Font Size:
Chen Feng and the children had finished eating, while Chu Lingxuan and the old Marquis were still drinking.
After leaving the table, the children played in the courtyard with the animals, and Chen Feng sat under the eaves, watching them.
The lively sounds from Luyuan seemed to be even louder than those here. It appeared that everyone from the main house, except for Chen Gui and his wife, had gone to Luyuan for dinner.
These days, grandma Chen spent almost every evening dining at Luyuan, and Chen Ye and Mrs. Hu also spent a good portion of their time there. They enjoyed having dinner under the trees in the courtyard, as it was both cool and spacious, and the sounds of their conversations and laughter could be heard from a distance.
Upon hearing the commotion, Chen Ye thought about Chen Ming’s grain shop in the county and started considering opening a shop of their own. He felt that the Second branch and the Third branch were already very wealthy, and if they didn’t work harder, the gap between them would only widen further…
Chen Feng was grateful that she could live independently. Being intertwined with everyone else was truly exhausting.
After the two men finished their meal, the old Marquis returned to Tangyuan first, while Chu Lingxuan continued to play with Chu Hanyan and Chu Lingzhi, who hadn’t had enough fun. As the children ran toward the backyard, Chen Feng and Chu Lingxuan followed them.
The children went straight to the playground, and Chu Lingxuan kept walking forward, prompting Chen Feng to follow.
Arriving at the wall, they saw the cucumber vines covered in yellow flowers, with many finger-sized cucumbers growing abundantly.
Chu Lingxuan stopped and said with a smile, “You not only nurture people, but also flowers, vegetables, and fruits.”
Chen Feng laughed at his words, glanced at him, and jokingly said, “You really know how to flatter people. I wonder if that “nurturing people” includes you and the old Marquis.”
Chu Lingxuan chuckled, “Of course it does. My grandfather’s complexion has become rosier, and I’ve become fairer.”
He certainly wasn’t modest. Chen Feng laughed, “Mr. Chu’s skin wasn’t dark to begin with.”
Seeing her smiling with a twinkle in her eyes, Chu Lingxuan’s face showed a slight blush. He earnestly said, “I’m telling the truth. My colleagues all say I’ve become fairer as I’ve grown older. I didn’t believe it at first, but after specifically checking in the glass mirror, it’s true, I’ve become much fairer.”
The “glass mirror” was emphasized.
Chen Feng chuckled. He was usually quite serious, but sometimes his words were quite amusing. Of course, she didn’t want others to speculate about anything different about herself. She explained with a smile, “It’s not that I can nurture people, I just put a little more thought into cooking. Also, being in a good mood is beneficial for the skin.”
Chu Lingxuan reached out and took Chen Feng’s hands, holding them in his palms as he said, “Yes, that’s true. Since I met you, my mood has improved a lot. You don’t know, before I met you, I hadn’t smiled happily for many years.”
Chen Feng blushed and turned her head to the side.
Chu Lingxuan saw her jet-black hair, her beautiful little face, and her rosy lips so close to him. His breath deepened, and his eyes became even warmer. It was the first time in his life that he had looked at a woman this way, the first time his heart had raced so fast. Even though he had been married and had a daughter, he had never been affectionate with a woman.
He had the impulse to lower his head and kiss her on the lips. But it was still daylight, and it wouldn’t be good for her reputation if someone saw them. Moreover, he didn’t want the children to see. So, he thought about kissing her on the cheek, just a quick one, to resolve the matter…
As he was hesitating and about to lower his head, he was startled by the sound of a bird singing. Looking up, he saw a little swallow perched on a branch, staring at him with a disdainful and urgent gaze. It was the same little swallow that his daughter liked, called Golden Treasure.
Seeing the expression on the little swallow’s face, Chu Lingxuan’s previous tender feelings disappeared completely, and he looked at it in a daze.
Golden Treasure became even more upset and began scolding loudly, “Chirp chirp chirp chirp, ah chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp…”
Chen Feng understood. It was scolding him, “Are you a man? I’ve been supporting you so much, and it turns out you’re all talk and no action. It’s at this point, and you don’t know to hold the leading lady and give her a deep kiss. Instead, you’re hesitating and not making a move. I’ve seen so many leading men, and you’re the most useless. Really, what kind of leading man are you? It’s so frustrating. No, I need to go back to the mountains and find a tricolor ball just in case…”
Chu Lingxuan didn’t understand its words, so he watched it inexplicably as it screeched fiercely at him and then flew off into the sky.
Chen Feng couldn’t help but burst into laughter. Both the man and the bird were silly and lovable.
She had thought that Chu Lingxuan might have kissed her in that situation. She didn’t know what he was hesitating about, but he had managed to irritate Golden Treasure, who especially wanted to see a love scene.
Looking at Chu Lingxuan’s blushing face, she realized that even though this man had been married and had a daughter, the woman he married under those circumstances probably wouldn’t be very close to him. With the family incident in his youth, he likely had no inclination for romance.
Chen Feng not only felt somewhat sympathetic towards him.
Chu Lingxuan, however, felt a bit embarrassed and somewhat indignant, whispering, “Stop laughing.”
Seeing Chen Feng immediately stifling her laughter, Chu Lingxuan felt restless again. Just as he was about to release her hand and straighten up to look behind, he heard Chu Hanyan’s voice, “Father, Auntie, what are you doing? Are you playing hide and seek?”
Startled, Chu Lingxuan quickly released Chen Feng’s hand, stood up straight, and looked behind him. Chu Hanyan, Dabao, and Chu Lingzhi were standing under the banana tree, watching them.
“Uh, well… yes.” Chu Lingxuan replied.
Chen Feng glanced at the dejected Chu Lingxuan and felt sorry for the poor guy. It seemed that there was always someone interfering whenever he tried to make a move.
She walked over and held Chu Hanyan’s hand, saying, “Yes, we wanted to hide quietly to see if you could find us. But before we could hide properly, you found us.”
Chu Hanyan was delighted to hear this and said, “Brother is very capable. He asked me to come here to find you.” She immediately exposed Dabao.
Chu Lingzhi scoffed and said, “Naive. You believe everything. When we were on the border grasslands, my parents often said they were playing hide and seek or practicing boxing. Sometimes they even practiced wrestling, but that wasn’t the case at all.”
Dabao was quite interested and asked, “What was happening then?”
Chu Lingzhi shrugged and said, “I was carried away by a servant and didn’t know what was going on.”
By now, it was completely dark, and neither of them had any more such thoughts, so they led the children back to the front yard.
Chen Feng stood at the door, holding Dabao’s hand and watching the trio walk towards Tangyuan. When they reached the willow tree, they all stopped, turned around, and Chu Hanyan and Chu Lingzhi waved their arms. However, Dabao didn’t wave his arms as enthusiastically as before, he just raised his hand half-heartedly.
Chen Feng sighed helplessly and stood for a while. When they turned and walked away, she led Dabao back inside.
Inside the main house, she sat with Dabao in her arms, thinking that she needed to have another talk with the child.