Inviting the Moon to the Farmhouse

Xia Lanyue spat out all the water she hadn't swallowed, and looked at Acheng in surprise.

Ah Cheng thought she hadn't heard him clearly, so he repeated, "Why don't you just marry me!"

Xia Lanyue didn't know what kind of misconception she had given Acheng, making him think that she was unmarriageable, but she didn't care about that and directly and decisively rejected him, "No need, I don't want to get married."

"Stop being stubborn. What woman wouldn't want to get married?"

"Now that you've seen it today, I don't want to."

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about. Even though you're older than me, I don't mind."

Xia Lanyue stared wide-eyed at Acheng, unable to believe what she was hearing. But thinking back on the past few days, based on her understanding of him, if what he said was true, Xia Lanyue felt that he didn't understand a tactful rejection and directly stated his position, "I don't want to marry you."

Hearing this, Acheng got anxious. "What's wrong with me? I'm strong and can work anywhere. There are plenty of people who want to marry me. You're so old, why are you being so picky!"

Xia Lanyue was speechless. Feeling that she couldn't communicate with him, she simply stopped talking and turned to leave.

"Hey, don't go! Are you going to marry me or not?" Acheng still wouldn't give up.

"I won't marry you, not even if you kill me," Xia Lanyue said resolutely.

"Tch, I'm not getting married."

"That's wonderful, thank you," Xia Lanyue said, turning her head and raising her eyebrows.

"You'll regret this!" Acheng chimed in, getting all worked up.

"Hahaha, I don't regret it at all," Xia Lanyue said, shaking her head and teasing Acheng.

“You old maid nobody wants, you’ll come back begging to me later,” A-Cheng seemed quite smug.

Xia Lanyue shook her head speechlessly, looking at Acheng. She didn't understand what kind of thinking Acheng had, but she knew they weren't on the same path. Saying anything more would be wrong, so Xia Lanyue quickly shut up and ran back to the house as if fleeing.

After entering the house, Xia Lanyue couldn't help but spit out a curse, feeling annoyed.

Xia Lanyue was unhappy inside the house, and Acheng was unhappy outside the house as well.

He chopped the wood with even more force, making a loud clanging sound and sending wood shavings flying everywhere.

Xia Yao stood behind A Cheng, looking at him thoughtfully. Clearly, A Cheng had taken his previous words to heart, which made Xia Yao's expression even more unpleasant.

Xia Yao walked past A-Cheng and went to Xia Lanyue's house. He knocked on the door and, after receiving permission, went inside.

Not long after, the two came out together. Xia Yao went to the west room, while Xia Lanyue went to the kitchen. It seemed that Xia Lanyue had specially prepared dinner.

While chopping firewood, A-Cheng secretly peeked at the kitchen. Seeing that Xia Lanyue didn't seem to react, his temper gradually wore off as his strength waned.

That night, Acheng became increasingly angry and couldn't sleep, so he went to sit in Xia Yao's room.

"How long are you going to keep staring at me like this?" Xia Yao asked, looking at A-Cheng sitting by the window.

"Anyway, you're not sleeping, so why should you care about me?" Acheng said, fiddling with the books on the table.

"I don't want to bother with you, but please don't touch my oil lamp," Xia Yao couldn't help but complain. "I can't even read my book now."

"Hey, besides reading all day, are you not interested in anything else?" Acheng looked at Xia Yao with a dejected expression. "Do you think you'll pass the exam this time? I'm hoping to benefit from your success!"

"For example, what benefits do you get from it?"

"When others talk about me, they can say that I am the cousin of Xia Yao, the top scholar in the imperial examination."

"and then?"

"And then... I can get married too," A-Cheng said, his voice trailing off.

"Heh," Xia Yao snorted coldly, "So that's what you mean."

"Ah Niu is younger than both of us, and he's about to get married. Aren't you worried?!"

"Not urgent!"

Acheng didn't like hearing this and angrily turned his body away. "You're not in a hurry, but I am." Then, he secretly glanced at Xia Yao, who wasn't paying attention to him. His eyes darted around, and he turned to Xia Yao, asking, "What do you think of this Ayue?"

"What?!" Xia Yao frowned.

"I know you don't like her, but I... kind of like her. Do you think there's a chance for us?"

"Ha, she already said she's not going to marry you, didn't you hear?" Xia Yao said.

"You...you heard everything?!" Acheng immediately became angry. "Why were you eavesdropping?!"

"I am listening openly and honestly, and I am standing right behind you!"

"No wonder she looked at me like that that day. Could it be that she was too embarrassed to accept me because she saw you?!"

Xia Yao opened his mouth wide, looking just as speechless as Xia Lanyue.

"The two of us..."

“Absolutely not,” Xia Yao interrupted him, saying firmly.

"You're my cousin, shouldn't you stand on my side and give me some support?!" Acheng said unhappily.

"I'm encouraging you, but only within realistic circumstances, not encouraging you to have unrealistic fantasies. Marriages are usually arranged by parents and matchmakers. What kind of family is she? Are you someone you can aspire to? You should still consider what the matchmaker suggested last time..."

"I do not!"

Xia Yao sighed, looked helplessly at A-Cheng, and then slowly said, "Stop fooling around, go back and rest. I should go study too."

"Cousin, why don't you lend me a hand?" Acheng said earnestly to Xia Yao.

"How do you want me to help?!"

"Let me think about it," Acheng said, resting his chin on his hand, as if planning something.

……

The next morning, Acheng woke up unusually early, and by the time everyone got up, he had already returned from gathering firewood.

Everyone could tell that he was acting strangely today, but no one paid special attention to him, assuming that he was happy because his brother was getting married.

After breakfast, Acheng hummed a little tune as he went to the fields.

Xia Lanyue was selling her rice cakes at the end of the street as usual.

The auntie next door who sells kites brought her grandson today. The little boy looked to be only four or five years old, with a chubby face and was especially cute.

Xia Lanyue naturally offered the child her rice cakes to cheer him up.

The little guy wasn't shy at all; while eating, he ran into Xia Lanyue's arms and started to act cute with her.

The child's grandmother, unable to bear his nagging any longer, dragged him back, saying, "Ah Lin, come back. Your aunt has to go do business." Just then, Ah Lin's mother arrived, and Ah Lin rushed into her arms, even offering her some rice cakes.

Ah Lin's mother took a small bite of the rice cake that Ah Lin handed her, then smiled and nodded to Xia Lanyue in greeting.

Xia Lanyue smiled in response, then stared at the basket. It contained various kinds of flowers, but she only recognized peonies. She figured that Ah Lin's mother must be making a little money selling flowers.

"Ah Lin, why don't you give your aunt some flowers?" Ah Lin's mother said to Ah Lin, bowing her head.

Xia Lanyue was stunned, and hurriedly waved her hand, "No..."

“It’s not easy to refuse flowers. Ah Lin likes you, so of course he’ll give you flowers. You can choose whichever one you like, whether it’s a peony, an orchid, a gardenia, a hibiscus, or a half-flower,” Ah Lin’s mother said.

"Hmm..." Xia Lanyue stammered, unable to speak. Her mind was filled with the words, "He likes you and wants to give you flowers," and she was weighing the weight of those words.

"Ah Lin, help your aunt choose," Ah Lin's mother said to Ah Lin, bowing her head.

Ah Lin was really serious about choosing, and then he picked out a gardenia and ran over to hand it to Xia Lanyue.

Xia Lanyue snapped out of her daze, accepted the flower, and said, "Thank you."

Ah Lin shyly ran back into her mother's arms, then shyly peeked at Xia Lanyue.

After Ah Lin's mother and Ah Lin had walked away, Xia Lanyue asked her aunt, "Auntie, what does it mean to give hollyhock flowers?"

"Usually, people don't give hollyhocks. These flowers are everywhere and don't cost any money. People usually give rare flowers as a token of friendship," the aunt said with a smile.

"Oh, I see, haha," Xia Lanyue chuckled. "Then what kind of flower am I holding?"

“These are gardenias, girls all love this flower,” the aunt said.

"Oh, they are quite pretty," Xia Lanyue carefully placed the flowers on the side of the basket, then greeted the guests and stopped chatting.