Chapter 99 Sister, are you happy?

"Zhou Yanli, long time no see."

As for the events of her youth, Nianxi actually doesn't remember them clearly.

My impression of Zhou Yanli was after she got married.

When she went to the banquet, she saw Pei Jian's jade pendant, which had been changed to a forbidden item, on her cousin Xu's waist.

A jade pendant that belonged to her husband.

The charcoal fire in the house was burning so fiercely that she felt a little breathless and walked out alone.

The garden was silent, with white snow fluttering all over the sky. She stood by the deserted lake, feeling lost and heartbroken.

Until an oil-paper umbrella was placed over her head.

"Are you okay?"

A familiar yet unfamiliar voice.

Thinking of you, I suddenly look back.

Zhou Yanli had black hair and red clothes, and had a handsome appearance, like a god descended from the earth. He still had a vague look of his youth, but now he looked even more radiant and noble.

Nian Xi felt sad and miserable, and she felt haggard and emaciated. She lowered her head and said softly, "Nothing."

Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly reached out his hand to her and handed her a candy.

"When you feel sad, will it make you feel better if you put a piece of candy in your mouth?"

Nian Xi was stunned for a moment.

Zhou Yanli was one year younger than her. During the five years they were neighbors, Nianxi would always give him a candy after being naughty many times, "If you eat something sweet, you are not allowed to be mad at me~"

Nian Xi took the candy from his palm, still without looking up, "Thank you."

"Do you want me to take you home?" Zhou Yanli asked her.

The young official may have long forgotten his childhood, and Nian Xi would not mention it. She clutched the candy and still lowered her eyes, "No need."

She did not go to the banquet and went straight back to the prime minister's residence.

There were always banquets of all sizes in the capital. Pei Jian's official rank was high, so more people invited her. Later, she could see Zhou Yanli at the banquet many times.

He has delicate eyebrows and features, like towering jade mountains. When he looks at people with a smile, there is always a hint of tenderness and casual elegance in his expression. His unique demeanor makes him very eye-catching in the crowd.

Many times, Nianxi heard the ladies talking about him, privately calling him "Jade-faced Young Man". At that time, Nianxi had been married for five or six years, while Zhou Yanli had not yet married.

He became the dream lover of the new generation of young ladies.

Occasionally, when Nianxi met him, they would say a few words to each other that had nothing to do with the itching. He refused to call her sister like he did in Jinling, and she never mentioned it once.

At that time, Nian Xi was constantly exhausting herself in a misplaced relationship, and became anxious and sensitive, inferior and cowardly in the day-to-day waiting.

She wasted her time day by day, reluctant to see anyone, and locked herself in the theater, listening to one sad separation play after another, and gradually forgot about this man.

It was not until Nian Xi decided to leave and went to the suburbs to relax and rest in a pavilion in the mountains that she saw Zhou Yanli again.

He was dressed in red, in a hurry, with a rare hint of panic on his delicate features.

Seeing her, he walked closer.

It was chilly in the mountains in autumn, and his forehead was soaked with sweat.

"What a coincidence." He said slowly.

Nian Xi made tea and gave him a cup.

I don't know when it started to rain outside the pavilion. The autumn rain was dense and slanting, hanging a pearl curtain between the sky and the earth.

The two of them just drank tea quietly and listened to the rain.

Until he asked:

"Sister, are you happy?"

…

After a lifetime, hearing the word "sister" again made me feel dazed.

Li smiled and said, "This child is so happy that he is silly. Nian'er, this is Yanli. When you were in Jinling, you played together every day."

"When we moved to Beijing with our family, you were still in a bad mood."

"I haven't seen my sister for nearly a year. She and I have become estranged."

Zhou Yanli stood up with a smile, walked to Nianxi, took something out of his arms, stretched his hand in front of Nianxi, spread his five fingers, and a candy lay quietly in his palm.

It was exactly the same candy he had given her many years later at that boring party when the snow was all over the sky.

"My sister doesn't remember me, but she remembers this candy. She would always use the candy to coax me when she bullied me."

When talking about Nianxi's mischief, everyone in the room started laughing.

Zhou Yanli's eyes also had a smile on them, but it was not the careless smile she would have later on. Instead, her beautiful eyes were narrowed and made especially bright by the smile.

Nian Xi took the candy from his palm.

Her fingertips lightly touched the skin on his palm, which was warm. Zhou Yanli remained calm and put his hand behind his back.

"Yan Li is now a nobleman, and will enter the Imperial College to study at the beginning of the year." Li smiled and said to Nian Xi, "This child knows how to be polite, and he came to see us specially."

Nianxi has recovered as usual.

It was just that the impression she had of the powerful official in red in her previous life was too deep. Compared with the youthful and sincere Zhou Yanli now, she felt a sense of disconnection and seemed less enthusiastic.

The Wen family didn't find it strange that Nianxi was alienated from her childhood playmates.

After all, they are both grown up, and if they continue to be like before, it would be a little too intimate.

What's more, it was not long since Gu Ci left, and Nian Xi was in a bad mood. Everyone in the family could understand that.

But Zhou Yanli couldn't understand. Before leaving, Nianxi had clearly promised him that she would write to him and keep in touch with him often.

But now, Nian Xi seemed to have completely forgotten him.

He couldn't help but hold tightly the hand that had touched Nian Xi.

In between his conversations with the Wen family, his eyes would always vaguely fall on Nian Xi.

It has been almost a year since they last met, and his sister Nianxi has a lot more on her mind.

"...I think you don't need to rent a house. There are still many empty rooms in the front yard. We have a small family. You are studying in the Imperial College and only come back once every ten days. You might as well just stay here."

Father Wen valued talent and was very pleased to learn that Zhou Yanli had won the first place in the provincial examination.

Zhou Yanli looked at Nianxi first, and seeing that she did not show any disgust or aversion, he smiled and stood up, "Thank you for your kindness, uncle. But my father has already written a letter to my aunt, and now everything has been sorted out, so I can't be with you and listen to your teachings."

Father Wen has never been familiar with these mundane matters. "Your aunt..."

Li smiled and continued, "But she is the wife of Lu Tongwei, the commander of the Left Dragon Army of the Yulin Army, who married into the Fuguo Mansion?"

"Exactly."

The Fuguogong Mansion was the maternal family of Empress Lu, and it had three branches. Zhou Yanli's aunt, Madam Zhou, married Lu Wenzhou from the second branch.

Empress Lu's younger brother, Lu Wensheng, is the person in charge of the entire Fuguo Mansion.

"I heard that my sister opened a beverage shop," Zhou Yanli said to Nianxi with a smile, "When I was in the south, I didn't know that my sister had such a skill."

After dinner, everyone sat in the flower hall to digest their food. When talking about Nianxi's shop, Zhou Yanli asked with a smile, "Where is the shop opened?"

He is a man who knows his limits, and nothing he says or does crosses the line.

Now that Nian Xi has been reborn, facing the still youthful him, she is still grateful to Zhou Yanli who held an umbrella for her and gave her a candy on a snowy day.

Nian Xi smiled and told him the address. "But the shop only caters to women. If you like drinks, I'll have someone prepare them and send them to you."

"Thank you."

Zhou Yanli's eyes were focused, and his smile was particularly pleasing. "Sister has finally grown up. She is no longer the person who used to trick me and play hide-and-seek with me by dressing me up as a woman."