Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
Ye Liu scoffed impolitely when he heard this and went downstairs. The other three brothers ignored Ye Xuan and Ye Lanlan. They might as well have been as invisible as air.
“Come over here and have a seat, Little Xuan. Oh, Little Lanlan has grown up too. Look at you. I almost couldn’t recognize you!” Ye Liu arrived on the first floor and welcomed them with fervor.
Yet, he sat on his own stool, cross-legged and snickering as usual. He didn’t bother providing them with seats.
Ye Xuan wasn’t embarrassed. In fact, he stepped forward and gladly took a stool for himself. Ye Lanlan, on the other hand, flushed red on the cheeks from Ye Liu’s teasing, as she awkwardly fetched a stool.
With that, Ye Liu asked, “So, what brings you here again? Don’t tell me that nothing’s going on! After all, there’s a reason for every visit.”
Ye Xuan naturally nodded at Ye Liu’s direct questioning. He grinned as usual, “If you must know, I came to congratulate you all on moving to a new dwelling. My sister Lanlan on the other hand… I’ll let her tell you herself.”
And so, Ye Liu giggled as he gazed at Ye Lanlan. What business would she have? This was unexpected. In fact, anyone from the Ye family courtyard coming to visit them was anything but expected!
Ye Yang and Ye Ling were also surprised, as they looked at her again before returning to their duties. Ye Mo observed their visitors from upstairs too.
As for Liu Duo, she had been resting since after lunch! The weather was ungraciously hot, and she felt drowsy. Good thing this house was built within the bamboo forest. Even without air-conditioning, there was a certain cooling fragrance of bamboo in the air.
Ye Lanlan flushed red again when she noticed Ye Liu grinning. She became tense. “Actually, it’s nothing too urgent. Grandmother asked me to send an invitation to you.”
She passed a red card to him as she said so.
Grandmother Ye only did so because she knew they were rich and had built a big house, so she sent an invitation to them with the intention of receiving a grand gift in return.
Ye Liu couldn’t read, so he did not open it. But he saw that it was red, so he believed Ye Lanlan was getting married, and this was an invitation to her wedding banquet. After all, she was the only daughter in her family.
Ye Lanlan was already seventeen years old. Usually, daughters from well-off families would get married later. Otherwise, girls from common households would get married around fifteen, just like Liu Duo. Although, technically speaking, Liu Duo was sold instead.
“Of course we’ll go,” Ye Liu smiled and nodded.
Ye Xuan and Ye Liu chatted about other things, as though they were very close. Ye Lanlan sat aside, still blushing, as she listened to the two of them talk. Ye Liu wasn’t knowledgeable, but he was still able to contend with Ye Xuan who had been to school.
After a long while, they still hadn’t left. Ye Mo saw that the sky had dimmed, and so he went to get more firewood, knowing very well that he wouldn’t have to hear Ye Xuan’s voice.
In her room on the fourth floor, Liu Duo slowly awoke from her nap. She yawned and stretched before getting out of bed and making her way downstairs. She needed to use the toilet, but there weren’t any upstairs, since running water hadn’t been invented yet, so she had to visit the outhouse.
Ye Xuan hadn’t seen Liu Duo since he arrived. He was about to inquire about her when he saw her coming out from the stairway.
Liu Duo had just woken up from her nap, so she had not tied her hair, letting it flow freely down her back instead.
It was getting hot too. Even her usual undergarments had been replaced by thinner ones, so the flowery embroidery on her red dudou could be clearly seen. She had also sewn underwear for herself, so that she wouldn’t be exposed while wearing the thin covering.