Xu Yan blushed and raised her foot to kick Xie Zhuo, but as soon as she lifted her foot, he grabbed her ankle and put it on his waist.
"Weren't you going out?" Xu Yan glared at him. "Let go."
"It's not even dawn yet," Xie Zhuo glanced at the light filtering through the curtains, but his fingers continued to gently pinch a certain spot.
If Xu Yan were a cat, he would have his fur standing on end by now.
“It seems… to be protruding a bit,” Xie Zhuo said, looking down with his eyes lowered.
Even though she knew the blanket was covering her face and she wouldn't see anything, Xu Yan's face was still incredibly red.
Xie Zhuo's fingers were very nimble. When he touched her, separated her, and then pressed and rubbed her with his fingertips, Xu Yan suddenly trembled.
She instinctively tried to dodge, but Xie Zhuo was holding her so tightly that she couldn't move.
Xie Zhuo didn't know what he had gotten himself into again. After a few seconds, he laughed and said, "As expected, it's made of water."
Xu Yan: "..."
After fooling around for a while, Xie Zhuo got up, first used a clean basin to mix hot water, tidied up Xu Yan, then lit the stove in their room and the stove in the two boys' rooms, before carrying his basket on his back and taking the bus into the city.
Xu Yan was still half asleep, and after the pest left, she slept for another hour before waking up.
Because of the snow, the school let out for the holidays early, and Da Bao and Xiao Bao stayed home to do their homework and read books.
When Xu Yan finished washing up and went to their room while eating a piece of dried sweet potato, the two of them were lying together reading a text, and their pronunciation was quite clear.
Xu Yan sat with them for a while, then heard Yang Shulan calling Xie Zhuo from the courtyard.
Xu Yan went out and called out, "Auntie, come inside."
"I'm not going in," Yang Shulan said, her face looking rather grim. "Is the third son not home?"
"We went into town early this morning," although Yang Shulan said she wouldn't go inside, Xu Yan saw that her face was red from the wind, so he took her arm and led her to their room.
As they walked, she asked, "Auntie, is there something you need from Xie Zhuo?"
Yang Shulan shook her head, and after a few seconds sighed, "That brat Mancang is really driving me crazy."
"Fully invested?"
Xu Yan took a clean enamel mug from the table, put some tea leaves in it, and then took a kettle of water that had already boiled from the coal stove and poured more than half a mug of water into it.
When he handed it to Yang Shulan, he asked with some surprise, "What happened to him?"
“I asked him to find a girl to marry before, but he absolutely refused. He always said that he was still young and not in a hurry,” Yang Shulan said. “I felt that he was close to Lao San, and his third brother said that he should listen to him.”
Xu Yan nodded.
“But it was no use talking to the third brother. That rascal just wouldn’t get it,” Yang Shulan said. “I didn’t know what to do. I was just thinking that when he’s a little older, he should get anxious on his own without anyone having to tell him.”
“Who knew that brat,” Yang Shulan’s tone suddenly became agitated, “that he wouldn’t even look at a perfectly good young woman, but instead took a fancy to a widow from the next village.”
"Huh?" Xu Yan was also a little flustered.
“I’ve been going there for two or three days now,” Yang Shulan said, almost crying.
"No, Auntie, don't worry," Xu Yan quickly comforted her.
"There might be some misunderstanding. Did you and your uncle ask Mancang? Did he admit it?"
“No, we can still ask,” Yang Shulan said, her face still pale. “I saw him running to the next village yesterday, and I felt something was wrong, so I went over and saw him. This morning he was about to go out again, so I tentatively asked him a question.”
“He didn’t tell me where he was going, he just said he was going out for a walk. I could tell from his guilty look that he was probably going to that place again.”
"After all, I gave birth to him. How could I not know what kind of nonsense he spouts?"
Xu Yan was quite worried at first, but when she heard Yang Shulan's last sentence, she almost couldn't help but burst out laughing.
She coughed lightly, suppressing an inappropriate laugh, before saying to Yang Shulan, "Since he didn't say it explicitly, there might be other misunderstandings."
Yang Shulan looked at her, "What misunderstanding?"
"I don't know either," Xu Yan said. "Anyway, I feel that Mancang has high standards. Although he always says he wants to marry a girl from the village, he has never really taken a liking to any girl from the village. How could he possibly be interested in someone so much older than him?"
“That’s true,” Yang Shulan nodded. “He always talks about marrying a woman from the village, but I’ve introduced him to many women, and he doesn’t like any of them.”
“So, Auntie, don’t worry,” Xu Yan said. “When Xie Zhuo comes back at noon, let him go and see him. They have a good relationship, so it will be easier to talk to them.”
“That’s what I think,” Yang Shulan said. “He listens to Lao San the most in the world. Lao San’s words carry more weight than his father’s.”
Xu Yan didn't respond to this, but smiled and invited Yang Shulan to have some tea.
Yang Shulan was very emotional when she first arrived, but after talking with Xu Yan for a while, she calmed down a lot.
So he didn't rush home and chatted with Xu Yan about everyday things.
In winter, there's basically no farm work to do, so everyone stays at home or goes to other people's houses with shoe soles, chatting and sewing shoe soles at the same time.
Xie Zhuo returned around noon. Upon hearing Yang Shulan's words, he frowned and said that he would go and see what was going on after Mancang returned home in the afternoon.
Yang Shulan spoke to him for a few words before going home.
Xie Zhuo took the scarf down and hung it on a clothesline on the wall. He then warmed himself by the stove before handing Xu Yan the money Lao He had settled for repairing the radio and watch.
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