Inviting the Moon to the Farmhouse

Xia Yao stood motionless at the doorway, leaving Xia Lanyue trapped inside.

Seeing that she couldn't get out and Xia Yao showed no intention of making way, Xia Lanyue angrily threw her bundle onto the bed and sat down on the edge of the bed.

Xia Yao said calmly, "A-Yue, don't worry, let me talk to your mother."

At this moment, Xia Huifang also came out of the house and arrived at Xia Lanyue's door. Seeing Xia Yao's attitude, she was a little angry. "Don't try to persuade me. I haven't done anything wrong."

“Mother, have you forgotten? They’re from the capital. If you let them go, where can they go?” Xia Yao said. “Besides, I even vouched for them. What am I going to tell Chief Zhao when he asks about it?”

Xia Huifang was initially unmoved by his words, but upon hearing this, she became anxious. "So why did you vouch for them? You don't even know who they are. You're just too kind." Then she grabbed Xia Yao's arm. "Come on, I'll go with you to find the village chief and explain the situation. We won't vouch for them anymore."

“Mother, A-Yue is my friend’s sister, we know each other,” Xia Yao explained.

Xia Huifang looked incredulous.

Xia Yao continued, "We met in the capital. A Yue is not a bad person."

Xia Huifang asked with a hint of disbelief, "Really? You're not lying to me on purpose to keep them here?"

"No."

Seeing Xia Yao's determined gaze, Xia Huifang changed her attitude completely. "Oh dear, why didn't you say so sooner? You silly child!" She immediately became enthusiastic, pushed Xia Yao aside, walked up to Xia Lanyue, and smiled broadly. "Lanyue, this is all a misunderstanding, a huge misunderstanding! Please don't be angry with your aunt. I was just confused by what those people said. Don't leave, just stay here."

Xia Lanyue looked at Xia Huifang expressionlessly. Although Xia Huifang had asked her to stay, she no longer felt the same gratitude she had when she first arrived. She was also conflicted. She had no intention of staying here, but she didn't want to leave with this bad reputation. More importantly, she didn't want to implicate Xia Yao, since he was innocent.

Dai You, who was in the courtyard, noticed that Xia Lanyue hadn't come out for a long time. He walked to the door of the house, looked at her, and called out to her in a questioning tone, "A-Yue?"

Xia Lanyue looked up at Dai You, her eyes revealing a hesitant expression.

Dai You seemed to understand what she meant, and without urging her, he simply said, "You decide."

Xia Lanyue nodded, then lowered her head and pondered.

"Oh dear, Yue? You should stay here," Xia Huifang said hastily when she saw that Xia Lanyue was not speaking. "This is all Pangao's fault. Why didn't you say so earlier? Listen to your aunt and stay."

Xia Lanyue looked at Xia Huifang, then at Dai You, then at Xia Yao, and then nodded.

Xia Huifang beamed with joy and took Xia Lanyue's hand, saying, "Ayue is a reasonable and kind girl. Please forgive me if I say anything inappropriate."

"Don't say that, Aunt Xia. I also made some mistakes," Xia Lanyue said, her head lowered.

"What do you want to eat today? Your aunt will make it for you," Xia Huifang asked, looking into Xia Lanyue's eyes.

"Ah, just eat what you normally eat, Auntie, don't worry too much," Xia Lanyue said calmly, without a trace of happiness on her face.

"Okay, you can rest for a while. I'll call you when the food is ready," Xia Huifang said, then turned and went to the kitchen. As she passed the door, she gave Xia Yao a wink, signaling him to follow. Then the two of them went into the kitchen one after the other.

Xia Huifang glanced cautiously at Xia Lanyue's room and whispered, "Who is she? Why haven't you mentioned her before?"

“I’ve met her brother; he’s a friend of a friend. When I was taking the imperial examination in the capital, I couldn’t find a place to stay, so I stayed at her house,” Xia Yao said.

"Oh dear, that's your benefactor! Why didn't you say so sooner? I almost kicked them out. What's her family's financial situation like? Are they rich? What do they do?"

"Mother, you have too many questions."

"Oh, tell me already, I'm so anxious!"

“Her family is quite well-off; they run a big business,” Xia Yao said calmly.

"That's wonderful! So, when you go to the capital this time, can you stay at her house?" Xia Huifang said excitedly, grabbing Xia Yao's arm. "She's a benefactor to you!"

"Let's talk about this closer to the time," Xia said indifferently.

“It’s too late to talk about it now. Oh dear, will my treatment of her today affect you?! No, I’ll make it up to her. Do you know what Yue likes to eat?” Xia Huifang asked.

How would I know what she likes to eat?

"Tsk, you're all drinking together, why don't you take this opportunity to get closer? She's not married yet, so you have the advantage of being close by..."

"Mother..." Xia Yao raised his voice to stop Xia Huifang from speaking.

"Alright, alright, let's stop talking about it. I know all you can think about is the imperial examination. Let's not talk about anything else until this is over," Xia Huifang paused. "But, what about Acheng's matter? We can't delay any longer!"

"I'm going to Chief Zhao's house," Xia Yao said, and started to walk out.

"Oh, let's go tomorrow. Village Chief Zhao went to the town mayor's house, and he won't be there. Don't waste your time. Go back and study," Xia Huifang said.

Xia Yao nodded and walked out of the kitchen.

When he passed by Xia Lanyue's house, he went to the door. At this moment, Dai You was standing inside, looking at Xia Lanyue. The two of them did not speak and just stayed quietly.

"Ah Yue, take a rest for a bit, dinner will be ready soon, Brother Dai too," Xia Yao said.

Dai You nodded at Xia Yao.

Xia Lanyue turned around and smiled at Xia Yao, "Mm."

Xia Yao didn't say much and went back to his room.

Dai You asked Xia Lanyue, "I want to know your thoughts."

Xia Lanyue looked up at him. "I don't want to leave with the reputation of a thief, and besides, we don't have any money."

“Why don’t we rent a house in town? He can just give the address to Village Chief Zhao,” Dai You suggested.

Xia Lanyue shook her head. "Let's stay here. That way, Aunt Xia will feel more at ease. Besides, renting a place is quite expensive, and we have many other things we need money for," Xia Lanyue said.

Dai You thought for a moment, nodded, and said, "Okay, I'll listen to you."

Dinner was carefully prepared by Xia Huifang, including stir-fried cured pork with chives, stir-fried cucumber with eggs, and stir-fried bamboo shoots. These dishes were almost as elaborate as those served during the Chinese New Year.

The food was delicious, but the four people eating it were all distracted.

"Come on, eat more," Xia Huifang put some cured meat into Xia Lanyue's bowl. "We don't have much good food in the countryside, so I'm sorry to have to make do with it, A-Yue."

Xia Lanyue quickly held out her bowl to take the food from her plate, saying, "Aunt Xia has been very hospitable; my brother and I are very grateful."

“If Pang Gao hadn’t brought it up, I wouldn’t have known he had troubled you all. I’m truly ashamed,” Xia Huifang said.

Xia Lanyue was taken aback. She didn't know what Xia Huifang was referring to, but she reacted quickly and continued, "Ah, it's nothing."