Chapter 375

The green flute was Chen Xiyuan's life-bound object.

She entered the domain with sound, and this flute's enhancement to her own self was very obvious.

Most importantly, the entire Dragon King Chen family could currently only scrape together this one set of materials to make this one.

It was such a treasure that couldn't be replaced for herself and her family, yet Chen girl could still take it out without hesitation and give it to someone.

The meeting gift was a small matter; the big matter was the apology gift.

Li Zhuiyuan knew that Chen Xiyuan wasn't retreating to advance.

She knew the relationship between A-Li and him, and she also knew that he... was truly poor.

To say something inappropriate, taking this to retreat to advance was equivalent to testing a hungry dog with a meat bun.

She really wanted to give it, and was really willing to give it.

Li Zhuiyuan looked down and continued to eat.

This was a gift someone wanted to give to A-Li; it wasn't convenient for him to express an opinion, but his current attitude of non-committal was actually a form of expressing an opinion.

A-Li could understand.

The girl put down her chopsticks and looked at the green flute placed in front of her.

She reached out her hand and covered the green flute, first touching it lightly, then changing to tapping it lightly with her fingertips.

A crisp and pleasant melody came from the flute, melodious and winding.

A-Li was well-versed in music.

In the past, when Grandma Liu lived in the school faculty building with A-Li, there were guqin and guzheng in A-Li's study, and she had played them for the youth.

After returning to Great-grandfather's house, A-Li didn't play anymore, because the morning birds and the cicadas at night in the countryside were natural sounds without any carving.

The smile on Chen Xiyuan's face became more and more brilliant.

As an expert, one could see the whole leopard from a spot.

Chen Xiyuan: "Little sister is worthy of being the old lady's granddaughter; her musical talent is so high!"

Li Zhuiyuan's chewing paused, and then continued.

A-Li's fingertips left the green flute, and her gaze looked at Chen Xiyuan.

Chen Xiyuan thought the gift had been successfully sent, so she picked up her chopsticks, ready to focus on feeding the flock of pigeons in her stomach.

Who knew, just as she picked up a piece of chicken, the green flute was held by a tender, slender hand and placed in front of her.

Chen Xiyuan was stunned.

A-Li lowered her head and continued to eat.

Chen Xiyuan: "Little sister, this is the best thing sister can take out right now."

Li Zhuiyuan spoke: "I just said it, this was a misunderstanding; I told you not to take it to heart."

Chen Xiyuan: "But..."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Only if A-Li doesn't accept it, does it mean A-Li really doesn't blame you."

Chen Xiyuan's lips pouted, a look of distress that she hadn't sent the gift out.

Li Zhuiyuan: "Eat, since you're here, and you're awake, help me do some work in the next few days."

Chen Xiyuan immediately asked eagerly: "Is the work heavy? I don't want light work."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Currently there are three things. First, help me solve an evil spirit; second, help me save two families from fire and water; third, there is a small Daoist arena of mine in the rice field behind the house, and I plan to borrow your domain to help me do some repairs."

Chen Xiyuan looked behind the house and said: "I can repair it tonight."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Repairs need materials; I don't have them on hand right now."

Chen Xiyuan: "Then go to my place to transport them; although it's a bit far."

Li Zhuiyuan: "You might not have the building materials needed for repairs there, so we have to do the second thing first before we can do the third thing."

Chen Xiyuan was thinking about why the second thing would be related to the third thing.

"That, those two families, what kind of fire and water are they in?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "You only need to know that they are deep in fire and water; as for how the fire and water came about, don't ask."

Chen Xiyuan turned her head, the corners of her mouth hooked, her gaze squinting, looking at the youth sitting opposite her.

She understood.

Chen Xiyuan: "You're right; the righteous path of Jianghu has always had the meaning of helping each other; doing righteous deeds, hiding merit and fame!"

Li Zhuiyuan sighed in his heart; probably because of the hangover for several days, Chen girl only finally got through to human nature at this moment.

After unloading the psychological burden, Chen girl began to focus on eating.

The premise of being able to control metabolism was that the body had made storage in advance; she had to replenish it now, and just like that, Chen girl performed a refined gluttony in front of Li Zhuiyuan.

A-Li had divided the meals in advance, and Li Zhuiyuan didn't eat much either; not long after the two finished eating and put down their chopsticks, Chen Xiyuan had eaten the remaining dishes on the table clean by herself.

Then, she bit her chopsticks, blinked her eyes, and looked at the youth:

"That... is there any more?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "No more dishes, but there are steamed buns."

Chen Xiyuan nodded: "I want them, I want them!"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Wait a moment, I'll go heat them for you."

Chen Xiyuan: "I'll do it; I'm fast at burning fire!"

Li Zhuiyuan didn't refuse.

Because Chen Xiyuan helped Runsheng and the others "heart-to-heart" in Luoyang, it led to the "piled up like a mountain" of steamed buns that Liu Yi had steamed for them in advance; in the end, it was still cheaper for the "master" of the three.

Li Zhuiyuan first scooped water into the pot, then put on the steamer, and placed the cold steamed buns on it; one steamer definitely wasn't enough, so he had to keep adding.

Chen Xiyuan sat behind the stove to start the fire, and then stuffed a lot of firewood into the stove hole.

Immediately after, she aimed one end of the green flute at the stove, and blew with the other end.

"Hu! Hu! Hu!"

In an instant, the fire was incomparably fierce; even if the bellows were pulled until they smoked, it wouldn't compare to this effect.

The steamed buns were heated quickly, and Chen Xiyuan moved them out.

Li Zhuiyuan picked up a plate, thought about it, and put it down, picked up a large sea bowl usually used for soup, clamped a lot of pickles into it, and when he walked out of the kitchen, he also carried a thermos.

Under the moonlight, Chen Xiyuan began to gnaw on the steamed buns.

In the end, not a single steamed bun was left, only a little bit of lingering aftertaste after licking her lips.

Chen Xiyuan: "I'm full."

Li Zhuiyuan looked at A-Li and said: "I'll send you to Grandma Liu's house to rest."

A-Li nodded and stood up.

Chen Xiyuan pointed to the east room: "Isn't that empty?"

Li Zhuiyuan looked at Chen Xiyuan.

Chen Xiyuan waved her hands hurriedly: "I'll just find a place to make do for the night; let little sister sleep in the bed."

Li Zhuiyuan: "No need to suffer unnecessarily; besides, you are a guest."

The old couple of the Chen family were old friends of his own old lady; although the family conditions were a bit simple, the decency of entertaining the juniors of old friends was something that should be there.

Chen Xiyuan: "Fine."

Li Zhuiyuan: "The old lady left you two sets of clothes to change; you can take a bath yourself and change."

Chen Xiyuan: "I'll escort you two, and then wash after I come back."

Li Zhuiyuan didn't say anything more, held A-Li's hand, and walked down the flat ground.

There were no street lights in the village, but the feeling the village gave people at night was much brighter than in the city.

The coldness spilled by the moon halo was draped on the ground; Chen Xiyuan walked behind, looking at the youth and girl walking in front holding hands, and unconsciously took out the melon seeds from her pocket again.

While cracking, while spitting.

On both sides of the village road were fields, so there wasn't that much attention to detail.

The pity was that before they reached the destination, the melon seeds in her pocket were finished.

Chen Xiyuan decided that she had to find the sister who left her melon seeds tomorrow morning and ask for more.

The door on the first floor of Cui Cui's house had already been locked from the inside.

Li Zhuiyuan looked up at the balcony and asked A-Li: "How about, go up directly?"

A-Li nodded.

Li Zhuiyuan looked at Chen Xiyuan again: "Thanks for your hard work; send A-Li to that bedroom on the second floor."

Chen Xiyuan: "Good."

Chen girl wanted to reach out and grab A-Li's shoulder, but stopped halfway.

At this time, A-Li took the initiative to reach out her hand and hold it.

Some people were really hard to dislike.

In fact, if it were someone else, daring to approach directly while hiding their figure while A-Li was bathing, A-Li would have reacted directly.

But A-Li's move against Chen Xiyuan was after Chen Xiyuan carelessly called Little Yuan a son-in-law.

Most people and things in the world were another terrifying scene in A-Li's eyes, except for a few.

When she saw Chen Xiyuan dragged out by Li Zhuiyuan under the peach forest, there was one more, because the Chen Xiyuan in A-Li's eyes was Chen Xiyuan's original appearance.

Chen Xiyuan held A-Li's hand, a smile from the heart appearing on her face.

She had always wanted a little brother; Li Zhuiyuan's appearance satisfied this need of hers, but this little brother was cute, but equally terrifying.

A-Li, this little sister, she felt happy from the first time she saw her.

Chen Xiyuan's body soared into the air; in order not to let A-Li be bumped, she even specially opened her domain.

After landing on the balcony, she used her domain to unbolt the door leading from the room to the balcony, A-Li let go of her hand and walked in.

On the bed in the room, Cui Cui was already asleep.

There were tear stains at the corners of her eyes.

Liu Grandma and the others were still sleeping in their own house tonight, but A-Li sister didn't come; although Liu Grandma explained it, Cui Cui, who was lying on the bed, still couldn't help but think more.

She was strong and cheerful since she was young, but her heart was also very sensitive.

A-Li reached out, took the thin quilt that Cui Cui had kicked off, folded it neatly, and covered it on Cui Cui's stomach.

Then, she got on the bed, lay flat on the inside, her hands folded on her abdomen, and closed her eyes.

When Chen Xiyuan was about to jump down from the balcony, she heard many old ladies chatting in the room next door.

Grandma Hua lived alone, and the next day she came over to squeeze in; Wang Lian also came today.

At this time, Wang Lian was being teased by Liu Jinxia, saying that her own old man was keeping an empty room alone.

Yao Shan had also gradually opened up after getting along with other peers for these few days; although she couldn't speak Nantong dialect yet, she could roughly understand it and could join their chat.

In truth, the former relationship of master and servant, of superior and inferior, had long since been blown away by the winds and rains of time, but the kindness the young lady had shown her was truly too heavy to bear. When she was at home, whenever she looked at her two bright and studious grandsons, she would sigh in her heart: if not for the young lady, how could her son, who had been born with a short-lived and ill-fated destiny, have what he has today?

In her eyes, the greatest respect and gratitude was the expression of master-servant, but since the young lady liked this sisterly relationship, she was also willing to adapt.

Liu Yumei also changed from sleeping alone in the bed to sleeping below.

Ordinary people usually had the experience of sleeping with brothers and sisters when they were young, but Liu Yumei didn't; born in the Dragon King family, they were siblings, but they were also competitors.

The title of Liu family young lady, just like Zhao Yi's former status as the eldest young master of the Jiujiang Zhao family, didn't refer to the oldest in the same generation, but to the ability to suppress peers with talent and ability.

She turned her head and looked out the window.

No matter how mysterious Chen Xiyuan's domain was, it couldn't isolate the perception of the old lady of the Liu family.

Liu Yumei knew that the matter on A-Li's side had been solved without her expectation.

With Little Yuan, Liu Yumei truly felt that she was not only living more worry-free, but also living younger.

Chen Xiyuan jumped downstairs and followed Li Zhuiyuan out of the flat ground of Cui Cui's house.

The youth first went to the old carpenter's house in the village; the wine at the old carpenter's house hadn't dispersed yet, a group of old men were still drinking, and they had just finished the international political agenda and entered the family children's segment.

Great-grandfather was blowing excitedly; after all, his precious great-grandson was a provincial top scholar, naturally occupying the highest ecological niche of this topic.

Every old man at the table had grandchildren of school age, and everyone was humbly asking for advice on Li Sanjiang's parenting experience.

Li Sanjiang didn't know how to educate children to study; he was still busy helping his great-grandson find connections to get into a better primary school in town, but when he returned, his great-grandson said he had directly entered the third year of high school.

He thought he had met a liar at that time and personally took Li Weihan and Cui Guiying to the principal's office to confirm it.

However, this didn't stump Li Sanjiang; he first put the wine bowl down heavily, held up his finger, and said to the old men at the table:

"If you want the child to study well, first, you have to let the child eat more meat!"

The carpenter's family had set up bamboo mats and pillows at the table in the kitchen, preparing for the old men to stay there after drinking until the second half of the night.

Li Zhuiyuan looked at it and didn't go in to disturb Great-grandfather's interest, and walked out.

Walking on the village road with Chen Xiyuan, the youth pointed to the bearded man's house in the distance and said:

"There is a peach forest there, but the one living under the peach forest and the one who played the zither and flute with you that day isn't our old lady."

Chen Xiyuan immediately widened her eyes and asked: "Who is that?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "You can understand it as a big evil spirit."

Chen Xiyuan immediately clenched the green flute in her hand.

Li Zhuiyuan added: "A big evil spirit that can slap you, as you are now, to death."

Chen Xiyuan's hand clenching the flute was still powerful.

Li Zhuiyuan: "He is a good one, a figure from the Wei and Jin dynasties; because of problems in practicing secret arts, he was afraid of poisoning the world, so he chose to suppress himself. Moreover, he should have old ties with your ancestors; if I'm not mistaken, the day you played with him, on one hand, you mistook him for our old lady, and on the other hand, he also misunderstood your real intention."

Chen Xiyuan's hand loosened.

"Really good, a person who loves music won't be too bad."

Li Zhuiyuan: "If you are willing, you can continue to go to the peach forest in the future, but pay attention to your behavior and sense of proportion; his temper isn't very good."

"Well, talk less; if your mouth is idle, just blow the flute."

Chen Xiyuan: "Oh."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Among the people drinking yesterday, there was my great-grandfather; you can call him Grandpa Li, and just say you are the niece of our old lady."

Chen Xiyuan: "Mm."

Li Zhuiyuan: "In front of my great-grandfather, you must restrain yourself, don't reveal your unusualness in front of him, it's best to act like an ordinary person."

Chen Xiyuan: "Oh?"

Li Zhuiyuan glanced at her.

Chen Xiyuan: "Oh!"

After returning home, Chen Xiyuan entered the east room, and Li Zhuiyuan went upstairs back to his room.

The next morning, Li Zhuiyuan got up and washed, and as usual went to Cui Cui's house to pick up A-Li.

It was just that this time, when he arrived, A-Li hadn't started combing her hair yet.

A-Li opened her eyes and got up only after Cui Cui woke up and found someone else beside her.

All morning, Cui Cui had a smile on her face.

After Yao Shan helped A-Li comb her hair, she beckoned to Cui Cui, signaling her to help her comb her hair too.

In the middle, when combing Cui Cui's hair, the comb in her hand broke.

Yao Shan didn't know why, but felt fear.

Liu Yumei, who was sitting on the side, said: "Use my comb."

Yao Shan breathed a sigh of relief and picked up the young lady's comb to finish combing the little girl's hair.

She inserted a hairpin of her own into Cui Cui's bun.

Liu Jinxia saw it and said: "How can this be."

Yao Shan: "I carved it myself, it's not worth money."

The clothes were already made, and Yao Shan took them out and tried them on one by one.

The old sisters only felt it was magical; they only saw Yao Shan weaving clothes while sitting on the side when playing cards, and never saw her use a sewing machine, but every time a round passed, they could see the clothes in her hands "grow" a section.

Not to mention whether they fit or not, just the touch of this fabric was something they had never experienced before.

Grandma Hua: "Tsk tsk tsk, this craftsmanship, opening a tailor shop, wouldn't you make a fortune?"

Liu Jinxia: "What kind of fabric is this, how expensive must it be?"

Wang Lian: "I really can't bear to wear it."

Grandma Hua: "If you don't wear it, do you keep it to wear when you close your eyes and kick your legs?"

Wang Lian: "Isn't it good?"

Grandma Hua: "That's true."

Liu Jinxia had experience in this regard and said: "After people leave, the size will change, and it won't fit."

Early in the morning, seeing this topic becoming more and more underworld, Liu Yumei helplessly put down the teacup in her hand and said:

"Alright, let Shan'er make a set of burial clothes for each of you, guaranteed to make you look beautiful when you leave."

Everyone laughed.

After bringing A-Li back, Li Zhuiyuan didn't let A-Li go directly to the manual table; both of them put down the work in their hands and sat on the rattan chairs on the terrace playing chess.

Although time was pressing, for the boy and girl, deliberate relaxation and relief were indispensable.

The east room door was pushed open, and Chen Xiyuan walked out of the room refreshed.

Even after being drunk for three days, it didn't affect her eating and sleeping well last night at all.

While stretching, Chen Xiyuan saw the little brother and little sister playing chess on the terrace with the blue sky as the chessboard.

Chen girl walked from the east end of the flat ground to the west end while watching, as if performing a salute.

Walking to the kitchen door, she leaned gently against Liu Yi who was standing there cracking melon seeds.

"Sister, share some melon seeds with me."

Liu Yi grabbed a handful of melon seeds from her pocket and put them in Chen Xiyuan's hand.

The two leaned against each other, heads in the same direction, at the same angle; gradually, even the rhythm of cracking melon seeds became consistent.

Liu Yi: "What to eat for breakfast? Pfft."

Chen Xiyuan: "Anything is fine, pfft."

Liu Yi: "How about I make you noodles, pfft."

Chen Xiyuan: "Sister, I don't actually miss home that much, pfft."

Liu Yi: "Got it, I'll make you Yangchun noodles, how many bowls to eat? Pfft."

Chen Xiyuan: "One bowl, no, one bowl is enough, I've controlled it, pfft."

Liu Yi: "They have all eaten breakfast, I'll make it for you in a while, pfft."

Chen Xiyuan: "Done, eat some more melon seeds, pfft."

The sun rose, it got hotter outside, and Li Zhuiyuan and A-Li returned to the room.

Liu Yi and Chen Xiyuan clapped their hands together.

"The noodles will be ready soon, just wait to eat."

"Fine, thank you, sister."

Liu Yi glanced at the clothes Chen Xiyuan was wearing today; they were the old lady's clothes, not worn, new, but the style from when she was young, the main color was light green.

Chen Xiyuan: "Does it look good, sister?"

Liu Yi nodded: "It looks good."

The girl was good-looking, and her temperament was good; she had the style of the mistress when she was young, but in terms of spirit, she lacked the coldness and unangered prestige of the mistress back then.

The Yangchun noodles were ready, served, and Liu Yi also matched them with small steamed buns and several kinds of snacks.

Chen Xiyuan took the first bite and was slightly puzzled.

Liu Yi explained: "People who love to eat like this chewy texture, but some people aren't used to it, feeling it's raw."

Chen Xiyuan: "It's delicious."

Li Sanjiang returned.

Although he had been drunk for two nights in a row, Li Sanjiang's steps were still steady; at his age, no one could persuade him to abstain from a little smoking and drinking, because those who persuaded him didn't have the confidence to live to his age.

"Eh?"

Li Sanjiang curiously stared at the big girl eating noodles on the flat ground at home.

This girl was quite handsome; she looked like someone on TV.

Chen Xiyuan: "Grandpa Li, hello, I am the niece of Grandma Liu, here to play with her."

Li Sanjiang: "Oh, good, good, good, when did you arrive?"

Chen Xiyuan was transported home by Li Zhuiyuan in a tricycle late at night, and was drunk for three days and three nights, so Li Sanjiang didn't know at all that there was one more person in the house.

Liu Yi: "Arrived last night."

Li Sanjiang: "Oh, girl, where is your home?"

Chen Xiyuan: "Grandpa Li, my home is in Hainan."

Li Sanjiang: "Ah~ Hainan, that's a good place."

Chen Xiyuan: "Grandpa Li, have you been to Hainan?"

Li Sanjiang shook his head: "Haven't been, but in the early years, among the people I knew, there were those who went to Hainan farms. Later, he came back and said, it's really good there, you can eat your fill."

That year wasn't like now, when you could eat your fill every meal, but he still ran back secretly later.

Because large-scale infrastructure and development hadn't been completed at that time, and the farm where he was located was in a relatively remote area, as an outsider, he wasn't used to the local climate environment.

In short, it was indeed not having to worry about starving to death, but other ways of dying became rich.

Chen Xiyuan: "Grandpa Li, then you go play at our place? The seaside there is beautiful, unlike the sea here in Nantong, which is gray."

Nantong was an alluvial plain, and the seaside was a beach, so although local people lived by the sea, they generally didn't have the impression of a blue sea.

Li Sanjiang: "Haha, so far, it's not cheap to go there."

Chen Xiyuan: "My family runs a travel agency, Little Brother, that is, Little Yuan and the others plan to go next; anyway, it's a package tour, one more Grandpa Li isn't much, let's go together?"

Li Sanjiang looked hesitant.

Liu Yi pursed her lips on the side.

She could see that Chen girl just simply wanted to invite Uncle Sanjiang to her house as a guest; travel agency or not, it was just a kind heart to solve the old man's concerns about travel expenses.

From her attitude toward Uncle Sanjiang, she really didn't understand the specialness of Uncle Sanjiang, otherwise she wouldn't have invited him like this in front of her.

Li Sanjiang: "Haha, forget it, forget it, so far away, it's a toss-up, and I don't know anyone there."

Chen Xiyuan: "Grandpa Li, you like drinking, my grandfather also loves drinking; I tell you, my grandfather has stored a lot, a lot of wine."

Li Sanjiang: "Hehe, you keep eating, if it's not enough, call Ting Hou to make you more; living here is like living in your own home, don't be polite, if you want to eat anything, let Ting Hou go to town to buy it."

Chen Xiyuan looked at Liu Yi: "Sister, I want to eat all the local dishes, you make them for me, if you make them, I'll eat with an open stomach, and I definitely won't leave any."

Liu Yi: "Good."

Li Sanjiang felt that this girl wasn't pretentious and was quite likable, especially the point of liking to eat, which made him feel comforted recently.

"By the way, Ting Hou, where are the mules? Why isn't a single one seen?"

"After breakfast, they all went out to deliver goods, and will be back before lunch."

"Oh, drinking yesterday, there was one from Yancheng at the wine table, saying that in his village, that river, recently someone has been seen floating on it at night, but no matter how the villagers shine their flashlights, they can't find it."

The person wanted to invite me to his village to take a look, and I was thinking about letting You Hou accompany me to take a trip and perform a ritual for people."

"Fine, after A-You comes back, I'll tell him for you; Uncle Sanjiang, do you want to go up and sleep for a while?"

"Mm, I'll lie down for a while."

After Li Sanjiang went upstairs, Chen Xiyuan just finished breakfast and asked Liu Yi:

"How about, I take a trip?" ===== CHAPTER 376 =====