Yan Yiming couldn't remember when Jiang Yi started calling her "A Ming" whenever he saw her. Although from the beginning, Jiang Yi rarely called her the fifth sister or the fifth younger sister like other brothers and sisters in the family, he would never call her Ah Ming directly.
However, Jiang Yi usually called her like this when they were alone.
Now Yan Yiming looked through his fingers at the smile on the handsome boy's face, and said something he didn't know as usual, seemingly blaming him but in a lazy and casual manner, he feigned anger and said, "Why call me Ah Ming? You have no respect for your elders."
Jiang Yi held the handkerchief she used to cover her face. The flowers in the bushes made her look even more beautiful. Jiang Yi was reluctant to look away, so he just sat beside her and looked at her, smiling and said, "I like it. Don't worry about what I call you."
Yan Yiming glanced at him, stretched out his hand to pull back the handkerchief he had taken and covered his face with it, "You said at the beginning that you were not a member of the clan, so you didn't call me that. Now that you are a clan member, you still call me that. Give me the handkerchief, the sun is very bright."
Jiang Yi reached out and pulled off the handkerchief again, and moved it to block the sun before Yan Yiming spoke, "I'll block it for you, don't cover it anymore."
The face is hidden and cannot be seen.
So what if they were relatives? He had never considered Yan Yiming a sister in his heart, never before and never in the future.
However, he did not say these words to Yan Yiming. Jiang Yi estimated the time and found that Yan Yiming usually went to talk to Madam Jiang at this time. Why did he come here and sit alone today?
"My third sister and her husband are back from arguing again. It's annoying to watch."
The husband of the third daughter of the Jiang family was struck by Yan Yiming's beauty the moment he saw her a year ago. Since then, he couldn't help but stare at her every time she came. It was said that the third daughter and her husband had even had a fight over this.
But to be honest, it has nothing to do with Yan Yiming. However, the third girl has always been sarcastic to Yan Yiming since then. The couple is neither good people, one is lustful and the other is jealous.
Yan Yiming had already been disgusted by his third uncle, so whenever the third lady brought his third uncle back, Yan Yiming would stay away to avoid polluting his eyes.
Jiang Yi lost his smile when talking about this. He didn't want anyone to touch him, let alone being stared at by such a disgusting fly. A hint of cruelty and ruthlessness appeared in his deep eyes. After a moment, he said calmly, "Ignore them. Didn't you see the peonies all over Xiao Luoyang a while ago? Now the lotus flowers in Xiao Yintan are blooming. I'll take you there to relax."
"OK."
Jiang Yi reached out and grabbed Yan Yiming's hand, pulling him up. "The ground is cold, and you won't be able to bear it for too long. Lan Xiu will definitely tell you off if she knows you're lying here."
Yan Yiming stood up and patted the petals and grass debris on his body. "I avoided her on purpose. No one could see me. As long as you don't say anything, no one else will know."
"You," Jiang Yi said helplessly, reaching out to remove the flower branches from her hair, and his slender fingers naturally smoothed the long hair that had never been tied up.
Yan Yiming looked up at Jiang Yi's dark eyes, and suddenly felt a little emotional. In the past, she always lowered her head when looking at Jiang Yi, and could even touch Jiang Yi's hair. But the boy grew very fast in a year, and now she can only look up when looking at her.
Jiang Yi took his hand back and walked aside and asked her, "Why are you sighing?"
"You've grown so tall in the blink of an eye," Yan Yiming sighed, pinching the boy's arm and saying, "But you're still too thin, you need to eat more."
Jiang Yi smiled when he heard this, and said in a gentle voice, "I know."
"You're reading day and night now, ask Lan Xiu to send some walnuts over later..."
If it was more than a year ago, he would be at that age when he was ignorant about love, but now, Jiang Yi already knows what kind of feelings he has for Yan Yiming.
He likes her.
He was pleased with her.
He wanted to be with her day and night, wanted to see her figure all the time, and wanted to listen to her chattering to him for the rest of his life.
She asked someone to inform Madam Jiang. Although Jiang Yi was a steady boy, she was still a little worried. She told Lan Xiu and others to serve him, and reminded them several times not to eat outside, not to play too late, and to come back early.
After settling down, they couldn't help but blame the third daughter who went back to her parents' home from time to time, "Why do you always come back after you're married?"
It would be fine if she just came back every time, but she had to act like a troublemaker and ask Chen Si to come to her house in person to coax her back. It's not that I don't know what Chen Si is thinking about. It makes me angry whenever I think about it.
"Young Master, it's rare for you to have some free time. If you're interested, go out and have some fun. It's boring to stay in the house all day."
The maidservant beside Madam Jiang smiled after hearing this and said, "The young master seems to be very calm despite his young age, and he treats the young lady very well."
Speaking of this, Mrs. Jiang couldn't help but sigh, "Yes, it's rare for these two children to be close. Ah Ming doesn't have a brother, and now he has Shaojun, which is not bad, but... Alas..."
Mrs. Jiang didn't say the rest.
Now Jiang Yi is growing up slowly. He has outstanding looks and great manners. He has passed the child examination at a young age and is the teacher's favorite student in the private school. His future is bound to be limitless.
Although he is not a biological child of the Jiang family, he has now been admitted into the clan. Now at the age of fifteen, people have already come to inquire whether he has a marriage.
As for Ah Ming, due to poor health, she has been delayed for several years. Even if someone comes to ask her now, she will not be a suitable wife for her.
Mrs. Jiang knew that Old Lady Jiang was complaining every day about her daughter staying at home at such an age, saying that it was shameful for her not to get married, and that it was a waste of money to keep her at home. Mrs. Jiang was so angry that she cried, but fortunately, the master did not have such thoughts.
"If you can't marry well, then don't marry. I'm a fifth-rank official, how can I not be able to support my own daughter?"
Mrs. Jiang finally felt relieved, but no matter what, a girl couldn't stay in her mother's home like this forever, so she found a matchmaker and promised that the Jiang family would be responsible for her daughter's daily expenses after she got married. As long as her appearance and character were acceptable, and her family background didn't need to be too good but not too bad either, she would be satisfied as long as he treated her daughter well.
With the conditions lowered so much, the matchmakers became busy, and slowly, there was finally some movement.
But Yan Yiming didn't know about this at the time.
The Little Silver Beach was filled with the fragrance of lotus, fresh and pleasant. Since Yan Yiming became this sickly young lady, she had hardly ever left the Jiang Residence. Now that she had a rare opportunity to come out and play, she was actually more lively than Jiang Yi had imagined.
She was wearing a snow-white gauze dress with orchid patterns embroidered with silver thread on the hem. The collar and cuffs of the dress were also exquisitely embroidered. She wore a light silver brocade belt around her waist, which made her waist look even more slender and graceful.
Their appearance was already eye-catching, and with Jiang Yi, who was also outstanding, beside them, many people turned their heads after a short while of boating on the lake. Several young men in gorgeous clothes stood at the bow and saw the two of them from afar. The young man in blue was stunned when he looked at the delicate eyebrows of the woman on Jiang Anshang. After a long time, he asked his companion, "Whose family is this lady?"
Yan Yiming sat on the boat. Occasionally, a lotus-picking girl passed by and sang to attract Jiang Yi's attention. Yan Yiming leisurely watched Jiang Yi rowing the boat and teased him, "Young man, you are so handsome, are you married yet?"
Jiang Yi turned around and looked at her carefully, then said slowly, "I admire your elegance and refinement, Miss. Are you willing to..."
"You're such a chatterbox, you're so frivolous." Yan Yiming picked up a grape and threw it over, but his aim was too bad and he missed. "How can you joke with your sister?"
Only Jiang Yi knew that this was not a joke, but Yan Yiming didn't want to hear it.
So he won't say it either.
He used to be angry that no one appreciated her good qualities, but now he thinks it is best that she cannot get married. The older she gets, the less likely someone will marry her, and Jiang Yi will feel more relieved.
Although Mr. and Mrs. Jiang were anxious to marry off their daughter, they still preferred to have no one rather than the wrong one when it came to choosing a son-in-law. At least they wanted someone they could hand over their daughter to without any worries. However, Jiang Yi now obviously did not meet this requirement. Next year will be the provincial examination held every three years. He needs to study even harder, so that when he truly achieves fame, it will be more significant when he goes to Mr. and Mrs. Jiang to ask for favors.
So after coming back this time, Yan Yiming found that Jiang Yi was more serious than before, often reading until midnight, as if he didn't care about his life.
Because Jiang Yi and Jian Yuer have never had any contact, Yan Yiming cannot use the system to find out what Jiang Yi is thinking or doing. However, seeing that his favorability is almost full, Yan Yiming can guess it.
Jiang Yi’s slogan: Even though I have accomplished nothing, I still want to have the power to protect you.
The original words were said because of Jian Yuer, but now, it is because of her.
The maidservants around Jiang Yi did not dare to persuade Jiang Yi, so they could only come to Yan Yiming to complain that he read until almost four o'clock every night and rested for only three hours a day. Even if he drank ginseng soup every day, he would not dare to endure so much. Other young masters in the mansion did not study so desperately.
"Don't let Master know about this," Yan Yiming smiled. Master Jiang had always been very strict about his children and grandchildren's studies. Later, when he found out that Jiang Yi was diligent, he suddenly felt that his own child was not studying hard enough. If Master Jiang knew about this, his brothers and nephews would all suffer.
However, Jiang Yi had made up his mind, and even her persuasion was useless. Besides, three hours was only six hours, which was not too short. Jiang Yi was young, so it would not be a big deal for him to be busy for a year or two. Otherwise, wouldn't high school students in modern society get into trouble?
After waking up from a nap at noon, Yan Yiming asked Lan Xiu to bring a lot of walnuts to see him. However, when he heard that he was reading in the study, he did not disturb him. Instead, he sat in the small living room outside the study and peeled walnuts.
Yan Yiming said last time that he would have someone send walnuts over. Jiang Yi smiled when he heard the crisp sound but thought it was just a maid peeling them. After he finished watching this segment and walked out, he realized it was Yan Yiming who was peeling them.
Then he hurried over to take the nutcracker from Yan Yiming's hand. Seeing the walnut crumbs on her slender white fingers, he felt sorry for her sickly and weak appearance. "Let the girls peel them. There's no need for you to do it yourself."
"I think it's fun," Yan Yiming smiled, pushing a small pile of peeled walnuts on the towel over to him, "Studying is exhausting for you, so eat more walnuts to nourish your brain and improve your intelligence."
If walnuts can really nourish the brain and increase intelligence, many people would stop studying and just rely on walnuts. However, Jiang Yi did not refute what Yan Yiming said. He talked to her while eating the walnuts that Yan Yiming peeled himself, just to relieve his fatigue.
After talking for a while, Lan Xiu suddenly ran over in a hurry, her face full of joy, and said, "Miss, Madam wants you to come over."
Jiang Yi and Yan Yiming looked up at the same time, "What's the matter?"
Lan Xiu originally wanted Yan Yiming to go to the lady to meet her in person, but she couldn't suppress her excitement. There was no one around, so when she saw Yan Yiming asking, she excitedly said without hesitation, "The third son of the county magistrate's family said that he met the young lady while boating on the lake a few days ago and fell in love with her at first sight. After asking around for a few days, he found out that she is our young lady. As soon as he knew about it, he asked the county magistrate's wife to come and talk to her. He is in her room now. She asked you to come over quickly..."
The maids present were all extremely surprised after hearing this, except Yan Yiming and Jiang Yi, whose faces changed.
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