Chapter 210: Clever and Witty
Feeling the silence around them, Daohua and Zhou Jingwan, whose faces weren’t yet thick-skinned enough, gradually lowered their voices, their cheeks flushing with embarrassment.
Did we go overboard with the compliments?
The two girls exchanged a glance, uncertain whether they should continue.
Now, the ladies and young girls in the room should have remembered their brothers, right? Maybe, probably, possibly...
Daohua glanced over at Dong Yuanyao. Since this was the Dong family’s boat, it wasn’t right for the Yan and Zhou families to overshadow the Dong family. With a sly smile, she turned the conversation to Dong Yuanyao.
"Brother Dong is great too. Today, when Sister Dong was riding, he followed her closely on horseback, making sure she didn’t get hurt. His horse-riding form was absolutely graceful and impressive."
Dong Yuanyao, noticing Daohua was now shifting the attention to her, looked somewhat reluctant.
She wasn’t like Yan Yiyi and Zhou Jingwan, shamelessly boosting their brothers to the sky. But remembering how her mother had been talking about marriage arrangements for her brother, she decided to bite the bullet and pushed through, "My brother isn’t that exceptional. Apart from being skilled in both the arts and martial arts, well-educated, honest, reliable, and having excellent character, he's also steady and reserved, with good looks. Other than that, there’s not much else."
This time, Daohua and Zhou Jingwan were left utterly speechless.
Well, they had at least mentioned a few flaws about their brothers. But Dong Yuanyao? She was praising him to the heavens, not even worried about biting her own tongue.
She’s even more shameless than we are!
"Pfft~"
On the other side of the screen, Dong Jiancheng, who had been watching the scene unfold, suddenly spewed the tea he had just sipped.
Yan Zhigao and Master Zhou exchanged a knowing look and smiled with a hint of mischief.
Well, it seemed like none of the three of them could make fun of the others now.
After listening to Dong Yuanyao, Dong Yuanxuan, like Yan Wenxiu and Zhou Chengye before him, wished he could crawl into a hole and hide.
While they were feeling embarrassed, Su Hongxin, on the other hand, was looking at his sister, Su Shiyu, with an expectant gaze.
Yan Wenxiu, Zhou Chengye, and the others’ sisters had all praised their brothers to no end. Surely, his sister—so knowledgeable and talented—could praise him to be even more handsome, graceful, and charming, right?
However, he was disappointed.
After meeting his eyes, Su Shiyu lowered her head in embarrassment.
On the opposite side, Su Shiyu’s face was flushed with shame. She had let her brother down—there was no way she could praise him the same way the others had.
Brother, I’m sorry! I just can’t do it!
"Hahahaha~"
"Hahahaha~"
After a brief silence, the cabin erupted in laughter.
Some of the ladies were laughing so hard they could hardly breathe, while even the young girls leaned against each other, shaking with giggles.
At this point, everyone had definitely remembered Yan Wenxiu and Zhou Chengye.
There was no way they couldn’t, with Daohua and Zhou Jingwan bringing them up every time they spoke.
On the other side of the screen, the men were also laughing, offering their congratulations to Yan Zhigao and Master Zhou, praising them for having such fine sons.
Though it had started as playful teasing by the young girls, there was plenty to be gleaned about the character and talents of Yan Wenxiu and Zhou Chengye from their words.
Both young men were highly regarded.
Families with eligible daughters began seriously considering the possibility of a marriage match.
Hmm... Zhou family was impeccable in all respects, but the Yan family’s foundation seemed a bit shallow by comparison.
Yan Wenxiu and his friends were too embarrassed to stay any longer. Fearing that Daohua and the others might come up with some other scheme, they used the excuse of returning to the academy as it was getting late and hastily disembarked from the boat, practically running off as if their backsides were on fire.
As the crowd began to disperse, Master Zhou and Yan Zhigao also took their leave, accompanied by Madam Zhou and the bashful Daohua and Zhou Jingwan.
Afterwards, the other guests also started to depart. Once they were all gone, Madam Dong couldn’t hold back any longer and laughed heartily, "That Yan family girl and Zhou family girl are just too adorable! How are they so clever and sharp?"
Dong Yuanyao rolled her eyes, "The real clever one is Yan Yi, Jingwan just follows her lead."
Dong Jiancheng laughed and walked over, "They may be sharp, but they can't hide their wit and intelligence."
Now, the ladies and young girls of each family had a solid understanding of Yan Wenxiu and Zhou Chengye, and could assess whether they would be suitable matches for their daughters.
Madam Dong nodded in agreement, "Indeed, those two girls are good. It’s impressive how they already know to help their brothers like that at such a young age."
Dong Yuanyao sighed, "Mother, I praised my brother too."
Madam Dong shot a glance at her daughter, "Your praise is too general. When you praise someone, do it like those two girls—get into the specifics so others can truly understand the person."
On Zhou family’s boat, Madam Zhou smiled warmly and patted the seat next to her for Daohua to sit beside her.
Daohua, feeling a bit overwhelmed by the warmth, hesitated and asked quietly, "Aunt, did I do something wrong?"
Madam Zhou shook her head, still smiling, and gently patted Daohua’s head, "You did nothing wrong. In fact, you’ve helped me a great deal."
On the Dong family’s boat, there was a girl that Madam Zhou had in mind for her eldest son. Initially, the family had been ambiguous about their attitude towards the Zhou family, but after the girls' little scheme, Madam Zhou had a conversation with the girl’s mother, suggesting they should consider further interaction.
To be honest, for a family like the Zhou family, finding a suitable match for their son was not difficult. However, as parents, they still hoped to find a girl who was truly compatible with their son’s heart.
Madam Zhou saw Daohua's unease and immediately rescued her from the awkward situation, "Jingwan and I are going to check on our horses."
Madam Zhou didn’t stop her, only reminding, "Be careful."
By the time Daohua and Yan Zhigao returned to the Yan residence, it was already late. Both father and daughter were still in high spirits from the day’s outing, their faces bright with smiles.
"Father, I’ll take the horse to the stable."
Yan Zhigao glanced at the fine steed Daohua was holding and nodded, "Go quickly and come back soon. Your grandmother and mother must be waiting for you."
Daohua nodded and hurried off.
When she arrived at Songhe Courtyard, Yan Zhigao had already shared with the family how Daohua had tried to promote Yan Wenxiu to all the ladies, which resulted in everyone bursting into laughter.
Upon seeing her, Madam Li teased, "You little thing! I’m not even worried, yet you’ve already gone and worried about your brother’s marriage!"
Daohua sat next to Old Lady Yan and responded softly, "Mother, I only mentioned it briefly. Brother’s marriage is for you and Father to decide."
Sun Shi looked at her son, Yan Wenjie, and remarked thoughtfully, "In the blink of an eye, Wenxiu is almost at the age for marriage. Time flies."
Madam Li also sighed, "Indeed, Wenxiu is already sixteen."
Sun Shi smiled, "Wenjie is only a few months younger than Wenxiu. It won’t be long before he turns sixteen. Daohua can’t just focus on her eldest brother; she needs to think about her second brother too."
Madam Li’s smile faded slightly, and she didn’t respond.
Meanwhile, Daohua didn’t pay much attention to the conversation and was quietly recounting the events of the day to Old Lady Yan.
Later, Sun Shi tried several times to bring the conversation back to Daohua, but Madam Li intervened each time.
(End of Chapter)
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