must be the eldest daughter of the Duan family."
Duan Yingying stood up and said, "Greetings, Second Brother Yang."
Yang Tianyun said in a simple and honest way, "You recognize me?"
Duan Yingying said frankly, "Although my family doesn't have much contact with the people in the village, we've lived here for several years and most people recognize us."
Her family consisted entirely of women, and to avoid suspicion, she rarely interacted with the men in the village, though she recognized most of them.
Yang Tianyun overheard Xiao Yunying mentioning her desire to help the Duan family mother and daughter at the dinner table yesterday, but didn't say much about it.
"Come help your sister Yunying make food. She should find someone to help her. She fell quite badly last time, and the bruises won't heal for a while. She can't do so much work by herself."
Xiao Yunying: ...Brother, you're too straightforward. If you know the truth, you're saying I need help; if you don't, you'll think you're reminding people that I fell because of you guys.
Duan Yingying didn't take these words to heart: "I will come to help Sister Yunying with chores often in the future. She is my little sister's savior."
Xiao Yunying looked up and said, "Come on, you've made a carriage your savior. This favor is too easy to receive. Hurry up and wash the vegetables, I need them urgently."
She thought to herself: You two should stop talking. One is too straightforward to speak properly, and the other is too honest to believe everything she hears. It gives her a headache to chat with you two.
Xiao Yunying handed the basket to Yang Tianyun: "Alright, Second Brother Yang."
You should go now.
Yang Tianyun took the basket and put on the same expression as yesterday, looking like he wanted to say something but was too embarrassed to because there were other people around.
"Yun Ying, I have something to tell you. Shall we go outside and talk?"
Xiao Yunying rubbed her temples: "Is there anything we can't say here?"
Yang Tianyun glanced at Duan Yingying, who was washing vegetables: "It's hard to say here."
Xiao Yunying: ...This expression, this tone, you're practically saying Duan Yingying is in the way.
Duan Yingying also sensed Yang Tianyun's meaning and stood up, saying, "Sister Yunying..."
"Please sit down."
Don't make up useless excuses that will only embarrass me more.
"Brother Yang, either say it here or don't say it at all. Think it over carefully. Don't say things you shouldn't say, lest our two families sever ties."
Even the most oblivious person could hear the warning in Xiao Yunying's tone. Yang Tianyun paused for a moment, then said:
"I've thought about this for a long time, and I have to tell you this. Now, only you can help Yuntao."
"Yun...Tao? My third sister? What happened to her?"
Yang Tianyun said, "When I went to the city more than a month ago, I saw her come out of the clinic and turn into an alley. I didn't catch up with her. At the time, I just thought she might have a minor illness and didn't pay much attention to it."
A few days ago, when I was delivering furniture to Mr. Chen, I ran into her again. She had bruises on her forehead and around her mouth. I caught up with her and asked how she got injured. She said she fell, but she was lying; she was clearly beaten.
Xiao Yunying was still stuck on the fact that Yang Tianyun hadn't mentioned anything related to her, but rather about her third sister, and took a while to process what he had said.
"You mean, you first saw my third sister go to the clinic alone, and then you saw the bruises on her face that looked like she'd been beaten, is that right?"
“That’s right. I pressed her repeatedly before she admitted to falling. I know she’s lying. She told me not to tell your parents. I’ve thought about it a lot and I think something might have happened to her. You’re smart, can you think of a way to help Yuntao?”
"So, what you've been trying to tell me these past few times is about my third sister?"
"yes."
"Nothing else?"
"No, Yunying, is there something you want to tell me?"
Xiao Yunying chuckled twice: "Haha, no."
Am I narcissistic or not?
Looking back now, when I overheard Aunt Yang and Fang Rou's conversation outside the Yang family's gate, they only mentioned her and her mother's names, but didn't say that Yang Tianyun liked her.
She should have realized that her parents didn't only have one daughter; she also had an older sister.
Thinking of this, Xiao Yunying stole a glance at Yang Tianyun.
This is evident from the way they address each other; they are all women younger than him. He calls himself Yunying, and calls his third sister by her full name, Yuntao.
Yang Tianyun is in love with his third sister!
It has absolutely nothing to do with her!
I've lost so much sleep and lost so many brain cells trying to figure out how to solve this problem. I brought this on myself!
Thankfully, I managed to remain patient and not say it outright, otherwise I would have had to leave this place tonight and live somewhere else.
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