Inviting the Moon to the Farmhouse

Chapter 161 Acheng Visits

Dai You took a small bottle out of his bundle and went to Xia Lanyue's room.

Xia Lanyue stood facing Dai You. "What's wrong?"

“Stretch out your hand,” Dai You said to Xia Lanyue.

Which one?

“The one that got burned,” Dai You said.

Xia Lanyue raised her hand, showing Dai You the blisters on it.

Dai You told her, "This will burst."

Xia Lanyue was frightened and quickly withdrew her hand, saying, "No."

“It’s going to get better quickly, come on, reach out your hand,” Dai You said casually.

Xia Lanyue refused and hid her hands behind her back.

Dai You looked at her and said, "Hold out your hand."

Xia Lanyue still refused.

Then, Dai You sighed helplessly, took a step forward, wrapped his arms around Xia Lanyue, grabbed her hands from behind, and then grabbed her right hand and brought it to his front.

Xia Lanyue was startled by Dai You's sudden approach. Before she could back away, Dai You took half a step back, keeping his distance from her.

Xia Lanyue took a breath.

Then, taking advantage of her inattention, Dai You quickly popped the blister on her hand with his fingernail. She gasped and tried to pull her hand back, but it was held firmly in place.

There was no pain as expected at the wound; only pus oozed out and was wiped away by Dai You with a handkerchief.

Seeing Dai You's skillful technique, Xia Lanyue stopped moving and just watched him treat her blisters.

Dai You carefully sprinkled the medicine powder, his movements both meticulous and clumsy, as if afraid of hurting her, and even blew on it.

After treating the wound, Dai You handed the medicine bottle to Xia Lanyue, turned around and left without saying another word.

Xia Lanyue stood there, looking at the bottle in her hand, feeling a warmth in her heart.

After the commotion in the evening, Xia Yao was considerate enough not to let her take care of Xia Lanyue. Instead, he went to Xia Huifang's room, slept on the floor, and took care of Xia Huifang himself.

It's unclear whether Xia Yao was overestimated or underestimated Xia Huifang. In the middle of the night, Xia Yao knocked on Xia Lanyue's door again.

Xia Lanyue was fast asleep, dreaming of fighting someone. Before the fight could end, she was woken up by a knock on the door.

"What's wrong?" Xia Lanyue asked, somewhat annoyed.

“Ah Yue, she needs to use the restroom,” Xia Yao said.

Xia Lanyue sighed, "I understand!"

Helpless, Xia Lanyue had no choice but to get up. She wanted to see if Xia Huifang had really fallen and injured herself yesterday, or if she was deliberately trying to sow discord between her and Xia Yao.

Upon entering the main house, Xia Huifang was sitting on the edge of the bed. When she saw her, she put on a pitiful act.

Xia Lanyue didn't say anything, walked over, pulled out the toilet, and helped her sit down.

Xia Huifang seemed to have really fallen, and it was noticeably heavier than when Xia Lanyue had helped her up before. But Xia Lanyue didn't know if it was real, after all, Xia Huifang's acting skills were excellent.

After Xia Huifang finished using the toilet, she lay down on the bed, turned over, and faced away from Xia Lanyue.

However, her smooth movements made Xia Lanyue wonder if there was really something wrong with her back.

But she couldn't care less about that right now; she was incredibly sleepy. She walked out of the house and said to Xia Yao in the yard, "Alright, I'm going back to my room to sleep."

Xia Yao pulled her close, embraced her, and gently nuzzled Xia Lanyue with his chin, saying, "Thank you for your hard work, Lanyue."

Xia Yao was like a good medicine; a casual remark from him healed Xia Lanyue's mood.

Xia Lanyue, who was originally annoyed, immediately put on a smile. She nodded in his arms and reached out to hug his neck.

Xia Yao tightened his grip, bringing the two of them even closer.

However, this tender moment was interrupted by Xia Huifang.

"Climbing higher?" Xia Huifang's voice came from inside the house.

Xia Yao sighed, reluctantly letting go of her hand. He looked at Xia Lanyue in front of him, smiled helplessly, and then gently kissed her. "Rest now," he said, before returning to the main house.

Xia Lanyue stood in the courtyard, watching the door to his house close, and turned away helplessly.

At this moment, she was somewhat unsure who was more important to Xia Yao.

The next morning, Xia Lanyue was awakened by a knock on the door before she was fully awake.

"Who is it?" Xia Lanyue rubbed her eyes and looked towards the door.

It was already daylight, and sunlight streamed into the room through the window.

"It's me," Xia Yao's voice came through.

Xia Lanyue walked over and opened the door.

"Ah Yue, are you up? The food is getting cold, it's time to eat," Xia Yao said to her with a smile from outside the door. "I'm going out to do my errand, so I'm entrusting Mother to you."

Xia Lanyue didn't even open her eyes, she just nodded.

"Ah Yue, what do you want to eat? I'll bring it back tonight..."

"I don't want to eat anything, you go ahead and do your work," Xia Lanyue said, still half asleep and unable to think of anything at the moment.

Xia Yao seemed to sense that Xia Lanyue was in low spirits, so he hugged her and gently rocked her, saying, "I will miss you, and you should miss me too."

Seeing that Xia Lanyue did not respond, Xia Yao released her. "Let me see, what's wrong, A-Yue? Why are you ignoring me?"

Xia Lanyue forced an awkward smile. "You'd better hurry up, you're going to be late."

Xia Yao leaned his face towards her and said, "Give me a kiss."

Xia Lanyue smiled and gently kissed him.

Xia Yao was very satisfied. Then, he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her.

The kiss was tender and lingering, expressing his love.

Xia Lanyue gradually became immersed in it, feeling the sweetness and tenderness.

After an unknown amount of time, Xia Yao reluctantly stopped. "A-Yue, I have to go. Wait for me to come back."

Xia Lanyue nodded gently.

Watching Xia Yao leave, Xia Lanyue sighed. She knew that another hard day was about to begin.

As she expected, Xia Huifang continued to find ways to torment her. She had learned to be smarter and would pretend to be deaf or busy from time to time, thus getting through the day without a direct confrontation with Xia Huifang, which was enough to explain to Xia Yao.

She looked up at the sky and realized it was time to cook dinner, so she went into the kitchen.

Meanwhile, Xia Yao had already left the official residence of Zhao Lizhang.

He walked to the corner and saw Ah Cheng waiting there.

Xia Yao walked over and asked, "Acheng, when did you arrive?"

"Hehe, just arrived," Acheng said with a simple smile.

The two walked home together.

Acheng held up the jar in his hand, "Brother, you asked me to bring you some tofu?"

Xia Yao took the jar from his hand and looked at the other jar in A-Cheng's hand. He asked curiously, "Hmm, what's in that jar?"

“I saw the snake wine, so I brought it over for you to help you recover,” Acheng said with a smile.

Xia Yao smiled but didn't say anything.

"How is Aunt? Why hasn't she gone back? Is she staying with you and not planning to go back?" Acheng asked.

"She twisted her back and can't get out of bed now. She needs to rest for a few days," Xia Yao explained.

"Didn't they take him to a doctor?"

"Look over here, we've given you some ointment, but it will still take some time."

Acheng nodded, then asked hesitantly, "Are you really going to give up the imperial examination for that woman?! If you pass the exam, what woman can't you marry?"

"Do you think it's just about getting married?" Xia Yao sneered. "Zhou Yuan's men were caught red-handed by Wei Liangxing's men while selling stolen goods on the black market. If I don't take action, I'm afraid they'll betray us to save their own lives. If they find out we stole grain, things will get much worse."

Acheng nodded as if he understood, "Does one really have to become a township official? If so, you can't participate in the imperial examinations, what a pity."

“Wei Liangxing is also a second-class household. What if he becomes the township magistrate? How can we be okay?” Xia Yao continued. “Fortunately, I got there first and squeezed out Li Chuan. Without his backing, Wei Liangxing can’t cause any trouble.”

"Will Li Chuan hold a grudge against you because of this?" A-Cheng asked worriedly.

“This was done by Village Chief Zhao, so it shouldn’t be unaccounted for. In any case, it’s still necessary to be wary of them in the future,” Xia Yao said, looking at A-Cheng. “Ultimately, all these conflicts were caused by you.”

Acheng smiled sheepishly and said, "I was wrong."

As they reached the alley entrance, Xia Yao said to A-Cheng, "Be careful what you say later, don't let anything slip, including your mother, we have to keep it from her too."

After Acheng understood, he nodded.