After that, Tang Yuanyuan went over to the Ye residence. However, she only played with Little Sprout. When she saw Yuchi Yishu, she subconsciously wanted to call out to him. Even so, she resisted the impulse to do so and simply sat there quietly. She even answered nonchalantly when he came over to talk to her.
In the beginning, Yuchi Yishu assumed that she was in a bad mood. Later, he noticed that she only did that to him. Finding it rather odd, he decided to observe her and suggested that he take her skiing in the coming days.
Tang Yuanyuan looked very happy at the idea of skiing. However, she seemed to realize something before she answered while shaking her head, “No, thanks.”
“Why?” His gaze was locked intently on her face and her eyes, trying to figure something out. “Didn’t you like going in the previous years?”
She lightly bit on her lower lip and buried her head in her knees. “I don’t feel like going this year.”
“Why not?” he continued asking; he had no intention of letting her wriggle out of answering his question.
Faced with his persistence, she felt powerless to fight back against him and could only whisper, “I just don’t feel like it. Please don’t ask me anymore, Yishu.”
Thus, he sighed. “Did something happen recently?”
He was slightly worried. After hearing those absurd words coming from Zhong Chufeng, he was constantly worried that somebody else might say similar nonsense in front of her. He might not be bothered by it, but she must never hear of it.
Luckily, she remained innocent and naïve. However, ever since winter break started, she stopped coming over to the Ye residence. However, even after visiting them, she seemed unwilling to interact with him. He could clearly feel that the young lady was trying to keep her distance from him. Thus, he began to suspect that somebody had said something to her.
“N-Nothing happened,” Tang Yuanyuan denied. She tried to get up to leave, but something tightened around her wrist and Yuchi Yishu pulled her back. Due to her anxious movements, she fell back into his arms and her breath was filled with his scent.
It was a familiar, yet unfamiliar scent. They used to spend a lot of time together without any inhibitions. Thus, she was familiar with his scent since a long time ago. Yet, she found it strangely unfamiliar under the current circumstances. Then, her heartbeat seemed to have accelerated and she suddenly felt like escaping.
“Let go of me, Yishu.” She struggled against him; her face blushed red.
However, he failed to notice anything strange about her behavior. Even so, he loosened his grip on her and allowed her to sit on the sofa. “Then, why don’t you spell it out clearly? What on earth happened? Did somebody say something to you?”
Right now, he only cared about one thing, and that was whether or not somebody had said something absurd to her. Zhong Chufeng, that blabbermouth. Could he have visited her on his own during the holidays?
As the thought crossed his mind, he added another question, “Did Zhong Chufeng visit you during the holidays?”
“What has this got to do with Chufeng?” She didn’t quite understand, so she lowered her head and stared at her wrist that had been in his grip before. Her skin was fair and delicate. Although his grip had been light, faint pink marks surfaced on her wrist where he had gripped her.
“It’s nothing,” he said indifferently. “I was just asking.”
“Oh.”
After that, Tang Yuanyuan said nothing more. Due to her behavior, Yuchi Yishu felt a headache coming on. Then, he narrowed his eyes and glared at the back of her head intently, deciding to be more direct. “Why does it seem like you’ve been avoiding me recently?”
She was surprised by how bluntly he phrased his question, and abruptly brought her head up. “I’m not! How could I possibly do that? Yishu, you’re overthinking it!”
“Is that so?” Looking at her expression, he began to doubt himself. Don’t tell me I’m overthinking it? Ever since he heard the ridiculous remarks Zhong Chufeng blurted out previously, he had been on the edge and lost his composure easily when it came to anything related to her. If not for those words, will I still feel as if she is trying to avoid me? I don’t think so.
“I am not avoiding you, Yishu. Besides, didn’t you say this to me before? We have to observe propriety with the opposite sex. Well, I’m all grown up now.”
When he heard those words, he was stunned for a moment, then he burst out laughing. “That’s right; you’re all grown up now. You’re no longer the little girl from before.”
After all, she was already a freshman in high school and would be a sophomore by the next semester. She had grown up without him noticing it, and started to understand the boundaries between men and women. Thus, it was normal for her to stop interacting so much with him. When she put it that way, he could understand where she was coming from. “Alright, I’m just overthinking it then. So, are we still going skiing?”
“No, I won’t go.”
“Okay.”
After Yuchi Yishu left, Tang Yuanyuan’s expression changed into one of dejection. Honestly, she wanted to go. She desperately wanted to go out and play with him, but… she kept recalling that once he had gotten himself a girlfriend, he would no longer have time to dote on her anymore. Thus, she suppressed her pain and rejected the offer. Compared to ending up disgraced, it was better if she didn’t get too close to him now.
Since Tang Yuanyuan had already brought up the issue of maintaining propriety with the opposite sex, Yuchi Yishu, as her brother, did not try to get too close to her again. That was because he respected her opinions very much. For that reason, they rarely spent time together, and the conversation between them reduced greatly.
Moreover, Tang Yuanyuan avoided most of the activities involving Yuchi Yishu. This situation continued until it was fast approaching the new year. Then, Han Muzi noticed the signs and decided to ask Yuanyuan about what was going on. “Yuanyuan, I’m only asking, but did you get into a fight with Yishu recently?”
Tang Yuanyuan was surprised that this incident had alarmed Aunty Han. She instantly became nervous and in turn, her words became incoherent too. “Aunty Han, it wasn’t on purpose. I just—”
“Don’t be nervous.” Han Muzi tugged at her small hands that were so soft they felt almost boneless. “Speak slowly. No matter what you say, I won’t fault you for it. Did Yishu bully you?”
“No, he didn’t.” Tang Yuanyuan shook her head.
“If so, why are you so unwilling to play with Yishu nowadays? Or does he not want to bring you out to play anymore? I’ll go and scold him.”
“That’s not it, Aunty Han! Don’t blame Yishu for it; it’s not his fault.”
“What on earth happened then? Will you tell me?”
Tang Yuanyuan mulled over it for a bit, then decided not to cause more trouble for Yuchi Yishu. If I don’t say anything, Aunty Han is going to blame it on Yishu. Thus, she leaned close to Han Muzi, lifted her head, and whispered, “My mom said that Yishu will be getting a girlfriend in the future. But, he is too doting toward me. So…”
Han Muzi didn’t seem to understand her words. “So, you don’t want to be close with Yishu anymore?”
Han Muzi did not want to limit her children when it came to their relationship matters. In the beginning, Ye Moxuan had brought Yuanyuan over with the intention of matchmaking the girl with their son. However, the children were so young back then and nothing was set in stone. Although the two of them got along famously over the past few years, she felt that relationship matters were best left to the children themselves. Thus, she had not interfered in their matters. However, now that Yuanyuan had brought up this issue… Should I give her a little guidance?
