Having stepped outside, Bai Xiaobin still had no idea what was happening, and whispered, "What’s going on?"
Laoda replied, "It’s all because that damn girl saw someone else’s nice house and wanted to hang out here. Don’t pay her any mind; she’s always up to some mischief."
"Uh..." Bai Xiaobin nodded. "This Xiao Fei that your Third Sister is seeing, how old exactly is he? I didn’t feel it was appropriate to ask just now, but I thought I heard him say he was still in the First Year of High School?"
"We are neighbors, and the two of them have played together since they were little. He’s a few years younger than my Third Sister! You just maintain a normal relationship with him, that’s fine. To him, aside from Third Sister, there’s no one else. He’s a bit..." Xu Laoda didn’t quite know how to describe it. "Anyway, where we come from, he’s not someone you’d want to mess with. Don’t be fooled by his young age, he knows Kung Fu; when he gets angry, no one can stop him, except our little Third Sister. Just be careful yourself!"
As soon as Xu Laoda left the courtyard, Xu Yue let out a loud whoop, grabbed Xu Xiaoyan, and headed toward the house: "Let’s go, let’s go, let’s tidy up the upstairs. You’re going to stay with me up there tonight; I’ve never lived in such a house before! It’s only those fortunate enough to attend No.2 High School in our town who get to live in that old building. Today, we’re going to experience it too..."
Xu Xiaoyan was being dragged along as she asked innocently, "How is your arm? Let me see..."
"It’s nothing, I was just tricking Big Sister earlier! It was just an excuse so I wouldn’t have to leave!" Xu Yue said with a chuckle. "Hurry up, Yan Fei, you hurry up too, we’ll need your strength to help us move stuff!"
Xu Yue attended school in the county. She was referring to the time when No.2 High School in the town used the ancient building as a dormitory. Now that building had become dangerous, and gradually no students lived there anymore. Previously, the students were begrudgingly settled in the side halls, and the wooden stairs in the old building creaked noisily, with rats scurrying about everywhere. Those who lived there were fed up, while those who had never lived there envied the majesty of the place.
Yan Fei’s house didn’t compare to the grandeur of the main hall, but it did bear some resemblance to those side halls.
When Xu Yue said her arm being red was just an excuse, Yan Fei happened to overhear their eldest sister saying outside that she was always up to no good. He immediately felt that these sisters truly knew each other well; no wonder his big sister left so smoothly, probably having seen through his little sister’s tricks long ago.
Then he heard the eldest sister saying he was not someone to be trifled with and immediately felt depressed again. So, this is the impression I give to you, huh!
He decided to stop thinking about it and went to help them move their bedding upstairs.
The upstairs room had only been cleaned by the two of them at the beginning, and ever since, apart from Yan Fei throwing a few pieces of furniture up there, no one had gone up. Now if they wanted to stay there, it still needed some cleaning, but at least there was a bed, and with the hot weather, it wasn’t too much trouble.
After lighting some mosquito coils for the two of them, Yan Fei went downstairs, lay on the bed, looked at a few messages on his pager, and wasn’t quite sure what he was thinking, then muttered, "Even if I just obediently raised cattle, I couldn’t live in peace, why are there so many people who want to die! It’s ridiculous!"
Tossing the pager aside, he went to watch "Jurassic World" instead. It also spared him from accidentally overhearing the private conversations of the two sisters upstairs. He had accidentally heard Laoda’s words earlier; some things were better left unheard!
In fact, the two sisters upstairs didn’t have any secrets. Xu Yue, full of grand gestures, was giving Xu Xiaoyan tips on how to furnish the room: "You’ve got such a nice bed, and you don’t even splurge on a good mosquito net? Get a pink one, big and wide, and drape it over the bed. Add some drapes inside the room, and you’ll really have a classical atmosphere!"
"Right, and buy a few more big red lanterns to hang all around the outside of the house. They should hang from every roof corner and eave. Didn’t you think of that? Don’t you think that the house, with a few big red lanterns, would just be..."