Chapter Eighty-Three

  It turned out that if Jiexi insisted, Yucai would not be a match for her. Although someone only gave her a few words and a cold face, Yucai still conceded.

  On the third day at noon, He's mother and son arrived. As soon as He's mother saw Yu Cai, she joked, "Little Cai is also a big girl now, it's time for her to go out and see the world, it won't do to hide like this."

  Yu Cai Ting's hair is full of black threads, what's going on?!

  "Don't worry, Aunt He will definitely help you dress up Xiaocai beautifully today!"

  Yu Cai Meng looked around and saw that someone was still staring at the "Zi Zhi Tong Jian" in their hand without even lifting their head.

  "What did you just mean, Aunt He?"

  "Didn't Xiè tell you?" Mother He sighed, "Xiè has also grown up, afraid you're not familiar with those things, and actually knew to call me to come early, to help you prepare well. Come on, let's go pick out clothes first."

  Yu Cai's eyes were complex as she looked at Ji Shi, then followed He Mu out the door.

  Her mother's eyes are very good, and when Yu Cai finishes styling her hair, she herself is a little afraid to recognize the person in the mirror. Well, it's true that people should dress up, and although Yu Cai is Cinderella, and will probably never become Snow White, occasionally playing Little Red Riding Hood is still possible.

  He Mu was also very satisfied with her own vision, joking a few sentences, and the two returned to the Qi family.

  He saw Yu Cai, who looked quite elegant and refined, and immediately let out a loud whistle, exclaiming, "Women really are to be dressed up, Ah Shi, doesn't she look great?"

  Qī shì zhī diǎn tóu, qǐ shēn pèng le pèng yù cǎi cháng cháng de ěr dièsuǒ, "xǐ bù xǐ huān?"

  Translation:

  Ji nodded and got up, touching Yu Cai's long earrings, "Do you like it?"

  Yu Cai's face suddenly flushed for no reason, okay, the little handsome guy is showing signs of charm, calm down!

  "What did you choose?"

  Qī shì zhī diǎn tóu, yù cǎi qiān qǐ zuǐ jiǎo, "wǒ hěn xǐ huān, xiè xiè".

  English Translation:

  She nodded in appreciation, Yu Cai's mouth curled up at the corners, "I like it very much, thank you."

  He Mu smiled and said, "Xie Zhi has also learned to care for others. He Qi, follow Xie Zhi upstairs to change clothes, I'll teach Xiao Cai some basic etiquette."

  Although it was a small party, there were quite a few people who came, conservatively estimated to be over a hundred. Yu Cai followed closely behind He Mu, afraid of taking a wrong step.

  Xia Yunyun's stepfather gave his son a blessing, and then began to introduce Xia's mother and daughter with great fanfare. It seemed that this was the main event of today. Xia Yunyun also dressed up specially, her lips were red and white, her face was beautiful, and she could really be called Snow White.

  The party was in a self-service format, and after it officially started, He Qi quickly pulled Xi Ze to run off somewhere. He's mother also had some guests to attend to, and Xia Yunyun came to greet her for a bit before leaving as well. Alright, since she was the main character of today's gathering, it would be too impractical to expect her to entertain everyone, so Yu Zhe could only sit down with a cup in hand, looking around gloomily, pretending to rest from exhaustion.

  It wasn't long before Xia Mu brought her husband and stepson to greet Yu Cai. After some pleasantries, Xia Mu saw that Yu Cai was alone and asked her stepson Song Zhiyuan to take Yu Cai on a tour around the place.

  Song Zhiyuan's son inherited his father's business, studying clinical medicine at a medical university, now in his fourth year. He wore black-rimmed glasses and had a gentle appearance, not talking much. After exchanging a few polite words with her, he handed her over to another girl who was about the same age as him. The girl was very talkative, but only briefly introduced Song Zhiyuan as "Yunyun's classmate". She seemed dissatisfied, and as soon as he left, she asked, "Surname Yu? I've never heard of it?"

  Yu Cai smiled faintly, "I'm not from the provincial city, I'm Xia Yunyun's high school classmate".

  The girl let out a sound, seemingly having accurately defined Yu Cai's identity. Yu Cai felt a stinging sensation upon hearing it. Although the girl had defined Yu Cai's identity, she didn't ignore her and introduced her to two other girls. The four of them started chatting, with Yu Cai mainly just listening in.

  Just as Yu Cai was feeling depressed and wanted to strangle Qi Shi, a surprised voice rang out, "Xiao Cai? You're here too?"

  Yu Zaiyun looked over and found it was the beautiful and elegant Qiao Meichen, she couldn't help but exclaim "Beautiful sister!", Qiao Meichen burst out laughing and nudged the man beside her, "Hey, this is the little Yu I told you about, isn't he interesting?"

  Is it interesting to call you a beautiful sister just because of your black eyeliner?

  There was a man in his 40s beside Qiao Meichen, with an ordinary appearance but a comfortable look. Upon hearing this, he smiled slightly and said, "Is that Shu Fan's niece?"

  Yu Cai slightly bent her knees and nodded, "Uncle is good, I am Yu Cai".

  "I heard you and Shi Zhi don't like noisy places, why did you come today?"

  "We and Xia Yunyun are classmates."

  The man nodded, "Has Shi Ze also arrived?"

  "Hmm, he's over there with He Qi."

  Qiao Meichen smiled and said, "I haven't seen him yet, Xiao Cai, take us to get acquainted".

  Qiao Mei and Chen saw Ji Xizhe, dropped a sentence to go find her to play when they have time, and went to talk to others. Yu Cai didn't want to go back and talk to those girls, but staying in the group of boys was also depressing. Just as she was hesitating, the crowd became excited, and following the sound, Ji Shu Fan came in with a spring breeze on his face. This was Yu Cai's first time seeing Ji Shu Fan in a public setting, yet she felt that his eyebrows, his eyes, and his smile were unfamiliar, as if they were separated by oceans...

  A hand with a hint of coolness pulled up her right hand, Yu Zhai turned her head, and Ji Shi's voice was soft as he said, "Stand aside."

  Yu Cai was like a dream come true, and in an instant she had the urge to cry, hastily covering it up by picking up a wine cup.

  Ji Shi let go of her hand, and the wine glass in his hand touched hers. He leaned over and said, "Hey, Yu Cai, why are you following us? Come meet some more friends!"

  Yu Cai's drinking hastened, her face flushed pink, she nodded slightly and put down the cup, turning to leave. Ji Shi opened his mouth again, "Yu Cai—"

  "Uh-huh."

  "Is it okay?"

  Yu Cai forced a smile and said, "A Shi, if you can do it, why can't I?"

  Yu Cai nodded in response and returned to the side of those few girls, the girl from earlier rebuked her, "Yu Cai, you really aren't considerate enough, what's there to hide?"

  Yu Cai smiled and said, "I'm actually a distant relative of Qi Shi's from five generations ago, it's really not good to bring this up".

  "So you're also his cousin, huh? Well, Qizhi's dad is even more handsome than him."

  Another girl joked, "What's the use of being handsome? I think Song Zhiyuan is better, at least when you talk to him, he won't pretend not to hear."

  When the girls mentioned handsome guys, it was a terrifying thing, and the atmosphere became lively. Yu Cai listened with a smile on her face, occasionally interjecting a few words. She was indeed the "Tongue of Lotus Flower" praised by Hua Laoshi as being lovely and respectable. This little scene couldn't stump her.

  "Hey, Yucai, who was that guy you were just talking to? The one standing next to Jixi."

  What's this?

  "What does his family do?"

  "His mother works for the government, his father I'm not too clear about."

  The girl let out a soft "oh" and suddenly her eyes lit up, she pulled on Yu Cai's hand, Yu Cai followed her gaze to see Ji Shu Fan walking this way accompanied by Song Father.

  Several girls shouted in unison, "Uncle Song, Uncle Qi".

  Qishu suddenly called out, finally looking at Yu Cai with a genuinely warm smile, "My little Cai has also grown into a beautiful young woman".

  Yu Caiyu felt a bit ill at ease and tugged at her skirt, but didn't respond.

  Qí shū fán jí qí zì rán de zǒu dào tā shēn biān lǎng yòu tā de jiān bǎng, cháo nà sān gè nǚ shēng diǎn tóu zhì yì, "xiǎo cǎi dàn zi xiǎo, nǐ men yǐ hòu duō duō zhào gù".

  Translation:

  Qishu Fan naturally walked up to her side and put his arm around her shoulder, nodding at the three girls, "Little Cai is timid, you all take care of her more often in the future."

  Three girls smiled humbly one after another, and the smile at the corner of their mouths became more charming. "If you don't mind, I'll borrow Xiao Cai for a while."

  Yu Cai followed Qi Shu Fan's footsteps in a daze, and a soft exclamation came from behind her, "Qi Shu Fan is really so handsome, so elegant! I really can't believe he's almost forty!"

  Qishu handed her a glass of iced water and said "to sober up" as she sat down in a corner with Yucai.

  Yu Cai took it over, and Qi Shu patted her forehead with a smile, "What's wrong, scared silly?"

  "No, not at all—"

  "Why didn't you tell me about this when I came?"

  Yu Cai gulped down a big mouthful of water, and only then did her scorching cheeks slightly cool down. "I originally thought it was just a small birthday gathering, I didn't expect it to be like this."

  "It'll be fine once you get used to it," said Qi Shu Fan, rubbing his temples. "Xiao Cai, I specially rushed here from 800 miles away just to support you today, how are you going to thank me?"

  "Uh——" Yu Cai raised her head, "You didn't plan on coming originally?"

  Qishu leaned in close to her and lowered his voice, "Xiao Cai, your beloved uncle isn't someone who can be easily invited, let alone to such a small gathering."

  Qī shū fán wēn rè de hū xī dài zhe dàn dàn de jiǔ xiāng chuī bō guò yù cǎi ěr biān, yù cǎi xià yì shí yào táo, jīng huáng jiān shǒu zhōng bèi zi pā de luò dì, tā zì jǐ yě chà diǎn shuāi xià yǐ zi.

  Qī shū fán wú nài le, fú zhe tā zuò wěn, "wǒ jiù nà me kě pà?"

  Translation:

  Qi Shu finally couldn't help it, supported her to sit steady, "Am I that scary?"

  Yu Cai's eyes narrowed, "Originally I didn't think so, but after tonight, all I can say is that Ji Shu Fan is more ferocious than a tiger!"

  Qishu smiled and shook his head, "Did you spill any on your clothes?"

  Yu Cai Dou Dou skirt, "hem dripping a little bit, fortunately it's water, nothing happened".

  Qishu Fan helped her up and said, "Let's go find Shizhi and pay our respects to a few elders."