Chapter 141: Boring

 Chapter 141: Boring

"Are you alright?"    

       

As soon as Daohua returned to the manor, Zhou Jingwan immediately came to visit.

"What's wrong with me?" Daohua looked at Zhou Jingwan with a strange expression.

Zhou Jingwan carefully examined Daohua's face. Seeing that her complexion was rosy, her eyes bright, and she seemed full of energy, she immediately felt relieved. "You scared me! I'm glad you're fine!"

When Yan Wenkai delivered the letter to the Yan family, Zhou Chengye also wrote a letter to the Zhou family. The letter mentioned that master Yan had nearly struck Daohua.

 

At that moment, Zhou Jingwan couldn’t sit still. She wanted to check on Daohua immediately, but unfortunately, the servant came to report that Daohua and Old Madam Yan had gone to the estate.

She waited for several days, and when she heard Daohua was back, she rushed over.

Thinking that her older brother’s mistake had caused Daohua to be blamed by the elders of the family, Zhou Jingwan felt even more guilty. She quickly instructed her maid to bring in two sunflower plants.

"You mentioned wanting these the other day, so I brought them for you!" She said as she pushed the sunflowers towards Daohua with a smile.

Seeing this, Daohua couldn’t help but laugh. "Thank you!"

She asked Wang Man'er to take the sunflowers away, then looked at Zhou Jingwan, who was still grinning at her, and helplessly said, "You don’t need to do this. My punishment actually has nothing to do with big brother Zhou."

Her blame was primarily because the Yan family was overly concerned about Xiao Yeyang.

Even if it hadn’t been for Zhou Chengye’s mistake, as long as she had fallen out with Xiao Yeyang, her situation would have been exactly the same as last time.

Zhou Jingwan shook her head. "How can it have nothing to do with him? If it weren’t for my brother, Grandpa's birthday banquet would have gone off without a hitch, and you wouldn’t have been blamed by Uncle Yan."

Daohua looked at Zhou Jingwan and asked, "What happened in the end with that play? Why did Xiao Yeyang get so angry?"

Zhou Jingwan shook her head. "I don’t know. Anyway, my grandfather said it was a taboo of the Young Prince, so he forbade our family from mentioning it."

"Taboo..." Daohua’s eyes turned thoughtfully.

Zhou Jingwan waved her hand in front of Daohua’s face. "Alright, stop thinking about it. Let’s talk about something fun. The Laba Festival is coming up. Has your family started preparing Laba porridge yet?"

At the mention of it, Daohua felt uninterested. "I don’t know."

She certainly wasn’t going to take out any ingredients from her space. At most, she’d make a small pot of Laba porridge on the day itself, just enough for her grandmother, mother, and herself to drink. As for the others, they could do as they pleased.

Zhou Jingwan smiled. "Every year, the Laba porridge at my house is exceptionally delicious. When it’s ready, I’ll have someone send some to you!"

Daohua raised an eyebrow. "Would your mother agree?"

Zhou Jingwan replied, "Why wouldn’t she?"

Daohua smiled but didn’t say anything.

After a while, the two of them chatted about other things. By evening, Zhou Jingwan left with two baskets of vegetables that Daohua had given her.

Zhou Family

When Madam Zhou saw her daughter return, she asked, "How’s that girl Daohua? Is she doing well?"

   

"She’s doing fine!" Zhou Jingwan smiled and nodded, then showed the vegetables she had brought to her mother.

Madam Zhou carefully observed her daughter’s expression. Seeing that she was smiling and her mood seemed light, she knew that Daohua hadn’t taken the previous incident to heart. This made her feel at ease, and she smiled as she looked at the vegetables.

"Wow, these are hard to find in the winter, such green vegetables! Tonight, your grandfather and father will have to eat an extra bowl of rice."

"I’ll have an extra bowl too."

"Yes, yes, always you, you little foodie!"

Before long, the Laba Festival arrived.

That day, Yan Zhigao had a day off, and the whole family was sitting in Old Madam Yan's room, keeping her company and chatting.

Around noon, the maidservants brought in the Laba porridge they had made.

"Hey, why doesn't this year's Laba porridge taste as good as last year's?" Yan Zhigao took a sip and felt the taste was lacking. He immediately looked up at Madam Li.

Last year's Laba porridge had been fragrant, smooth, and not sticky; he still remembered that taste clearly.

Madam Li lowered her head and drank her porridge, pretending not to hear Yan Zhigao’s question.

Seeing this, Sun Shi quickly smiled and said, "What else could it be? Last year's porridge was made by Daohua herself, and naturally, no one could compare to that."

Yan Zhigao looked at the eldest daughter, who was sitting beside Old Madam Yan, seemingly telling her something that made Old Madam Yan laugh heartily. He parted his lips to ask why she didn't make the porridge this year, but the words came and went in his mouth, and he swallowed them back down.

Seeing that Yan Zhigao didn't say anything, Sun Shi, too, didn't continue. She lowered her head and drank the rather bland porridge, feeling confused.

The ingredients were almost the same, so why was Daohua’s porridge always a bit better?

She didn't say anything, but Yan Zhiyuan spoke up. He put down his bowl of porridge, which he had only taken a few sips of, and looked at Daohua. "Daohua, why didn't you make the Laba porridge this year? Let me tell you, second uncle really loves this. Since you didn’t make it, I don’t even want to drink it."

Daohua, who had been quietly laughing with Old Madam Yan, raised her eyes slightly at her thick-skinned second uncle.

Just a short time ago, this man had been shouting about hitting her with a board. How could he have the nerve to say this?

"Second uncle, I'm not a cook. I only make food for fun. You can’t just rely on me for everything. If you don't like the porridge, you can ask second aunt to make it again. If you still don't like it, there are two younger sisters who can do it."

"Regardless of feelings, reason, or our relationship, you shouldn't be asking me. It's like you didn’t like it because of me."

Yan Zhiyuan: "..."

He always knew his niece was sharp-tongued, and he knew that because of what happened last time, she held a grudge against him.

But he was the elder! What was wrong with a few words from an elder?

Look at how she responded, it could choke a person to death.

Madam Li glanced at Daohua with a warning in her eyes, signaling her to stop.

After all, Yan Zhiyuan was an elder, and if things escalated, everyone would say it was the daughter's fault.

Daohua pouted, picked up her tea cup to cover up her actions, and as for the Laba porridge, sorry, she hadn't even touched it.

At that moment, aunt Sun, rushed in. "Old Madam, Master, Madam, the three young masters are back with the Young Prince and the young master from the Dong family."

Upon hearing this, Yan Zhigao immediately stood up. "Quick, quickly bring them in!"

Aunt Sun replied, "The master has already brought the Young Prince and the others this way, I just came ahead to inform you."

"Then what are you waiting for? Come with me to welcome them," said Yan Zhigao, leading the way out of the room.

Inside the room, Madam Li quickly regained her composure and hurriedly instructed the maidservants to clean up.

Daohua pursed her lips, sat still, and noticed that everyone else was either busy cleaning up or heading out to greet the guests. She found it rather boring, stood up, and left the room.

(End of chapter)