"Okay, my brother's home, let's go see Bai Hongmei." Li Qianqian glanced at Li Lei, then pulled Lu Xiaomei along and they set off immediately.
Li Qianqian said to Li Lei, who was standing at the door, "Brother, let's go ask Xu Fan. He knows more than you." She then glanced back at Lu Xiaomei, and seeing that Li Lei didn't react, she kicked him.
Li Lei was kicked, and his face darkened. He glared at Li Qianqian, who gestured for him to look at Lu Xiaomei.
Li Lei, looking rather wooden, scratched his head at Lu Xiaomei and said embarrassedly, "I know far more about Xu Fan than I do about him."
After saying that, she made way for Lu Xiaomei, and the two of them went out hand in hand. Li Qianqian glanced back at her brother and silently said to him, "Coward," while making a pinky gesture.
Li Lei scratched his head, still not quite understanding. The two of them came out of the cave and walked to the main cave entrance. They went into the left-hand cave and, after reaching the fork in the road, chose the upper cave entrance and crawled in.
After walking another hundred meters, we saw the house of Village Chief Xu. It was surrounded by walls on three sides, and the door was blocked off with a cane. What was even better was that a fist-sized beam of light shone into the very center of the open space.
Li Qianqian smiled and pulled Lu Xiaomei to the door. The door was open, and light shone down from above, just like the sky outside, making everything clear and bright.
As Li Qianqian and Lu Xiaomei approached, the sight before them made them unable to look directly at her: Bai Hongmei's watery eyes were slightly tilted up, gazing at Xu Fanyuan.
She met Xu Fanyuan's deep eyes, her rosy cheeks, bright and sparkling eyes, and long eyelashes that seemed to touch the very tip of Xu Fanyuan's heart. Her pupils, as deep as the night sky, shimmered with the small, soft, and delicate shadows of white and red plum blossoms.
Xu Fanyuan nervously grasped Bai Hongmei's hand, his brows and eyes revealing his anxiety and heartache.
The two people standing at the door watched for a while, and seeing that the two inside didn't let go, they burst out laughing. The two inside then awkwardly released each other's hands and took a step back.
Bai Hongmei felt annoyed at being caught red-handed, but also a hint of sweetness rising from the bottom of her heart. Unconsciously, she clutched her bleeding wound in her other hand, blood gushing out from between her fingers.
Xu Fan took a step back, immediately remembering Bai Hongmei's injured hand. He quickly grabbed a clean cloth from behind him, and ignoring Li Qianqian and Lu Xiaomei, stepped forward, grabbed Bai Hongmei's hand, and forcibly bandaged her injured hand.
Looking up at Li Qianqian and Bai Hongmei with a flushed face, she pulled Bai Hongmei behind her and said, "Xiaobai's hand is injured."
"Xiao Bai," Li Qianqian drawled, smiling as she looked at the two of them.
Lu Xiaomei grabbed Li Qianqian's arm, not wanting Bai Hongmei and Li Qianqian to continue the awkward situation, so she changed the subject, saying, "It's nothing, we just wanted to see how Bai Hongmei is doing at your house?"
Xu Fanyuan smiled at Lu Xiaomei and said, "Everything is fine. Xiaobai is even helping me take care of my mother. She can cook and chop wood."
Lu Xiaomei grabbed Li Qianqian's hand and said, "It's good that everything is alright, we're relieved. We'll be going now." After saying that, she took Li Qianqian's hand and the two of them walked out.
"Sigh~" Xu Fanyuan didn't know what to say. He wanted to keep the two of them, but he really didn't know what to say. He just left like that, but he felt that this was not the way to treat guests. This was the first time he had encountered this situation since he grew up.
Lu Xiaomei then turned around and smiled at Xu Fanyuan, saying, "Let's find a matchmaker and settle things."
Xu Fanyuan blushed deeply and nodded.
When Li Qianqian saw Xu Fanyuan's expression, she couldn't help but giggle. Even after walking quite a distance, she didn't stop laughing, laughing until tears streamed down her face.
Lu Xiaomei tapped her cheek, and Li Qianqian suddenly looked up at Lu Xiaomei and asked, "When are you and my brother going to settle down?"
Upon hearing this, Lu Xiaomei gently shook off Li Qianqian's hand and quickly walked away.
Li Qianqian hurriedly ran up and grabbed Lu Xiaomei's hand, shaking it and laughing as she said, "Good sister-in-law, my family's situation is different from others. If it's alright, I'll find you a matchmaker, but I'm afraid my father might cause trouble."
Li Qianqian changed her approach from pulling to clinging, clinging to Lu Xiaomei's shoulder and saying earnestly, "My brother is a very good person. I'm so lucky to have grown up thanks to him protecting me."
"It was only after coming to Xiaoyue's house that my brother started to act like a normal person again. Sister-in-law, you saw my brother working; he's hardworking and diligent. If it weren't for my father's influence, he would have found a wife long ago."
Li Qianqian moved to stand in front of Lu Xiaomei, and the two faced each other. Li Qianqian said seriously to Lu Xiaomei, "Now my brother and I are both under Xiaoyue's name."
"Now that I'm free from my father's control, dear sister-in-law, please agree. I'll go back and tell my brother to have her go to Xiaoyue to propose marriage."
Seeing that Lu Xiaomei was still hesitating, Li Qianqian took Lu Xiaomei's hand and said, "When the time comes, Xu Fanyuan and Sister Bai Hongmei will be a couple, you and my brother will be a couple, and Xiaoyue and Brother Liang Qi will be a couple. After the soldiers leave, we will hold the wedding ceremony."
Lu Xiaomei shook off Li Qianqian's hand again, said nothing, and the two silently entered the house.
Li Lei is cooking, Grandma Ge is tending the fire, Ge Daming is playing with Xiaodouding and Shuiyue, and Chunyue is washing vegetables.
Li Qianqian pulled Li Lei aside and whispered in his ear, "You need to work harder! Lu Xiaomei is about to agree. Once the soldiers leave, we'll find a matchmaker to propose to Xiaoyue."
Li Lei pressed his hand on Li Qianqian's forehead, almost causing her to fall over, but Lu Xiaomei caught her.
Li Qianqian glanced at Li Lei, then turned to look at Lu Xiaomei. She pulled out Old Lady Ge, who was tending the fire, and Chunyue, who was washing vegetables, leaving only Li Lei and Lu Xiaomei staring at each other in the kitchen.
Lu Xiaomei took over from Grandma Ge and, while adding firewood, asked, "Where is the army? Are they really coming to Seven Star Mountain?"
As Li Lei put the pot lid back on, he said, "Judging by the time, they should be arriving at our village soon, right?"
At this moment, Liang Qi held Xiao Yue in his arms and quickly spurred the horse with the whip, making the chestnut horse run fast. When they reached the bend in the road near the village, Liang Qi saw flags waving in the distance, and a plume of yellow smoke rolled towards them like a cloud.
With the reins in hand, the two turned into the village and rode straight to Xiaoyue's house. They then dismounted. There was another scholar's horse in the yard, but Liang Qi hadn't tied the reins to it.
They ran straight to the front house, and the two lifted the cover of the cave entrance. Xiaoyue jumped in, and Liang Qi said to Xiaoyue from the cave entrance, "I'm going to go up to the roof to observe whether the army has turned into our village or is heading straight for Qixing Mountain."
Seeing Xiaoyue fall into the trap, Liang Qi ran outside and leaped onto the roof, standing at the highest point to see the flagpole leading into the village.
Liang Qi immediately jumped off the roof and slid into the trap.
Xiaoyue was relieved to see Liang Qi return. She lit the tinderbox again and continued roasting the cassava buried in the fire. Just then, she heard orderly footsteps entering the courtyard.
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