Liu Duo grinned when he said that. Of course they’d go on vacation as a family!
After taking a short break with Liu Duo, Ye Yang picked up his hoe and went back to work, digging and weeding. Liu Duo sat in the same spot, observing his repetitive actions. He made such a simple, common job worthy of attention.
It was almost time for lunch. Ye Yang and the two workers put their work on hold and left the farm.
Liu Duo stood on tiptoe and helped him wipe his sweat with her sleeves. At that moment, bliss sparkled in his eyes.
“Let’s go home. Ling must have finished preparing lunch.”
Having cleaned the sweat off him, Liu Duo smiled as they walked together.
The two workers followed them. One whispered to the other, “Boss Yang seems to have a good relationship with his family’s shared wife, and she seems to be a nice woman.”
“You’re right.”
Back home, they were still preparing the dishes, so Liu Duo brought Little Lian upstairs to her room.
“Sister Duo, what’s this about?” Little Lian asked Liu Duo kindly as she was strung along.
What’s there that cannot be discussed downstairs? She wondered.
She hadn’t seen Liu Duo’s shopping bags when she arrived home, so Liu Duo knew Ye Liu must have taken them upstairs for her.
She smiled, “I have a surprise for you.”
They entered her room, and Liu Duo let Little Lian sit in front of her bronze mirror. She gave her a small box, and Little Lian opened it to find the pearl earrings about which Liu Duo had asked Li Wazi for his opinion.
“Here, I’ll help you put them on. They’re going to look great,” she said.
But Little Lian stopped her, “Sister Duo, how can I wear something that’s yours?”
Although she had ear holes, she had never worn earrings before. She maintained them with branchlets of bamboo leaves to prevent closing.
“I bought these for you, so of course you can wear them.” Afraid she’d still reject, Liu Duo quickly added, “We are like sisters, so I hope you can accept my gift…”
It was a sudden decision she had made. When she had been buying some accessories for herself, she remembered that Little Lian didn’t have any, so she bought one for her.
Food was ready downstairs. Seeing that Liu Duo and Little Lian hadn’t come down yet, Ye Mo got up to call them.
He had reached the second flood when he heard the happy sounds of Liu Duo and Little Lian talking, so he knew they were coming down, yet he went up anyway.
“Little Mo? It’s lunch time, so why are you going up?” Liu Duo asked.
She seemed to be in a good mood, so Ye Mo adopted a softer attitude, “I came up to call you two to come down for food.”
Liu Duo nodded and continued walking down the stairs with Little Lian. Ye Mo leaned sideways for Little Lian to move first. And just when Liu Duo passed him by, he caught hold of her wrist.
She looked back, questioning with her eyes what he was up to.
“Have you told Miss Fang in town, that you aren’t going to the capital?” Ye Mo wanted to know her final decision.
Liu Duo said calmly, “Yes, I did. I’m not going. I just have to finish drawing the art she requested.”
Having received his preferred answer, a smile etched on his face. He felt great that she really listened to him about not going to the capital.
He pulled her into an embrace and held her waist, “Since you obeyed for once, I have a reward for you!”
Er… this stunned Liu Duo for a bit. Since when had she listened to him? It was a decision she had made for herself!
A reward? Liu Duo rolled her eyes at him, “Who cares about your reward? Let me go. It’s lunch time!