After seeing Jeng Ruyue, Liu Siqi returned to the main hall and started chatting with a few men.
The two older cousins had their fill of the younger one and were driven out by Zhao Suxin for being too loud.
Liu Zhiguang noticed that his parents were busy talking inside the room and didn’t have time for him, so he pulled Xia Zheng aside without another word and started to roll up his sleeves and tug at his trousers, gesturing as if he was going to fight.
Xia Zheng was speechless, but compared to his too serious and staid second older cousin, he actually preferred this brash oldest cousin, and so he assumed a stance and exchanged a few moves with him.
No matter how disinclined Xia Zheng was to martial activities, he had still received systematic training, and was certainly not someone Liu Zhiguang could beat with his blind flailing. In just a short time, he had worn Liu Zhiguang out, who then collapsed on the ground, sitting there without any decorum, lifting his top and fanning himself with the hem.
Liu Zhiyang shook his head, unable to bear the sight of his big brother in such a state and turned to Lin Yuan to strike up a conversation.
"I went to the town school for an examination a few days ago."
Lin Yuan arched an eyebrow, hearing about it when Aunt had come last time; Liu Zhiyang’s head worked fast, and he loved studying, so she was sure he could pass. Although after what happened between the Lin Yongcheng brothers and Meng Liangdong, Lin Yuan didn’t have the best impression of that school, but there was also Ma Junying, a refined young master from the same place. Perhaps her second older cousin could be like a lotus rising unblemished from mud.
"You’ll definitely get in, second older cousin."
She had expected Liu Zhiyang to be pleased to hear this, but instead, he simply curled his lip slightly, "It doesn’t matter where I study as long as the teacher is good and the school has a positive atmosphere."
No wonder Liu Zhiyang looked down on that school, he must have known about the dodgy goings-on inside.
"By the way, I ran into your cousin, Lin Yongcheng, at the examination," Liu Zhiyang let a sneer cross his face. When Lady Liu and the others were still living in the old house, he had met Lin Yongcheng more than once or twice. He had nothing but contempt for Lin Yongcheng’s character and behavior.
Lin Yuan had always known that her two older cousins and those two cousins from the Lin family didn’t see eye to eye. The Lin Yongcheng brothers looked down on her cousins for being from the village clad in homespun clothes, while her cousins were profoundly dissatisfied with the Lin brothers’ arrogant and impolite demeanor.
When they met, did they end up fighting?
"Did he, did he bully you?" Lin Yuan looked at Liu Zhiyang with some concern and then noticed a faint bruise at the corner of his eye, which would have been hard to detect without looking closely.
"Did you get into a fight?" That Lin Yongcheng, not only did he steal her red bricks, he also hit her cousin; he really needed a lesson.
But Liu Zhiyang seemed unconcerned and lifted his head slightly, "We fought, but it was his own fault. Who asked him to start badmouthing Aunt Lee and you as soon as we met?"
Although Liu Zhiyang didn’t say it directly, Lin Yuan could guess what Lin Yongcheng had said—it was nothing more than the old clichés that her mother couldn’t bear sons and that she was a Little Disaster Star. She had grown numb to it over the many years. But for Liu Zhiyang, it was intolerable for his own family to be disparaged by others, which explained why he had taken action and taught that jerk a lesson.
Despite Liu Zhiyang’s gentle demeanor, he had grown up doing farm work with Liu Siliang since he was young, making him physically robust and strong. Whenever he got into a scuffle with Lin Yongcheng, it was usually Lin Yongcheng who came off worse.
It was just that Lin Yongcheng never learnt his lesson; every time he saw Liu Zhiyang, he couldn’t help but make some snide remark—in short, he was asking for a beating!
"He got hurt worse than I did," Liu Zhiyang said boastfully, curling his lips with satisfaction, but Lin Yuan couldn’t help worrying. If they fought during the examination, would the school revoke Liu Zhiyang’s chance to take the test?