Chapter 537: Chapter 495, Snatching Sister_1
“Ah, I’m exhausted; I can’t do this anymore!”
After battling for half an hour, Daohua was so tired she could barely catch her breath and plopped down in the snow. Xiao Yeyang and both Yan Wentao and Yan Wenkai were not much better, all of them breathing heavily.
Xiao Yeyang rested for a while and once his breathing evened out, walked over to Daohua, took her hand, and pulled her up: “The ground is cold; don’t freeze yourself.”
Daohua waved her hand dismissively: “No, I’m quite warm right now.”
Seeing the fine sweat on Daohua’s forehead, Xiao Yeyang took out a handkerchief, carefully wiped her clean, and then straightened her cloak. He took her hand and turned toward Yan Wentao and Yan Wenkai, “Let’s go inside and sit.”
After saying that, he led Daohua down the alley toward the back door.
Yan Wenkai and Yan Wentao exchanged glances and quickly followed them.
On their way, Xiao Yeyang looked at the three of them and asked, “These past days, you’ve been coming over to look for me every day; is there something going on?”
Yan Wenkai immediately clamored, “And you’ve got the nerve to ask! You vanish without a word, making us search high and low for you.”
Xiao Yeyang glanced at Yan Wenkai and Yan Wentao and, seeing no particular expression on their faces, the light in his eyes flickered slightly. It seemed that they were unaware of what had happened and were probably just worried about him.
Considering this, Xiao Yeyang’s mood lightened a bit and then he turned to Daohua, “And you, climbing over the wall to my house in the middle of winter, what’s that all about?”
Daohua glared at him and huffed, “My body was getting stiff; I needed to move around a bit, okay?”
Xiao Yeyang laughed softly and tightened his grip on her tender hand, “As long as you’re happy.”
Seeing Xiao Yeyang’s lighter expression, the corners of Daohua’s mouth also rose involuntarily.
Soon, the four of them entered through the back door.
Instead of leading Daohua and the others to the main guest courtyard, Xiao Yeyang took them directly to the courtyard where he usually resided.
De Fu had already returned to the room ahead of them; by the time the four arrived, a charcoal brazier had been well lit inside.
Upon entering the room, Daohua immediately felt a wave of warm air wash over her. She was already a bit warm from the activity, and now inside the room, she felt even hotter. She conveniently took off her cloak.
Xiao Yeyang reached out to take it from her and hung it up on the coat rack himself.
Yan Wenkai also removed his cloak and handed it to De Fu, then looked at Xiao Yeyang, “Little Prince, where have you been these past few days?”
Xiao Yeyang glanced at him and after a moment of silence, replied, “Nowhere much, just wandering around the outskirts of Beijing.”
Yan Wenkai: “What’s there to see in the outskirts of Beijing?” After hesitating, he added, “Little Prince, have you run into some kind of trouble?”
Xiao Yeyang furrowed his brows but did not answer.
Seeing him like this, Yan Wenkai quickly said, “If there really is something, you have to let me and Third Brother know. No matter what, Wentao and I can still offer some help.”
Yan Wentao also spoke up, “We’re both on your side.”
Xiao Yeyang raised his eyes to look at them and, seeing the sincerity and concern in their eyes, smiled, “Don’t worry, there really isn’t anything wrong.”
Daohua, while holding her cup of tea, observed the expressions of the three men and, seeing that the room had fallen into silence, put down her teacup, “Xiao Yeyang, do you have something to eat here? I’m starving.”
Before Xiao Yeyang could reply, De Fu eagerly stepped forward, “Yes, yes, yes, what would Miss Yan like to eat? Seeing that it’s getting late, why don’t you stay and have dinner here?”
Daohua nodded with a smile, “Sure, I haven’t eaten anything since I left home this morning. Tell the cooks to make some extra stew. It’s so cold today, we should have some warm soup to heat up the stomach.”
De Fu nodded hastily, “Alright, I’ll go and instruct them right away.”
The master hadn’t eaten much these past days; Miss Yan really is considerate, knowing that the master needs to eat more broth now to replenish his body.
Watching De Fu leave, Xiao Yeyang sat next to Daohua and asked, “Is your hand completely healed?”
Daohua raised her right hand and moved it around, “It’s been healed for a while.”
Xiao Yeyang: “Did it leave any scars?”
Daohua: “No, you obtained such precious Ice Muscle Paste for me, how could there be any scars?”
Xiao Yeyang smiled, “Good, that’s good.”
Daohua glanced at Xiao Yeyang, not daring to ask about the situation in Beijing, so she looked for another topic, “How good is your cook? I hope the meals he makes are tasty.”
Xiao Yeyang smiled and said, “You’ll find out soon enough, when you taste it. If you don’t like it, I’ll replace him.”
Daohua, “Why replace him? Whether I like it or not doesn’t matter. I don’t come here often anyway, as long as you enjoy the food, that’s what’s important.”
Xiao Yeyang, “If you don’t like it, that’s a mistake.”
Er…
Daohua didn’t know what to say anymore.
On the side, Yan Wenkai, who was silently drinking tea, watched the interaction between the two with a probing look and nudged Yan Wentao with his elbow, “Hey, third brother, don’t you think the Little Prince is being too nice to big sister?”
Hearing this, Yan Wentao was quite speechless and gave him a ‘you finally noticed’ look. Just as he was feeling relieved, he heard Yan Wenkai speak again.
“When the two of them talk, we can’t even get a word in. It’s really annoying.”
“Big sister too, she’s only focusing on the Little Prince and has forgotten about us two brothers. Her elbow is bent too far outwards.”
Yan Wentao sighed and didn’t respond.
After a while, Defu returned.
“Master, the meal is ready. Where should we place it?”
Xiao Yeyang, “Just set it up in the parlor next door.” With that, he stood up, naturally took Daohua’s hand, and led her to the parlor next door.
Yan Wenkai hurriedly followed, staring round-eyed at their clasped hands. Then he quickly stepped forward, wedged himself between the two, and forcibly separated their hands.
Looking at his empty hand, Xiao Yeyang glared at Yan Wenkai.
However, to his surprise, Yan Wenkai’s eyes were even wider, and he looked accusatory, “Little Prince, men and women should not touch hands; you can’t pull my sister’s hand like that.”
He then turned to Daohua, “Big sister, although the Little Prince is close to our family, he is a man from outside, not like me and third brother. You can’t let him hold your hand.”
He had the look of a worried father looking after his naive daughter.
Behind them, Yan Wentao looked on and couldn’t help but give Yan Wenkai a thumbs up.
The fourth brother is really something!
“Ahem~”
Seeing Xiao Yeyang’s fiery gaze, Daohua coughed awkwardly twice and headed straight to the dining table, “I’m hungry, let’s sit down and eat.”
Xiao Yeyang took a deep breath, shot Yan Wenkai a harsh look, and sat down to the right of Daohua.
Yan Wenkai followed and sat on Daohua’s left side.
Daohua first served Xiao Yeyang a bowl of Chinese yam and black-bone chicken soup, and after seeing him drink it, she picked up a piece of sweet and sour pork ribs for herself, ready to eat, but then heard her own fourth brother mutter.
“Big sister, how come you’re only serving soup for the Little Prince?”
Daohua’s face stiffened and she awkwardly said, “I forgot, here, let me serve you.”
As Daohua put down her chopsticks to serve the soup, Xiao Yeyang, displeased, glared at Yan Wenkai. Just as he was about to say something, he saw Daohua look over with a warning in her eyes, and he had to lower his head and take another gulp of soup.
After that, Daohua would occasionally pick up some dishes for Xiao Yeyang with her chopsticks, making sure he ate before she could relax.
After the meal, it was already 5:00 PM. Seeing the sky gradually darken, Yan Wentao said, “Little Prince, it’s getting late. We should be heading back.”
Xiao Yeyang glanced at Daohua, nodded his head, got up to fetch her cloak, and then personally draped it over Daohua, tying the sash, “Let’s go, I’ll walk you out.”
Just as he was about to reach for Daohua’s hand, Yan Wenkai abruptly pulled her away, leaving Xiao Yeyang grasping at air.
“Big sister, let’s go.”
With that, Yan Wenkai started walking out, pulling Daohua along with him.