Chapter One Hundred and Seven: Good Things Come in Pairs, Part Two

The page was refreshed on July 22, 2013.

“Ah...”

Before Lian Yue had even stepped into the small courtyard where Meng Chuchen lived, a shrill scream nearly made her knees buckle.

At such a piercing pitch, she instantly recognized Yao Yao’s voice. She hurriedly shoved open the door to the room from which the sound had come and rushed inside, only to freeze in dumbstruck silence.

On the carved, openwork sandalwood bed before her, Yao Yao had her arms crossed tightly over her chest, her eyes shut, and was screaming at the top of her lungs in abject terror. Meng Chuchen was leaning against the bed, one finger lodged in each ear.

This... this... what on earth was going on...

Lian Yue’s mind short-circuited. Something had clearly happened, and yet this seemed like something that should not have happened. She was thoroughly confused.

She backed out of the room into the courtyard, glanced around, and finally spotted what was wrong. In a flash, she darted back inside and roared, “Yao Yao, this is not your room! This is Second Brother’s room! How could you be in Second Brother’s room!”

With one shout after another flying back and forth, Meng Chuchen could no longer bear it. He freed one hand to cover Yao Yao’s mouth, then roared inwardly at Lian Yue: “Stop!”

The room fell abruptly silent. The three of them stared at one another, wide-eyed. Meng Chuchen rubbed his aching forehead with his remaining free hand and, having finally sorted out the situation, explained to their horrified faces, “First, this really is my room.”

“Second, Yao Yao insisted on staying here herself.”

Lian Yue thought back to Yao Yao’s stormy manner from the day before, then looked at Yao Yao, who was silently nodding on the bed, and nodded back with some doubt. “And third?”

“Third,” Meng Chuchen’s cheeks were also a little redder than usual, “we didn’t do anything. We merely slept in the same bed, fully clothed.”

Lian Yue looked at his dismissive tone and was even more bewildered. “You slept together, and that counts as nothing? Then what would count as something?” She reminded him earnestly, “Second Brother, a real man keeps his word and takes responsibility.” Then she turned to comfort Yao Yao. “Don’t worry. The Yue family will take responsibility for you.”

Yao Yao, who had been hanging her head, instantly brightened. “Sister Yue, is that true?”

“False!”

Yao Yao’s little face fell again at once. Curling up in the corner of the bed, she looked aggrievedly at Meng Chuchen, who had just spoken, and shifted back a little in fear.

But Meng Chuchen did not intend to let her off. He first warned Lian Yue not to speak for the moment, then looked at Yao Yao helplessly and said, “Tell her what happened yesterday, word for word. Otherwise, yesterday’s promise does not count.”

“How can that be...” Yao Yao rolled out from the corner of the bed at once, threw her arms around Meng Chuchen’s arm, and said unhappily, “How can it not count? You said it yourself.”

Meng Chuchen felt the softness brushing against his arm and said, his throat tight, “If you keep dawdling, it truly won’t count.”

“After I left Sister Yue’s courtyard yesterday, I went to find Senior Brother Chuchen,” Yao Yao hurriedly said. “I asked Senior Brother Chuchen whether he liked me, and then he asked why I would ask that. So I told him exactly what Sister Yue had analyzed, word for word. Senior Brother Chuchen did not deny it, and then he kissed me once, and then and then—”

Lian Yue strained to hear what came next. Instead, she heard, “I fell asleep.” She nearly toppled over on the spot. “That’s it?”

“That’s it!”

The innocence in Yao Yao’s eyes made Lian Yue feel like smashing her head against a wall. “And what promise were you just talking about?”

At the mention of that, Yao Yao’s eyes narrowed into slits, and she said smugly, “Senior Brother Chuchen said that when we returned, he would marry me. I promised him I would stop shouting every day about finding handsome men.”

Lian Yue was stunned again. She did not know whether to believe it, nor did she want to anger Yao Yao, so she simply sent a thought inward: “Is this true? Did you really say that?”

“Yes. Is that not good?” Meng Chuchen’s voice quickly came back from within her heart. “Isn’t that what you’ve always wanted?”

Lian Yue thought about it and realized he was right. Second Brother being so direct about his feelings was indeed a good beginning. Though she had long told herself that Yao Yao would one day become her second sister-in-law, actually seeing it become reality still required some time to adjust.

She had already expected that there would be at least some different development after Yao Yao came looking for them yesterday, but this kind of explosive, immediate talk of marriage still came as a surprise.

“Yes, yes. It was just so sudden. Now I’m the only lonely soul left.” Lian Yue still communicated by thought out of habit. Once again, the figure of Dark Nether flooded unannounced into her mind.

Meng Chuchen reached out and tapped Yao Yao on the head. Yao Yao obediently let go, climbed down from the bed behind him, and bounced happily over to Lian Yue. She waved her fair little hand before Lian Yue’s eyes and asked, “Is Sister Yue also as happy as Yao Yao?”

Dark Nether’s image faded. Lian Yue returned to the matter at hand. “Happy? Then how will you thank me?”

Then, looking at Yao Yao’s disheveled appearance, she added, “Never mind. Go back to your own room and tidy yourself up first. Big Brother and Sister Lan are still waiting for us to eat.”

Yao Yao touched her tousled hair and smiled sheepishly, then was about to pull Lian Yue out with her.

Lian Yue quickly stopped her. “You go by yourself. I have something to ask Second Brother. I’ll wait here.”

Yao Yao did not insist further and hurried off. A rumbling sound followed her steps, and her stomach began to betray her as well.

“What do you need me for?” Meng Chuchen’s voice came from behind the folding screen by the bed. “You can tell me now.”

Lian Yue sat down on a chair nearby, picked up a pastry, and nibbled at it to fill her stomach. “When did you finally come to your senses? How did you make up your mind so quickly? Were you afraid Yao Yao would be snatched away by someone else?”

“Then what if I was?” Meng Chuchen straightened the jade belt at his waist behind the screen and walked out. “Her being mixed up with you was only a matter of time.”

Lian Yue swallowed the pastry in her mouth and argued, “What do you mean? Haven’t I been keeping an eye on her for you? Otherwise, she’d have been carried off long ago.” She then grabbed another piece and stuffed it into her mouth, as if the more she ate, the hungrier she became.

Meng Chuchen used a jade hairpin to fasten his hair simply and glanced sidelong at Lian Yue. “Am I supposed to have a faulty memory, then? So it was not you encouraging Yao Yao to look at handsome men?”

“That was only after you asked me to help you turn her down.” Lian Yue was not about to take the blame.

Meng Chuchen was choked into silence, then went on to criticize her. “Fine. Watching handsome men means dressing as a man and entering pleasure quarters; watching handsome men means you must eavesdrop at the wall; and that fellow named Li Sheng, looking like that, you still call him handsome?”

Just look at him. Just look at him. Had all the vinegar their mother ate while carrying the two of them somehow been absorbed by him? He was still brooding over it after so long. The city lord’s son had refined features and a clean-cut appearance. Why should that not count as handsome?

“He has refined features? Even a beggar would become a graceful young lord in your eyes.”

Lian Yue, in her carelessness, had forgotten again that the two of them shared that special bond. Sometimes it felt wonderful to use, but at other times it was rather unnecessary—like now, when the thoughts in her heart were laid bare before Meng Chuchen.

“Only by comparing can you see the difference. If Yao Yao does not look at a few more men, how can she realize how good you are? How could you possibly have fooled her into your hands so easily?”

Even if it was true, there were things that could not be admitted. She had to distance herself from the matter with a shameless excuse.

“Of course, it is not fair to say Second Brother tricked Yao Yao either. With Second Brother’s looks, enough to overturn kingdoms and topple cities, as soon as he crooked a finger, that girl would surely have obeyed. Shouldn’t you be thanking me? If not for this disappearance of yours, how could you have progressed so quickly? For all we know, Yao Yao would have followed me south to Nanning, then north to the Western Capital of the Northern Mountain Road. Not under your eyes, and with me unable to keep watch every moment, she might have run off with some other man.”

Those words made Meng Chuchen’s expression shift several times. The accusatory air around him eased somewhat. “Do you truly not know the identity of the black-clothed man who abducted you? He really has no connection to those other black-clothed men?”

Lian Yue, who had just been quick-witted and sharp-tongued, felt her heart tighten. Had Second Brother noticed something? She quickly forced herself to act normal and said lightly, “I don’t know.” Her eyes avoided his as they met his searching gaze.

After five breaths, Meng Chuchen looked away and said softly, “If you do not wish to speak of it, I will not ask. But my intuition tells me something must have happened between you and that man in black. Tell me when you are ready. For now, let us go and see Yao Yao.”

Meng Chuchen’s words made Lian Yue’s heart tighten. She hesitated, then called out to him as he passed by her. “Second Brother...”