Inviting the Moon to the Farmhouse

For dinner tonight, Xia Huifang made braised fish with bamboo shoots and soybeans.

"Come and try today's dishes. The fish was just caught by your Uncle Tian, ​​so it's especially fresh. The bamboo shoots were picked by Dai You and his sister, so they're fresh too," Xia Huifang said, placing a piece of fish into Xia Lanyue's bowl.

After Xia Lanyue thanked him, she put a large piece of fish into Xia Yao's bowl. "Mr. Xia, please eat more. Fish is a good thing. It symbolizes Mr. Xia's success in the imperial examinations."

Xia Yao looked at Xia Lanyue with a puzzled expression, without saying a word. Perhaps her sudden blessing left him completely bewildered.

Xia Yao didn't touch his chopsticks, but Xia Huifang urged him, "This has a good meaning. Climbing high, hurry up and eat the fish. You'll definitely succeed in the imperial examination this year."

Xia Yao picked up his chopsticks, took a small piece of fish, and ate it expressionlessly. Xia Lanyue couldn't tell what he was thinking, but she didn't care. She moved closer to Xia Yao and said, "I saw Village Chief Zhao today. He said the thief who stole thirty bushels of grain is still unconfirmed." After saying this, Xia Lanyue glanced at Xia's mother and son. The two of them seemed numb to the topic and didn't react at all.

"Actually, I have an idea," Xia Lanyue said hesitantly, "If we can't find these thirty shi of grain, how about using my silver notes to pay for the grain?"

When Xia Huifang heard this, her eyes suddenly lit up. She looked at Xia Lanyue and asked, "What do you mean by that, Lanyue?"

“What I mean is, the silver notes I left with Village Chief Zhao can be used to offset thirty bushels of grain, leaving me with quite a bit to spare. If we do that, it’s as if I’ve bought the grain, and the case is closed, right? That way, you won’t suffer any losses, I’ll get my remaining silver notes back, and A-Cheng can come back from Village Chief Zhao’s house. It’s good for me, for the Xia family, and for A-Cheng,” Xia Lanyue said, looking at Xia Yao. “Is your idea feasible?”

"In that case, A-Yue will suffer a great loss. Why do you do this?" Xia Yao put down his chopsticks.

“Village Chief Zhao said the case will continue to be investigated, but it’s hard to say how long it will take. My brother and I can’t stay here forever; we have to go home eventually,” Xia Lanyue said.

"Are you in a hurry to leave?" Xia Yao asked.

"It's not that I'm in a huge rush, but if the case takes a year or two to investigate, I can't wait that long. If spending this amount of money can resolve the issue faster, I'm willing to accept it. I wonder what Xia Yao thinks of this approach?"

After listening, Xia Yao lowered his head and thought for a long time. Then he raised his head and said, "It's all my family's grain that's been lost. If I talk to Village Chief Zhao, he should be able to agree."

Upon hearing this, Xia Huifang could barely contain her smile, but since it was something that benefited her family, she didn't dare to say anything.

"That's great! Can you go talk to the village chief about this?" Xia Lanyue asked.

“Let’s wait a little longer. I think Wei Liangxing seems to be wavering. He might confess soon,” Xia Yao said, then turned to Xia Lanyue. “When are you planning to leave?”

"Hmm... about a month. Dai You and I plan to earn some money for a few days, and then leave once we have some savings. So for the time being, we will continue to bother you here."

Xia Yao nodded after hearing this.

“A month? That’s late June. Why don’t you stay a few more days and go to the capital with Pangao in early July? That way you can look out for each other on the way,” Xia Huifang said.

“We plan to go to my aunt’s house, we won’t be going home for now,” Xia Lanyue touched her face, and she remembered the slap in her dream, as if the pain was still coming back to her.

Upon hearing this, Xia Huifang's smile froze on her face, a look of disappointment washing over her after her little scheme had failed.

“However, my brother will ask a friend to arrange accommodation for Xia Yao,” Xia Lanyue said to Xia Yao, “and Ma Ruisheng, you can come along too.”

"Ah Yue has thought of this much, she's so thoughtful, she's such a likable girl," Xia Huifang said with a smile. "Also, if you need money, you can tell Aunt Xia. Although we don't have a lot of money, we don't want you to have to go out and work. Look, you've lost weight recently," she said, picking up a piece of fish for Xia Lanyue.

Xia Lanyue smiled awkwardly, "Aunt Xia, you should eat too. Don't keep giving me food; my bowl is already full."

Xia Huifang smiled and nodded.

Dai You remained silent for a long time. At this moment, he took the fish from Xia Lanyue's bowl, replaced it with a piece of deboned meat from his own bowl, and gave it to Xia Lanyue.

“Oh my, Dai You is such a good kid. He just made a pot of soup to cool you down in the summer heat and said he’d take it to A Niu later,” Xia Huifang said, her eyes full of approval as she looked at Dai You. Suddenly realizing she might have overlooked Xia Lanyue, she added, “You two siblings are both wonderful.”

"It's you bringing the food again?" Acheng reached out and took the food box.

"What? You're not happy about it?" Xia Lanyue rolled her eyes at Acheng.

"No, how could I dare?" Acheng opened the food box and his eyes lit up with excitement when he saw the fish on the plate.

Xia Lanyue glanced at Acheng's pathetic appearance and turned to leave.

"Hey, what did you say to your aunt? She even cooked fish for you?"

“I told her that Acheng has lost weight, and she felt sorry for him,” Xia Lanyue said, looking at the fish head, tail, and a small amount of fish meat on the plate.

"Hehe, I love eating fish heads the most, and you all left them for me, that's so kind of you."

"Yes, you should eat more of these; you really need them," Xia Lanyue said with a smile.

"Do you want some? I'll share half with you since you brought me food," Acheng said, preparing to separate the fish head.

Xia Lanyue looked at the fish head with disdain; she never ate it. "Don't bother sharing, I'm full. It's all yours, don't be shy."

"Then I'm welcome."

"Hmm," Xia Lanyue turned her head to look at the courtyard and asked Acheng, "Where's Li Chuan? I haven't seen him."

"He went home; there were some things to take care of at home."

"Oh," Xia Lanyue said regretfully upon hearing this. She still had something she wanted to ask Li Chuan, but it seemed she wouldn't be able to.

"What are you doing?" Xia Lanyue asked as soon as she returned to the west room, where she saw Dai You writing something at the table.

Dai You panicked a little and tried to cover himself, but ultimately failed to dodge.

"You're writing a letter?!" Xia Lanyue looked at the crooked handwriting on the paper and asked him with a smile, "Is it a letter to a friend? To arrange matters in Xia Yaodu?"

Dai You shyly pulled the paper closer and nodded.

Xia Lanyue couldn't help but laugh when she saw him looking so shy for the first time.

Dai You looked at her helplessly, "I haven't practiced calligraphy lately, and it seems like I've forgotten how to write. How about A-Yue writes it for me? I can write the envelope."

Upon hearing his words, Xia Lanyue immediately stopped smiling. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to mock you. You write very well, please continue."

Dai You stopped writing and stared at her for help.

Xia Lanyue immediately changed the subject, "Was Jiang Di Niang home when you delivered the bamboo shoots earlier?"

Dai You shook his head. "No, I just left it in the yard."

Xia Lanyue nodded, "Ah, then I'll go wash the dishes. You continue, I'm not watching anymore."

"Leave the washing dishes to me, but as for writing, A-Yue is better at it," Dai You said, rushing over to take the food box from Xia Lanyue's hand and heading to the kitchen.

Xia Lanyue was stunned, frozen in place. She regretted her foolish actions and didn't know how to salvage the situation. Helpless, she turned around, sat down at the table, and continued writing, following Dai You's words.

She couldn't continue writing after just the second character. Looking at the characters, which were even uglier than Dai You's, Xia Lanyue disgustedly crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it into the wastebasket. At the same time, she thought of an excuse to deal with Dai You.

Then she walked out of the west room.