"Gu Qingheng." Yang Ruxin hurried forward, the corners of her mouth lifting unconsciously, "I’ve adopted a younger brother..."
Gu Yao curled his lips and couldn’t help but mutter, "You’re addicted to picking up strays, aren’t you?"
"What did you say?" Yang Ruxin lifted her eyes.
"Nothing." Gu Yao shook his head.
Yang Ruxin couldn’t help but give Gu Yao a white look and then turned to Gu Qingheng, "This is also a pitiful child, the one I told you about last time, who bought fresh musk from me..."
Gu Qingheng smiled, "The sole son of the County Magistrate Fang..." That Fang Dehua actually wanted to follow in the footsteps of the Crown Prince, and although he felt somewhat displeased that the other party had sent his son to stick close to Xinxin, he knew that Fang Dehua was indeed talented. At the very least, during his years in Baihua County, he managed the place very well, with notable political achievements. Probably even the Crown Prince had taken note of that, otherwise he wouldn’t have allowed the Prince to stay here all this time.
"Hmm." Yang Ruxin sighed, "The doctor predicted he wouldn’t live past fifteen, and the child doesn’t have a single friend, so..."
"Guests are to be welcomed." Gu Qingheng gave a slight smile.
Yang Ruxin smiled.
Fang Tianze watched the intimate, low-voiced exchanges between Yang Ruxin and Gu Qingheng, and in that moment, he suddenly felt so envious, envious of Gu Qingheng, because he knew that Sister Xinxin would never talk to him like that, which brought on a wave of despondency.
"Tianze brother, let me take you to see the Little Bunny..." At this moment, Sini ran over and took Fang Tianze’s hand.
"Little Bunny is so fun." Little Zhou Ying also went over and took Fang Tianze’s other hand.
Fang Tianze was stunned, looking at the two soft, tender little hands gripping his, feeling somewhat shy but more delighted; he had never held hands with someone before.
"Go on." Yang Ruxin, seeing Fang Tianze look her way, hurriedly nodded.
"Young master..." Liu Guang couldn’t help but call out; he also wanted to stay, but the young master had ordered him to drive the carriage back to the county town.
"You should go back." Fang Tianze turned to glance at his own valet, "It’ll be dark if it gets any later."
Liu Guang then turned away reluctantly to leave.
"This is some Divine Sauce I made myself, take it back for Magistrate Fang and madam to try." Yang Ruxin signaled Sanni to bring over a jar of shrimp sauce and handed it to Liu Guang, "This can be used with steamed eggs or stir-fried vegetables, or just eaten directly without any issues."
Liu Guang, after taking a look at Fang Tianze and seeing him nod, took the jar and, after bidding farewell to the Yang Family, drove off.
The dinner was still prepared by Yang Ruxin, and the fire was still tended by Gu Qingheng.
"Xinxin, that Fang Tianze looks pretty good, doesn’t he?" Gu Qingheng didn’t even realize his words carried a tinge of sourness.
"Ah?" Yang Ruxin, who was cutting potato strips, looked up at his words, "Yes, he’s quite good-looking." She even smiled a bit, "I’ve noticed that the men around here are all rather handsome..."
"The men around here?" Gu Qingheng frowned.
"I mean the men I’ve come across." Yang Ruxin came back to her senses and quickly chuckled awkwardly, "You don’t have to be mentioned, Gu Yao, Dabao, Xiaofeng, although each has his own features, they are all very handsome, and now there’s Fang Tianze added to the mix, tsk tsk, quite pleasing to the eye..."
"Do you like him?" Gu Qingheng’s mood suddenly became less beautiful.
"That kid is quite lovable." Yang Ruxin nodded.
Gu Qingheng fell silent and just silently tended the fire.
Initially, Yang Ruxin didn’t notice anything amiss, as she began to fry, sauté, poach, and stew, but soon she realized something: "Gu Qingheng, why have you stopped talking?"