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Chapter 14: Snow Battle
Li Yu saw her sneaky behavior just now and furrowed his brows, asking, “What are you doing?”
He came to find Xie Zhen, originally planning to wait in the main hall, but the maids enthusiastically brought him to the backyard. Shuangyu said she was here, so he followed. From a distance, he saw her pressing her ear against the door, eavesdropping on something.
This was the first time he took the initiative to find her, and Xie Zhen was pleasantly surprised. She approached, holding his hand, and walked back, “Come and listen with me. What’s happening with Mother and Father?”
How could Shuangyu let them eavesdrop? If the lady of the house found out, she might lose her life. She quickly blushed and blocked them at the door, persuading them with kind words, “Miss, don’t worry. Master and Madam are fine… Since Master Li has come to see you, why not let me take you to another room to sit?”
Xie Zhen raised her head, full of curiosity, “Are they really okay?”
Shuangyu, being an innocent girl, naturally felt embarrassed to stand too close when she knew the master and madam were intimate in the room. So she walked around for a while. Unexpectedly, she let this little ancestor in, causing herself a big trouble. She nodded, “Really, they’re fine.”
She did everything she could to get these two away. As she left, Xie Zhen muttered, “But I clearly heard…”
Li Yu turned to her, “Heard what?”
Xie Zhen recalled the joyful yet painful voice of her mother, imitating it innocently for him, “It’s like, mhm, ah…”
Frightened, Shuangyu quickly covered her mouth. Little ancestor, can she say such things without restraint?
If she remembers this scene when she grows up, won’t she regret it?
Fortunately, Li Yu is also a child and doesn’t understand the meaning. The two quickly turned from the topic, crossed the corridor, and returned to the yard where they had been building snowmen. The snowmen built by Xie Zhen and Xie Rong were still there, but Xie Xian had disappeared somewhere. Only Xie Rong was left in the yard, rolling snowballs.
Xie Zhen ran up, “Brother, where is Ah Xian?”
Xie Rong put the rolled snowball aside, stood up, brushed off the snowflakes on his shoulders, and smiled at her behind.
The next moment, Xie Zhen felt a coolness on her neck as she was hit by a snowball.
She covered her neck, turned around, and indeed saw Xie Xian wearing a red little cotton jacket, standing under the pine tree, proudly laughing, “Sister is a fool!”
This little rascal dared to bully her? Xie Zhen tried hard to look angry but couldn’t help but smile. She bent down, picked up the snowball rolled by her brother, and threw it towards where her sister was standing. The snowball hit Xie Xian’s satin soft boots perfectly. She exclaimed and dodged to the side. After standing firm, she quickly squatted down, rubbed a small snowball, waved her hand, and threw it. Unfortunately, she missed the target and hit Xie Rong behind Xie Zhen.
She immediately stood up, obediently admitting her mistake, “Brother, I’m sorry.”
Just as she finished speaking, she buried her head and continued to roll snowballs, making a mess with Xie Zhen.
Xie Rong, of course, wouldn’t really get angry with them. While the two of them were throwing snowballs, he was under the tree, rolling snowballs for them, smiling and watching them play.
Li Yu came to find Xie Zhen for a serious matter but unexpectedly found her playing. After waiting for a while on the side, he was finally unlucky enough to be hit by Xie Zhen’s snowball directly.
He felt his vision blur, wiped his face, and saw Xie Zhen smiling cunningly, “Little Yu, are you okay? Why didn’t you dodge?”
He choked. He did want to dodge, but she threw it right in front of him. Where could he hide?
It’s obvious she deliberately threw it at him!
Li Yu retaliated without hesitation, but unfortunately, Xie Zhen, this tricky girl, was too agile. Like a little fish, no matter how he aimed, he couldn’t hit her. In the end, the two sisters joined forces to deal with him. One in front and one behind, they forced him into a corner, covered him in snowflakes all over his body and head.
Li Yu, frustrated and angry, glared at her, “Xie Zhen!”
This was the first time he called her by name, and there was a strong taste of gritted teeth.
Xie Zhen blinked her watery eyes innocently, “Hmm?”
Even if she pretended to be innocent, he wouldn’t let her off!
Li Yu jumped up, unexpectedly tackled her to the ground without warning, half-pinning her down, firmly pressing her shoulders to prevent her from moving recklessly. He glared at her fiercely for a long time, then suddenly lowered his head and bit her apple-like, rosy, and tender cheek. Her skin was very smooth. Li Yu didn’t manage to bite properly a couple of times. On the third attempt, he finally bit down. Just as he was about to increase the pressure, she made a soft giggle, a voice so gentle and fine, like a little cat.
Li Yu immediately stopped, not knowing what happened. Somehow, he hesitated to continue.
While biting, he failed to control the force a few times, and his tongue licked her cheek, tickling and wet. With the knocks and bumps of his teeth, she finally felt a bit of pain. Xie Zhen was pressed down, struggling to breathe, her eyes filled with water, and her slightly parted pink lips expressed some astonishment and resistance, “Little Yu, you’re so heavy…”
Li Yu’s spirits lifted, abruptly standing up from her, brushing off the snow on him, “Last time, when I carried you on my back, you were heavy too.”
Xie Zhen, with two teeth marks and a face full of saliva, sat up, wiped it with her sleeve, and involuntarily complained, “Ugh… so dirty.”
Li Yu’s face turned even more sullen, “Not dirty at all.”
Xie Zhen, being a neat freak, although she liked Little Yu, it didn’t mean she could be casually gnawed on by him. So she earnestly wiped her face with her sleeve, finally cleaning off his saliva, stood up, turned around, and ran back to her room.
Shuangyu asked, “Where is the young lady going?”
She replied from a distance, “I need to wash my face!”
Li Yu pursed his lips, feeling quite dissatisfied.
*
Finally done washing her face, Xie Zhen’s head-do got messy from the snowball fight. Shuangyu combed her hair again, securing it with two thin chains of pearl flowers. There were small bells hanging at both ends of the chains, producing a crisp sound as she walked.
The room was warm with a roaring charcoal fire, completely different from the outside courtyard. Xie Zhen took off her embroidered peony jacket, leaving only a water-red jacket with a diagonal half-sleeve underneath, wearing soft boots as she ran around inside the room. Shuangyu, worried about her catching a cold, chased after her, urging her to put on the jacket, but she refused.
Excitedly, Xie Zhen approached Li Yu, completely forgetting the recent unpleasantness, “Little Yu, what did you want to talk to me about?”
Li Yu thought she was dressed too lightly, knowing she was more delicate than others and prone to getting sick easily. Why wouldn’t she take better care of herself? However, he wouldn’t interfere with her choices. Instead, he had the maids from the Li residence bring in a rosewood box from her hands and placed it on the table. “Last time, I broke your hairpin, and I promised to compensate you with a new one.”
Shuangyu carried Xie Zhen to a stool, and Li Yu opened the box. At a glance, Xie Zhen saw her mother’s hairpin.
She exclaimed, “Where did you buy it, Little Yu?”
Li Yu explained it wasn’t bought; he pointed to the golden rim in the middle of the hairpin, “This is the one you bought last time. I had it repaired.”
As he spoke, Xie Zhen realized it was indeed the case. The middle part, where it had been fixed, was carved with a circle of water ripples, seamlessly integrated and natural. Holding the hairpin, Xie Zhen looked left and right, expressing great admiration for Li Yu. She felt guilty for throwing snowballs at him earlier.
Unexpectedly, the more guilty one came later. Li Yu pulled out a long-life lock from his arms, which happened to be the one Xie Zhen gave to the jewelry store.
He said, “Is this lock yours? I had someone exchange it back for me.”
Of course, he wouldn’t tell Xie Zhen that he specifically had someone retrieve it for him. He just thought the lock was quite beautiful, and it seemed a bit of a waste to give it away casually.
His thoughts were similar to Leng’s. Since Leng knew that she had given the silver-dotted blue Ruyi Yun head long-life lock to the shopkeeper of the jewelry store, she had mentioned it more than once. Xie Zhen didn’t expect to get it back and happily wore it around her neck, sincerely saying, “Thank you, Little brother Yu!”
After speaking, she saw Li Yu sweating profusely, and she asked in confusion, “Are you hot?”
He shook his head.
Later, she learned that it was water from the melted snow. The snowflakes on his face and head were quickly melted by the warm temperature inside the house, turning into droplets of water.
Shuangyu borrowed clothes from Xie Rong, hoping he would change into them, but he refused.
Xie Zhen took out her soft handkerchief and stood in front of him, carefully wiping away the water droplets for him, with a tone that had a hint of pleasing, “I’m sorry.”
Li Yu remained silent, evidently not accepting her apology.
So she wiped even more diligently, her beautiful little face almost sticking to his face. Her long and curled eyelashes trembled gently, brushing against his nose. She said, “Little Brother Yu bit me just now, and I’m not angry at all.”
Li Yu said, “That’s what you deserve.”
And why wasn’t she angry? She clearly found him dirty. Li Yu thought.
If it weren’t for his parents’ request today, he wouldn’t have come over at all… Thinking of Li Xiqing and Song Shi, Li Yu finally remembered the main purpose of coming today, “Next month, my family is going to Puning Temple to offer incense. There’s a peach forest on the back mountain. Mother asked me to ask if you want to go and see the peach blossoms together?”
Xie Zhen didn’t hesitate, “Let’s go!”
Li Yu couldn’t help but throw cold water on her, “You should go ask Aunt Leng first.”
She didn’t lose any interest at all, cheerfully agreeing. After wiping away the water droplets from his face and neck, she pulled him to stand in front of the stove for a while before allowing him to go home.
After Li Yu left, Xie Zhen immediately ran to the main room to find Madam Leng. At this point, the door was already open, and Leng Shi sat in front of the dressing table, with Xie Liqing behind her combing her hair.
Xie Zhen ran over, “Mother, Mother, I have something to show you!”
Aunt Leng looked no different from usual, but her eyes were full of spring, adding a touch of charm. It didn’t conflict with her cold temperament; instead, they complemented each other.
She asked, “What is it?”
Xie Zhen presented the hairpin to her eagerly and asked, “Is it exactly the same as Mother’s hairpin? I bought it for you last time, but it broke later. Little Yu Brother fixed it for me. Isn’t he amazing…”
The little girl chattered on, but Madam Leng listened patiently.
She smiled, “He’s indeed amazing.”
Xie Zhen then pointed to the long-life lock around her neck, “This one, too, Little Yu Brother retrieved it for me.”
The tone was proud, as if boasting about the birth of a new centenarian in her family.
Seeing Leng Shi’s smile, Xie Zhen talked to her about the purpose of Li Yu’s visit today. After listening, without much thought, Madam Leng agreed, “It’s been a while since we explored Qingzhou properly. It’s a good opportunity to take you out during this visit.”
Xie Zhen cheered happily, and the bells on her flower bud-like head bobbed up and down, producing a crisp and pleasant sound.
She began to look forward to the next month.
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