Quietly, Ye Ling went to sit beside her, peeking at her occasionally.
“Ling, just look at me if you want to, why are you being so sneaky?” Liu Duo felt a little uncomfortable with him stealing glances at her like that.
“Oh,” he responded absentmindedly and opted to look elsewhere. Anywhere but her.
Liu Duo chuckled when he did so. Why was he so adorable?
She told him not to steal glances, so he chose not to look at all?
Ye Ling heard her laughter and felt like he was sitting on pins and needles.
Liu Duo admired Ye Ling’s already reddened cheeks and ears as she ate. Her mood was significantly uplifted.
Right then, Ye Yang exited his room and saw Liu Duo dining at the table.
He walked steadily towards her and asked when he reached her side, “Little Duo, want a refill?”
Liu Duo turned to look at him when she heard him talk. Geez, why doesn’t Yang make a sound when he walks?
Liu Duo didn’t really have a big appetite. She couldn’t eat much. Usually, a bowl of rice would be enough for her.
He asked because he was hoping she could eat more.
“No, I’m good with this bowl of rice, a serving of steamed egg custard, and a bit of side dish,” she replied.
“Have some more,” Ye Yang looked at her before informing Ye Ling who was right there, “Ling, give her more rice.”
“Oh,” Ye Ling nodded. He also hoped Liu Duo could eat more.
To that, she said, “Yang, I’ll be full after I finish all these. I don’t need more rice.”
She was having a bowlful of rice, steamed egg custard, and a little side dish to go with the meal, which altogether was quite enough for her.
Ye Yang remained expressionless, but there was softness and adoration in his eyes. “Eat some more, increase your strength!”
Then he exited to the backyard, leaving her stunned.
Did she hear that right? Increase her strength?
Her mind immediately went to the gutter, just like Ye Ling did. Her cheeks glowed bright red! This was ‘karma!’ She had teased Ye Ling, and was teased by Ye Yang in return!
She looked at Ye Yang’s perfectly straight back and thought, geez, everything I thought about Ye Yang being abstinent was an illusion! An illusion!
And, now that she recalled, Ye Yang’s lips seemed to curl up at the corners a while ago. Was he mocking her?
Ye Yang took some time to understand what his eldest brother meant by ‘increasing strength.’ He cast a glance at Liu Duo and spotted the redness on her cheeks. She looked pretty even when she was blushing.
She didn’t add more rice when she finished all the food on the table. She’d had enough. “Ling, come practice your writing later. I’ll teach you,” she told Ye Ling, who was collecting the cutlery.
With the rain pouring outside, no one came by to sell tomatoes. Liu Duo felt bored having nothing to do. The men didn’t want her doing manual labor.
“Oh, alright.” Ye Ling placed the cutlery onto the tray and went to the kitchen.
Liu Duo took out Hei Xiaomeng’s brush and called him over. “Come here, Hei Xiaomeng, I’m going to brush your fur.”
Hei Xiaomeng responded when his name was called, wagging his tail as he ran towards her.
Just when Hei Xiaomeng was sitting obediently in front of Liu Duo, allowing her to give its fur a good brushing, it suddenly got up and dashed to the front yard, where it started barking.
Liu Duo went to take a look too. What she saw was Grandmother Liu and Liu Quanyan, wearing cloaks.
She frowned slightly, not calling back Hei Xiaomeng. She knew that as long as they didn’t cross the threshold and enter the yard, the dog wouldn’t bite. At this moment, it would just keep barking fiercely!