Chapter 23: Agreement

The kite slipped from her hand, and Xie Zhen reached out to catch it, saying, “Hey, my kite…”

Worried that the kite might be damaged, she tried to free herself from Li Yu’s grip, intending to climb down the ladder. However, Li Yu, just having said a couple of sentences, refused to let her go, firmly holding onto her hand.

“I haven’t finished talking!”

He didn’t control his strength well, and Xie Zhen’s wrist was sore from his grip. She winced in pain, immediately stopping her movements. Fortunately, the kite was caught by the maids below and didn’t break. Feeling relieved, she turned to face Li Yu, asking, “What else do you want to say to me?”

Due to the recent tugging, the ladder swayed a bit, frightening the people below. They intensified their efforts to support it.

The two little ones were crouched on the wall, surrounded by attendants on both sides. These attendants were anxiously watching over them, but the two young ones seemed oblivious to their concerns, chatting casually as if they were alone.

Xie Zhen lowered her head and noticed a red mark on her wrist. Pouting, she remarked, “It’s red.”

Under the sunlight, her exposed skin looked like condensed fat—fair and tender, almost translucent. However, the area held by Li Yu turned slightly red, creating an incongruity. Especially with her pitiful expression, it seemed as if he had bullied her.

Li Yu hadn’t expected her to be so fragile. He had only squeezed her gently, how did he manage to hurt her?

He took her hand, rubbing it gently, “Does it hurt?”

Xie Zhen withdrew her hand, concealing it under her sleeve, “Don’t bother about it.”

It seemed like she was still mad at him, but he wasn’t sure if it was because he had hurt her or because of the incident in the study. She wasn’t usually a petty girl; she rarely got angry, but once she did, she was challenging to appease. Li Yu had never comforted anyone or apologized before, and now, despite several attempts, those three words still couldn’t escape his lips.

The sun overhead was becoming more scorching. Not letting her go, he made her feel a bit dizzy from the sun exposure.

Xie Zhen asked him, “What do you want to tell me?”

She wasn’t clinging to him now, and he found it somewhat uncomfortable.

Li Yu lowered his gaze; beneath his long and curled eyelashes, his skin had a faint blush. “My family bought a new courtyard outside the city. The scenery there is good, suitable for flying kites.”

Xie Zhen responded with a casual “Oh,” showing no particular reaction.

He had said it so clearly, didn’t she understand? Why was she so obtuse!

Li Yu is a bit embarrassed and angry, glaring at her with a fierce look: “You want to fly a kite, right? Your house is so small, how can you fly a kite?”

Xie Zhen: “…”

After a while, Li Yu became even redder under her gaze. Turning his head, he only revealed a bright red ear, “I can take you there.”

Is this an invitation?

Xie Zhen blinked without mercy, piercing through, “Why is your face so red?”

Li Yu suddenly glared, raising his arm to cover half of his face, revealing only a pair of sharp eyebrows and sparkling eyes, “Are you coming or not?”

Xie Zhen, not having seen him like this before, couldn’t help but look at him curiously for a moment.

After thinking for a moment, she asked seriously, “Will you leave me alone?”

Li Yu put down his arm, resolutely saying, “I won’t.”

“What about your cousin?”

“She’s not going.”

Li Yu hadn’t mentioned this to Ouyang Yi at all. He had been avoiding her recently, and how could he bring her to fly a kite in the other courtyard? Even bringing Xie Zhen out this time required careful consideration to avoid Ouyang Yi.

Just as Li Yu was waiting for Xie Zhen’s response, Ouyang Yi’s voice suddenly sounded behind him, “Cousin, who are you talking to?”

He turned back, frowning.

Ouyang Yi stood a few steps away, squinting and seeing Xie Zhen on the other side of the wall, “Why is it you? What are you saying to my cousin?”

Xie Zhen, not fond of her, stuck out her tongue without telling her anything, and climbed under the ladder. In a short while, she was standing on the ground. Li Yu, not waiting for her answer, felt both anxious and angry. Why was she walking so fast, and Ouyang Yi’s arrival was really untimely. He poked his head out, looking down at her, “You haven’t told me if you’re going or not!”

Xie Zhen: “I…”

Just as she uttered a word, Xie Rong came back from outside, empty-handed, indicating that he probably didn’t find her kite. He called her from a distance, and she immediately ran over, “Brother, I found my kite!”

Li Yu was absolutely furious, his nose almost crooked. He silently cursed her for being ungrateful, as it was he who found the kite for her. He shouted to her, “I’ll come to see you on the 8th of next month!”

Xie Zhen didn’t turn around, and it’s unclear if she heard him or not.

In the following days, Xie Zhen could always see Li Yu appearing on the wall. And his reasons were always strange. If it wasn’t something falling into her yard, it was his birds flying over. He would be fine if he stayed on the wall alone, but he always liked to call her up.

At first, Xie Zhen was reluctant. Wasn’t it better to talk in the courtyard under the shade?

However, Li Yu always found a way to trick her up and then say some irrelevant things. Like, what do you like? What do you dislike? Why do you like it? Why do you dislike it?

Xie Zhen inexplicably answered, but he seemed unsatisfied and remained silent for a long time.

With both hands on the wall, her fair face turned red under the sun, and her pink lips pouted, “Why are you asking me these things?”

Her dough-like face, despite being exposed to the sun for several days, hadn’t darkened and remained as transparently fair as a few days ago. Her dark, clear eyes stared at him, innocent and naive, making people want to tease her.

Li Yu really wanted to take another bite of her face out of anger. He was annoyed that she had forgotten the things she said and left him thinking about them alone.

He lowered his gaze, asking her, “Do you still dislike me?”

Unfortunately, the words were too soft, and with the noisy commotion of Xie Rong in the yard, Xie Zhen didn’t hear what he said clearly. “What?” she asked.

Not knowing which sore spot she hit, he suddenly lifted his head, looking fierce, “I’m asking you, do you still dislike me?”

That day, what Xie Zhen said, “I hate you,” has been remembered in his heart. Lately, she hasn’t been as enthusiastic towards him as before, and she hasn’t called him Little Brother Yu. He has always minded, thinking that she still hasn’t forgiven him.

But he doesn’t consider that he hasn’t apologized to her. Where does the question of forgiveness come from?

This time, Xie Zhen heard it clearly. She had never been so directly questioned before. Her pretty face turned red, becoming somewhat uncomfortable. Then, a mischievous idea flashed in her mind. Biting her lip, she smiled cunningly, “Hate it.”

That little appearance is both hateful and lovable.

Li Yu frowned, “Why hate?”

She lowered her head, counting on her fingers as if listing treasures, “You don’t play with me, always mean to me, and even bully Ah Xian with others…”

Speaking of this, Li Yu always has to defend himself. “I didn’t bully Xie Xian.” Pausing, he finally found an opportunity to mention the incident in the study, “That day in the study, it was me…”

He couldn’t say a complete sentence for a while, and Xie Zhen simply propped up her chin with both hands, staring at him with big round eyes, waiting for him to finish.

Li Yu met her eyes, but he was even more unable to speak.

“I…”

Xie Zhen said softly and sweetly, “What about you?”

He hesitated, saying fiercely, “In any case, you are not allowed to hate me!”

Xie Zhen thought he was going to say something else, waited for a long time in vain, puffed up her cheeks to deliberately tease him, “Just hate it, just hate you!”

Li Yu was indeed annoyed, “Not allowed, not allowed!”

She hummed, “You can’t control me!”

Saying no more, she climbed down from the ladder, successfully landing in Chen mama’s arms, made a funny face at him, then turned and ran away. Li Yu almost climbed over from the other side of the wall to catch her, but just as he was about to act, Ouyang Yi noticed his movements.

Ouyang Yi stood below and asked discontentedly, “Cousin, why are you climbing the wall again? I’m going to tell Uncle and Aunt!”

Li Yu had to stop midway, glanced unwillingly in the direction where Xie Zhen ran, thinking that the next time he catches her, he must make her take back what she said today.

*

Recently, there have been several spring rains in a row, continuous and seemingly endless.

After the rain stopped, it was already the sixth day of the Lunar New Year. These days, Xie Zhen has been staying in the house, not going out, and hasn’t seen Li Yu at the back wall. Today, the weather is good, the sun is shining, the sky is clear, and Xie Zhen is preparing to go to the backyard to see Xie Rong fishing. When she walks past a wall, a voice suddenly comes from the wall: “Day after tomorrow at the hour of Chen, I’ll pick you up at your doorstep.”

Xie Zhen looks up, and Li Yu is staring at her intently.

She pats her chest, “Little Brother Yu scared me!”

Li Yu’s face relaxes slightly, with a serious expression, he says, “So it’s settled.” Then he goes down from the wall, and in a blink of an eye, he disappears.

Xie Zhen touches her head, not even knowing when she agreed with him.

In the evening, he specifically went to the Xie Residence to talk about this matter. Unexpectedly, Madam Xie flatly refused, “It’s absolutely not possible with just you two.”

After all, she had been with Li Yu twice, and she had to learn from experience.

Xie Zhen tried to persuade her, but Leng Shi still didn’t relent.

The next day, Song Shi specially arranged everything, saying that the place was very safe, with more than a dozen servants inside and outside, and the courtyard was also cleaned spotlessly. Only then did Madam Xie reluctantly agreed to .

However, Leng Shi still wasn’t completely at ease, after all, a lesson learned is a lesson gained. So, she arranged seven or eight maidservants to accompany Xie Zhen.

On the eighth day, the weather was very good, the sky was clear, and it was suitable for traveling.

Xie Zhen said she hated Li Yu, but she was still looking forward to flying kites with him. However, after she finished everything and waited until the appointed hour, Li Yu didn’t come to pick her up. She thought he might be delayed due to some reason, but to her surprise, as she waited, it got dark.

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