Chapter 27's "Making Up" underestimated the thickness of Cui Ying's skin.
Because of the heat in her stomach when she fell asleep, Cui Ying did not sleep soundly.
For those who are used to sleeping until late morning, their thoughts begin to surface as soon as the first light of dawn appears.
She let out a long yawn, groggily opened her eyes, and instinctively looked towards the bedside—
"ah!"
Before she could even cry out in surprise, the dark figure sitting on the edge of the bed spoke up: "It's me."
His voice was clear and crisp, with a slightly deep and husky quality.
It was Xiao Qiyu.
Cui Ying's tense nerves suddenly relaxed, and she sank softly back into the brocade quilt, her ink-black hair scattered messily over her snow-white neck and shoulders. Still groggy from just waking up, she had no energy to argue, and only lazily mumbled in a nasal voice, "Sitting by my bedside so early in the morning playing tricks, who are you trying to scare to death?"
“Noodles.” Xiao Qiyu uttered a single word abruptly.
Cui Ying rolled around in bed wrapped in the blanket, her voice soft and nasal: "If you want noodles, go to the kitchen. What's the use of telling me?"
Xiao Qiyu seemed to take a very light breath and then slowly exhale, as if he was forcibly suppressing something: "Xiao Shu is ignoring you because last autumn, you promised her that you would take her to eat belt noodles, but you stood her up at the last minute and went to fly kites with Chen Shuangshuang instead."
Cui Ying stopped rolling around.
Her muddled mind cleared up considerably, and she diligently searched through old almanacs.
There seems to be such a passage.
She remembered that she had first promised Chen Shuangshuang that she would fly a kite, but then forgot about it and promised Xiao Shu that she would eat noodles. When Chen Shuangshuang came to her door with the kite, she realized that the dates had clashed. She quickly sent her maid to the Marquis's mansion to apologize to Xiao Shu and promised to take her to eat belt noodles another day.
But there was no "another day" later, and Xiao Shu went to study at Luming Academy.
Half a year passed in the blink of an eye.
Birds chirped sweetly outside the window, the sunlight painted the jacaranda trees a tranquil blue, and the morning breeze rustled the leaves of the begonia branches.
Cui Ying blinked, fully awake, and looked at the tall, straight back of the boy beside the bed, hidden in the morning and evening light, and asked curiously, "How did you know?"
“Xiao Shu complained to me last night.” Xiao Qiyu’s voice was flat.
“No,” Cui Ying shook her head, looking unconvinced, “She’s not the type to tattle.”
Xiao Qiyu let out a cold sneer: "Otherwise what? Would I go and ask her myself for your sake?"
Cui Ying tilted her head and thought for a moment, then nodded: "That's true."
Xiao Qiyu would never do that.
As she was thinking, her gaze inadvertently swept over Xiao Qiyu, noticing that he was still wearing the same clothes as last night. She paused for a moment, then blurted out, almost without thinking, "You didn't sleep all night, did you?"
Xiao Qiyu paused almost imperceptibly, reacting as quickly as a cat whose tail had been stepped on, and retorted sarcastically, "Why would I stay up all night?"
“Who knows you,” Cui Ying said shamelessly, without blushing or skipping a beat, and even with a little smugness, “maybe you were afraid you’d forget to tell me when you woke up, so you stayed up with me until I woke up so you could bring me the news as soon as possible.”
Xiao Qiyu scoffed: "Wishful thinking."
Cui Ying rolled her eyes at him: "I bet you don't know either."
She watched as Xiao Qiyu got up, went behind the screen to change his clothes, and heard the soft rustling of the fabric against his skin.
A moment later, Xiao Qiyu changed into his military uniform and walked out with steady steps as usual.
But as soon as he stepped out of the room and the door closed, his footsteps, which had been as steady as a rock, suddenly became unsteady and he staggered.
Having maintained a regular sleep schedule for over a decade, pulling an all-nighter all at once is really hard to get used to.
Xiao Qiyu shook his dazed head, then took another step, his steps regaining their steady pace.
...
At midday, the sky was bright and clear.
Butterflies fluttered among the rose bushes, dragonflies skimmed the water's surface beneath the eaves, creating ripples, and koi swam leisurely in the clear water.
Suddenly, with a "plop," a pebble hit the center of the pond, startling the fish and causing the dragonflies to fly away abruptly.
Xiao Shu stood by the pond, her brows furrowed tightly. She bent down, picked up another pebble, and threw it into the water in a fit of anger.
"Is a mere cricket worth all this trouble? This vegetation is so lush you could hide a person here. You'd be searching for ages!"
Xiao Ye, with his buttocks sticking out, bent over and groped around in the grass for a while. Upon hearing this, he cursed and said, "What do you mean 'just a broken cricket'? That's a treasure I bought for thirty taels of silver. If I can't find it, I'm not going to live!"
Xiao Shu looked disgusted: "Whether you live or not is none of my business! This sun is so strong it can make your skin peel off. I want to go back inside. I don't want to wait here and turn into a black charcoal."
Xiao Ye let out a sigh: "You're already dark-skinned, so this little bit won't make a difference."
Xiao Shu's eyes widened: "What did you say!"
In front of Xiao Lin, Xiao Ye stood up straight with his hands on his hips and said, "Am I wrong? You were the darkest among us brothers and sisters. I remember Mother saying that when you were born, you looked like a little black monkey, and she was too scared to hold you!"
Xiao Shu's cheeks flushed, and tears welled up in her eyes with anger: "Xiao Ye!"
Xiao Ye got more and more excited as he spoke, looking his younger sister up and down with disdain: "Look at yourself. You and your second sister were born of the same parents, but how can you compare to your second sister from head to toe? I'll go ask Mother later if she adopted you!"
Xiao Shu's tears, which she had been holding back, suddenly burst forth, but her mouth was as if it were blocked with glue, and she couldn't utter a single harsh word.
Just then, a sweet, soft, and smiling voice broke in, like a gentle breeze blowing through the sweltering air: "Oh! I think I see it."
Xiao Ye's ears perked up, and he immediately looked in the direction of the sound: "What did you see?"
Beneath the lush shade of swaying willows, Cui Ying stood gracefully. She wore a bright apricot-yellow silk blouse embroidered with delicate lotus scrolls, a soft, pomegranate-red shawl loosely draped over her elbow, and a round fan gently swayed in her hand, her smile as radiant as a flower. Golden sunlight filtered through the swaying willow leaves, casting flowing dappled patterns on her, like scattered gold dust settling in her bosom, or pearls shimmering with a soft glow.
"I see your mighty General of the Universe, Sixth Brother." Cui Ying pretended to ponder, first pointing leisurely with his fan to the dense grass, "It seems to be in there."
Without saying a word, Xiao Ye plunged into the grass, bent over and rummaged around for a while, only to get his face covered in grass clippings and mud, without even finding a single cricket antennae.
Cui Ying casually pointed to a tree next to her with her fan: "Oh dear, I think I've misread it again. Maybe it jumped up into the tree?"
Panting, Xiao Ye crawled out of the haystack and scrambled up the tree. After a great deal of effort, he reached a high branch and looked around, but still found nothing.
“I misread it again,” Cui Ying frowned slightly in annoyance, this time gesturing with her fan towards the shimmering pond, “It looks like it jumped into the water.”
Xiao Ye's face turned deathly pale, and he cried out in alarm, "Oh no! My great general has been swallowed by a fish!"
Without a second thought, he hurriedly climbed down the tree and jumped into the pond with a "plop." He clumsily paddled around in the water, but instead of catching any crickets, he scooped up several plump koi into his wide sleeves.
Seeing Xiao Ye's comical thrashing about in the water, Xiao Shu couldn't help but burst out laughing. Her tears of grievance were instantly washed away by the laughter, and she laughed so hard she could barely stand up straight.
Xiao Lin, who had been helping to search with his head down, looked up and saw the strange sight of people "dog-paddle" to catch fish in the water. He couldn't help but smile.
Xiao Ye was completely focused on his precious cricket. Hearing the burst of laughter from the shore, he looked up in confusion and saw everyone staring at him, laughing so hard they were doubled over. He immediately realized what was happening, and his face turned red with anger. He pointed at Cui Ying and yelled, "You, Cui Ying! You dare to play me for a fool!"
Cui Ying ignored him, went straight up, grabbed Xiao Shu's wrist, and walked towards the willow tree next to them.
"How was it? Did you get a good feeling about venting your anger?" Cui Ying turned her head to look at her, her eyebrows and eyes curving like a calico cat that had just done something naughty.
Xiao Shu was pulled away by her, and awkwardly turned her face away, snorting through her nose: "Don't think that I'll forgive you just because of this."
Cui Ying continued walking, but her voice became more serious: "I don't expect you to forgive me immediately. I just want to tell you that I was wrong last year. No matter what, breaking the promise was my fault. I didn't take your expectations to heart. It's my own fault that you ignored me."
Xiao Shu suddenly turned around to look at Cui Ying, and the indifferent expression she had been deliberately maintaining just now could no longer be concealed.
A look of grievance welled up in her eyes, and she forcefully shook off Cui Ying's hand: "Don't try that sob story! It won't work on me! You have no idea how upset I was last year!"
Xiao Shu suppressed a sob: "We made plans in advance, but you just casually said 'another day' and went to fly kites with someone else! I was so excited the night before that I couldn't sleep, thinking that I could finally go out and have fun, and try the belt noodles that you praised as the best thing in the world. And what happened? It all turned out to be a pipe dream!"
Her eyes reddened further as she glared fiercely at Cui Ying: "Cui Ying, I hate you!"
If it were an ordinary person, hearing these words would probably have made them disheartened and afraid to mention reconciliation again.
But Cui Ying was no ordinary person.
Without changing her expression, she tightened her grip, transforming into a charging general, pulling Xiao Shu towards the exit: "Let's go! Let's eat belt noodles now! Eat right now! Eat immediately!"
Xiao Shu was taken aback by her sudden decisiveness.
Clearly, she underestimated how thick-skinned Cui Ying was.
Her wrist was gripped tightly, but Xiao Shu didn't break free. Her eyes, however, were filled with even more complex emotions. She shook her head in frustration and said, "Never mind, my mother won't let me go out."
Cui Ying stopped in her tracks, her beautiful face slightly furrowed, as she pondered how to sneak out.
Just then, a gentle breeze blew down, shaking the two of them off with petals and leaves.
Xiao Shu looked up at the sky, thought for a moment and said, "It's windy today, why don't you come with me to fly a kite? That will be a way of making up for what happened last year."
Cui Ying's eyes immediately lit up, and she nodded several times, her smile as sweet as honey: "Okay!"
The two immediately ordered their maid to find a kite and flew it around the garden. The two, who had been glaring at each other the night before, were now chatting and laughing together, just like sisters.
Xiao Lin had just pulled the drenched and fuming Xiao Ye out of the pond and was resignedly continuing to help him search for the "Great General" worth thirty taels of silver when he heard the cheerful laughter of girls. He couldn't help but look up.
Flowers bloom in profusion, and sunlight streams in like gold.
Holding a kite spool, Cui Ying ran, her apricot-yellow sleeves slipping down to her elbows, revealing two sections of her jade-like arms. On her fair wrists, a crimson gold shrimp-whisker bracelet and a grape-purple glass beaded bracelet clinked together, their sound as crisp as birdsong.
As she moved, pearl earrings clung to stray hairs by her cheeks, and her pomegranate-red shawl flowed like a rosy cloud, its crimson-gold butterfly patterns seeming to come alive, as if about to take flight at any moment.
Xiao Lin was completely mesmerized.
Fifth Brother.
A cold, emotionless voice suddenly rang in Xiao Lin's ears.
Xiao Lin's heart skipped a beat, and he turned his head sharply.
Xiao Qiyu was already standing behind him without him noticing.
The boy was pale, his long eyelashes obscuring his pupils, and his expression was more sickly and weary than usual. Beneath this weariness, a chilling gloom was churning within him.
Xiao Lin grinned and used his usual trick, waving his folding fan and saying, "Seventh Brother is mistaken, I am your fourth brother."
Xiao Qiyu didn't even lift his eyelids: "Fourth Brother doesn't like holding a fan."
"When Fourth Brother speaks to people, he never looks them directly in the eye. You know that."
Even when you don't say a word, there's always a slight smile on your lips, unlike Fourth Brother.
Xiao Lin's smile froze instantly, and his fan-waving motion also stopped.
“I’ve always known you’re Fifth Brother.” Xiao Qiyu slowly lifted his eyelids, his eyes cold and dark, the gloom between his brows like the hiss of a venomous snake. “From now on, don’t play these boring tricks on me anymore. I don’t like them.”
"besides--"
"It's annoying that he keeps staring at other people's wives."
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Author's Note: It was a one-on-one, two-way journey from beginning to end.
But it's unavoidable that my wife is so popular and always has suitors, right, Yu'er?
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