Chapter 895 Aqing: Brother, do you miss me?
The atmosphere in front of the courtyard gate was somewhat quiet.
Song Zhian, Yu Mili, Sha Ergou and the others all turned to look at A Qing.
The quiet atmosphere continued until Aqing raised her hand to cover her slightly red forehead.
The girl with the sword on her back stared wide-eyed at the young man beside her:
"Brother..."
Ouyang Rong withdrew his hand from tapping her little head.
"Alright, stop talking nonsense."
Aqing wanted to speak, but was startled by Ouyang Rong's slight movement of raising his arm.
Li Wan, observing the situation, immediately laughed heartily to warm things up:
"Alright everyone, come inside. What are you standing at the door for?"
Yu Mili, Sha Ergou, and the others also laughed a few times in response.
Everyone entered the house one by one, and Li Wan went to prepare the meal.
Before long, a dinner party began at the round table in the main house.
Li Wan's cooking skills are not very good. It's obvious that she was a pampered noblewoman when she was at home. You can tell just by how "roughly" she handles the ingredients. She probably even picks up the kitchen knife through a handkerchief.
The bamboo shoots in this soup were all in large chunks, and even the greedy Yu Mili had a hard time gnawing on them, smacking her lips and giving up on the few large pieces of bamboo shoots she had scooped up.
Ouyang Rong, A Qing, and Song Zhian only tasted the soup to warm their stomachs.
Fortunately, she knew how to wash rice, and there was plenty of hot rice. Sha Ergou held a big bowl, buried his head in his rice, and ate with relish.
Song Zhian stood tall and straight, holding her bowl, her eyes lowered, eating in small bites, polite and refined.
Lu Jinghong ate somewhat absentmindedly, but he was also a picky eater. When he had no appetite for the food, he would rinse the rice with hot water to make it easier to swallow and finish it. It seems he didn't give his mother any face.
Out of politeness, the others naturally didn't say anything, not to mention that Li Wan would humbly and worriedly ask everyone from time to time if the food was to their liking. Given such an attitude, it was naturally inconvenient for them to say anything.
However, the food was so-so, which was only a secondary reason for the awkward and silent atmosphere at the dinner.
The main reason, of course, is that there was one more person at the banquet tonight.
A person who is completely unexpected.
It turns out that even if you admire someone a lot and want to see them, it can still be very awkward if the time and place are wrong.
That was the atmosphere at the dinner table at that moment—quiet yet rife with undercurrents.
Everyone seemed to be seriously picking up food or burying their heads in their food. Even Li Wan would occasionally turn her head to chat with her absent-minded son, while Yu Mili would sometimes turn her head to whisper something in Song Zhian's ear...
Everyone seemed to be preoccupied with their own affairs, appearing quite unpredictable.
However, there seemed to be faint, lingering glances in the air, occasionally landing on the taciturn young man and the pretty young woman across the table...
I don't know if it's their personality, but they are all very reserved or quiet, or if they have had the habit of not speaking while eating or sleeping since childhood.
The brother and sister ate very quietly. Ouyang Rong habitually focused only on one dish, and ate the rice very quickly.
Aqing was also quiet and didn't chat with Ouyang Rong. She just turned her head to look at Ouyang Rong's rice bowl from time to time, and then reached out to pick up some dishes from a distance for him.
The latter didn't say much, just ate whatever he picked up. When Aqing's bowl of rice was empty, he didn't ask any questions, but took the bowl and went to refill it for her.
It seemed that he was well aware of the slender girl's large appetite... This action made Aqing not dare to look up at the people around her when she took the bowl, and a hint of shyness flashed in her eyes.
Judging from their tacit understanding in eating together, the brother and sister are indeed like two peas in a pod.
Soon, the meal was finished quietly.
Ouyang Rong got up to help clear the dishes and take them to the kitchen, and Aqing also came forward to help.
However, when they reached the kitchen door, Li Wan stopped him:
“Hey, Brother Liang, put it down. It’s just me and Jinghong. You’re guests, here to eat. There’s no reason for you to wash the dishes. Put it down, put it down.”
Having said that, she turned her head and called out:
"Jinghong, what are you dawdling over there for? Why are you taking so long to relieve yourself? Hurry up and help Miss Aqing with her bowl and chopsticks."
Lu Jinghong: ...
A moment later, the young man in brocade robes walked over silently, took the bowl and chopsticks from A Qing's hands, and went into the kitchen in a hushed voice.
Seeing this, Ouyang Rong stayed in the courtyard with A Qing and went to the well to fetch water to wash their hands.
Song, Yu, and the other two were still at the dining table, not having gone out, and it was unclear what they were talking about.
Aqing followed Ouyang Rong to the well, which was quite far from the kitchen and the main house.
Aqing suddenly spoke up:
"Brother."
"Hmm? What's wrong?"
Aqing stared at the young man's familiar back for a while without speaking, until Ouyang Rong waited for a moment and then turned around with a puzzled look, at which point she immediately spoke:
"I hope Qing's sudden arrival didn't disturb you?"
Ouyang Rong calmly turned around, filled half a bucket with water, rubbed his hands together, and said softly:
"No, I was going to come find you anyway, it's all the same."
"Oh, I see."
After hearing A Qing respond behind him, Ouyang Rong remained silent for a while before asking again:
"Brother, was there something you wanted to see me about?"
Ouyang Rong chuckled slightly:
"What nonsense are you talking about? What reason do I need to find you, brother? What do I need to report to? Of course, it's because I miss you and worry about you. How can we not see each other for so long when we're on different islands? I can't help but think about you. Really, what's the reason?"
Aqing shook her head as she watched his retreating figure, opened her mouth as if hesitating, and finally asked a question:
"Brother, do you miss Aqing? Then do you know why Aqing came?"
Ouyang Rong answered directly:
"Of course I missed you, brother, and I was worried about you. I wanted to let you know I was here too, since it was about the chicken soup..."
Ah Qing seemed not to hear what followed, and murmured to herself:
"I miss my brother, I miss him so much, and I care about him too. So my brother knew all along..."
Ouyang Rong immediately turned around, his brows furrowing slightly:
"What are you daydreaming about, Ah Qing? Is there something wrong with what you said?"
The sword-wielding young woman, who had been winning every round these past few days, immediately shook her head and gave him a sweet smile.
"No, nothing's wrong."
Ouyang Rong didn't look away, but looked at her a little longer, and said in a somewhat serious tone:
“Aqing, don’t keep things to yourself. Tell your brother what’s wrong, and he’ll help you solve it.”
Aqing stared at him for a moment, then slightly looked away:
"Okay, no, not for now."
"Really not?"
"without……"
She paused, then suddenly turned her head and nodded earnestly:
"There is one."
Ouyang Rong asked seriously, "What?"
After returning to her lodgings in the evening, the sword-wielding young woman, who had specially bathed and changed before coming over, tilted her head and asked him:
"That Miss Song was quite close to you, brother. Why didn't you introduce her? Did you have to ask me to tell you?"
Ouyang Rong, whose expression had been solemn, was suddenly taken aback.
He waited a moment and found that Aqing just blinked at him and didn't ask any other questions.
Ouyang Rong said helplessly, "That's all."
"Yeah, I'm really curious."
Ouyang Rong's expression immediately changed, and he laughed and cursed:
"You brat, get lost. Don't pry into adults' business... reach out."
After saying that, he scooped up some water and handed it to Aqing, gesturing for her to wash her hands.
Aqing was also stunned for a moment, then couldn't help but smile, reaching out her little hand to catch the water he poured, rubbing her palms together:
“If my brother doesn’t say anything, he must be hiding something. Yes, that’s right.”
Ouyang Rong couldn't help but sigh:
"If I said that I didn't introduce you because I was afraid you would misunderstand, would you believe me? Well, you still misunderstood it by going around in circles."
Ah Qing, still tilting her head, said, "Then why is Brother worried that Ah Qing will misunderstand? There must be a reason, right? Could it be... um..."
Hearing this standard woman's logic, Ouyang Rong suddenly felt a headache coming on... It seems that A Qing has not only grown up, but also become like all women in the world, becoming talkative and difficult to deal with.
Feeling somewhat regretful, Ouyang Rong simply skipped over the topic.
He was experienced with this kind of woman's logic, so he pretended to be confused and skipped the conversation.
Under Aqing's expectant gaze, he glanced at the main house and the kitchen. Seeing that no one came out and they were far away, he spoke directly, lowering his voice:
"Aqing, can I ask you something? Do you know that Chen Jiaxin?"
Seeing this, Aqing also stopped smiling, regained her composure, and nodded in reply:
"Hmm, we see each other often, but we haven't said much. Also, this lady seems a bit..."
Ouyang Rong asked, "What?"
Ah Qing whispered:
"Well, I feel like she likes to sulk with me, but I don't think I've offended her or been disrespectful or rude to her... I don't know if it's just my imagination."
Ouyang Rong interrupted directly: "Remove the 'feeling.' That's it." He paused, then asked, "Does she know you're my sister?"
"You probably don't know..." Aqing thought for a moment, then answered, and looked at him with some curiosity: "Why do you ask this, brother?"
After a moment of contemplation, Ouyang Rong recounted what had happened that evening.
After hearing this, Aqing immediately laughed:
"I see. However, she probably really doesn't know. But Sixth Uncle, Chief Tang, and that Senior Sister Xi definitely know something, or have guessed it. Since it was Master's oral order, and considering we share the same surname, they should be able to guess the general idea. And there's something else..."
Ouyang Rong replied, "What is it?"
Aqing looked up and stared intently at Ouyang Rong, her smile deepening. Then, at a moment, she suddenly said:
"Brother's chicken soup is so delicious, I drank a whole bowl of it."
Ouyang Rong was taken aback by these words and didn't react for a moment. Aqing, however, pointed to her lips with a wistful look, and said with a hint of regret:
"Unfortunately, there were too many people at the time, and my sixth uncle and the others also got some, so I couldn't drink too much."
"Besides, it wasn't convenient to reveal our affairs at that time; we had to avoid suspicion. That way, Sixth Uncle and Chief Tang's subsequent handling would appear 'fair'... Moreover, Chen Jiaxin was also there, and I was afraid of being implicated. She was also angry with my brother..."
Ouyang Rong immediately realized what was happening and asked:
"When the Sixth Lady was tasting the chicken soup, were you and Chen Jiaxin also there?"
"Yes, we just came back from the Queen's Palace. Our sixth uncle took us there, and we met our respective masters."
"I see."
Ouyang Rong roughly understood something and chuckled:
"No wonder she reacted so strongly when she came back."
Aqing spoke crisply:
“Brother, if she comes looking for you next time, I will handle it. It’s okay if she’s angry with me, but she mustn’t bother you, brother.”
"Need not."
Ouyang Rong shook his head:
"Since she made those remarks in the evening, whether she meant them or not, she probably won't come after me for any old scores. Besides, I probably won't see her again. I've been assigned to the kitchen, so there's no need to worry."
Aqing silently watched the thoughtful face of the taciturn young man, and after he finished speaking, she obediently nodded:
"Alright, I'll do whatever you say, brother."
She asked again:
"Brother, can I come to see you often? Will there be any problems?"
Ouyang Rong asked, "You are a disciple of the Queen Mother, where do you usually live?"
"I need to stay with my master."
"You went to see her. She's in seclusion?"
"Um."
Aqing frowned and said, "Master's complexion wasn't very good; he looked haggard and pale, and seemed absent-minded... but I didn't dare ask too many questions. However, Master seemed quite satisfied with my performance; he smiled, patted my head, and gave me a few words of advice..."
Ouyang Rong nodded calmly.
"If nothing unexpected happens, I'll be working as a cook in Taotang's kitchen. We'll get together again once things settle down."
After a moment, he looked at the sword-carrying girl whose face was slightly flushed and said:
"Aqing has changed a bit since I last saw her."
"What's different?"
"It's like...you've matured a lot, and you're no longer as naive as before."
Aqing immediately shook her head: "Because we're not at home anymore, I can't let my brother keep blocking my way. I need to make him proud."
She whispered again, "By the way, brother, what you're looking for..."
Ouyang Rong's gaze suddenly swept past A Qing's shoulder and looked towards the main house and the kitchen.
Then they saw a figure shrink back into the shadows.
Ouyang Rong frowned slightly, but after estimating the distance, he figured the people inside the house in the distance probably couldn't hear the siblings' conversation. They were likely very curious and looking in their direction, mainly at A Qing...
"Let's go first."
Ouyang Rong walked past A Qing and headed towards the main house.
Aqing followed quietly, and halfway through, she casually reached out and took Ouyang Rong's arm.
For some reason, Aqing seemed to like the brother and sister's posture.
Just now in front of the courtyard gate, it was the first time that Aqing had publicly put her arm around his. And it seems that once people break through certain barriers, it becomes much easier to do them later on, with smooth and fluid movements, as if they have developed a tacit understanding.
As we approached the main house, we heard a flurry of activity coming from inside.
Upon entering, I noticed that Sha Ergou and Yu Mili seemed to have just sat down, looking around with a slightly flustered expression, as if they had been caught.
Song Zhian sat quietly in her seat, seemingly without moving at all, concentrating on pouring tea for everyone.
"Brother Liu."
As if they had just noticed Ouyang Rong, Sha and Yu immediately greeted him.
"Um."
Ouyang Rong led Aqing back into the house.
Before long, Li Wan and Lu Jinghong returned from the kitchen and joined Sha, Yu, and the others. They entered the room, exchanged pleasantries, and were secretly curious about their conversation.
Ouyang Rong ignored him and said nothing more.
Soon, after a satisfying meal, everyone returned to their respective courtyards.
On the night road, Sha Ergou couldn't help but turn around and look at the girl Aqing who was following Ouyang Rong.
Are they going to spend the night together?
Sha Ergou remained silent the whole way, and it was unclear whether he blushed or not.
Back in the courtyard, Sha Ergou left a message saying, "Brother Liu, Miss Aqing, get some rest," and went straight into his room, then fell silent.
Ouyang Rong unlocked the door and went inside. Aqing looked around curiously and followed him in...
(End of this chapter)
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