She had finally managed to invite him out, naturally with the intention of spending quality time with him to cultivate their relationship. At first, Helian Duo only said that Xue Lianyu would come, but he didn't mention that Cheng Xiran would also be there!
Just thinking about it made her feel somewhat unhappy.
However, she didn't show it too obviously on her face. After all, she was a well - bred young lady. How could she be like those resentful women, always showing her displeasure?
So she stepped forward and curtsied to Cheng Xiran. "Haven't seen you for a few days, Miss Cheng. You've become even more beautiful."
Cheng Xiran returned the courtesy, speaking in a polite tone. "You too, Miss Xiao."
"Wow, there are even lychees at this time of the year!"
Seeing that she only rushed in to eat the lychees, Xue Lianyu began to regret bringing her out, even though it was Helian Duo's idea. Helian Duo came to him back then, asking him to successfully invite Cheng Xiran out. But Xue Lianyu thought that if Helian Duo couldn't invite her, he might not be able to either. So he found a helper... Chu Liyin.
He never expected that this little girl only knew how to eat, embarrassing him greatly.
"I specially sent someone to transport these from the south a few days ago. They're still fresh. Go and have a taste."
Helian Duo glanced at Cheng Xiran out of the corner of his eye, only to find that she didn't even look at him. This puzzled him.
Could it be because of the rather abrupt things he said yesterday?
The group sat at separate seats. Cheng Xiran and Chu Liyin sat at one end. Xiao Qi insisted on squeezing next to Helian Duo, leaving Xue Lianyu like a "lonely old man".
"I've brought some excellent pre - rain Longjing tea from home. The water used for brewing the tea is the snow water collected last winter."
As Xiao Qi introduced, she started to brew the tea. Chu Liyin wasn't interested, so she just kept eating the various snacks on the plate in front of her. Xue Lianyu kept shaking his head and couldn't help but remind her. "As a young lady, you should act like one. If you're like this, aren't you afraid of scaring your future husband?"
"Not at all. If he truly loves me, he won't care whether I'm beautiful or not, or whether my eating manners are ugly. He should even find me cute. If not, no matter how much he liked me before, he can just leave."
Cheng Xiran thought Chu Liyin's words made sense, so she nodded slightly to show her approval. "It's really remarkable that Liyin can have such insights at such a young age. I'm sure her future husband won't be an ordinary person."
Chu Liyin was happy to be praised and was about to say more, but was stared down by Xue Lianyu. "Come on. Don't be fooled by her cute and innocent appearance now. When she goes crazy, she can be really rowdy. From my years of experience, girls like her will basically scare people away."
With a "snap", a sweet osmanthus cake hit Xue Lianyu's head precisely, knocking his jade hairpin askew.
Chu Liyin giggled, and Cheng Xiran felt much happier just listening to her.
Xiao Qi carefully peeled the lychees for Helian Duo... The few remaining lychees were snatched from in front of Chu Liyin when the latter wasn't looking. But no one noticed this subtle action.
Chu Liyin wanted to complain but found she had no reasonable argument, so she gave up and just ate the other snacks silently.
"This must be quite rare. You should have a taste too."
Xiao Qi held out the peeled lychee in front of Helian Duo, looking at him tenderly.
But Helian Duo wasn't in the mood. He just wanted to confirm one thing, a very important thing.