To Chu Nian's utter dismay, the very next morning, two hours before the day's performance was scheduled to begin, the female lead, Wang Chengcheng, arrived carrying a doll—something that seemed to be a favorite among many girls in this era.
Wang Chengcheng probably thought so too, because she knocked on Chu Nian's door while holding the doll, and said with a fawning smile, "Nian Nian, this is a gift for you, do you like it?"
Chu Nian stared at the blond-haired doll, feeling quite bewildered.
Seeing the stunned expression on Chu Nian's face, Wang Chengcheng pushed the doll forward again, the doll's yellow fur splashing onto Chu Nian's face, and continued with her innocent smile: "Here, it's for you!"
Chu Nian was puzzled: Should she answer this call or not?
Wang Chengcheng: "Are they all so happy they've gone mad?" After saying that, she shoved the doll into Chu Nian's arms.
Hearing the commotion outside, Lin Xiaolou opened the door and saw Chu Nian standing there dumbfounded at her room door, holding a doll. After a moment of surprise, she burst out laughing like a pig.
Wang Chengcheng quickly greeted him happily: "Boss Lin, I gave Niannian a doll, and she loves it so much that she's overjoyed."
Lin Xiaolou's lips twitched, and he suddenly turned around and went back to his room, closing the door tightly.
Chu Nian could picture him hiding behind the door, slapping his thighs and clutching his stomach, laughing silently: she almost couldn't resist throwing the doll in her arms out to smash his door.
Chu Nian handed the doll back to Wang Chengcheng and said, "I'm sorry, Miss Wang, I can't accept your things. Xiao Lou said we can't just accept gifts from others."
Wang Chengcheng: "Why? I'm not just anyone. How about I be your older sister from now on?"
Chu Nian glanced thoughtfully at Lin Xiaolou's room, then said innocently, "Then you'll have to ask Xiaolou to see if he agrees."
Wang Chengcheng asked curiously, "Why ask him? Even if you want to ask, you should ask your brother!"
Chu Nian: "He has the final say in everything I do now."
Wang Chengcheng: "Why?"
Chu Nian blinked, maintaining her innocent expression, and asked, "What? Why?"
Wang Chengcheng: "Why is it that he gets to make all the decisions about you now?"
Chu Nian: "Even Master Lin has to listen to him!"
After thinking for a moment, Wang Chengcheng realized that this was a good opportunity to strike up a conversation with Lin Xiaolou, so she turned around with a smile and went to knock on Lin Xiaolou's door.
To be honest, Lin Xiaolou did laugh behind closed doors when he saw Chu Nian's silly expression while holding the doll, but after hearing Chu Nian's tone, he felt increasingly uneasy: she was drawing the fire to him!
Then, there was a knock on the door.
Lin Xiaolou opened the door with a mix of amusement and exasperation, her face instantly turning as cold as ice. She asked Wang Chengcheng with utmost seriousness, "What is it?"
Wang Chengcheng was immediately overwhelmed by his aura and could hardly breathe. She swallowed hard before finding her voice and said, "Um, Niannian said that she can only accept this doll after she gets your permission."
Lin Xiaolou then asked, "Why did you give her a doll?"
Wang Chengcheng: "She's still a child, and little girls all like this."
Lin Xiaolou continued with a serious expression: "She is no longer a child. From now on, she needs to learn to be a well-bred young lady."
Wang Chengcheng asked in bewilderment, "Why? She's not even ten years old yet."
Lin Xiaolou: "From the moment she moved into the room I had carefully prepared for her yesterday, she has been my child bride."
Upon hearing this, Wang Chengcheng felt as if she had been struck by lightning.
Honestly, Chu Nian felt like she'd been struck by lightning. Even if she hadn't been hit yet, she figured it was coming soon. So she turned around and slammed the door shut: it turned out this room was a trap for her!
Doesn't she realize why she had to bring trouble onto others in the first place?
However, the fact that Wang Chengcheng approached her and brought her the doll was definitely because of Lin Xiaolou, so this trouble was actually brought on by Lou Qianzong.
As for the matter of her reminding Lou Qianzong to appear in the military camp and persuade Wang Chengcheng to leave, she felt that she hadn't done anything wrong: if she hadn't reminded her, would she have just watched Wang Chengcheng enter the military camp and be harmed? One should speak with conscience, so Lin Xiaolou couldn't blame her for this.
Chu Nian's closing of the door attracted Wang Chengcheng's attention. She came to her senses and realized that Lin Xiaolou had treated Fang Nian very specially yesterday, but she never thought that he had already decided that she was his wife.
After hesitating for a long time, she finally said, "Fang Nian is still a child. Is what you're doing appropriate?"
Lin Xiaolou: "What's inappropriate about it? Neither of us is married, and I'm not in a hurry to get married right now. Waiting a few years is just right."
Wang Chengcheng: "You should at least find someone your own age."
Lin Xiaolou: "I'm a few years older than her, and the age is just right."
Wang Chengcheng was amused by his words and said, "How old are you? How old is she?"
Lin Xiaolou thought for a moment and said, "Seven years from now, I'll be twenty and she'll be seventeen, which will be perfect."
Wang Chengcheng: "You'll still be twenty in seven years? I'm asking how old you are now?"
Lin Xiaolou: "Now? Twenty."
Wang Chengcheng: "So you'll still be twenty in seven years?"
Lin Xiaolou: "Why not?"
Wang Chengcheng: "Do you think you'll stay young forever?"
Lin Xiaolou: "It's not that I think it is, it's that I am."
Wang Chengcheng looked at him as if he were crazy, and muttered, "Either you're crazy, or I'm crazy."
Lin Xiaolou nodded and said, "Indeed, I do think you're pretty crazy."
"Lin Xiaolou!" Wang Chengcheng roared, "You can't play games with me like this. You know perfectly well how I feel about you."
Lin Xiaolou said with complete composure, "I have a wife!"
"Ah..." Wang Chengcheng cried out in pain, "Lin Xiaolou, I refuse to accept this! Why do I have to lose to a child?"
Lin Xiaolou said expressionlessly, "You should accept your defeat wholeheartedly."
Wang Chengcheng cried, "I won't give up! I'm not reconciled! I won't give up!" With that, she turned and ran away.
Chu Nian felt that Lin Xiaolou was actually a bit hysterical in the last few sentences. She opened the door and scolded, "Lin Xiaolou, do you have to handle this matter so extremely?"
Lin Xiaolou: "You're the one who caused all this trouble, and you still have the nerve to complain?!"
Chu Nian said dejectedly, "How can you blame me for this? It's all because you're so handsome, so talented, and so versatile, and you always have such a strong aura that it's impossible not to attract people. Tsk, tell me, how did your parents raise such an outstanding child like you?"
Hearing the first part of the praise, Lin Xiaolou was quite pleased with himself, but when he heard the last part, his face turned green, and he cursed, "I've never seen anyone as shameless as you." After saying that, he slammed the door shut again.
At the door of the room at the other end of the corridor, Fang Erbai was shocked and confused by the interaction between his younger sister and Boss Lin: he couldn't understand how his younger sister and Lin Xiaolou seemed to have known each other for a long time.
However, if you think about it carefully, it's been more than a year since he brought Fang Nian into the Lin family troupe. It seems that he has been busy practicing his skills all day and has neglected Fang Nian's growth!
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