Both Liu and Mo were in their twenties, and yet they could be so immature despite their age? Perhaps only Ye Yang and Ye Ling were the normal ones.
When he heard that, Ye Liu smirked some more. “I certainly did, but look, I’m waiting for the food to digest now.”
People who are thick-skinned can take on whatever you throw at them. They don’t have an ounce of shame!
She didn’t want to partake in this banter, since she knew she would end up losing anyway.
She walked to the well with the clothes she had previously taken off and dumped them in an empty bucket. Later she would wash them along with the other men’s clothes.
Ye Liu did not follow her, but instead his eyes traced along Liu Duo’s fair legs as he continued smirking. He wondered how her skin could be so fair.
Then he entered the bathroom and disposed of the bathwater in the bathtub.
In the house, Ye Yang kept his eyes on Liu Duo the minute she stepped out of the bathroom, as though he couldn’t get tired of taking in her beauty.
Liu Duo went to the kitchen after she dumped her laundry. “Ling, is the water hot yet?”
Ye Mo and Ye Ling were talking but stopped when they heard her.
“Dear, the water’s not done yet. Wait a moment,” Ye Mo said.
She noticed the redness on Ye Ling’s face. Ye Mo had stopped talking to him the moment she stepped in. Liu Duo arched her eyebrows. Mo must be egging him on to do something.
“Oh,” she merely nodded. “Ling, since it’s not dark yet, let me teach you how to write some simple numbers. Mo, watch the fire.”
Then she came forward and took Ye Ling’s hand, leading him outside.
Ye Ling uttered a simple, “Sure,” and followed her out of the kitchen.
Ye Mo watched them go as he begrudgingly added more wood to the fire. No one seemed to take notice of him.
Once they got out of the kitchen, Liu Duo looked up at Ye Ling beside her. “Ling, what did Mo tell you just now?”
Er…
Ye Ling averted his gaze from Liu Duo’s and said shyly, “It…It’s nothing. Duo Er, why do you ask?”
He wouldn’t dare tell her that Ye Mo had instructed him to pluck up the courage and request to consummate with her.
Obviously, Liu Duo didn’t believe that, but she didn’t probe further. She brought him indoors and sat him down, then she went to get some writing paper and brushes before setting them on the table.
“Yang, come over here. I’m teaching you and Ling how to write numbers,” she said to Ye Yang next to them.
Ye Yang had his eyes locked on her anyway, so he came to her when he was called.
There were only two brushes at home, both of which were the ones she and Ye Mo always used for managing accounts. Liu Duo passed one to Ye Ling and used the other to write a simple ‘one’ on a piece of clean writing paper. She made sure they were paying close attention.
“See, we hold the brush like this, and then lightly move the brush this way. This is ‘one.’ When we say one wen or one tael of silver, this is it!” Liu Duo taught them. “Isn’t it easy? You try.”
Then she passed the brush to Ye Yang so that he could write.
The two men who had been closely observing her imitated what she did and wrote a straight brushstroke across.
Ye Yang’s stroke was neither light nor heavy, with just enough force, but his hand was shaking so the word he wrote wasn’t very neat. Ye Ling managed to do better. His stroke wasn’t light or heavy, but he wasn’t shaking, so the product turned out well.
Liu Duo nodded. “Not bad, you two are doing great. Keep practicing and you’ll improve.”
It was then that Ye Liu walked over and said, “Little Duo, why didn’t you call me? I want to learn how to write too.”
