27 Milky Flavor
◎"What's the point of reminiscing now if you didn't eat it when I told you to?"
Qi Yanzhou found it hard to believe that this was a compliment.
Without making any judgment on her statement, he simply led her to the hall and said, "Dinner's ready."
The old lady stared at her without saying a word, as if she had a thousand words to say, but she stopped when she saw Qi Yanzhou holding her hand tightly.
Qi Yanzhou was also looking at the old lady, and only when she looked away did he quietly release her hand from under the table.
Song Chiyu immediately understood that he was backing her up, letting everyone know that all her irregularities were at his behest, and that no one could blame her.
She pursed her lips.
Feeling a pang of guilt, she leaned closer to him and asked, "Teacher Qi, what time did you get up today?"
"It'll be almost four o'clock."
"You're up so early too?"
"Let me see if there's anything I can do to help."
I should have known better than to bother him.
Song Chiyu looked ashamed.
"What's wrong?"
Song Chiyu replied truthfully, "If I had known you would get up so early, I wouldn't have bothered you so much this morning."
Early this morning.
The image of her, her clothes askew, resting against his chest involuntarily flashed through his mind. He gave her a meaningful look.
Song Chiyu asked, puzzled, "Why are you looking at me like that?"
Qi Yanzhou did not answer.
After a while, he looked straight ahead and casually said, "Miss Song, you just happened to meet me."
Anyone else would not have let it go like that.
Song Chiyu was naturally aware that her behavior had gone a bit too far.
He silently lowered his head, pretending not to hear.
After the meal, the people at the table gradually left.
Just as Song Chiyu was about to leave with the crowd, a hand gently tugged at her. "Miss Song."
She turned around. Yinghong stood cautiously behind her. "Aunt Ning wants to see you. She wants you to come to the study with me."
"Let's go." Song Chiyu had no intention of making things difficult for her.
The study is located to the west of the main hall.
When Song Chiyu entered, she saw Aunt Ning sitting upright on the daybed by the window with her eyes closed, as if she didn't know they had arrived. It wasn't until Yinghong walked up to her ear and reminded her that she slowly opened her eyes.
She made no attempt to hide her dislike for Song Chiyu, and said in a cold tone, "Sit down."
Song Chiyu sat down on the chair on the other side.
"Why didn't you come this morning?" Aunt Ning asked.
"Didn't we hire a chef today?"
Aunt Ning didn't answer immediately. She recalled that early this morning, Qi Yanzhou had gotten up and seen the people in the hall, casually asking, "What are they doing up there?" After receiving an answer, he told them to go back to sleep. She was afraid that she would embarrass his wife by bringing this up.
"Do you know why this rule was established?" Aunt Ning persisted.
"I don't know," Song Chiyu replied truthfully.
“This is a rule that has existed since our ancestors were alive. Whether it is for ancestor worship or for worshipping heaven, earth and spirits, it must be made by a member of the Qi family to show sincerity. Today, Yanzhou has broken the Qi family’s thousands of years-old rule because of you.”
That's a bit of an exaggeration.
She believed the Qi family had once been wealthy, but she didn't see the foundation that made them a family with a thousand-year history.
Song Chiyu licked her lips. "Aunt Ning, perhaps it wasn't because I came that this rule was broken, but rather that he had wanted to break it for a long time and was just taking advantage of this opportunity."
"Did Yanzhou tell you that?"
“I guessed,” Song Chiyu replied truthfully.
Aunt Ning gave a cold laugh, "Everyone is going back to their hometown tonight to prepare for tomorrow's ancestral worship ceremony. You and your parents are going, aren't you?"
"Not necessarily." Song Chiyu could tolerate it if she only wanted to control him, but Li Li and Lao Song would also become appendages of the Qi family. "My parents just came to Anxi for a visit and stopped by the Qi family for a meal."
"And you?"
Song Chiyu did not answer.
"You're not so sure?" Aunt Ning looked her up and down. "There are some things Yanzhou can't say, so I'll say them. If you don't go, he'll have to run back and forth. Even though girls in your city are pampered, it doesn't have to be this much of a hassle, does it?"
“If Teacher Qi doesn’t say, there’s a reason for it. You don’t need to presume to tell me.” Song Chiyu said calmly, “If Teacher Qi says I should attend an activity, I will definitely go. But if Teacher Qi doesn’t say, then it’s not.”
Aunt Ning took a deep breath. "How can I entrust this family to you if you're like this?"
“It’s no use handing it over to me. I only come back during holidays, and I can’t manage so much at other times,” Song Chiyu replied.
Sakura, standing nearby, stared in disbelief.
She had never seen anyone in the Qi family dare to disobey Aunt Ning.
Aunt Ning hadn't expected Song Chiyu to react this way after learning about the Qi family's situation, and even wondered if she was ignorant of their worth. "Do you know how big the Qi family's business is?"
“I know.” She knew it the moment she entered; the house was entirely constructed of Phoebe zhennan wood, and the vases displayed in the hall were unique pieces from the Ming and Qing dynasties. But these were all for show, not for actual use. “But I don’t care.”
Cherry Blossom was taken aback.
When Aunt Ning recalled that Qi Yanzhou insisted on leaving the Qi family to work in another city, she had a similar conversation with him. At that time, Qi Yanzhou had a similar idea and did not take Aunt Ning's threat seriously at all.
"I don't know what kind of responsibility Teacher Qi shoulders. I will share it when he needs me to, but I will not get involved in the Qi family's affairs." Song Chiyu understood this when she was in the Gobi Desert. The Qi family was a hot potato. Even Qi Yanzhou's ruthless methods were like this. She would not get involved in this mess unless she was out of her mind.
It can only be said that she felt sorry for Qi Yanzhou and would not stand idly by while he was in trouble.
However, the Qi family, with their monstrous and wicked members, were powerless to help.
**
When Song Chiyu came out of the study, Li Li had been waiting in the main hall for a long time. "Did the old lady make things difficult for you? I've already told Yanzhou that we're leaving this afternoon."
Where are you going?
"Going back to Xizhou! Do we really have to go to the countryside with them to worship our ancestors, getting up at three in the morning?"
"You and Dad go back, I'll go with Teacher Qi."
"Are you stupid? Qi Yanzhou already wants you to come with us, why would you suffer with him? I just went and asked around, their ancestral worship is incredibly troublesome, they're running all over the mountains and fields, let alone carrying things, just following along is exhausting..."
“I want to see what kind of monsters and demons the Qi family are,” Song Chiyu interrupted.
"Huh?" Li Li was startled and was about to ask her what had happened when the old lady came out of the study. Ying Hong next to her kept staring at Song Chiyu, so Li Li could only shut her mouth in embarrassment.
Song Chiyu was still bothered by the fact that she only knew how to mess with Qi Yanzhou.
After seeing Li Li and Lao Song off, Qi Yanzhou was still receiving guests in the west wing. She walked through the hallway and came to the backyard. The backyard was planted with flowers and plants, and because of the cold weather these past few days, a glass room had been added.
She stepped into the glass room and heard a dog bark.
Xiao Hua and two other Rottweilers were kept in two large cages. As soon as Xiao Hua saw her, she kept wagging her tail. Song Chiyu couldn't help but smile and walked to the cage to gently pet her.
The little flower was spinning around in the cage.
Song Chiyu shook the lock on the cage, clearly afraid of accidentally releasing it and hurting someone, and helplessly spread her hands towards Xiaohua.
Little Flower barked at her a few more times.
Excitedly, it lay down in the cage.
Song Chiyu squatted in front of the cage to tease it. After some time, she heard a sneeze coming from the corner of the flower stand. She went over and saw Qi Zhannan lying on a chair covered with a newspaper, pretending to be asleep.
He clearly already knew she was there, without even opening his eyes: "Please close the door behind you when you leave, thank you."
"Okay." Song Chiyu turned and left.
Qi Zhannan slowly sat up again: "This is the first time I've seen someone chatting with Xiaohua. Can it understand?"
"He should be able to." After all, Xiao Hua saved his life.
"Just bored."
Song Chiyu ignored him.
As she said goodbye to Xiaohua and was about to leave, Qi Zhannan stopped her and asked, "I have a question for you. You and my second uncle had a whirlwind marriage, right? Do you have feelings for him?"
"This is none of your business."
"But I'm curious, what's it like living with my second uncle?" Before Song Chiyu could answer, he had already given his own answer: "It must be very boring, right? He's always so serious and makes a big deal out of everything. By the way, from what my dad said, he said he gave himself to you because I ran away?"
"What's so strange about that? You haven't been with him, have you?" Song Chiyu was convinced he was picking a fight. "He didn't give himself to me because you ran away; it was entirely because he was infatuated with my beauty."
He believes this statement when applied to others.
But he would never believe it if it were applied to Qi Yanzhou.
"You have it?" Qi Zhannan made no attempt to hide his hostility.
Song Chiyu didn't hold it against him.
He was blind to things that anyone with eyes could see, so she didn't blame him.
"Then you must not have any feelings for him, so why did you marry him?"
"Why else? Of course, it's to get revenge and torture you. Otherwise, why would he break your leg for me?" Song Chiyu was extremely annoyed by him and rolled her eyes in annoyance.
Qi Zhannan believed him and jumped up abruptly: "You finally admitted it! You just wait here, I'm going to let my second uncle see your true colors right now."
Qi Yanzhou arrived quickly.
But it wasn't to interrogate her; he was simply surprised that she was still there. He stared at her with considerable astonishment, completely ignoring Qi Zhannan's murmurs behind him, "Why didn't you leave?"
Song Chiyu rolled her eyes at Qi Zhannan's antics.
She grabbed Qi Yanzhou's jacket from his chest and said, "Your mother says I'm delicate and troublesome. I'll show her just how much trouble I'll cause you."
Qi Yanzhou pondered for a moment: "Then shouldn't you go and torment her?"
Song Chiyu's eyes lit up: "That makes sense."
Qi Yanzhou nodded, not finding anything wrong with what she said.
Qi Zhannan exclaimed, "Second Uncle! Wake up! This woman not only used you to get revenge on me, but now she's going to torment the old lady! She's already that old, what if she causes her any harm?"
“The old lady is in good health,” Qi Yanzhou replied.
Qi Zhannan: "?"
Song Chiyu suppressed a laugh, tugged at Qi Yanzhou's coat, and looked at Qi Zhannan: "I've already told you, he's obsessed with my beauty and willingly let me use him to get revenge on you. You still don't believe me."
Qi Zhannan stared in disbelief, his mouth agape.
Qi Yanzhou even turned around and glanced at him, as if it were really true.
"This is insane, absolutely insane!" Qi Zhannan walked outside, unwilling to believe it.
Song Chiyu couldn't help but laugh.
Qi Yanzhou then curled his lips into a smile, "Seriously, why didn't you leave?"
Song Chiyu replied half-jokingly, "Aunt Ning told me that your Qi family is a thousand-year-old family. I want to see what a thousand-year-old family that has survived is like."
"Nonsense."
“But I heard from my colleagues that your family has been a top collector since your great-grandfather’s generation. They have things that museums don’t have, which is something that not just any family can do.”
He licked his lips, seemingly wanting to say something but holding back.
"Fake."
"By the way, my colleague asked me to put in a good word for him with you, hoping you could help him transfer back to Anxi." Since Song Chiyu spoke so casually, he obviously didn't have much hope, and even had already prepared how he would refuse. He simply asked gently, "What's his name?"
Song Chiyu gave his name with some skepticism.
He wrote it down, "Understood."
"No, you really have connections?" Song Chiyu exclaimed in surprise.
"Otherwise what?" Qi Yanzhou then realized that she had never expected him to help her at all.
Song Chiyu remained skeptical.
Qi Yanzhou asked, "So, are you going to sleep in the village with me tonight?"
Song Chiyu nodded.
Qi Yanzhou hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.
"Afraid I'll cause trouble for the old lady?" Song Chiyu waved her hand: "Don't worry, I'm just teasing your silly nephew."
"I'm afraid you'll torment me."
Song Chiyu: "?"
He immediately realized: "Do you think I want to mess with you? Don't mess with me, and I definitely won't mess with you."
Qi Yanzhou lowered his eyelids slightly, as if accepting her suggestion.
"Then go back to your room and pack your things. We'll leave together later."
When they left, Song Chiyu and Yinghong were in the same car.
Song Chiyu wasn't familiar with her and had nothing to talk about, so she exchanged a few polite words before closing her eyes. Yinghong, however, was very curious about her and kept trying to find topics to chat with her, "The ancestral home is even bigger than here. There are even more people. Ninety percent of the people in the village are surnamed Qi. The children in the village might not be as polite as the people here, so please don't take it to heart if they offend you."
Upon hearing this, Song Chiyu knew that someone had been gossiping about her behind her back.
Otherwise, what could a child who has never met you say?
"good."
"How did you and your second brother meet?" Yinghong asked.
"Blind date."
Yinghong was surprised: "Second Brother actually goes on blind dates?"
Song Chiyu did not correct it.
"So how many times did you meet before you got married?"
"one side."
"What?" Sakura was startled again.
"What's wrong?" Song Chiyu replied, "Everyone is at the age to get married. It's normal to meet the right person and get married after a meeting."
“Second brother would never do that,” Yinghong shook her head. “Ever since he went to university, the family has been trying to find him a partner, but he ignored them all and acted like he was determined to stay single forever. I think if he’s willing to get married, it must be because he likes you.”
"What do you like about me?" Song Chiyu couldn't figure it out.
"pretty."
Song Chiyu couldn't help but laugh as she recalled the words she had used to deceive Qi Zhannan. "You're lusting after my good looks, aren't you?"
But that's not right either.
Yinghong shook her head: "Second Brother isn't the kind of person who would lust after beautiful women. I think he simply likes you. I think you're pretty, but he might not think the same way."
Song Chiyu discovered that the little girl was quite talkative and not as timid and dull as she had thought.
"Thanks."
"Do you like your second brother?"
"I like it, I guess." She didn't think much of it. But Cherry Blossom noticed something in her absent-mindedness and said succinctly, "I like it, but not that much."
Song Chiyu hesitated for a moment.
"Perhaps."
After all, she's no longer a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl, and she's long since lost any illusions about love. Even if she were to marry her childhood sweetheart, the mundane realities of daily life would eventually wear her down.
How much could Qi Yanzhou like her? Probably about the same as her.
If either party is even slightly petty, this friendship will be gone.
Sakura noticed the dejection on her face but didn't know why. "What's wrong?"
"I just suddenly realized that growing up is so boring."
Yinghong hadn't seen as much as her, so naturally she didn't understand what was troubling her.
"But people always have to grow up."
yes.
People have to grow up eventually. Even if it's boring, you still have to grow up.
"But I feel that Qi Zhannan hasn't really grown up." He's just grown older, but not smarter.
"Because he doesn't need to grow up. If the sky falls, his eldest uncle and Jianguo will hold it up. If they can't hold on, there's his second brother. He doesn't need to worry about anything."
But to be honest, he was only a few years older than Qi Zhannan.
Song Chiyu stared out the window in a daze: "Then he must have had a really tough time."
Yinghong was taken aback, thinking that she had misspoken "happiness" as "hardship." "Yes, he is really happy."
Song Chiyu didn't correct her. She chatted with her briefly, then closed her eyes. When she groggily opened them, the convoy had stopped at a rest stop. Qi Yanzhou walked from the front car to the door next to Yinghong's car. Song Chiyu was puzzled until he sat down in Yinghong's seat: "What are you doing?"
“I don’t want to sit with them,” Qi Yanzhou replied.
If anyone else heard him speak so capriciously, they would surely be shocked. Unfortunately, there were only him and Song Chiyu in the car at the moment. Song Chiyu narrowed her mischievous eyes, "Want to sit with me?"
After what happened early this morning, she's become increasingly bold with him.
Qi Yanzhou stared at her without answering.
"Hmm?" she leaned closer to him and asked.
"kindness."
"Why?" Song Chiyu clearly found it amusing to tease him, cupping her face in her hands as she asked, "Is it because I'm exceptionally pleasing to the eye?"
“Yes,” he readily admitted, “it smells good.”
What smells?
"Milk flavor".
What is that?
Suddenly, a memory flashed through her mind: early this morning, when she sat on his lap, the soft warmth of his nose brushing against hers.
Song Chiyu's smug expression vanished instantly.
But she didn't pretend to be deaf and dumb because of her shyness. Instead, she feigned anger and looked out the window, saying, "You didn't eat it when I told you to. What's the use of reminiscing now?"
“Yes,” he replied, clearly agreeing, looking straight ahead, “we’ll eat tonight.”
[Author's Note]
Mini-theater:
Song Chiyu: I was just kidding you, are you serious?
Qi Yanzhou: How can you not take responsibility for what you've said?
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