Xie Zhuran and Jiang Li eventually ended up taking a walk outside together.
They walked in silence for a long time.
Suddenly, Jiang Li turned her head to look at the person beside her.
Thinking about his reaction to her brother and Brother Qiuyu, she said with some confusion, “You really are a strange person, Brother Zhuran.”
“Hmm?” Xie Zhuran sounded puzzled.
“They kept you in the dark for so long. Why aren’t you angry? Instead, you even want to help them?” Jiang Li couldn’t understand it.
If she had to come up with a reason, it was probably that Xie Zhuran was so eccentric that his logic didn’t follow that of a normal person.
“I don’t need a reason for that,” Xie Zhuran replied with a nonchalant expression.
Jiang Li was slightly stunned. After a moment, she let out a self-deprecating sigh. “I suppose. You didn’t see what my brother was like during those three years after Shen Ao left.”
“I really didn’t see it, but based on what Old Jiang was like when school first started, I can probably imagine it.” Xie Zhuran reminisced as he spoke, “Besides, I can also imagine how guilty Old Song felt when she learned the truth.”
Jiang Li lowered her eyes and remained silent. A snowy wind brushed past them.
“Jiang Xiao, this one, this one! These are the nunchucks Grandma Jiang wanted. Don’t forget to buy them!” Song Qiuyu’s soft, mellow voice suddenly drifted into her ears.
Jiang Li turned her head to look.
She saw two figures hurriedly running into a store by the roadside.
Their hands were already full of New Year’s goods, and from a distance, the load looked incredibly heavy.
However, looking closely, Song Qiuyu was carrying fewer things. The heavy items were mostly with Jiang Xiao.
From the looks of it, they would likely need to return home once before coming back out to buy more.
Theoretically, as soon as they went back, her grandfather and the others would call them to do chores. The purpose was to make things difficult for them and keep them in a frantic state.
Ultimately, the goal was to make them give up.
“Speaking of which, your grandmother is really strange. Why does she want to perform with nunchucks on New Year’s Eve at her age?” Xie Zhuran asked, bewildered.
“Because she loves martial arts.” Jiang Li gave a faint smile.
“You probably don’t know, but my grandmother was recruited as a martial arts choreographer for several action movies last year and has won many awards.”
At this point, the smile on her face deepened, filled with pride.
“It’s not just Grandma; my grandpa is also very impressive. His calligraphy is beautiful. The couplets for our house every year are written by Grandpa himself.”
Hearing this, Xie Zhuran turned and stared at her for a moment before he couldn’t help but chuckle.
“What are you laughing at?” Jiang Li asked strangely.
“You really love your family, Jiang Li.” Xie Zhuran stopped laughing and became serious.
Faced with his sudden change in tone, Jiang Li simply kept a cold face and continued walking forward, ignoring his comment.
Xie Zhuran stopped in his tracks, standing in place and watching her back. Even as the distance between them grew, he didn’t catch up.
“I won’t let you help them,” Jiang Li said, pausing her steps as well.
“I admit that at the beginning, I really did want to help.” Xie Zhuran sighed.
Jiang Li was startled. She looked at Xie Zhuran in confusion; it sounded like he no longer wanted to help.
Then, Xie Zhuran turned his head toward the two figures in the shop. “I don’t think I should show up there.”
Jiang Li was even more confused. She also turned to look, and then she saw her brother—who had never touched nunchucks in his life—actually performing with them for Song Qiuyu!
Xie Zhuran wanted to say something else, but Jiang Li had already quickly walked over.
Thwack!
In the next moment, whether it was an accident or intentional, Jiang Xiao missed a move and hit his own left shoulder with the stick. Song Qiuyu immediately rushed over, using her small hands to rub the spot he had hit.
“Jiang Xiao, does it hurt?”
“Qiuyu, it hurts so much. Rub it a few more times.”
“Is it here?”
“Yes, right there.”
“What about now?”
“It still hurts a bit…”
“Don’t try to be brave if you don’t know how to use nunchucks.”
“But Qiuyu, you laughed.”
“Honestly, don’t do it next time.”
“Okay.”
The store owner and passersby, who had initially been watching with knowing smiles, eventually reached a point where they couldn’t bear to look anymore.
Taking in the scene inside the shop, Jiang Li’s hand paused as she went to pull the door open, her expression complicated.
Setting the past aside, this scene was likely what she had always wanted to see most. She hesitated and withdrew her hand.
“Jiang Li, aren’t you going in?” Xie Zhuran stopped beside her.
Jiang Li didn’t say a word.
“Then I’m going in!” Xie Zhuran grabbed the door handle and pushed forward. With a creak, the door opened.
As the door opened, a gust of warm air rushed toward them, brushing against Jiang Li’s face and causing her tightly knit brows to relax unconsciously.
She gazed at the two figures in the shop, feeling a bit dazed. Suddenly, she felt a sense of loss, not knowing what to do.
Should she stop Xie Zhuran? Or let him be?
Xie Zhuran muttered something under his breath and strode into the shop.
He raised a hand, casually and naturally greeting the two people inside. In the next moment, two pairs of eyes swept over.
Naturally, they didn’t just see Xie Zhuran; they also saw the person still standing outside the door.
Seeing this, Jiang Li considered it briefly one last time before stepping forward with her long legs and following him in.
Jiang Xiao had noticed Jiang Li and Xie Zhuran outside the store long ago.
He had hit his shoulder with the nunchucks on purpose.
After all, a kind boss had once taught him a trick—the Strategy of the Suffering worked every single time on someone who liked you.
Although he felt more or less embarrassed about using schemes on his own sister, as long as it worked, he could be thick-skinned enough to keep doing it.
Jiang Li stopped in front of them. She glanced at the purchased New Year’s goods out of the corner of her eye and narrowed her eyes. “Brother Qiuyu, can you do calligraphy?”
“Uh…”
Caught off guard by the sudden question, Song Qiuyu was stunned and confused.
She searched her memory for a moment before speaking truthfully. “I wrote it a few times in elementary school, but I haven’t done it since.”
“I see.” Jiang Li frowned, her tone full of regret.
“What’s wrong?” Song Qiuyu was completely lost. She looked at Jiang Xiao and then at Xie Zhuran, seeking an answer.
Xie Zhuran shook his head, indicating he didn’t know.
Jiang Xiao also shook his head, but then he seemed to remember something and nodded. He looked at his sister and asked tentatively, “Is it the couplets?”
“Yes. Grandpa probably isn’t going to write the couplets himself this year.” As she spoke, Jiang Li picked up a bag and flipped through the paper specifically meant for writing couplets.
The expression on her face became even more complicated.
Hearing this, Song Qiuyu’s brow furrowed, and she pointed at herself. “Uh, you don’t mean for me to write them, do you? But my calligraphy is really ugly.”
Jiang Li sighed and said, “If you’re bad, you just need to practice more.”
Xie Zhuran looked at Jiang Li and burst out laughing. “Is this considered the examiners leaking the questions before the test?”
Jiang Li gave him a cold glare.
Xie Zhuran immediately turned serious, feeling that her glare was about to hit the ceiling. If he didn’t behave, he might actually drive her away.
He continued, “Since the questions are already leaked, might as well leak a few more. When Grandma Jiang gets these nunchucks back, is it so Old Song can show off a few moves too?”
Song Qiuyu stared at the nunchucks in Jiang Xiao’s hand, already breaking into a cold sweat.
Thanks for the chapters!