Lu Chang was writing at his desk, pretending to be a gentleman. But he was a child at heart. When he heard Mrs. Lu and the old lady talking, he couldn't help but prick up his ears.

The old woman smiled and said, "Mrs. Luo is beautiful and clever. This cake looks new. I'll have someone send a bowl to Erlang to try."

Mrs. Lu pondered for a moment, called the maid outside the screen in, and after asking a few questions, she nodded and said to the old lady, "Look, I don't need to worry too much. She has also sent gifts to the gentlemen. She is so thoughtful at such a young age. She is really a very talented person."

Luo Lingyu was only fourteen years old and also came from a prominent family, but compared to the noble ladies in Jianye, she was much more cunning.

The old mother observed and asked: "Does the lady dislike her?"

"It's hard to say whether she likes it or not. It's a matter of personal temperament and the interests of each family," Mrs. Lu frowned. "She was just very young. When she first came home, the old lady praised her and amazed the young men and young ladies in the mansion. The next day, she was taken to visit the courtyard by Sanlang. Have you ever seen Lu Yun visit the garden with other young ladies? Today, she was delivering cheese everywhere... She never stops for a day."

"Since she came, I see that the men in the family have become more active and are asking around for this cousin."

"I hope she won't bother my Erlang. I have to protect Lu Xian's marriage and I can't let it fall on her head."

While writing, Lu Chang muttered to himself: It turns out that my wife really doesn't like this new cousin.

But Luo Lingyu did not calm down.

After delivering the cheese that night, the Lu family received widespread praise. She was so encouraged that she started delivering tea to everyone the next day.

Mrs. Lu twisted her handkerchief and looked at the green tea in front of her, feeling tangled in her heart: "..."

…

Northern tea is different from southern tea. The tea Luo Lingyu sent was just a few pieces of tea cakes. It grows on a cliff, out of reach. People cannot pick it, but can only pick up its fallen leaves and occasionally get a few pieces.

Lu Yun knew all this because along with a small bunch of tea leaves came a goose-yellow flower label. The label was densely written with small characters, introducing that this tea was produced in the north, called Rizhao, and that the leaves were thick and strong, with a strong aroma. It also introduced interesting anecdotes about tea, such as how the tea girl selected tea and the interesting stories of drying tea leaves herself. Finally, it wrote about the effects of this tea and the best time to brew it.

Holding a flower-shaped paper and lighting a candle, Lu Sanlang raised his eyebrows and turned the thin paper over and over again. The tip of his nose was touched by the rich fragrance, and for some reason, he thought of someone's eyes, and his heart suddenly moved.

Lu Sanlang lowered his eyelids, and Jin Yue smiled and said, "Mrs. Luo is so quiet and elegant. She sent me both cheese and green tea. She is so kind."

What a good heart?

Lu Yun threw the flower seal onto the table. He didn't believe Luo Lingyu had a good heart. She must have some ulterior motive. And he could probably guess what she wanted from him. Thinking of that cold-hearted woman, Lu Yun didn't want to comment. When he was brewing tea, he saw Jinyue still standing behind him. Jinyue said, "My dear, people often say that what you borrow must be returned. The girl gave us so much, won't you give us a gift in return?"

Jin Yue: "The other gentlemen and ladies all gave gifts in return...Mrs. Luo's maid urged her politely."

In the dim light coming through the window, Lu Yun frowned.

You even have to urge me to return the gift? I am too cunning.

After a while, he said casually: "Then just take something from my study and send it over."

Jin Yue responded immediately, but she did not leave. Instead, she looked at the goose yellow flowered paper that her husband had thrown on the table and said, "My husband, do you want me to take this?"

Lu Yun closed his eyes and lay on the couch, a long deerskin blanket covering his chest and abdomen. He had been away from Jianye for a few months and was injured when he came back. He had been lying at home to recuperate for the past few days. It was late at night, he closed his eyes, the firelight shone on his face, and he felt more and more that he was as handsome as snow. He didn't speak for a long time, his long hair was untied and scattered on the brocade quilt, his lips were pale, and he looked tired and a little weak.

Thinking her husband was asleep, Jinyue stopped urging him and leaned over to take the flower seal from the table. Suddenly, she heard a voice like pearls and bamboo chimes from behind her: "Keep it and return it tomorrow. Tell her that I won't keep anything that belongs to her alone."

The author has something to say: Lu Yun: I am a male protagonist who is not lustful.

Chapter 8

After breakfast, Jinyue, the maid from the second branch of the Lu family, came to give her gifts. Luo Lingyu was supervising her sister's study and thinking about what to do today. When she heard that Jinyue was coming, she realized that she was Lu Sanlang's personal maid, so she did not dare to neglect her and went out to greet her in person.

Unexpectedly, Jinyue was generous and neither humble nor arrogant, and returned the flower ribbon that had been sent to her first.

The doors and windows were open. Lingxi sat by the window to study with Luo Yunhuan. Lingyu directed the servants to clean the yard. Both maids craned their heads to peek. Seeing Luo Lingyu's slightly stiff face, Lingyu, a maid who grew up in the Lu Mansion, sighed softly and lowered her head: Sent by the old lady to serve the cousin, she naturally thought about the cousin. The cousin was beautiful, she also thought... but Sanlang was as cold-blooded and merciless as always.

How can a girl return something she gave away in broad daylight? She didn't give her cousin any face at all.

Luo Lingyu took the flower ribbon, lowered her head and looked around, remaining silent.

Jin Yue knelt down and said, "It's not about you, my dear cousin. Our husband never accepts such things from women, fearing misunderstanding. My dear cousin, you should know that our husband is so handsome... He really doesn't like to interact too much with girls. My dear cousin, keep it well and don't give it to him again in the future."

Luo Lingyu's beautiful eyes sparkled, and she thought to herself: You don't like private exchanges, right? Then you didn't even taste the flower dew I specially gave you as a gift.

Luo Lingyu was annoyed for a moment, nodded and said nothing more. When she was about to send them away, Jinyue took out a scroll and said it was a return gift of cheese and green tea from Lu Sanlang. Luo Lingyu was watched by Jinyue, and she had given up hope in this difficult third cousin. She took the scroll casually, and in order to show her importance, she asked two maids in the corridor to come over and help open the scroll in front of Jinyue.

The bright moon rises from the eastern hills, and the spring breeze blows across the south of the Yangtze River at night.

There is a large blank space in the painting, with only the moon between the green mountains in the distance, the boat on the river in the near distance, and the girl in green leaning over to scoop water. A few lines outline the waves, and the black boat is like a reef out of the water. The girl's face is unclear, but in the empty artistic conception of the whole painting, she looks very beautiful from a distance.