It was the first night since he’d left Anping Town. Dongfang Ming could not grasp why he was feeling a trace of sadness, maybe even longing.
It drove sleep away from him. Left with nothing to do, he stared at the moon.
“Is it about time I find someone to spend the rest of my life with?” Dongfang Ming suddenly mumbled to himself.
He did not know why, but he always felt lonely on nights when he was all alone. There was nobody else to talk to.
Ever since his coming-of-age ceremony in his teens, until his current age at twenty-five, he had always been alone. He did not even have a servant girl who could lie with him.
As far as he knew, bedroom affairs should be done with a loved one to experience the best and most intimate moments. He could not just do it with a random maid!
He found himself rambling and was shocked to know that he had these thoughts!
Then, an image of Liu Duo flashed in his mind. He shook his head as he laughed at himself. “Perhaps that someone was already taken? That can’t be possible!”
It was true that he liked Liu Duo, but he never thought he would fancy someone else’s wife, for it was immoral!
The wind blew chillingly in the late hours of the night. He took one last look at the moon before slowly retiring to his room.
…
The next morning, the men of the Ye household woke up early. Liu Duo was the only one still in bed.
“Ran Er, you’re going to school today. I’ll prepare some soft-boiled eggs for you to bring along,” Ye Ling said to him in a caring manner.
Liu Ran, who was then helping in the kitchen, replied in a negotiating tone, “Brother Ling, can I not take them to school?”
He had been bringing several eggs to school every time, and when he came back home, Liu Duo would steam eggs for him. He was getting tired of eggs!
Ye Mo, also in the kitchen, peered at him. “Count your blessings! You’re lucky to have eggs!”
Before they became rich, they could not even afford eggshells, much less being able to consume eggs!
Families with hens would always sell their eggs for money. Few were able to have eggs whenever they wanted.
Liu Ran kept quiet and did not say anything else.
Ye Mo might speak bluntly but in the long run Liu Ran knew that he meant well, and his brother-in-law was not wrong.
He just did not want to eat any more eggs!
Ye Ling saw how upset he was and asked, smiling, “Ran Er, why don’t you want to bring some eggs? They’re good for you.”
He did not understand why Liu Ran requested that. The five of them would have one soft-boiled egg each every morning.
“He’s just weird, why else?” Ye Mo said with enigmatically.
He was confused too. They had longed to have eggs when they were young but were never able to, and yet this lucky kid did not want to have eggs?
He needed a good beating!
“Mo, let’s listen to what he thinks,” Ye Ling told Ye Mo before turning to Liu Ran. “Ran Er, go on, why don’t you want to bring the soft-boiled eggs?”
Liu Ran looked at his youngest brother-in-law, always the gentle, caring one. He muttered, “I’m just tired of eggs for now.”
Tired of them?
Ye Mo, short-fused as usual, was about to explode when he heard Liu Ran say those words, but Ye Ling stopped him.