Ye Huanyan was rummaging through the suitcase in her room for a set of cups for her grandmother when she heard the door open behind her. She assumed that Aunt Zhang was here to bring her lunch, so she acted as though she had seen her savior. She asked as she rummaged through the suitcase.
"Aunt Zhang, did you put all the things I brought back in the living room on the day I came back? There's a set of cups for me... "
She turned around. The moment she saw Ling Han, her voice stopped abruptly.
Their eyes met, and there was a hint of awkwardness in the air.
"Aunt Zhang is going home, so..."
Before she could finish her explanation, Ling Han suddenly did not feel like explaining anymore. He frowned and put down the lunch box. "If you're feeling better, go out and eat by yourself. Don't make people bring you food. It's so troublesome."
Although he said those words in a bad mood, Ye Huanyan felt a tinge of warmth in her heart when she saw the lunch box.
She stood up and walked over to the dining table.
Ling Han was taking out a big bowl of glutinous rice balls and a few side dishes from the lunch box.
There were two sets of cutlery.
Ye Huanyan was slightly taken aback. "You're eating here too?"
Ling Han looked up at her and said in a bad mood, "You don't have to walk around.
I don't have that much time. I'll take it back after I'm done eating. "
Ye Huanyan replied softly, "Okay."
Aunt Zhang's sesame glutinous rice balls were different from the sweet and greasy ones outside. She would not feel sick of them even if she ate them all night. Moreover, she had personally pickled radishes and pickled cucumbers. They were crunchy and refreshing.
"I really don't know where Aunt Zhang learned how to cook so well. These glutinous rice balls taste so different from the ones outside," Ye Huanyan muttered softly. She lowered her head and carefully tasted the sesame filling.
They were the only two people in the room. Regardless of whether she was talking to herself or to Ling Han, she only had one goal: to ease the atmosphere.
After returning to Lanjiang City from Shanghai, the two of them rarely spent time alone, let alone speak a few words.
Ling Han put the glutinous rice ball in his spoon into his mouth, tasted it, and said calmly.
"I added plum blossoms and licorice."
Ye Huanyan looked up at him. When she saw Ling Han's expressionless face, she thought she was hallucinating.
She was stunned for a few seconds. When she came back to her senses, she quickly tasted it. "It seems to be true."
"What do you mean?" Ling Han glanced at her impatiently. "If I say so, then so be it."
Ye Huanyan swallowed the glutinous rice ball in her mouth and pursed her lips.
"The taste is very faint. How can you tell?"
"Who told you I tasted it?"
Ling Han said casually, "When Aunt Zhang was making the stuffing, I happened to pass by the kitchen."
As for whether it was a coincidence or not, there was no need to explain it to Ye Huanyan.
Ye Huanyan nodded blankly. She felt that he had blocked the topic again.
Just like what Ji Xiaoyue had said, 'For people like Ling Han, he's a conversation stopper. He's high and mighty, as if silence is the only way to get along with him.'
Unable to find a topic to talk about, she could only remain silent.
The big bowl of glutinous rice balls was almost empty. The room was still silent.
After being silent for a long time, Ye Huanyan was used to this feeling. It did not seem to be uncomfortable. Compared to talking to Ling Han with trepidation and accidentally offending him, this silence seemed to make her feel more at ease.
After a while, a cold voice sounded in the room. It was Ling Han who spoke first.
"Uncle and his family are coming back tomorrow. We don't have enough manpower this year, so there's no need to clean the West Courtyard. When they come back, they will directly live with Grandma."
Ye Huanyan was slightly stunned. "Isn't that bad?"
The West Courtyard of the Gu Mansion was Ling Han's uncle, Ling Dongyu's house. Although the family had migrated to the United States, they would come back every year for ten days to half a month during the Lunar New Year. This was also the busiest time of the Gu Mansion. Although they did not stay for long, this was an annual habit. If they suddenly changed, Ye Huanyan was worried that they would be unhappy.
"It's okay. They only come back for half a month every year. There's no need to arrange for such a big courtyard to be cleaned. Besides, there's really no one to clean this year."
In the past, there were many people who accompanied the Old Madam in the Gu Mansion. At the beginning of this year, there was a servant who was not clean and stole the Old Madam's dowry. When the Old Madam found out, she was angry and simply laid off more than half of the servants and maids in the Gu Mansion.
In addition, Aunt Zhang and Uncle Zhang had returned to their hometown, so there was no one to clean the West Courtyard. It would be more troublesome if they knocked into something and broke it.
Since Ling Han said so, Ye Huanyan could not refute. After all, she was an outsider.
She was just looking forward to the return of Ling Dongyu's family. Unlike Ling Han's grandfather, Ling Han's second grandfather had three daughters and one son. Ling Dongyu was the youngest son and was the only child in the West Courtyard. When he was ten years old, his second grandfather passed away. The West Courtyard's elder sister took her mother and younger brother and emigrated abroad. It had been more than 20 years since then.
Although Ling Dongyu was Ling Han's uncle, he was actually only a few years older than Ling Han. According to the Old Madam, Ling Dongyu did not study well in high school in the United States and got married early. Now, he already had a son and a daughter. His oldest son was 15 years old and was almost the same age as his father.
"Two days ago, Uncle called and said that this year, Auntie will come back with him and bring the little kid."
Ling Han seemed to be suddenly willing to talk to her and even told her such news.
Ye Huanyan exclaimed, "Auntie will bring the little kid back?"
Ling Dongyu's youngest son was born last year. Because of this, he did not bring his wife, Chris, back the year before and the year before. Ling Dongyu would occasionally send pictures and videos of his son to the whole family, as if he was presenting a treasure. Ye Huanyan was no exception. This little kid was still in his swaddling clothes and could be said to be very cute.
"What's so exciting about a little kid?"
Ling Han looked at her with disdain.
"Not only that annoying little kid, but also Ling Zhan, Ling Li, and Ling Xue. They did not sign up for the summer camp this year and will all come back. Some of them will be busy for you."
When she heard one of the names, the smile on Ye Huanyan's face froze a little. "Ling Li is coming back too …"
Ling Dongyu had many children in his family and most of them were mild-tempered. His eldest son, Ling Zhan, was 15 years old. Because he was the first son and because he caused trouble in high school, the family doted on him, but they did not spoil him. After all, there was Second Young Mistress, who was also from a scholarly family, who raised him very gently and elegantly. He was not at all like those brats overseas.
Ling Xue, who was 10 years old, was very innocent and pure. She was not a troublesome little girl.
Only this Ling Li.
The second daughter, Ling Li, was 13 years old. Perhaps it was because of this name, she was born to be a big devil. Probably because she had a mild-tempered older brother before her, when she was born, she made threatening gestures. For the past 10 years, during the half month when she came back after the New Year, she would torment Ye Huanyan to death.
Ling Li was Ling Han's die-hard fan.
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