The youth glared at Xia Dabao, and Xia Dabao stared back harshly, her eyes full of wariness and a hint of “Provoke me, and I’ll deal with you.”
After confronting each other for a few seconds, the youth finally looked away, appearing somewhat indifferent and seemingly disdainful of squabbling with Xia Dabao, so he walked off alone.
When Xia Dabao saw that the youth had walked away, she turned back to educate Axian: “See, that’s just the kind of person he is, no manners at all and not a clear thinker, asking a five-year-old for directions. Has his head been caught in a door or what?”
“But sister, that brother didn’t seem very happy, it looked like he didn’t trust anyone but me.”
“He couldn’t deceive others, so he just deceived you.”
“…” Axian didn’t dare to argue with his sister anymore; being the younger brother, it was only right to give in to her.
On the way home, Xia Dabao didn’t dare let Axian wander off again. With one hand, she held a gold cake and a few strings of candied haws, and with the other, she tightly grasped Axian’s hand, occasionally burping.
She had really eaten too much.
Burping all the way back to the entrance of the village, Axian suddenly pointed to a girl ahead wearing coarse clothes and carrying a bundle: “Sister, isn’t that the person from the market who was asking for directions?”
Xia Dabao looked and indeed it was.
The youth was tall and thin, with an extremely refined appearance, but he had a somewhat aloof demeanor and was full of caution when asking for directions.
Xia Dabao didn’t want to bother with it, but Axian called out, “Brother, how e you’re here too?”
Xia Dabao wanted to stop him but it was too late; the youth had already looked over. He softly smiled when he saw Axian, but turned cold again upon seeing Xia Dabao, quickly averting his gaze.
Pfft, Xia Dabao wasn’t eager to deal with him either.
However, why was he also in this village? Xia Dabao knew for sure that he was not from this village but an outsider. Since they hadn’t spoken, Xia Dabao hadn’t caught his accent, but she thought, who cares?
Who cares where he’s from? With that superior air, he must be from the city. She’d been to the city a few times, and those city folks usually look down on country people, always thinking they’re rustic.
…
“Mother, I’m back,” Xia Dabao said as she returned, handing the gold cake to Nan Feng and kissing her.
This was their customary gesture, where many daughters are either as close to their mothers as best friends or are their mother’s arch enemies, preferring to argue with them. Xia Dabao and Nan Feng belonged to the former.
After the kiss, Nan Feng smiled and took out a piece of paper: “Aixi has written again.”
Upon hearing this, Xia Dabao felt a little excited: “Is it the first of the month already? I almost forgot the date, he writes me a letter every month on the first.”
“Look at you, the moment you get something to eat, you forget the date,” Nan Feng said with a smile as she took a bite of the gold cake and smacked her lips: “Mmm, this is delicious, the secret ancestral recipe is truly unmatched. No matter how much we try, we can’t recreate this taste.”
Watching Nan Feng enjoy her food, Xia Dabao also swallowed, and without looking at the letter, she hugged Nan Feng: “Mother, give me a bite, just one bite.”
Nan Feng was generous, breaking off half for Xia Dabao, who gobbled it down: “It’s delicious. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have eaten so many different things and would have bought two gold cakes instead.”
While Nan Feng continued to remind Xia Dabao with a smile: “How e you forget to read the letter as soon as food is mentioned?”
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