However, in reality, Liu Yanping didn’t even come to the flower hall. He knew what was going on and simply went to the outer courtyard to pack his own luggage.
Liu Yu’s heart, however, was pounding hard. Sweat inexplicably seeped from her palms, thin and hot, even feeling a hint of dryness in her mouth. She took a step aside suddenly, saying, “I’ll go pour some tea.”
Feeling flustered, she hurriedly left. After a while, her cheeks flushed, and she returned, lighting the oil lamp in the flower hall with a match. It was too easy to let one’s imagination run wild in the dark.
Admitting to herself that she was feeling extremely guilty, Liu Yu didn’t dare to look at Lu Chengxiao again and escaped outside.
However, she didn’t dare to go straight to the kitchen either. She cooled her flushed cheeks with the relatively cooler back of her hand, calmed her racing heart, took a deep breath, and then went to the kitchen to fetch clean tea cups.
Wei Shi glanced at her and smiled, “Has Chengxiao arrived?”
“Yes,” Liu Yu nodded, trying to keep her voice steady. She said, “He said they’re leaving early tomorrow morning.”
Wei Shi lowered her head to suppress a smile, replying, “Then talk to him. It’ll be at least one or two months before he comes back.”
Liu Yu now felt embarrassed, as if everyone at home knew about her and Lu Chengxiao’s little thoughts. She felt both vulnerable and anxious, but she had to keep up her composure. After brewing two cups of tea, she brought them to the flower hall.
Lu Chengxiao had already composed himself emotionally. Seeing the smile in Liu Yu’s eyes, all his was filled with was warmth. When Liu Yu met his smiling eyes, her embarrassment somehow dissipated, and she smiled back. Placing the tea on the table, she gestured to Lu Chengxiao, “Please, have a seat and have some tea.”
Lu Chengxiao didn’t really need any tea; he just couldn’t get enough of looking at Liu Yu.
Before, he had heard of the phrase “beauty under the lamp,” but today was the first time he truly understood its meaning. She was already extremely beautiful during the day, but now, under the warm glow of the lamp, she seemed to exude a breathtaking allure.
Liu Yu knew he was looking at her, but she pretended not to notice and continued to pour the tea. However, as she served the tea, it became impossible to pretend anymore. She glanced back at him, saying, “Have you had enough?”
Lu Chengxiao’s smile widened even more. Shaking his head, he looked at her with a smile and said, “Not yet.”
Liu Yu felt that Lu Chengxiao’s cheekiness was growing, becoming more straightforward, and less shy.
She couldn’t help but feel a little overwhelmed. Under his gaze, her palms continued to feel slightly warm and moist, and the intense presence of his eyes made her break out in a sweat. Her palms were so hot they could have baked a cake.
Liu Yu hurriedly picked up the tea, trying to distract herself and block Lu Chengxiao’s gaze.
But when she lifted the teacup, she strangely became conscious of her own demeanor while drinking tea. This was the first time she had ever felt this way since graduating from etiquette class.
Liu Yu thought to herself, she must be seriously ill. Could it be that liking someone could make her feel like this?
Helpless, she put down the teacup and pleaded, “Stop looking.”
Her tone was shy and coquettish, almost unconsciously so.
Seeing her blushing cheeks, Lu Chengxiao pretended to cover his smile with his right hand clenched into a fist against his lips. Seeing that Liu Yu was about to get annoyed, he said, “Yu’er, I’ll be back soon. But over a month is too long. Can you grant me a little favor?”
A favor?
Liu Yu raised her eyebrows, thinking it was about the matter of him proposing when he came to her house last time after the business trip. However, since the dowry had already been collected, didn’t he understand?
Liu Yu didn’t think so, especially considering his attitude. He clearly understood.
Her sharp black-and-white eyes looked at Lu Chengxiao, expressing her clear confusion.
Lu Chengxiao’s gaze lingered on the pearl hairpin on Liu Yu’s head. It was a copper hairpin, entirely made of copper, in its natural color.
Half of the hairpin was a copper-cast plum branch, with very short branches, just one flower and one leaf, the leaf slightly curled up, forming a hook; the other half of the hairpin was a copper-cast butterfly. The butterfly’s body was made of bright red porcelain beads, while the wings were made of copper, exquisitely crafted, even the veins on the wings were clear, and one corner of the butterfly’s wings was set with a red bead, resembling a red bean.
The hairpin was adorned with tassels made of several copper beads and colorful red beads of various sizes, with a small copper buckle at the top of the bead chain, connecting the plum branch and butterfly halves of the hairpin together.
Both the butterfly and the red bean carried the meaning of lovesickness.
Liu Yu noticed his gaze, thought for a moment, touched the pearl hairpin in her hair, and then realized something, a hint of a smile appearing in her eyes.
How to express parting? A tortoiseshell hairpin behind the ear.
She glanced at Lu Chengxiao, took off the pearl hairpin inserted in her hair, held it between her fingers to examine it, then looked up. Sure enough, she saw his eyes brightening. Liu Yu smiled lightly and gently unfastened the small buckle connecting the two halves of the hairpin, then handed the half with the butterfly and the red bean to Lu Chengxiao.
Lu Chengxiao was overjoyed when he realized that Liu Yu understood his meaning. If it weren’t for the precautions between men and women in his heart, he would have wanted to hold Liu Yu’s hand again.
“Yu’er, I’ll come back to propose as soon as I return. Would you like to marry me sooner?”
He could hardly contain the love overflowing in his heart, repeating the old words.
Liu Yu curved her lips. “If I say no, then it’s no, right?”
Lu Chengxiao shook his head, glanced outside the flower hall, leaned closer to her, and whispered, “Whether it’s yes or no, you agreed last time, so you can’t go back on your word.”
Liu Yu bit back a smile, but Lu Chengxiao himself was having second thoughts. He sighed softly, “Yu’er, I really feel reluctant to leave. Could it be that I’ve become overly sentimental?”
Liu Yu nodded and shook her head, and finally said, “I also feel reluctant for you to leave, but once you get busy, time should pass quickly.”
Handing the other half of the pearl hairpin to Lu Chengxiao, he was stunned for a moment. Then he realized that Liu Yu was asking him to help her put the hairpin back on. Excitedly, he took the half hairpin, but didn’t know how to proceed, feeling a bit embarrassed. He asked Liu Yu, “Is there a particular way to do this? Can I just insert it into the hair bun?”
He didn’t know how to use a woman’s hairpin.
Liu Yu couldn’t help but want to laugh. He clearly didn’t know anything about it. However, she remembered a line from a love poem very clearly. She nodded, “You can put it anywhere you like.”
“Okay.” Lu Chengxiao was somewhat nervous as he leaned back slightly to get a better view. Holding the half hairpin, he carefully placed it in Liu Yu’s hair bun, in the same position where she had just removed it. After fumbling for a while, he finally found the right angle and put the half hairpin back on for her.
Satisfied with his handiwork, he admired it again and praised, “It looks very nice. Can you make sure it’s secure?”
His gaze lingered on Liu Yu’s face, his words carrying a double meaning, praising not only the hairpin but also her beauty.
Liu Yu lightly touched it with her hand, smiling and nodding.
Only then did Lu Chengxiao feel satisfied. He took off the waist pouch from his waist and carefully placed the half hairpin given by Liu Yu inside.
That sachet, given to him before the Dragon Boat Festival, was what Liu Yu gave him every time she saw him. Regardless of whether the color of the sachet matched his clothes, how could he not be delighted by such a gesture of affection?
“Has it retained its fragrance after all this time?” she asked Lu Chengxiao.
Lu Chengxiao replied, “I went to the incense shop and re-prepared a batch according to your original recipe and replaced it.”
Seeing him tying the sachet back again, Liu Yu smiled and said, “Next time, I’ll make a few more for you. When you come back, I’ll give them to you. You can wear them with different robes in the future.”
Lu Chengxiao’s eyes lit up, and he added, “I don’t need many, just give me one more.”
Actually, having too many would be a waste, considering how tiring it was to do needlework every day.
“Alright.”
Finally, it wasn’t that cloying feeling of being overly clingy anymore. In fact, both of them knew that Li Yanping and the others would be coming over soon.
Lu Chengxiao pointed to the sand table outside the courtyard and asked her, “I saw you writing on it earlier. Were you practicing calligraphy?”
Liu Yu nodded. “My second and third brothers are teaching me.”
Lu Chengxiao’s heart stirred, he glanced at Liu Yu, and tentatively whispered, “Shall I teach you from now on?”
Naturally, this would be after they were married.
Liu Yu couldn’t resist anymore and nodded randomly. “You go to the front yard and find my second brother. I’ll go help my aunt.”
She seemed composed, but in reality, she was fleeing in disarray.
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