Chapter 317: Chapter 297, _1
Provincial Port.
The Li Family were saying farewell to the siblings of the Yan Family.
Li Xingchang said to Yan Wenxiu, “Your father has just assumed office in Ningmen Prefecture and this period is the busiest, so we won’t come to disturb you. Once you have settled down, we will come to offer our congratulations.”
In another area, Fan Family, Jian Family and the sisters Li Zixuan and Li Zixin were also bidding farewell to Daohua.
“Who knows when we will be able to see each other again after this departure?”
Seeing Li Zixin looking reluctant to part, Daohua immediately comforted her, “It won’t be too long. I will definitely have the audacity to visit when Sister Zixuan gets married.”
While speaking, she teased Li Zixuan with a smile, “Sister Zixuan will stay at home to embroider her wedding dress, but you, Sister Zixin, won’t need to. Once I have settled the courtyard, you can come to Ningmen Prefecture to play with me.”
Li Zixin nodded her head repeatedly, “Yes, yes!”
Fan Family glanced at her daughter with a smile, “What good? Aren’t you afraid of disturbing your aunt and uncle if you go there?”
Daohua laughed and said, “If Sister Zixin comes to stay with me, how could she disturb my father and mother? Aunt, please be reassured.”
Seeing how close Daohua and her daughter were, Fan Family looked relieved on her face.
If it weren’t for the concern that the Yan Family might have opinions, she also wished her daughter could spend more time in the Yan Family, not to mention anything else, just learning more etiquette and manners would benefit her daughter for a lifetime.
Last year, Zixuan and Zixin stayed at the Yan Family for a few months, and when they returned, they visibly became steadier and more reserved.
The upbringing of this scholarly family was indeed a bit better than that of their merchant family.
At that moment, Li Zixin exclaimed in surprise, pulling at Daohua’s sleeve and whispering into her ear, “The Little Prince and his entourage are coming over.”
Daohua turned her head and saw indeed that Xiao Yeyang and Dong Yuanxuan were approaching.
“Aunt, Second Aunt, I’ll board the ship first then. I’ll come to bother you another day,” Daohua said.
Fan Family laughed, “You silly girl, what formalities are you speaking of? There’s no such thing as bothering or not bothering. Whenever you miss your uncle and aunt, just come over.”
Daohua nodded with a smile, curtsied to the two, and then boarded the ship with Wang Manman and Guyu.
Seeing this, Xiao Yeyang not far away: “….”
Dong Yuanxuan and Zhou Chengye exchanged a furtive glance as they sniggered.
The Little Prince had managed to irritate Miss Yan this time.
When Li Xingchang and others saw Xiao Yeyang and his entourage, they immediately greeted them with a smile.
Seeing the Little Prince’s stern face, Yan Wenxiu felt somewhat of a headache. He turned his head to glance at the cabin where even the windows had been closed; Big Sister really didn’t want to see the Little Prince, did she?
Xiao Yeyang stared at the cabin, taking several deep breaths, but still couldn’t suppress the irritation in his heart.
It was Daohua who spoke out of turn and annoyed him yesterday, wasn’t it?
Now he had actively come over to make peace, and yet she dared to show him attitude!
Did she really think he wouldn’t get angry?
Hmph!
The more Xiao Yeyang thought about it, the angrier he became. He almost wished to rush onboard to have it out with Daohua, but he took a step forward and pulled back again.
It wasn’t his fault; he had no intention of indulging her, lest she increasingly take him for granted in the future.
With this thought, he flung his sleeves and left without greeting the others, striding away with De Fu by his side.
Seeing this, members of the Li Family were somewhat perplexed.
Concerned that his uncle and aunt would worry, Yan Wenxiu forced a smile, “It’s nothing. The Little Prince and my big sister are just joking.”
With Dong Yuanxuan and others present, Li Xingchang found it inappropriate to say more, so he nodded and smiled, “It’s getting late. You’d better be on your way.”
After bidding farewell to Dong Yuanxuan and others, Yan Wenxiu boarded the ship.
Inside the cabin, Wang Manman had been watching the situation on shore. Seeing Xiao Yeyang leave with a swish of his sleeves, she immediately turned to Daohua and said, “Miss, the Little Prince has left angrily.”
Daohua snorted, “Let him leave if he wants to. Who cares if he came to say goodbye or not?”
Watching their young lady rattling the teacup noisily, Wang Manman and Guyu exchanged helpless glances.
The boat soon started to slowly move away.
As the boat became a distant sight, the Li Family prepared to make their way back home, and Dong Yuanxuan along with others also prepared to leave. After bidding each other farewell, they went their separate ways.
Once aboard the carriage, Li Zixin spoke softly to Li Zixuan, “I didn’t expect it to be as the Zhou Family girl said; just now, looking at the Little Prince’s face, it seemed like he was quite upset by Cousin Yiyi.”
Fan Shi asked, “What happened? Did Daohua offend the Little Prince?”
Li Zixin shook her head, “It’s not that Cousin offended the Little Prince, but the Little Prince who offended Cousin.”
After thinking for a moment, Li Zixuan vocalized her concerns, “Auntie, Mother, doesn’t the Little Prince treat Cousin a bit too kindly?”
Fan Shi and Jian Shi exchanged glances.
After a moment’s thought, Fan Shi spoke, “Don’t talk rubbish with your cousin. I’ve taken a good look at that girl. She’s only concerned with playing and making money, and she hasn’t even thought about such things.”
“If you blurt out these things to her out of the blue, when there was nothing there to begin with, you might just end up putting ideas into her head. The trouble with people is getting too involved; once something’s on their mind, it can’t be easily cast aside.”
Li Zixuan quickly replied, “I won’t speak recklessly.” After saying that, she looked toward Li Zixin.
Li Zixin nodded in agreement, “I won’t talk about it either, but isn’t it good that the Little Prince is kind to Cousin Yiyi?”
Sensing her daughter’s clueless expression, Fan Shi smiled and shook her head, “Daohua is a free spirit; when it comes to marriage, her aunt and uncle definitely will not force her into anything. She is only twelve this year, and there are still three years until her coming-of-age ceremony,”
…
After leaving the provincial dock, Daohua stepped out of the cabin and disinterestedly admired the scenery along both banks of the river.
At that moment, Yan Wenxiu approached her.
Seeing her elder brother, Daohua didn’t need to guess what he was going to say and preemptively spoke, “Big Brother, don’t start with me. It was Xiao Yeyang who pulled a long face at me first.”
As she spoke, she paused and raised her voice slightly.
“Moreover, this is already the second time he has shown me a long face in front of everyone. Does he think I don’t have a temper?”
Yan Wenxiu internally retorted.
Of course, you have a temper, and quite a strong one at that.
Yan Wenxiu sighed, “Yes, the Little Prince does have a bit of a bad temper, but he specially came to see us off today. For you to walk away without saying a word, that was rather impolite.”
Daohua replied, “Well, I learned it from him. Why is it that he can show me a long face whenever something doesn’t please him, and I can’t?”
Yan Wenxiu felt a weary resignation, “Didn’t the Little Prince apologize to you of his own accord?”
Daohua retorted, “Just because he apologized, I have to accept it? Just because his status is prestigious, does that mean I have to indulge him? That’s not reasonable!”
At this, Yan Wenxiu was at a loss for words.
Yan Wenkai saw his elder brother at a disadvantage and couldn’t help but feel smug. He walked out with his head held high and shot Yan Wenxiu a ‘look at him’ glance, “Big Sister, the Little Prince indeed deserves a lesson. One time could be overlooked, but how could he repeatedly cause you to lose face?”
Daohua nodded, “Exactly!”
Yan Wenkai added, “But as the sage said, to know your faults and to correct them is the greatest virtue. Why don’t you give the Little Prince another chance? You can’t just stop interacting with him over such a trivial matter, right?”
Daohua glared, “What do you mean trivial? This is a major issue, a matter of principle! Xiao Yeyang always shows me a long face and walks away, which means he has never truly respected me nor cared about my feelings and the possible situations I could face.”
“Last time at old Master Zhou’s birthday feast, when he showed me a long face and left, how many rumors did I have to endure?”
“This time, thankfully there were many people from the Temple of the Flower God. Otherwise, I would’ve become the laughing stock of the whole province after the fact.”
“Tell me, what’s the use of such a friend?”
Yan Wenkai was speechless and turned to look at Yan Wenxiu.
Yan Wenxiu shrugged his shoulders.
Daohua became even more incensed as she spoke, “If we don’t associate, then we don’t associate. In this world, who can’t live without whom!”
No sooner had she finished speaking than she heard the sound of a boat’s horn from behind.
Daohua leaned on the railing of the boat, stretching her neck to look back and saw a pleasure boat chasing after them. Standing on the top deck was none other than Xiao Yeyang.
Seeing Xiao Yeyang catching up, Daohua’s anger dissipated like water breaching a dam, and the corners of her mouth involuntarily curled upwards.
