But she still took it perfunctorily, tasted one and then put it down. "You can eat them yourself. Don't mind me."
"You've always taken care of me when I was little. Now that I finally have the chance, can't you just take a break and let me take care of you for a while?"
Oh, this was really too mushy. Cheng Xiran felt like she could hardly stand it.
Helian Duo pretended to go along with it, but his eyes flitted towards Cheng Xiran sitting opposite from time to time.
Xiao Qi got no response from Helian Duo, so her face naturally looked a bit ugly. Suddenly, the atmosphere became rather delicate. Even Chu Liyin noticed it and ate much more quietly.
To liven up the atmosphere, Xue Lianyu reached out for the lychees in Xiao Qi's hand and joked, "Xiao Qi, anyway, you and I grew up together. I've only seen you being so nice to that blockhead, but never to me."
The attention on herself satisfied Xiao Qi, and she couldn't help talking more. "I'm afraid it's not my turn to be nice to you. There are always beautiful women around you. Why should you care about me?"
Cheng Xiran didn't really care what they were saying. All she saw was that the lotus flowers had all withered, and the lotus leaves were also decaying. Although it was still a view, it somehow lacked a bit of vitality. So she felt a bit dejected.
Helian Duo followed her gaze and initiated a conversation with her. "Do you like the scene of a lake full of lotus flowers?"
Seeing that she just nodded without saying a word, Helian Duo continued, "If we had come half a month earlier, the lake would still be full of lotus flowers. But now it's impossible. We'll have to wait until next summer."
Cheng Xiran just let out a soft "hmm". In Xue Lianyu's eyes, it seemed that she didn't really want to talk to Helian Duo.
Xiao Qi seized the opportunity to chime in. "If Miss Cheng likes lotus flowers, there's a pond of them in my mansion. My father spent a lot of effort nurturing them and has been taking good care of them all the time, fearing they might wither or get sick. So they still haven't completely withered and should last for more than half a month."
"Miss Xiao is being too polite. Such a precious thing cherished by your father, how could I dare to desecrate it?"
Cheng Xiran was very polite to her. For some reason, she always felt that today was not a good day for her, so she had to restrain her temper. From time to time, some fragments of the original owner's memories would flash through her mind, intermittent ones, and they became even more intense after coming to Yue Lake. She always felt that something bad was going to happen to her here today.
So she was extremely cautious.
Seeing this, Xiao Qi didn't say anything more. After all, that pond of lotus flowers was really her father's cherished possession. Even some of the ministers who were on good terms with him in the court couldn't get a chance to see them, let alone a mere eldest daughter of the Cheng family.
So Xiao Qi's words were just for politeness. Cheng Xiran knew it well. If it weren't for not feeling well and not wanting to bother today, she would have readily agreed just to see Xiao Qi's embarrassment and how she would explain herself.
"Then Miss Cheng, if you're free some time, remember to come to my mansion. I'd be very happy to have you."
After Xiao Qi said this, Chu Liyin rolled her eyes silently. She just couldn't stand Xiao Qi's false and hypocritical look.
Everyone present had their own thoughts, except for the innocent Chu Liyin and the care - free Xue Lianyu.
After sitting there for a while longer, the wind picked up. It blew through Cheng Xiran's clothes and ruffled her hair.