Little Li was his younger brother. Since he was displeased with this annoying brat, shouldn't Little Li also stay away from him? But, they were actually acting all lovey dovey in front of them. He felt as if he was about to lose his brother. Thus, he reacted strongly.
Little Li was surprised. He wiggled in his brother's hand and puffed angrily, "Brother. Let me go. I want to go with Brother Han."
Yan Jing was surprised. His mood instantly plummeted even more. He was about to yell at Little Li when he heard Yan He call out to him in a warning tone, "Yan Jing."
Yan Jing's tensed face instantly lightened a little. He and Yan Nuan turned to look at Yan He as he walked up to them. Yan He glanced at Yan Nuan for a moment before awkwardly reverting his gaze.
He looked at Yan Jing and ordered. "Let go."
Yan Jing was surprised. Even Yan Nuan wasn't expecting him to say that. But, she merely watched and didn't say anything.
Yan He's gaze flitted between the two young men as he continued, leaving no room for argument
"Let Ye Han take him in. Don't be so hostile towards your brother." Of course by saying brother, he was referring to Yan Nuan.
Yan Jing was stunned. His face contorted in disbelief as he asked, "Big brother, what are you doing?"
Yan He fixated his black eyes on him and Yan Jing couldn't help but let go of Little Li's hand although begrudgingly. He glared at Yan Nuan before stomping off in anger.
Yan Nuan watched his retreating figure without any emotion and looked at Yan He when she felt gaze on her. She raised a brow when she saw him quickly avert his gaze. He seemed to be about to say something but was weighing in his mind whether to speak or not. Yan Nuan was impatient. She was about to say something when she felt a tug on her wrist. She looked downwards and saw Yan Li staring at her with bright eyes.
"Brother Han, can we go now?"
"Hm. Let's go," Yan Nuan replied and proceeded to leave but Yan Li suddenly raised his little arms.
"Piggyback me."
Yan Nuan stared at the kid as he threw his arms about and couldn't help but pinch his cheeks. But, she still refused. "No. Let's go."
Yan Li lowered his head pitifully and nodded, letting Yan Nuan take him inside. She saw Father Yan waiting for them at the door along with a gloomy faced Yan Jing.
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Inside the ancestral mansion...
Yan Nuan silently sat beside Yan He, calmly watching the other kids joke around. The older ones formed a group while the younger ones also played in a corner. All of the Yan extended family were present. The Old Master had five sons and a daughter. However, according to what Yan Nuan knew, the daughter was forbidden to associate with the Yan family and not in the family register.
Thus, only the children of the sons were in the ancestral home. As Yan Nuan looked at the group of boys crowded in a corner around the room, she wondered if all her father's brothers gave birth to males or they were also like her; hiding their genders.
Most of the boys including Yan Jing were Yan Nuan's age. And, they all seemed to have interesting topics to chat about. Even Yan Jing was sitting amidst them as they chatted. All of them seemed to have a good relationship. Except for Yan He who was older than all of them. Only Yan Nuan seemed odd. None of the elders were around. Father Yan also went to see the Old Master immediately they arrived.
"Let's play soccer," One of her aunt's children suddenly remarked.
Everyone nodded in consent but someone pointed out. "But, we're not up to twenty-two. Twenty players. Two goalkeepers. We need one more person."
A tall boy glanced in the direction Yan Nuan was sitting and gestured. "How about him?"
Everyone glanced in the direction he was pointing at with a frown. None of them wanted to approach Yan Nuan. Who didn't know that Yan Yehan was a short fuse? He would flare up at slightest issues. He was also unruly and arrogant. They were already used to it.
Yan Jing also stared at Yan Nuan, his eyes red with hostility.
But before they could object, the tall boy already approached Yan Nuan. He walked to Yan Nuan and stretched his palm. "Hi. I'm your fourth cousin, Yan Che. You must have not known me. I just returned from Australia. Do you want to play soccer with us?"
Yan Nuan stared at the fair and slender palm dangling in front of her before reaching out to shake hands with him. She glanced at the group of boys standing in the distance. There was a football on the floor beside one of them. Soccer. Although, Yan Nuan wasn't fully familiar with it, she knew about it in her past life. The Emperor loved to play around when he was still the crown prince. He liked to play soccer and always dragged Yan Nuan along to play. She wasn't sure if the prospects were still as it was in her past life. But, she nodded anyway.
Yan Che gave a smile and Yan Nuan stood up. Yan Nuan was tall but he was even taller and overshadowed her. He gave Yan He sitting beside her a respectful nod and the other gave him a smile. Yan Nuan turned to look at Yan He and saw that he was staring at her. She gave a nod and said in a low voice, "I'll just go."
Yan He nodded and brought out his phone. "Okay."
Yan Nuan turned to Yan Che and they approached the other boys who tacitly looked away the moment they began walking towards them. "I brought him. We can start now."
The boys turned to them as though they were just noticing them and the one who initially suggested to play instantly waved his arms when he saw Yan Nuan's cold and aloof expression. "No need. The elders might come anytime soon. We'll just do something else."
The boys were confused. With Yan Nuan's cold expression, was she there to play or fight? With her expression, who would want her in their team?
Yan Che glanced at the tightly shut door of the Old Master's study and shook his head. "I think it will take long before they finish their conversation. We can still play. Right, Yehan?"
Yan Nuan also looked at the study upstairs and could vaguely make out the figures of five men. They seemed to be in an heated conversation and there was indeed no signs that they could be done anytime soon. She gave a firm nod and said, "Yeah. We can still play."
The other boys had no choice but to let her in. They were split into two teams and Yan Nuan ended up in Yan Jing's team. None of the boys could completely trust Yan Nuan so gave her one of the least tasking job. She was the sweeper of the team while Yan Che was the Centre forward of the other team. He raised a thumb at her with a teasing smile on his lips. "Good luck."
"You too," Yan Nuan replied as she walked to her team.
Their Centre Forward stood in the middle. His name was Yan Cui. He was also a tall boy with curly hair and chocolate brown eyes. He waved his hand as he began to speak, "Yan Rui. Yan Zhong. You two are the full back and Central Defender. Yan Che has a good build and long legs. Be watchful of him."
Yan Rui and Yan Zhong nodded.
"Okay. Let's go. We're playing in the lawn."
Everything was set. But someone noticed a problem. "We don't have a referee."
Everyone immediately turned towards Yan He who was sitting alone on the living rom chair. He seemed to be doing chatting with someone but soon noticed the gazes on him. He lifted his head in confusion. Yan Jing wanted to approach him initially but when he thought of how he had supported Yan Nuan earlier, he was displeased. So, he stayed back. However, Yan Cui approached Yan He. "Eldest Cousin, we want to play soccer. Can you be our referee?
Yan He tore his gaze away from the other boys and glanced at the anticipating expression on his face before sighing, "Okay."
He approached them and everyone moved into the lawn including Yan Nuan. Yan He set the stopwatch on his phone and announced, "Okay, get into position all of you. We're starting in five."