Chapter 285: Tenderness

 Chapter 285: Tenderness

"Xiao Yeyang, wait!"

Xiao Yeyang walked ahead quickly, and Daohua chased behind. Normally, she would have caught up easily, but after the fight, her body was a bit uncomfortable. In her haste, she stepped on a stone, lost her balance, and fell to the ground.

"Ouch!"

Hearing her pained cry, Xiao Yeyang paused and impatiently turned around. Upon seeing Daohua on the ground, his face changed, and in two or three steps, he hurried over and grabbed her arm, lifting her up.

"With your soft hands and weak legs, you're trying to fight?"

Seeing Daohua blowing on her palm while glaring at him, Xiao Yeyang couldn’t continue his scolding. With a helpless sigh, he grabbed both of her hands and asked, "Let me see, where did you fall?"

When he saw the skin of her palm scraped off, his brow furrowed. "You..."

Daohua, anticipating his scolding, quickly interrupted, "Xiao Yeyang, you have no manners! I didn’t provoke you, so why are you getting angry?"

Hearing this, Xiao Yeyang glared at her angrily. "You still ask? You ran out and fought with others, and you're still in the right?"

Daohua pursed her lips and muttered, "If anyone should be angry, it should be my third and fourth brothers. Why are you getting angry for no reason?"

Xiao Yeyang didn’t catch the last part and didn’t want to argue with her. He took out the embroidered pouch. "You gave your hand-stitched pouch to an outsider. What do you want me to say?"

Daohua froze. "I didn’t mean to give it. It was an emergency. I had planned to retrieve it after we got home."

Behind them, Dong Yuanyao hesitated whether to step forward and mediate. When she saw they were talking about the pouch, she immediately shrank back.

The pouch was her fault. She had been the one who accidentally gave it away. She looked at Xiao Yeyang’s stern face and showed Daohua an apologetic look.

Daohua felt a little embarrassed, but she did not let it show.

Meanwhile, Daohua reached out to retrieve her pouch.

Xiao Yeyang raised his hand, avoiding her, and quickly tucked the pouch back into his sleeve, sneering. "It was touched by an outsider. Why would you want to take it back? Don’t you find it dirty? I’ll dispose of it for you."

Daohua was not concerned about the pouch but rather the silver notes inside. "My money is still inside. You have to return it."

Hearing this, Xiao Yeyang suddenly felt a bit tired. With a sigh, he reluctantly took the pouch out of his sleeve and retrieved the silver notes.

Seeing this, Daohua quickly snatched the silver notes back and gave Xiao Yeyang a smile.

Xiao Yeyang pressed his hand to his forehead and shook his head, walking ahead. After a few steps, he turned back. "Keep up."

With the silver back in her hands, Daohua felt a bit better. She saw Dong Yuanyao standing a few meters away and waved to her. When Dong Yuanyao approached, the two of them walked together to catch up.

"Where are we going?"

Once they caught up with Xiao Yeyang, Daohua asked.

Xiao Yeyang pointed to the corner of her mouth and then glanced at Dong Yuanyao’s dark eye circles. "Are you sure you want to go home looking like that?"

Daohua and Dong Yuanyao both shook their heads. "No."

They would be beaten to death if they went home like this.

Xiao Yeyang sneered. "Then follow me obediently."

Daohua and Dong Yuanyao exchanged looks, then turned to see their brothers catching up. They resigned themselves and followed.

After some time, Xiao Yeyang and his group arrived at a courtyard with a tranquil environment.

"Is this your house in the provincial capital?"

Daohua curiously looked around at the courtyard, where bamboo swayed in the wind and the stone paths were neat. "I didn’t expect such a quiet place in the middle of this bustling city."

Xiao Yeyang smiled slightly and casually said, "That’s because you don’t know much."

Daohua took a deep breath, deciding not to argue with him.

Before they arrived, Defu had already sent someone to prepare, and now, the washing supplies were ready.

While Dong Yuanyao and Daohua were escorted to the guest rooms to freshen up, the others were in the main hall sipping tea. Clothes and other items were conveniently provided by Wang Man'er and the others.

"Ah, when I go home this time, I’ll surely be punished again!"

After changing clothes, Dong Yuanyao sighed while a maid combed her hair.

Daohua’s face also fell. "I’ll be scolded by Uncle and Aunt as well."

Soon, both of them were ready.

The injuries on their faces were less noticeable in men's clothing, but when they changed back into women’s clothes, they were more obvious.

"Poof~"

Seeing Dong Yuanyao’s eye turned into a panda eye, Daohua couldn’t help but laugh.

Dong Yuanyao pouted. "Don’t laugh. You’re not any better. You’ve got a big bruise on your mouth."

Daohua immediately covered her mouth and rubbed it.

At this moment, Defu came in, standing at the door. "Miss Yan, Miss Dong, these are the medicines the master asked me to bring."

Daohua took the medicine and praised, "Xiao Yeyang is quite thoughtful." She then took the medicine to find Dong Yuanyao.

Outside, Defu looked up at the sky and sighed. The master was only attentive to Miss Yan’s matters. If it were any other girl, even if she fell in front of him, he probably wouldn’t care.

Thinking of the Lantern Festival this year, when the master went out for lantern viewing and a young lady from the Du family tried to throw herself into his arms, only to be tripped, he chuckled.

The master had a tender side, but not everyone could enjoy it.

If he weren’t concerned that the other party was a girl, he probably would have kicked her into the nearby river.

"You have a pretty obvious bruise on your eye, you should use an egg to apply it."

Daohua looked at Dong Yuanyao’s eye.

Dong Yuanyao asked, "But do we have any eggs here?"

Daohua looked outside. Since she didn’t like others attending to her, she had sent away the maids in the courtyard. Now, no one was around. "I’ll go ask."

She said as she took Wang Man'er and Gu Yu out of the yard.

"Where are you going?"

After leaving the yard for a short while, they ran into Xiao Yeyang coming from the side.

Daohua’s face lit up. "You came at the right time! Yan'er needs an egg to treat her eye. Do you have any?"

Xiao Yeyang looked at Defu, who nodded and immediately went to the kitchen.

Seeing the bruise on Daohua’s cheek, Xiao Yeyang frowned and reached out, "How did you get such a serious injury?"

His movement was so fast that Daohua didn’t react before she felt the warmth of his touch on her face.

Looking into Xiao Yeyang’s concerned eyes, Daohua felt awkward. With a "smack," she pushed his hand away. "Speak properly. Don’t touch me."

Xiao Yeyang, seeing the discomfort on Daohua’s face, didn’t know why, but he felt a strange sense of joy. His gaze wandered, and he didn’t look at her anymore, just rubbing his hand that had just touched her cheek.

Daohua’s face was smooth and soft. He really wanted to squeeze it again!

"Sniiff! Sniff!"

Daohua wrinkled her nose and sniffed.

Xiao Yeyang was confused. "What are you doing?"

Daohua frowned. "Do you smell that scent?"

Xiao Yeyang smiled and pointed to the flowers in the courtyard. "Is it the scent of the flowers?"

Daohua shook her head and said firmly, "No, it’s not flower scent. The flower scent is faint, but this scent is a bit strong, almost like it’s scented with added cosmetics, a sharp, pungent smell."

Hearing this, Xiao Yeyang’s face immediately turned uncomfortable, and his expression changed.

(End of chapter)