She raised her head and replied with a smile, "I'm here! Come in!"
The plump aunt rushed into the yard and handed the basket to Sun Guixiang: "Here, I just broke them today, they're so tender! They're so delicious when fried with eggs!"
She spoke in a loud voice and her eyes habitually swept across the yard, instantly fixated on the white figure under the old plum tree.
Ye Qingliu was frowning slightly, holding a small spray bottle in one hand, and carefully pinching the tip of a withered and yellowed leaf on a succulent plant with the fingertips of the other hand, trying to peel it off with extreme concentration and the lightest force.
"Oh my God!" The fat aunt gasped, her eyes widened, and the basket in her hand almost fell to the ground.
"This... is this your child? Oh my goodness! Last time when it was snowing, I glanced at him from afar but couldn't see him clearly. But now... up close, he looks just like someone in a painting!"
Her voice was so loud that Ye Qingliu's fingertips trembled and the dead leaf fell down without being held tightly.
He paused, raised his gray-blue eyes, and looked calmly at the uninvited guest who broke into the courtyard.
The gaze was clear and emotionless, yet it carried an invisible sense of distance, like the thawed stream water in early spring, so clear that people dared not touch it easily.
The fat aunt felt her heart tighten inexplicably when she saw this look. She subconsciously lowered her voice, her face full of smiles, with undisguised surprise and love.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, look at this little thing! That face! Those eyes and eyebrows! Sister Sun, you must have been blessed in your previous life! You have such a fairy-like 'child' hidden at home!"
She deliberately imitated Sun Guixiang's tone, emphasizing the word "little friend", and the love in her tone almost overflowed.
As Sun Guixiang listened, the wrinkles on her face deepened into a smile with a secret, unspeakable pride.
She put down her needlework and took the toon basket. "His aunt is just joking. Come and sit down. I'll go get you some water."
The fat aunt waved her hand, her eyes still glued to Ye Qingliu, and said in amazement: "Don't sit down, don't sit down, I just want to bring you some food. Hey, little boy, how old are you? Are you in school? Which school are you in? Look at your temperament, it must be a top-notch school!"
A series of questions were thrown at him with the warmth and familiarity that is unique to the common people.
Ye Qingliu seemed not to hear it.
He slowly lowered his eyelashes and his gaze returned to the pot of disturbed succulents beside him.
He stretched out his slender fingers and lightly brushed the spot where the dead leaves had just fallen, as if to comfort them.
Then he picked up the book on his knees and raised the pages a little higher, almost covering half of his face.
The fat aunt didn't wait for an answer and felt a little embarrassed. She was about to speak again when her eyes suddenly froze.
The edge of the raised book page, the sunlight just shining through the thin paper, clearly reflected a rapidly spreading crimson, like the smudge of fine rouge.
Starting from the tip of the boy's delicate jade-like earlobe, the redness spread all the way to the base of the ear, and even had a tendency to spread towards the side of the neck covered by the collar.
The blush was so vivid that it formed an extreme and lovely contrast with his cold temperament.
The fat aunt was so stunned that she forgot to say anything.
When Sun Guixiang came out with a bowl of water, she saw this scene: her child had covered himself completely with a book, with only a little black hair and the tip of his ear, which was as red as blood, showing, while the fat aunt had her mouth open, with an expression as if she had been hit by something.
Sun Guixiang knew what was going on and felt both amused and distressed.
She calmly put the bowl of water into the fat aunt's hands and cleverly placed it between her and the child: "Auntie, drink some water. Our children are shy and don't like being praised."
The fat aunt finally woke up from her dream, took the bowl, and couldn't help glancing behind the pages of the book. She lowered her voice with an uncontrollable smile and amazement.
"Oh my, Sister Sun, your little one... is so... adorable! Such a shy little thing!"
She gulped down a large mouthful of water, as if to suppress the amazement in her heart. "Okay, the food is here. I'm leaving now! I'll come see you guys another day!"
She smiled and walked out of the yard, looking back every few steps.
Until the gate creaked shut and the courtyard fell silent again, Sun Guixiang looked at the pages of the book that was still held high, smiled helplessly and dotingly, and shook her head.
After a long while, the pages of the book were slowly and bit by bit put down by the cold, white, slender hand.
Ye Qingliu revealed his expressionless face again, except for the faint blush on his ears that had not yet faded, which was particularly clear in the sunlight, like the first early cherry blossom quietly blooming in the snow.
Sun Guixiang walked over, picked up the small spray bottle he placed next to her, and naturally sprayed some water on the pots of succulents, her voice soft and gentle.
"Auntie Fatty is straightforward. Her voice is a little loud, but she means no harm. Our little boy is...handsome. Isn't it time for some praise?"
Ye Qingliu did not respond, but turned his head slightly to avoid Sun Guixiang's smiling gaze, and his eyes fell on the row of succulents in the corner.
His long eyelashes cast a small fan-shaped shadow under his eyes, hiding the barely perceptible embarrassment in his gray-blue eyes.
The red ear seemed even hotter in the spring breeze.
In the evening, the flames in the stove licked the bottom of the pot, making a warm and steady crackling sound.
Green bean soup was cooking in the pot, and its sweet aroma mixed with steam filled the small kitchen.
Sun Guixiang was wearing an old apron that had been washed white, standing in front of the stove with a hunched back, stirring the pot slowly with a large wooden spoon in her hand.
She coughed from time to time, with a muffled echo in her chest. It was an old problem she had developed when she was young.
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