The seventh day of April was You Jin's eighteenth birthday.
Although she was a 'high-age' unmarried daughter, Su Family still held a lively birthday party for You Jin. There were people from Xiao Family, Han Family, and You He's husband's family in attendance. A total of four tables were full. Truly lively.
"I wish Eldest Sister smooth sailing in all matters and no illness or worries." Su Family's little girl held fruit wine and toasted today's birthday star.
You Jin, who was already a little tipsy, drank it all with a smile: "As long as you are all well, Eldest Sister will be fine."
Seeing that even the youngest You Duan had grown into a delicate and lovely little girl, You Jin felt emotional and joyful at the same time. Cup after cup, she drank and unexpectedly got a little drunk.
Since they were at home, Mrs. Su wasn't going to restrict the children. Unforeseen, during the banquet, Eldest Daughter was drunk. Seeing Eldest Daughter sitting there blankly with red cheeks, Mrs. Su hurriedly got someone to help her back to her boudoir : "Quickly get some hot water for Miss to wipe down. Cook some hangover soup in the kitchen to serve."
"It was nothing. I'm fine." Although You Jin was drunk, she still had some awareness. She leaned weakly on Qiu Fen and Bai Zhi and waved her hand to tell Mrs. Su not to be too busy: "I'll go back to my room and rest for a while."
Although she said she was fine, how could Mrs. Su believe it? It took a long time to sort out before it came to a stop. Not long after, the front came to report, saying that it was Gentleman Xiao who had arrived outside the door. Mrs. Su had no choice but to get someone to clear the table and prepare some tea and foods for Xiao Lin Yu.
As soon as Xiao Lin Yu came in, he asked Mrs. Su to dismiss those around. Then he knelt down on both knees, and kowtowed to Mrs. Su: "Auntie Su, Lin Yu came here this time to request You Jin's hand in marriage."
Mrs. Su hadn't recovered from the shock of him kneeling down. When she heard him say this, she was taken aback for a moment. Then she smiled in delight: "Good child, get up at once."
From the start, Mrs. Su was worrying about her daughter's marriage. Now her favorite son-in-law candidate came all the way to Luohe Prefecture and the first thing he did was to propose to marry her daughter. How could she be unwilling? She rushed to help the person up, and responded: "I know you have always been excellent, so I naturally won't say no. But you also know that You Jin is one with her own thoughts. If she agrees, this marriage can work."
"Since it's like this, Son-in-law thanks Mother-in-law first." Xiao Lin Yu was delighted to have Mrs. Su's consent, and made another bow to Mrs. Su: "I wonder where You Jin is at this time?"
He rushed back all the way to give her a birthday gift, and then ask her to marry him.
"You Jin is drunk, so she just went to rest now. You can go and have a look." Mrs. Su thought that her daughter was unwilling to marry because of Eldest Gentleman Xiao and now that he propose, she felt it should be fine and let the servant outside to take him to the backyard.
***
The second entry's east compound courtyard was You Jin's boudoir. Qiu Fen and others had finished waiting upon Eldest Miss on washing up and changing into clean clothes. The outside servant brought Xiao Lin Yu in.
Sitting on the couch with her back leaning on a soft pillow and supporting her heavy head with one hand, You Jin heard that someone was coming from outside. So she ordered weakly: "Please come in."
Seeing that Miss was a bit awake, Qiu Fen complied, led Eldest Gentleman Xiao in, and retreated to the door to guard.
Xiao Lin Yu just entered the room, and saw the young girl with her hair tied loosely in a bun and with rosy cheeks smiling at herself under the bright candlelight. He felt his heart melt instantly and his throat was slightly itchy. His voice was dry and hoarse : "Jin-er..."
"You're back?" You Jin tilted her head and looked at the man standing only three or four steps away from him. Her eyes were a little hazy. Then she leaned forward feebly.
"Be careful!" Xiao Lin Yu strode forward to catch her: "Why are you so drunk?"
You Jin's hands wrapped around his neck like dexterous snakes, tightly wrapping around him: "I thought you didn't remember..."
Xiao Lin Yu never knew that a drunk You Jin would act like a spoiled and shameless three year old. He was reluctant to break away from her, so the two hugged each other and satt on the couch. You Jin leaned softly against Xiao Lin Yu's arms. Looking up at the man with watery eyes, her red lips parted slightly.
Xiao Lin Yu swallowed hard, and began to recite the Four Books and Five Classics silently in his heart. Apart from hugging You Jin, he didn't dare to take any step further: "Jin-er, be good. Can you let me go?"
"No." You Jin shook her head like a rascal, and said, "Let go and you run away again."
"I'm right here. No, uh..." Xiao Lin Yu hadn't finished speaking when her extremely alluring red lips came closer and directly blocked his unfinished words.
With the man's slightly cold lower lip in her mouth, You Jin bit him deliberately. The man let out a muffled 'En' and immediately took control instead. He hugged the young girl tightly in his arms and kissed the soft red lips that he had missed for months.
In the quiet room, no one spoke. Only a pair of little mandarin ducks were kissing wantonly and indulgently. Occasionally, there were sounds of kissing. So ambiguous that it made people blush.
It was unknown how long the kiss lasted, You Jin only knew that the deer in her heart was about to fly away when she was let go. She leaned against the panting man's arms whose heart was also pounding. The smile on her lips tempted Xiao Lin Yu and made him mentally recite Tao Te Ching.
In fact, when You Jin kissed Xiao Lin Yu, her mind had already cleared up a lot. There were some elements of testing in mind. She knew that she liked Xiao Lin Yu, but she didn't dare to confirm whether Xiao Lin Yu still liked her until she was kissed gently. So lovingly as if he was holding a worldly treasure in his hands. Only then, You Jin understood his affection for her.
Although Xiao Lin Yu kissed his sweetheart again, he was both happy and guilty. How could he take advantage of his sweetheart when her consciousness wasn't clear? The more he thought about it, the more he felt that his gentlemanliness was in vain. He even felt a little ashamed to face You Jin and Su Family who trusted him so much.
You Jin was clueless to what was going on in his heart. She leaned against his arms and listened to his strong heartbeat. The drunkness gradually took over and she soon fell into a deep sleep.
Hearing the movement in his arms, Xiao Lin Yu knew that You Jin was asleep. He had a wry smile on his lips: "Silly Jin-er. Aren't you afraid of me swallowing you alive?"
Though he said this, his movements were very light. He carried the young girl to the carved wooden bed, carefully put her on the bed, and then covered her with a brocade quilt.
Standing in front of the bed and looking at the young girl's sleeping face, Xiao Lin Yu leaned in and kissed her forehead lightly: "Have a good dream."
Then he reluctantly left You Jin's boudoir. Outside Qiu Fen and others saw him come out and all bent their knees to salute.
"Go in and keep an eye on Eldest Miss. She is resting now. A drunk person may ask for water at night." Xiao Lin Yu detailedly instructed Qiu Fen and others before leaving.
Being ordered by Madam and Eldest Gentleman Xiao, Qiu Fen naturally paid attention. After a whole night's watch, Eldest Miss had woke up twice in the middle of the night to ask for water. Needless to say, she was busy lighting the lantern and pouring water.
Back to Xiao Family. Their house hadn't yet to finish constructing. Xiao Family still lived in the the east compound courtyard in the front yard of Su Family.
Hearing the commotion outside, Xiao Hai Ru put on his clothes and got up to look. Who was it if it wasn't his eldest son standing tall under the moonlight? Although Xiao Hai Ru lived in Luohe Prefecture, he was still very concerned about the affairs of the capital. He wasn't surprised to see Eldest Son come back. After all, today was the birthday of Eldest Miss of Su Family. So he asked, "Have you gone to see her?"
"I've seen." Xiao Lin Yu nodded a little shyly: "Father, rest earlier. It is getting dark now."
Xiao Hai Ru nodded, and said: "Your room was cleaned every day. You should take a rest early. Whatever the matter, we will talk about it tomorrow."
***
In the early morning of the next day, You Jin felt a splitting headache before she opened her eyes. Laying on the bed, she weakly cried out, "Ah."
Outside, Qiu Fen heard the movement in the inner room, and came in with hot water: "Miss, are you awake?"
You Jin squinted her eyes and raised her head in a daze for a while. Seeing the sun shining in from outside, she rubbed her temples and asked, "What time is it?"
"It is a quarter past nine." Qiu Fen put down the hot water, walked behind Miss and gently massaged Miss's temples: "This morning, Madam ordered not to disturb Miss's rest. So I didn't dare to disturb Miss."
You Jin enjoyed Qiu Fen's perfect massage and sighed comfortably. The memory of last night came back intermittently. Everything at the front was fine. Only the passionate kiss between her and Xiao Lin Yu was so sweet that she had the urge to get a nosebleed. Was it true or fake?
"Yesterday, when I was drunk, you were the one who guarded me?" You Jin coughed dryly, trying to control herself not to think about the memory of her being a flower picker molesting a decent man.
Qiu Fen's hand never stopped moving: "I was guarding. However, when Eldest Gentleman Xiao came here around 9 p.m., I was guarding outside."
Qiu Fen's response exploded in You Jin's head like a thunderbolt. She closed her eyes in pain and embarrassment. How could she face Xiao Lin Yu in the future?
She didn't want to face Xiao Lin Yu, but Xiao Lin Yu seemed to care more about her because of last night's kiss. Before the master and servant in this room finished talking in the inner room, the maid outside the room passed the message at the door: "Eldest Miss, Commandery Duke has arrived."
Now You Jin wished she could turn into an ostrich and bury her head in the ground. Immediately, she fell back into the brocade quilt, waved to Qiu Fen, and lowered her voice: "Just say I haven't gotten up yet. Go!"
Qiu Fen didn't know why Master acted so guilty. Still, she went out according to the master's wishes and closed the door gently.
You Jin was lying on the bed and could only hear intermittent voices coming in from outside. Qiu Fen indeed refused Xiao Lin Yu to enter according to the nonsense she made up.
After a while, the wooden door opened with a squeak. Footsteps came in lightly and stopped when it reached the bed.
"Have he left?" You Jin laid on the bed. Her muffled voice came from under the quilt. She didn't want to face this cruel reality at all.
But the visitor gently pulled away the brocade quilt covering her face, and a smiling face appeared in front of her eyes. If it wasn't Xiao Lin Yu, who was it?
"Why don't you want to see me?" Xiao Lin Yu was afraid that she would suffocate in the quilt, so after gently pulling the quilt away, he asked softly, "Jin-er blamed me for last night..."
When mentioning what happened last night, You Jin was already embarrassed. Now the embarrassment hit the max: "Stop, can you not mention what happened last night? I was drunk. It was my fault, It was all because of my impulsiveness."
Xiao Lin Yu didn't expect her to react like this. The smile that was still lingering became a little bit more disappointed in an instant: "I thought last night was a mutual affection. Never thought it was wishful thinking on my side. Since it's like that, take a good rest. I won't disturb."
After saying that, he turned around and left the east compound courtyard.
Watching his back full of disappointment, You Jin felt a little unspeakable discomfort in her heart. She obviously didn't mean it that way. Why did she, who was usually eloquent, was now clumsy? The young girl who didn't want to face the reality put the quilt over her head again and shouted in a low voice: "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
Qiu Fen saw Gentleman Xiao going out in a daze and her own miss covered herself under the quilt again. Not knowing what happened, she could only stay outside quietly, not daring to make a sound.