Anyone with eyes could tell Ye Ling and the gang were not happy to see her, yet she still smiled and attempted to continue the conversation.
Liu Duo interrupted, “Ling, don’t talk too much if you’re thirsty. We’re not home yet.”
She held his hand and dragged him along, not letting the girl talk nonsense to him.
Ye Ling was innocent enough to not know how to reject anyone. He would still reply, no matter how unwilling.
The girl noticed that Liu Duo was ignoring her and was taking Ling away with her too. She thought, What a shameless woman, holding hands with a man in broad daylight! She must be their shared wife. How uncultured! I have to tell granny! We didn’t get any notice, and they didn’t bring her over for introductions!
The girl looked back as they disappeared from view. She carried her basket and walked along a different path.
Along the way, Ye Ling said softly, “Duo Er, why didn’t you ask who that person is? Aren’t you curious why Mo and I don’t want to bother with her?”
She shook her head and smiled, “It’s not my business who she is. I’m not nosy. But as to why you guys don’t bother with her, it could be that she’s not likeable! And if she’s loathsome, why bother with her? Right?”
She could have easily guessed the girl was their relative, and one that they had a bad relationship with at that, because she had never seen them treating other people this way.
But if anyone could receive a cold shoulder from them, it should be the child of one of their estranged uncles!
Ye Ling nodded in agreement with Liu Duo, “Yes, she’s definitely loathsome, I don’t like her.”
Hearing that, Liu Duo added, “Of course you don’t. You only like me. Don’t forget that!”
When she said this, Ye Ling asked back, “Then, Duo Er, do you like me?”
Taken aback, Liu Duo thought, Oh, well, aren’t you witty? Asking a question like this.
But she was stunned only for several seconds, as she later said cheerfully, “Of course I do. You’re my husband. Who can I like, if not you?”
Ye Ling got red in the face as she said so. He felt happy. Since they were on topic, he got to tell her what he had wanted to say last time. He whispered, “I like Duo Er too. She’s the one and only.”
Liu Duo giggled blissfully at Ye Ling’s confession.
A look of displeasure hung on his cool face as Ye Mo listened to their conversation, thinking, Why does she treat me so differently? She has never said those things to me.
Back home, the three of them completely washed off the mud at the well, and then they went to make lunch.
While they were cooking, Ye Ling said to her, “Duo Er, just now on the road, the girl we met is our third uncle’s daughter. She’s Ye Lanlan, and she’s seventeen years old.”
He thought that Liu Duo should know. Even if they had split their property, they should know clearly who was who in the family.
When he saw Liu Duo paying attention to him, he continued, “Our third uncle has another son, called Ye Qin, who’s twenty years old. Our second uncle has two sons. The elder son is called Ye Dong, who’s twenty three years old; and the younger one, Ye Xuan, is twenty-one years old.”
“Ye Xuan is a student, and he’s studying for the exams. He went to school with Mo before and was much dumber than him. Mo would have passed his exams a lot earlier.” He began to praise his brother.
“Granny favours Ye Xuan the most, so he only has to study for his exams and not care about anything else…”
At this point, Ye Ling felt a little envious.
Liu Duo saw through him and smiled, “Ling, are you jealous?”
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