Inviting the Moon to the Farmhouse

Early in the morning, Xia Lanyue woke up with a headache. She had slept soundly all night and hadn't dreamed at all. Xia Lanyue was somewhat frustrated, pondering the reason for her failure. It was probably because she had drunk too much and lost consciousness.

Xia Lanyue sat up. Her head was throbbing and her throat was dry. All she wanted was a bowl of water.

Xia Lanyue pushed open the door and went into the courtyard. Then, her gaze fell on the small table in the courtyard.

The table was piled with bamboo frames, which looked like bamboo horses.

Xia Lanyue walked over, counted them, and there were five in total.

Did Dai You do this? Did he not rest all night? Xia Lanyue tried to recall what happened last night, but she couldn't remember anything. She only remembered saying a lot of things, but the specific content was vague, and she couldn't remember any conversations with Dai You.

Xia Lanyue went into the kitchen, scooped up a bowl of water and drank it. The cool water soothed her parched throat.

She checked the time and figured Xia Huifang would be waking up soon, so she started a fire to prepare a meal.

Just as the rice was being rinsed and put into the pot, Xia Huifang went into the kitchen.

"Oh dear, what's that smell of alcohol? Has A-Yue been drinking?" Xia Huifang asked.

Xia Lanyue nodded, then, as if remembering something, quickly said, "Aunt Xia, don't tell my brother about the drinking."

"What, you weren't drinking with him?" Xia Huifang asked.

“No, he doesn’t let me drink. If he finds out I’ve been drinking secretly, he’ll be even angrier,” Xia Lanyue said.

"Who did you drink with?" Xia Huifang asked curiously, then glanced at Xia Yao's room and seemed to understand something.

Seeing this, Xia Lanyue felt that if she told the truth, Xia Huifang would misunderstand, so she simply smiled and answered instead.

Xia Huifang seemed to understand the meaning of her expression, and looked delighted, but didn't ask any further questions.

After cooking the porridge, Xia Lanyue ran to the yard to get some fresh air, hoping to quickly dissipate the smell of alcohol.

"Ah Yue, I wanted to ask you yesterday, did you buy this bag of salt?" Xia Huifang asked.

“Yes, Aunt Xia, I think we’re almost out of salt. Let’s keep it for later.” Xia Lanyue ran into the kitchen and saw the jar of salt in Xia Huifang’s hand. It was brought by Jiang Di yesterday. He gave us a lot of salt, and since we couldn’t use it all, we kept a jar for the family.

"Hmm, this salt is so white, it makes me not want to eat the salt at home anymore," Xia Huifang said with a smile.

"Then let's eat the new ones. I'll keep the old ones for other uses."

Xia Huifang didn't ask any further questions. "Okay. The food is ready. Go and call them to eat."

"Okay." Xia Lanyue went to Xia Yao's door first and knocked on it. "Xia Yao, get up and eat."

"I'm not hungry, so I won't eat. You guys eat," Xia Yao's voice came from inside the house. Judging from his voice, he seemed to have been awake for a while.

Although Xia Lanyue had some doubts, she didn't ask any further questions. "Alright then."

Then she walked to the door of the west room, knocked on it, and said cautiously, "Dai You, dinner's ready."

"Hmm," came Dai You's voice.

Xia Lanyue was initially a little nervous, but when she heard Dai You's straightforward response, she felt a surge of joy.

Suddenly, she remembered the lingering smell of alcohol on her, so she quickly covered her mouth, exhaled a breath, and inhaled the strong odor, which even made her choke. If Dai You found out, he would ignore her again.

Xia Lanyue rushed into the kitchen and said to Xia Huifang, "Aunt Xia, Xia Yao said he's not hungry and won't eat breakfast. You and Dai You can eat later. I'm not hungry either, so I'll go back to my room first." After saying that, she quickly disappeared into the house.

Xia Huifang glanced at Xia Lanyue, then at Xia Yao's room, shook her head with a smile, and turned to set up the stools.

Just as Xia Lanyue closed the door, Dai You came out of the west room.

Dai You watched over the kitchen for a week but didn't see Xia Lanyue. He looked at Xia Huifang, hesitated, and then lowered his head to serve the porridge.

Just as Dai You was about to serve the fourth bowl, Xia Huifang stopped him, saying, "No need to serve anymore. We still need Acheng today, so the three of us can have breakfast together."

Dai You paused for a moment, looking at Xia Huifang. Xia Huifang didn't explain to him, but gestured for him to sit down and eat. Dai You nodded and walked over.

During the meal, none of the three spoke; the room was so quiet that the only sound was the chewing of food.

In another room, Xia Lanyue was lying on the bed, rubbing her stomach, trying to relieve her hunger.

"If I had known, I would have brought that bag of candy with me," Xia Lanyue said regretfully.

Just then, a knock came from outside the gate, "Is anyone home? Is Xia Yao home? Is Xia Cheng home?"

Hearing the noise, Xia Huifang quickly put down her chopsticks and went to open the door, with Acheng following behind her.

When the door opened, several young men pushed it open and entered. This sight made Xia Huifang so nervous that she took several steps back.

Once everyone had entered the courtyard, Xia Huifang saw Li Chuan in the crowd and quickly asked, "Li Chuan, is there something you need that brings so many people here?"

Li Chuan stepped out from the crowd. "Aunt Xia, we're looking for Xia Cheng."

Acheng walked over to Xia Huifang, helped her up, and said to Li Chuan, "What do you want?"

“Come with us to the village chief’s office to ask him some questions,” Li Chuan said.

Acheng looked at Xia Huifang and said to Li Chuan, "Okay, let's go then."

"Hey, wait a minute," Xia Huifang walked over and pulled Li Chuan aside with a smile, "Li Chuan, didn't we already ask before? Why are you asking again?"

"I didn't explain things clearly last time, so I'll find out more about the situation this time."

"Why are there so many people? It's kind of scary," Xia Huifang said, still worried.

Li Chuan glanced at the group of people at the door and said, "They came out with me because they have other things to do."

Xia Huifang felt relieved and nodded, "Okay, it's good that nothing's wrong."

"We'll be going now, we still have a lot to do."

Xia Huifang nodded, "Okay, you go ahead and do your thing. Come over for dinner sometime when you're free."

Li Chuan nodded, then nodded to Xia Yao in the courtyard, and left with his men.

While they were talking, Xia Yao, Dai You, and Xia Lanyue had already come into the courtyard and were now looking at Xia Huifang with confusion.

Xia Huifang looked serious, as if she was worried about Acheng. She took off her apron, threw it on the stool, and said, "You guys eat first, I'll go check on him."

"Mother, you don't need to go, it's alright," Xia Yao said, trying to stop her.

Xia Huifang shook her head, as if she had a bad feeling, and insisted on going. "You guys don't need to worry about it. Just remember to bring Ah Niu his food later."

“Okay, I’ll go right away,” Dai You said.

Then, Xia Huifang followed her out.

In the courtyard, only Xia Lanyue and the other two remained.

"Then I'll trouble Brother Dai to deliver the porridge. I'm still a bit tipsy, I'll sleep a little longer," Xia Yao said, his face not looking too good. He turned and went back into the house.

Xia Lanyue was a little puzzled by Xia Yao's reaction. She walked closer to Dai You and said, "Why does he seem to not care about Acheng? Let's ignore him and go to the village chief's house to see him."

Dai You nodded, then sniffed as if he had smelled something, and looked at Xia Lanyue with surprise.

Xia Lanyue suddenly realized that she still smelled of alcohol on her and felt guilty. She quickly avoided his gaze and turned to walk towards the house. "You take the food first, we'll go when you get back."

Dai You quickly pulled her over, sniffed her, and then his face darkened. "You've been drinking?!" He looked up at Xia Yao's room, somewhat annoyed. "You were drinking with him?!"