Sitting by the stove, lying on Xiao Changyi’s knee, An Jing didn’t feel cold at all.
On the contrary, she felt quite warm.
Xiao Changyi’s one hand would stroke An Jing’s hair from time to time, while the other hand fiddled with the firewood in the stove with the fire tongs, making the flames burn even more fiercely.
Outside, the north wind howled, wailing like ghosts and wolves, quite frightening, but none of that affected An Jing and Xiao Changyi.
At this moment, the atmosphere between An Jing and Xiao Changyi was extremely cozy.
"Husband, when will the sweet potatoes be ready?" An Jing asked as she looked at the sweet potatoes in the fire.
Xiao Changyi pressed the sweet potatoes in the fire with the fire tongs before saying, "They’re still hard, let’s wait a bit more."
Then, An Jing stopped watching the fire, changed her position on Xiao Changyi’s lap, wrapped her arms around Xiao Changyi’s waist, buried her little face in Xiao Changyi’s body, and decided to take a nap.
But as soon as she closed her eyes, she heard a knock on the door.
Like last time when Meng Zhuqing came, the knocking seemed irregular yet with a pattern.
An Jing opened her eyes, looked up with her little face, and teased, "Husband, your subordinate is here again."
Xiao Changyi said without changing his expression, "Ignore him."
An Jing broke out in a sweat, "But it’s so cold in winter, isn’t it bad to let him freeze outside?"
Xiao Changyi replied, "I didn’t ask him to come, he came on his own."
An Jing was at a loss for words.
The knocking at the courtyard door continued, the sound much more urgent than before, and there were also voices coming through, but the howling north wind made it hard for An Jing to hear clearly. However, she could make out that there was definitely more than just Meng Zhuqing standing outside the courtyard door.
"Husband, it seems that it’s not just Meng Zhuqing who’s come," An Jing kindly reminded.
Xiao Changyi remained silent, but his expression clearly darkened. He disliked it when people always came to disturb the peace he had with his wife.
"Husband..." An Jing obviously wanted to persuade him.
"I’ll go take a look," Xiao Changyi finally stood up and walked outside.
An Jing had nothing better to do, and even though it was a bit cold outside, she still followed her husband out of the kitchen.
Xiao Changyi didn’t call out for Meng Zhuqing to climb over the wall but walked to the entrance of the courtyard, undid the latch, and then pulled the courtyard door open.
As soon as he saw the person standing in the middle of the doorway, Xiao Changyi immediately wanted to shut the door again, but the person in the middle preemptively stuck a foot in, and also called out warmly and enthusiastically, "Brother Yi."
With the person’s foot already inside, Xiao Changyi didn’t insist on closing the door to block the man outside but let go and allowed the man to push the door open.
As the door was pushed open, An Jing saw six men standing at the entrance to the courtyard. She recognized one of them as Meng Zhuqing, and the one who pushed open the door was a fair-faced man in purple, with a gentle and warm demeanor and an extraordinary sense of nobility.
The other four stood as respectfully and upright as Meng Zhuqing.
"This must be Sister-in-law," said the gentle man who had called Xiao Changyi Brother Yi upon seeing An Jing. He clasped his hands and said politely to An Jing, "Sister-in-law, I am Brother Yi’s Sworn Brother, my name is Yu Chengsu. I apologize for the abrupt visit today, and I hope Sister-in-law won’t take offense."
Here, Sworn Brother means a close brother-like friend.
Upon hearing the term Sworn Brother, An Jing knew who this person was, shocked inwardly, but didn’t show it on her face.
But Su Chengyu, can’t you come up with a more convincing alias? What is this Yu Chengsu? Don’t think by reversing the characters in your name, I won’t know who you are!