“Okay.” She snatched the kite and examined it with delight. Qing Li bowed and walked ahead, and after they left, several large women followed from a distance, watching their movements.
Seeing the kite drifting in one direction, Yan Ziyan offered guidance. When she saw him flip it several times without pulling it back, she added, “Can’t you pull it? Let me do it.”
“I’ll try first.” He moved her hand away and turned around, gradually controlling the force and direction, and repositioned the kite.
“Hey, I didn’t expect this. Most men playing with a kite would quickly hand it over to a woman nearby when things go wrong. Someone like you who is determined to handle it yourself is quite rare.”
“That’s because you haven’t seen much.” He rolled his eyes at her. They were together for fun, and having more people added to the enjoyment.
Yan Ziyan glanced at him and concluded, “It’s people like you who are rare.”
No longer discussing this, Xu Wan felt satisfied and handed the line reel to Qing Li a few steps away, smiling slightly, “Would you like to try? It’s quite fun.” Qing Li was stunned, genuinely not expecting him to think of her.
Cautiously extending her hand, Qing Li didn’t dare to take it immediately, looking somewhat hesitant. Xu Wan directly placed the line reel in her hand, “If you don’t understand something, ask Miss Yan.”
Yan Ziyan looked at Qing Li’s timid appearance and didn’t refuse, looking at her and smiling, “Okay.”
“Thank you, Master. Thank you, Miss.” Holding the wooden reel that was still warm, she tried to pull the taut line, mimicking their previous movements.
Yan Ziyan, acting as a teacher despite being a novice herself, felt quite proud and satisfied. She carefully gave instructions. Qing Li, afraid of doing something wrong, was inevitably cautious and stiff.
Seeing this, Xu Wan said, “Just tell him the general method. Don’t focus too much on the details, otherwise, it’ll be hard for a beginner to truly understand.”
Yan Ziyan turned to the embarrassed Qing Li, “Just let it go freely. Call me if it falls.”
She walked to Xu Wan’s side, tilting her head to look at him, “I used to think wooden dolls were interesting. It seems there are also intriguing things about you worth exploring.”
Xu Wan shook his head helplessly and pointed to the distant grassland where stones were faintly visible, “I’ll go take a look.”
Curiously watching him walk to a spot about ten meters away and stop, he actually reached out to brush aside the shallow grass and picked up a few small stones. Yan Ziyan’s curiosity was completely piqued, and she walked over to look, unable to resist asking, “Why do you always do such strange things? What are you doing, wiping a few stones?”
He wiped the stones until their true colors were revealed and held them up to her eyes. Colorful and dotted, with small angles, about the size of a walnut. “Look, they’re beautiful.”
“These?” Doubtfully glancing at them, Yan Ziyan casually pulled out a translucent jade pendant and held it in front of his eyes. The lustrous light was illuminated by the sunlight, and she smiled, “I still think this is more beautiful.”
His gaze fell on the pendant radiating precious light, and he couldn’t help but scan her up and down, sighing meaningfully, “Truly a young lady.”
“Yan Ziyan caught the teasing tone, lightly flipped her hand to tie the jade pendant at her waist, complementing her light blue brocade robe. When she turned her head, she laughed freely, ‘I’m not a young lady, I’m the sixth young lady.’
‘Sixth Young Lady? My apologies.’ He pursed his lips in a smile, deliberately folding his sleeves in a bow.
Seeing someone usually cold suddenly being playful, Yan Ziyan tilted her head and couldn’t help but laugh, her eyes full of joy. ‘Alright, I’ll specially allow you to call me by my name.’
‘Yan Ziyan?’
‘Drop the “Young Lady,” call me Yan Liu. It sounds weird when you say my full name.’ Despite this inner complaint, he reciprocated courteously, ‘Address me as Master Qu in public, but you can call me by my name in private. Xu Wan Zhi.’
‘Okay, but the full name sounds too formal. Can I call you Wan Zhi?’
After exchanging names, they exchanged a glance and suddenly felt closer.
Xu Wan Zhi thought that he did need friends after all.
Their conversation flowed naturally, and they sat down on the ground, chatting intermittently. The cool breeze seemed to blow away the unspeakable gloom in their hearts.
Qing Li had been holding the kite for so long that his arm was sore. When he turned to look for the two main characters, he saw them sitting side by side, chatting comfortably.”
He was suddenly shocked, staring wide-eyed, biting his lip but not daring to speak.
Unexpectedly, the line in his hand suddenly snapped, jolting him back to reality. The hawk that had been flying smoothly was now a kite with a broken line, falling straight towards the forest. He stood frozen, instinctively crying out.
“Master, this servant deserves to die…” Qing Li lowered his head, body trembling, believing he had committed a grave mistake.
Xu Wan Zhi and Yan Ziyan turned their heads, saw the broken kite, slightly furrowed their brows, walked over, and gently patted his shoulder, seeing his near-tearful expression. “It’s just a kite. Flying away is a form of freedom. It’s nothing.”
Yan Ziyan smiled, “Just losing a kite, is the mighty Qu family going to be heartbroken over this?” The words were playful and consoling, offering comfort.
Qing Li’s heart relaxed, squeezing out a smile and softly saying, “This servant will go retrieve it…”
Looking towards the quickly disappearing object, Xu Wan Zhi told him, “If it’s on the ground, pick it up. If it’s caught in a tree or can’t be found, just give up. The Qu family isn’t short of a kite.”
“…Okay.” Qing Li lowered his head, quickly walking in that direction.
The young, slightly petite figure gradually disappeared into the forest.
Yan Ziyan looked around and smiled, “Two of the bodyguards who have been following us went after him. It seems this kite will be found.”
“What?” He hadn’t been paying attention behind him, and being far from a martial arts expert with exceptional hearing, he was somewhat surprised. Looking towards the direction where Qing Li had vanished, he indeed saw two tall women dressed as Qu family guards slowly walking in that direction and disappearing into the forest.
Yan Ziyan pointed in that direction and teased him, “Lord Qu, the Qu family master is quite concerned about you.”
Xu Wanzhi let out a long, weary sigh, “Yan Liu, you still don’t understand.”
Hearing this tone, Yan Ziyan had to refute. She immediately sized him up and countered, “How do I not understand? What do you know?”
“…”
She pressed further, “Can’t answer? You were just trying to impress me, weren’t you?”
“I’m not discussing this with you,” Xu Wanzhi snorted. In fact, he would never be at a loss for words. But looking into her bright eyes, he suddenly felt that arbitrarily disrupting her innocent perspective would be a grave mistake.
Yan Ziyan clapped and laughed, her face full of triumph, tilting her head and curving her lips, “Still trying to act mature when you’re not even as old as me.”
“I’m older than you…”
“Really?”
“Hmm…”
Their conversation turned to comparing their qualifications and experience. Suddenly, they realized Qing Li hadn’t returned for a while. When their gaze shifted to that open area, they abruptly realized, “Qing Li hasn’t come back. Could he have gone too far?”
A female guard approached quickly, speaking in a serious tone, “My lords, just now Wang Erniang and Sanniang followed the young servant into the forest and haven’t returned. A Yang went to check but also disappeared. This subordinate requests that you wait and enter the forest to investigate.”
