Baiyun Hall was wide and had plenty of areas to sit and eat. The group chose the corner furthest away from the kitchen and settled down. Xu Hexian sighed as he sat. He really wanted to complain. This Second Young Master was too rash! Liu Sumeng already knew himself to be bad with words so what was the point of rushing out like that? Why couldn't he trust these situations to Xu Hexian more?
Complaining about Liu Sumeng to Liu Sumeng often resulted in getting hit, but for Xu Hexian, it was worth venting his frustrations. However, now that they were in front of Liu Sumeng's fiancée and her shidi, it felt inappropriate. If his shixiong were to lose face now, Xu Hexian would definitely get beaten to death!
Dejectedly, he could only change his complaints into something else. "I know that Sect Leader took her in after pitying her, but that Cook Auntie is too fierce! If this woman won't listen to Second Young Master Liu, I fear she won't listen to the Sect Leader either."
Liu Sumeng only shrugged nonchalantly. "No one else was being helpful." As if those few words were enough to explain the entire situation.
In front of him, Chen Anyue smiled. "Thank you, Second Young Master Liu. I'm very grateful that you came to help us. I honestly didn't know what to do. She kept getting angrier and angrier no matter what." The Chen Princess was visibly flustered, but despite being so, she still maintained her refined lady-like demeanor.
Xu Hexian shook his head. "Apologies to Lady Chen and Young Master Yuan. Please try not to take it personally. To tell you the truth, that auntie is known to have a terrible temper. You see, her family was killed by yao. Sect Leader Liu pitied her took and her in, allowing her to become this manor's cook. She has nowhere else to go."
Chen Anyue gasped, her eyes going wide. "Oh… So that's the case. I understand. I'll be more patient with her next time."
Yuan Zhang pulled a strange face, but Liu Sumeng could tell that he was holding back a scoff. This entire time, Yuan Zhang was looking down and poking at his food, not saying a word.
Looking closely, he appeared to be pouting.
Liu Sumeng immediately felt that this younger Yuan Xuelan was extremely adorable. Unafraid, Liu Sumeng spoke up bluntly, "What's wrong?"
Chen Anyue perked up before turning to her shidi with worry on her face. "A-Zhang? Are you okay?"
Meanwhile, Xu Hexian found himself stumped again. He scanned Baijiansheng and wondered if this shixiong of his actually got possessed or something. In the end, he kept his mouth shut.
Yuan Zhang pursed his lips, his hands curling into fists against his thighs. Eventually, he said, "Sorry. It was my fault. I shouldn't have caused this much trouble. I really didn't mean to."
After all, it was his impatient comment that started this avalanche of a mess. Then after that, he failed to de-escalate the situation. Yuan Zhang was at a loss.
"It's fine, A-Zhang," Chen Anyue smiled softly in an attempt to reassure her shidi, "Your words weren't that harsh, it was just that the auntie had misunderstood. Plus, you already said sorry, hadn't you?"
Yuan Zhang looked up helplessly, "Maybe if I had chosen my words more carefully it wouldn't have escalated so badly. If it had been you, Shijie, then—"
Liu Sumeng spoke up suddenly, cutting Yuan Zhang off mid-sentence, "Your words were fine."
An awkward silence fell.
What did this Baijiansheng mean? Yuan Zhang was self-aware enough to know that he was hotheaded and sometimes spoke rashly. If he couldn't recognize that this problem was a result of his own rudeness then he'd be classified as an idiot! His face immediately darkened after thinking things through. "Are you trying to make fun of me?" he accused.
That wasn't it.
What Liu Sumeng had meant to say was that Yuan Zhang was better with words than he was, but he had failed to convey his thoughts. His words were a bit off, his facial expression stiff, how could anyone understand his intention?
"No, no!" Xu Hexian immediately flung himself between the two, eagerly taking the brunt of the awkward atmosphere. "Second Young Master Liu really wasn't making fun of you, he uh—" Xu Hexian stammered, trying to come up with some sort of excuse. He couldn't outright admit that Liu Sumeng was an awkward person who couldn't express himself properly. That was too embarrassing. Xu Hexian strained his smile and eventually said, "You did your best, Young Master Yuan. Cook Auntie was the one acting unreasonably."
Yuan Zhang face became sullen again, "I really did try…"
Chen Anyue nodded encouragingly. "That's right. You did. So don't please don't feel so sad and eat your food."
"I don't want to acknowledge her cooking." He pouted like a child. Well, wasn't this younger Yuan Zhang actually a child? A boy who had yet to receive his courtesy name. Soon enough, Yuan Zhang would grow into a powerful man, the most powerful man in the world, Liu Sumeng thought with bitter pride.
Soon enough, Yuan Zhang couldn't resist his growling stomach anymore and began to dig in. A part of him really wanted to insult the food, but surprisingly it wasn't that bad despite not having any meat.
Liu Sumeng wanted to watch this young Yuan Zhang eat forever and forget all the woes and worries that plagued him and his future.
After lunch, Xu Hexian was called away by the Sect Leader's summons. He would have to leave Wangyun Peak, tasked with an important mission to find Liu Sumeng's brother.
Meanwhile, Chen Anyue excused herself, saying that was feeling a bit tired from her travels and wished to rest. Yuan Xuelan offered to escort her to her quarters in the east court, but before the two could leave, Liu Sumeng stopped them.
"Don't you want to see the library?" Baijiansheng asked, forgetting that they barely knew each other at this point in time.
"What?" Yuan Zhang whirled around, visibly confused and uncertain. "Who said I want to see the library!?" He had definitely made plans to check out the Heavenly Sword Sect's collection but how could Liu Sumeng know this!? A strange chill crept down his neck.
Liu Sumeng overlooked Yuan Zhang's awkwardness and continued, "I can show you."
"I don't want you to show me anything!"
Chen Anyue couldn't help but chuckle at their antics and said, "It's okay, A-Zhang. I can walk myself back. I won't miss you too much if you're going to explore. We can see each other later."
"No!" Yuan Zhang protested loudly, his face contorted with annoyance, "I said I would escort Shijie back so I'm going to escort Shijie back! If I want to find the library then I can look for it myself. Don't treat me like a kid, Baijiansheng!"
Liu Sumeng couldn't argue anymore so he was forced to drop the topic. Trying not to feel too disappointed, he reminded himself that their relationship would eventually become more amiable in the following few years.
The thought that was meant to comfort him only made him more depressed. Did it really take a few years for them to start getting along?
In the end, Liu Sumeng went to the library on his lonesome.