Chapter 406: Chapter 382, Petty_1
Defu and Wang Manman returned with lotus flowers in hand, only to find Daohua and Xiao Yeyang still the only two in the pavilion.
Daohua took the lotus flowers from Wang Manman and played with them while looking out, “Why haven’t they come back yet?”
Xiao Yeyang smiled and said, “Everyone is out to enjoy themselves, naturally they want to have fun to their heart’s content.” As he spoke, his gaze lingered on the lotus flowers in Daohua’s hand for a moment before he quickly stood up, grabbed Daohua’s hand, and walked out.
“Xiao Yeyang, what craziness are you up to now?” Daohua struggled to pull her hand away, but Xiao Yeyang held her fast, leaving her no choice but to follow him out of the pavilion.
As Xiao Yeyang walked her out, he said, “You must be bored sitting in the pavilion, right? Your lotus flowers were picked in the morning and have started to wither. Let me take you to pick some fresh ones.”
After he spoke, he turned, took the lotus from Daohua’s hands, handed it to Defu, and then pulled Daohua towards the wooden boat at the shore.
Soon, the two of them arrived at the wooden boat.
Gazing at the boat, Daohua remembered what had happened with Xiao Yeyang on the boat previously and felt reluctant to get on, “I don’t want to ride the boat anymore.”
Xiao Yeyang looked at Daohua and, seeing her reluctance, thought for a moment, “Then I’ll go pick some for you, and you can watch from the shore.”
Daohua nodded.
Xiao Yeyang let go of Daohua’s hand, taking Defu with him onto the wooden boat.
“Do you want the ones in full bloom or the ones still in buds?”
“Either is fine.”
“How about this one?”
“That one’s too big. I want a smaller one.”
“Didn’t you say either was fine?”
“Since you’re asking me to choose, I definitely have to pick one.”
“How about this one? The bud hasn’t opened at all. If you put it in a vase, it will surely last for several days.”
“That’s fine.”
When Yan Wenkai returned with Su Shiyu, they saw Daohua standing alone on the shore, craning her neck to look at the lotus pond, occasionally pointing.
Upon hearing the rippling of water, Daohua quickly turned her head and saw a flat boat slowly emerge from the lotus leaves, with her fourth elder brother standing and rowing, while Su Shiyu sat quietly facing him. Both looked towards her.
One with a beaming grin, the other with a gently pursed smile. Even though there was no interaction between the two, Daohua felt the scene was as beautiful as an ink wash painting.
“You’ve finally decided to come back!”
Seeing Daohua’s bright smile, Su Shiyu felt somewhat shy and dared not look directly into her eyes.
Yan Wenkai, as if nothing was amiss, jovially asked out loud, “Why are you alone? Where are the others?”
Daohua glanced back and forth between the two, then pointed towards the lotus leaves, “One is in there.”
Yan Wenkai secured the wooden boat and then carefully helped Su Shiyu onto the shore before walking with a handful of lotus seeds towards Daohua, “Big sister, look! Shiyu and I picked so many lotus seeds.”
Daohua chuckled as she glanced at Su Shiyu and then at the lotus seeds wrapped in lotus leaves, teasing, “How could you not? Didn’t you see how long you two were out?”
At that, Su Shiyu’s cheeks reddened slightly, and she quickly ran to Daohua’s side, tugging at her arm and swiftly changing the subject, “Where’s Yuanyao?”
Daohua replied, “She went horse racing with Elder Brother Su.” Then she pouted, “Both of you, you clearly said you’d come back soon to find me, but when I woke up from my nap, every one of you was gone.”
Shiyu shook Daohua’s arm, “Dear sister, it’s my fault. I was so engrossed in picking lotus seeds and admiring the lotus scenery that I forgot the time.”
Yan Wenkai quickly added, “Big sister, don’t blame Shiyu. It’s my fault for rowing the boat too far out; it took a lot of time to row back.”
Daohua teased, “Then why did the fourth brother have to row the boat so far out?”
Yan Wenkai opened his eyes and said, “It wasn’t that I wanted to row out; it’s just that the lotus leaves were so dense. As I rowed, I veered off course. It took me a while to find my way back.”
“Since when did your sense of direction become so poor?”
Xiao Yeyang, seated in a wooden boat, emerged from the midst of the lotus leaves, holding a large bunch of lotus flowers in his hands.
Yan Wenkai scratched the back of his head: “I don’t know either, maybe I drank too much today?”
Xiao Yeyang couldn’t help but chuckle, “I think it’s more like something else has dazzled your eyes.”
As these words were spoken, Su Shiyu’s cheeks instantly flushed with redness. Seeing her so embarrassed, Daohua quickly stopped Xiao Yeyang who seemed ready to say more.
“Why so much nonsense? Just hand me those lotus flowers.”
Xiao Yeyang lightly jumped onto the shore and handed the lotus flowers to Daohua. Since there were a dozen or so stems, he couldn’t help but ask, “Can you handle so many?”
Daohua: “Isn’t Manman here as well?” As she spoke, she divided the lotus flowers in Xiao Yeyang’s hands into two halves, giving one half to Wang Manman to hold and keeping the other half for herself.
Su Shiyu leaned in to have a look and said with a smile, “These lotus flowers are blooming so beautifully. May I have one?”
Daohua, who had been sniffing the fragrance of the lotus flowers, paused and slightly moved the flowers away, struggling to say, “Sister Su, if you like these, let my fourth brother pluck some for you. I don’t have many myself.”
Su Shiyu did not expect Daohua to refuse and was somewhat taken aback.
Yan Wenkai couldn’t stand by, “Big sister, when did you become so stingy? Don’t you still have several flowers with Manman? What’s the harm in giving one to Sister Su?”
Daohua immediately cast a sidelong glance at her own fourth brother: “Fourth brother, since when did you start being so generous with other people’s things? If you want to give her one, pick it yourself, don’t use my things to curry favor.”
After saying that, she paid him no more attention and turned her head towards Su Shiyu.
“Sister Su, look, I have my grandmother and my mother at home, and I also need to place a few in my own room. I really don’t have any to spare.”
Su Shiyu looked puzzled: “But we picked lotus flowers together this morning, and there weren’t this many then. You were willing to give some away at that time, so why can’t you…”
At this point, Su Shiyu suddenly stopped speaking and quickly glanced at Xiao Yeyang, who was stretching his body beside her, a look of realization appearing in her eyes.
Daohua immediately said, “The ones from this morning don’t count because I knew that we would pick more later. But now it’s getting late, and we definitely aren’t going to pick any more from the lake.”
Looking at Daohua, who was desperately searching for excuses, Xiao Yeyang’s eyes and face were filled with amusement.
He liked this sort of stinginess from Daohua!
The lotus flowers were carefully selected by him, and for this, he had been bitten by mosquitoes several times in the lake. He was glad that she hadn’t wasted his effort.
At this moment, Dong Yuanyao and others returned, with Yan Wentao among them, carrying two herons in his hands.
“Ah, I had so much fun riding horses today; I must do it again next time.”
Dong Yuanyao dismounted and excitedly shared her horse riding experience with Daohua and Su Shiyu.
“Yiyi, there’s a flat grassland nearby that’s perfect for galloping on horseback. It’s such a pity you didn’t go today. I wanted to come back for you, but I accidentally rode too far, and it seemed too much trouble to ride back, so you’ll just have to go next time.”
“Oh, what did you and Shiyu do this afternoon?”
Upon hearing this, Daohua and Su Shiyu quickly exchanged glances, both not quite wanting to discuss the events of the afternoon.
Su Shiyu tugged at Dong Yuanyao: “We’ve been waiting for you for a while now, and since you’re back, we should be heading home.”
Daohua nodded eagerly, taking back the lotus flowers that Dong Yuanyao had just taken from her hand: “Yes, it’s getting late; we should be going.”
Dong Yuanyao, seeing Daohua snatch away the lotus flowers and attempting to grab them again, was evaded by Daohua, prompting her to exclaim with wide eyes, “Yan Yiyi, it’s just a lotus flower, what are you doing?”