Chapter 136: Chapter 122, Stubborn Yan Wenkai_1
Xiao Yeyang led a group of people from the back mountain with a hubbub, immediately attracting the attention of the surrounding tourists. Ordinary people didn’t dare to approach, but some from aristocratic and official families were not afraid.
Among them, a few were acquainted with the Dong, Su, and Zhou Families, and as soon as they saw Dong Yuanxuan, Su Hongxin, and Zhou Chengye, they immediately went up to greet them.
Xiao Yeyang walked at the forefront, completely ignoring these people with an unwavering gaze, heading straight toward the mountain stairs. With his demeanor, no one dared to approach.
Daohua, being close, could make out the impatience hidden between his brows.
Interacting with people was already a taxing affair, and if they had ulterior motives, it would be even more mentally exhausting.
Daohua could quite understand Xiao Yeyang.
If she had to deal with people crowding around her every day, she guessed she would quickly become a shut-in.
Daohua, holding onto Zhou Jingwan, followed closely behind Xiao Yeyang, protected by Yan Wenkai and Wentao.
“Why are you looking around?” Daohua reminded Zhou Jingwan.
“Why?”
Daohua explained in a low voice, “If you see someone you know and they come up to greet you, then say they want to join us, would you agree or not?”
Now was not the time for them to be out enjoying themselves alone; Xiao Yeyang had made it clear that he disliked disturbances, so it was best for them to keep a low profile.
Zhou Jingwan immediately averted her gaze; she had just seen a familiar young lady waving at her. Glancing at the silent Xiao Yeyang and shrinking back a little, she certainly didn’t dare to annoy this master.
The young lady would have to have her fun on her own!
Soon, the group arrived at the mountain stairs.
At that moment, many tourists were climbing the mountain.
Xiao Yeyang didn’t do anything domineering like ordering his bodyguards to block the path; he arrived at the foot of the stairs and looked towards Daohua and Zhou Jingwan, “All right, we start from here, we’ll give you a fifteen-minute head start.”
Yan Wenkai said with a grin, “Big sister, you’d better hurry, I won’t go easy on you later.”
Dong Yuanxuan, having just escaped the crowd, overheard this and couldn’t help but tap his own head with his fan.
Among so many people, likely only this one was actually treating the mountain climb as a competition.
Competing with young girls, how shameless is he?!
“Let’s go!”
Daohua ignored her second brother, and seeing more and more people paying attention to them, she began to climb upwards, pulling Zhou Jingwan with her.
“Daohua, are we really competing against them?” Zhou Jingwan was fretful; she was active and her physique was better than other young ladies, but when it came to comparing herself to her martially trained brothers, she felt timid.
Daohua replied, “Just think of it as a game to pass the time. Otherwise, it’s going to be really boring just staying in the back mountain with such a large group!”
Zhou Jingwan nodded in agreement, then said with enthusiasm, “Daohua, let’s you and I have a competition!” She didn’t dare to compete with her brothers, but it was okay amongst sisters.
Daohua smiled, “Alright!”
Behind them, Xiao Yeyang saw that Daohua and Zhou Jingwan’s figures had quickly disappeared from view and chuckled, “They’re not slow!”
Yan Wenkai was eager to try, “Don’t worry, once we start, we’ll catch up in no time.”
Xiao Yeyang didn’t say anything in response, but Dong Yuanxuan and the others all looked up at the sky, and Yan Wenxiu let out a sigh. His brother took everything too seriously!
While waiting, some well-informed people heard that Xiao Yeyang and his group were competing in a mountain climbing race and gathered around, saying they wanted to join.
Such matters were always ignored by Xiao Yeyang; Dong Yuanxuan handled these affairs.
Dong Yuanxuan glanced at Xiao Yeyang and, seeing that he was only concerned with timing and kept looking up the mountain, knew he didn’t mind, so he smiled, “Sure, everyone together; the more, the merrier. Just be mindful of safety.”
Upon hearing this, even some of the young ladies joined in.
“Yihuan, let’s go too!”
Bi Lan wanted to pull Yan Yihuan toward the mountain ladder.
Yan Yihuan, always remembering what Daohua had said about being brave enough to say no to things she disliked and didn’t want to do, shook her head, “Sister Qian, you go with the other ladies, I can’t climb.”
“This…”
Seeing Yan Yihuan’s clear reluctance, Bi Lan knew better than to insist and suppressed her own desire to participate, smiling, “If little sister isn’t going, then I won’t go either.”
Her mother had instructed her before to make sure she bonded well with the Yan sisters.
At the first opportunity, she sought to engage the eldest daughter of the Yan family in conversation, but after boarding the boat, she hadn’t had any further chance to interact, so she settled for accompanying Yan Yihuan instead.
Yan Yihuan was sensitive by nature and could see Bi Lan’s reluctance, but since Bi Lan insisted on sticking to her, she didn’t know quite what to say.
Soon, a quarter of an hour had passed, and Xiao Yeyang and the others began to climb the mountain.
In the beginning, no one held back, and everyone climbed with all their might.
Xiao Yeyang and Yan Wenkai were the most enthusiastic, leading at the front.
The two did not spot Daohua and Zhou Jingwan as quickly as they had expected; instead, it took quite a while before they could see the two girls’ figures.
“Your eldest sister is indeed in good shape!”
Yan Wenkai boasted with pride, “Of course, she’s my own sister after all, and her body is as great as mine.” He paused for a moment, then added, “It’s just my older brother, he only loves studying, never took the time to train properly. Of the three of us siblings, he’s the weakest.”
Xiao Yeyang gave him a sideways glance, “Your older brother is a scholar, and you practice martial arts, how can you compare?”
Yan Wenkai retorted with a question, “And what about my eldest sister? She’s a woman, isn’t she?”
Xiao Yeyang was momentarily speechless, then he looked up to see Daohua, who had left Zhou Jingwan behind by a distance, smiled, and said, “She’s different, she ought to be this energetic.” After that, he quickened his pace again.
As time passed, the number of people on the mountain ladder began to dwindle.
The young lords and ladies who were determined to get closer to Xiao Yeyang, unable to sustain their physical strength, gave up midway.
After chasing for a while, Xiao Yeyang quickly surpassed Zhou Jingwan, who was sitting on the mountain ladder, catching her breath.
Zhou Jingwan looked ahead to Daohua, not too far in front, shook her head and said, “We lost!” Then she looked resentfully at Dong Yuanxuan and several others who were climbing up one after another.
“You guys won’t even let us win!”
Yan Wenkai passed Zhou Jingwan without stopping, “This is a competition, how could we just let you win? If people knew we lost to two young ladies, would we have any face left?”
Hearing this, Dong Yuanxuan could no longer hold back, caught up with Yan Wenkai, and slung an arm around his neck.
“Hey, Brother Dong, what are you doing? I have to chase after my elder sister!”
That was exactly why Dong Yuanxuan had grabbed him.
Out of breath, Dong Yuanxuan said, “Brother Yan, I can’t climb anymore, help me for a bit! As for your elder sister, the Little Prince is with her.”
Behind them, Zhou Chengye and Yan Wenxiu saw Dong Yuanxuan clinging to Yan Wenkai and couldn’t mask the schadenfreude on their faces.
Bringing up the rear, Yan Wentao saw Zhou Jingwan sitting on the mountain ladder, thought for a moment, then stopped, choosing not to climb and to stay by her side instead.
“Why aren’t you climbing anymore?” Zhou Jingwan asked, tilting her head to look at Yan Wentao.
Yan Wentao was silent for a moment, “There are fewer people on the mountain, and you are only with a maid… I’d better stay with you.”
Upon hearing this, Zhou Jingwan was immediately touched beyond measure, “Thank you, Third Brother Yan. You’re so much better than my big brother. Look at him, climbing up by himself, he didn’t even think to look after me!”
The accused Zhou Chengye sneezed, looked back at his sister, and seeing that Yan Wentao and the Little Prince’s bodyguard, as well as their own servants, were there, continued climbing without concern.