bullyxtreme Chapter 69 Jiang Di's Concern
Chapter 69 Jiang Di's Concern
When Xia Lanyue arrived at the Xia family home, it was late afternoon.
Xia Lanyue was turning over wheat in the yard.
A short while later, Xia Huifang returned first. Upon seeing Xia Lanyue working in the yard, she praised her profusely, "A-Yue is so diligent! It's too hot outside, you should take a break and avoid heatstroke."
"It's alright, Aunt Xia," Xia Lanyue said, wiping the sweat from her brow.
When Xia Huifang went into the kitchen to cook, Xia Lanyue also ran in.
"Aunt Xia, what time does Xia Yao teach?" Xia Lanyue asked.
"It's almost time for the hour of You (5-7 PM)," Xia Huifang said.
Xia Lanyue nodded. "Aunt Xia, Xia Yao seems a bit unhappy lately. Do you know why?"
"Really? No, he's usually a man of few words."
"Ah!" It seems Xia Huifang didn't know either, so Xia Lanyue's question was in vain. She then handed Xia Huifang a bag of money, "Aunt Xia, this is three hundred coins, please accept it."
"Huh, why are you giving me money?"
"This is for living expenses. It covers the food we ate here, and the money I used for your rice and corn. I don't know exactly how much, but it should be enough. Here's some for now; I'll give you the rest when I earn more," Xia Lanyue said.
"Oh dear, what are you saying? When did I ask you for money?" Xia Huifang looked at Xia Lanyue with a blank expression.
“It’s not what Aunt Xia wants, it’s what I want to give. I feel I can’t just eat and stay here for free. It’s just not much money, so please accept it first, and I’ll give you more later.”
"Did what Auntie said the other day hurt you? Why are you so upset with Auntie?" Xia Huifang asked cautiously, looking at Xia Lanyue's expression.
"No, Auntie," Xia Lanyue said against her will.
"That day was a misunderstanding, Auntie misunderstood you. You're a friend of Pangao, not an outsider, why are we being so formal? Besides, he even stayed at your house, shouldn't we charge him for that?" Xia Huifang said angrily, "Take it back right now, or I'll get angry."
“I’m selling rice cakes now, which uses a lot of rice. If it were just for the two of us, I wouldn’t charge you for it, but there’s still some rice to be used, so I can’t let you cover the costs of doing business,” Xia Lanyue explained.
Xia Huifang paused for a moment, "But we don't need that many."
Xia Lanyue's arms were getting tired from holding the money up. Seeing that Xia Huifang was wavering, she stuffed the money into Xia Huifang's hand and ran out of the kitchen.
"Oh dear," Xia Huifang didn't have time to react before the money was already in her hand. She had no choice but to put the money in her pocket and said to Xia Lanyue, "I'll take it this time, but don't give me any more next time, do you hear me!"
"I understand," Xia Lanyue said in the courtyard.
Just as the hour of You (5-7 PM) arrived, a cough was heard precisely at the doorway, "cough cough."
Xia Lanyue immediately perked up. She recognized Jiang Di's voice and threw down her walking stick, running out the door.
"You've arrived," Xia Lanyue said first.
Jiang Di handed over a jar, "This contains five catties of sugar."
Xia Lanyue took it, opened it, and looked at it. "Thanks!" Suddenly, she smelled the aroma of food. Xia Lanyue looked at Jiang Di's hands behind his back, pointed, and asked, "What are you holding?"
Jiang Di couldn't help but laugh, then stretched out her right hand, holding two lotus leaf bags, and handed them to Xia Lanyue, "Here, I brought these for you."
"Huh?! Really?" Xia Lanyue took it. One of them was still warm and had a faint fragrance emanating from it. "What is this?"
"Why don't you open it and see?" Jiang Di kindly took the candy jar from her hand.
Xia Lanyue brought the lotus leaf package close to her nose and smelled it. The aroma emanating from the hot one was somewhat like that of fried dough, while she couldn't smell anything from the other one. "Fried dough?!"
“Hmm…more or less,” Jiang Di said.
"Hehehe," Xia Lanyue said, opening the lotus leaf to reveal a meat pie inside. "Wow, there's meat in it!"
"Is it really for me?" Xia Lanyue asked again, unsure.
“Of course,” Jiang Di looked around and then pointed to the end of the village, saying, “Let’s walk forward a bit.”
So the two of them walked slowly toward the end of the village together. Xia Lanyue held a lotus leaf and ate as she walked, she couldn't be happier.
"Did Li Si cause you any trouble today?" Jiang Di asked.
“No, Chen Xiang did come, he came to collect taxes,” Xia Lanyue said.
"If it weren't for this, I'm afraid he wouldn't have come at all."
"This is so delicious!" Xia Lanyue's mouth was full of oil as she ate. She looked at Jiang Di and suddenly felt that it wasn't right for her to eat alone, so she reached out and handed him the meat pie. "Would you like some too?"
Jiang Di smiled and shook her head.
Xia Lanyue was even happier when she heard him say he didn't want to eat it. She held the cake herself and ate it without worry. After finishing the cake, she even picked up the crumbs hanging on the leaves and put them in her mouth.
Jiang Di noticed her greedy expression and said, "If you like it, I'll bring it to you next time I come."
Xia Lanyue nodded, then shook her head. "No, these cakes must be expensive. I can't keep letting you spend money."
“Hey, it’s not expensive. I know the owner well, and he can give me a discount,” Jiang Di said.
Xia Lanyue tossed the lotus leaf aside, held up another bag, and asked Jiang Di, "What's in this bag?"
Candied fruit.
Xia Lanyue nodded. "From Manager Wang's place?"
“Yes, just tell me what kind of candied fruit you want next time, and I’ll bring it to you. I don’t charge you for candied fruit,” Jiang Di said, raising her eyebrows.
"Wow!" Xia Lanyue exclaimed in support, "Amazing!"
“Let’s go back,” Jiang Di said.
"Okay," Xia Lanyue nodded, and then the two walked back together.
"I'm going out of town for a few days and might not be able to come. Is this candy enough for you for a few days?" Jiang Di asked.
"About five days."
“Alright, how about this, let’s set a time to meet every five days, and I’ll bring you candy on time,” Jiang Di asked. “How about that? That way you won’t have to go to Manager Wang’s place to find me.”
“That’s a good idea, let’s go for the hour of You (5-7 PM) then,” Xia Lanyue said.
"Well, I think we should meet in the bamboo grove up ahead. I don't want to run into any people. Is that alright with you?"
“Alright, the bamboo forest isn’t far anyway,” Xia Lanyue said, then took out her purse from her bosom and counted out the money she was going to give Jiang Di for candy. “One hundred and forty coins, how come I’m short ten coins? What did I spend them on?” Xia Lanyue thought back carefully.
Jiang Di smiled and held out her hand. "Give it to me."
Xia Lanyue placed the money into Jiang Di's large hand and said, "I'll make it up to you next time."
Jiang Di took it and put it directly into his pocket. "No need to make up for it." Then he stopped, looked at the Xia family gate behind him, and handed the candy to her. "You've arrived."
Just then, the sound of children's voices came from the courtyard, as if they had just finished school.
Jiang Di hurriedly handed the jar to Xia Lanyue and said, "I have to go now, see you next time."
"it is good."
"Five days from now, at 5 PM, in the bamboo forest, don't forget," Jiang Di reminded him as he ran, his figure growing ever more distant.
Xia Lanyue looked back at the courtyard, a little curious. Was he trying to avoid being seen by Xia Yao?
She was still pondering at the door when the courtyard gate behind her was opened, and Xia Yao walked out, accompanied by students.
The students bowed to say goodbye and then left.
Xia Lanyue also saw A Xiang in the crowd, but A Xiang didn't seem very happy. He didn't greet her and walked home dejectedly.
After Xia Yao watched all the students leave, as expected, he ignored Xia Lanyue, turned around and went back to the courtyard, entering the west room.
Xia Lanyue looked at him, pursed her lips, then walked into the courtyard, closed the gate, and went straight to her room.