Chapter 119: There is Room For the Poor Daughter
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Chapter 119: Barbecue
"Will Daohua be alright?"
Zhou Jingwan kept looking towards Daohua and Xiao Yeyang, her face full of worry. She hadn’t expected that the Young Prince would slap Daohua as soon as he arrived, and her brother had taken the opportunity to pull her away. Now, it was awkward for her to go over or stay where she was.
Seeing his sister's worried expression, Zhou Chengye also looked up at the sky helplessly, mimicking Defu's gesture.
His sister’s intuition was really off!
Couldn’t she tell that the Young Prince was just joking with Miss Yan?
This was Xiao Yeyang’s way of showing closeness.
Well, this method was a bit inappropriate for a young lady.
"Alright, stop staring. The Young Prince is just fooling around with Miss Yan!" Zhou Chengye said.
Upon hearing this, Zhou Jingwan’s eyes widened as she looked at her older brother.
"What’s wrong? Do I have something on my face?" Zhou Chengye asked, feeling uncomfortable under her gaze, and unconsciously touched his cheek.
Zhou Jingwan looked around to make sure no one was nearby, then whispered, "Big Brother, when did you become so familiar with Daohua? Calling her 'Miss Yan' now!" She pouted as she spoke.
Zhou Chengye immediately tapped her on the head. "I have a good relationship with the Yan family’s brothers. What's wrong with calling her Miss Yan?"
Zhou Jingwan curled her lips. "You’ve changed so fast. Not long ago, you were calling the eldest daughter of the Yan family by her full title." She snorted, adding, "You’re just like those other people. As soon as the Young Prince shows closeness to the Yan family, you follow suit and try to get on their good side."
Zhou Chengye gave her another tap on the head. "On other matters, you’re as stubborn as a block of wood, but when it comes to criticizing your own brother, you sure have it all figured out!"
He smiled with a hint of pride.
"Get on their good side? Our Zhou family needs to flatter the Yan family? I’m close to them because I get along with their three brothers, and their father, uncle Yan, is a decent man. That’s why we’ve had some interactions," Zhou Chengye explained.
Zhou Jingwan narrowed her eyes. "Really? But before the Young Prince showed any closeness to the Yan family, I didn’t see you getting along with them."
"You..." Zhou Chengye was exasperated by his sister's sharp remarks. "I can’t be bothered to argue with you. Enjoy yourself," he said, then quickly walked away. If you looked closely, his retreating figure seemed almost like he was running away in a hurry.
Zhou Jingwan pouted. "I didn’t say anything wrong."
On the other side, Daohua noticed Zhou Jingwan was alone and was about to go over to her.
However, as she moved, Xiao Yeyang followed her as well.
Zhou Jingwan and Xiao Yeyang weren’t familiar with each other, and they didn’t know what to say when they were together.
Seeing the two of them silently standing there, Daohua felt a bit awkward. After a moment’s thought, she pointed towards a pavilion and said, "Let’s sit over there."
Xiao Yeyang shrugged indifferently. "Just be careful. The stone cliff is a bit steep."
Daohua smiled. "Don’t worry, Jingwan and I are quite nimble." She then pulled Zhou Jingwan towards the pavilion.
To reach the pavilion, they first had to climb a set of steep stone steps. Worried that Daohua and Zhou Jingwan might struggle, Xiao Yeyang quickly walked ahead, ready to offer help at any moment.
"No need!"
When Daohua started climbing, Xiao Yeyang reached out to help her, but she swiftly waved her hand and climbed up by herself with ease.
After all, she practiced her martial skills with Wang Man’er every day, so climbing a slope was nothing for her.
Xiao Yeyang’s hand froze mid-air. He stood there in a daze for a few seconds before awkwardly retracting his hand, forgetting to check on Zhou Jingwan behind him.
Zhou Jingwan, who had been accustomed to a sheltered life, felt a bit anxious as she watched Daohua reach the top. In her rush, she lost her balance and started to lean backward.
"Be careful!"
As Zhou Jingwan was about to scream, a firm hand was placed on her back, steadying her.
"Thank you!"
Zhou Jingwan turned around and saw Yan Wentao, Daohua's third brother.
Yan Wentao helped her stabilize, then scratched his head and smiled awkwardly. "No need to thank me. Just be careful. The stone steps are a bit steep."
Zhou Jingwan nodded.
Hearing the commotion, Daohua quickly looked over and asked, "Jingwan, are you alright?"
"I'm fine, almost there," Zhou Jingwan replied.
Once she made it up, Daohua let out a sigh of relief and gave Xiao Yeyang an accusing glance.
Xiao Yeyang rubbed his nose. "I didn’t notice." He was always the one being looked after, so he rarely paid attention to others. How would he know that the young lady from the Zhou family was so clumsy?
Zhou Jingwan didn’t dare blame Xiao Yeyang. She quickly said, "It’s my fault. I wasn’t careful."
At this moment, Dong Yuanxuan and the others arrived at the pavilion, and the matter was no longer mentioned.
The view from the pavilion was better, and the Grand Canal below was fully visible. Daohua leaned over the railing to look down, almost wanting to shout out loud.
Thinking about it, if she did, she would probably scare everyone in the pavilion, and that made her want to laugh.
"What are you laughing at?"
Xiao Yeyang walked up beside her, looked down, but couldn’t figure out what was so amusing.
Daohua shook her head. "Nothing."
Seeing everyone sitting in the pavilion with nothing to do, Dong Yuanxuan thought for a moment and said, "Why don’t we compose some poems?"
"No!"
"Not interested!"
Both Daohua and Zhou Jingwan rejected the idea in unison.
Dong Yuanxuan was momentarily stunned, then smiled. "If you don’t want something difficult, we could start with something simple, like five-character lines."
Daohua continued to shake her head.
She could manage reading and writing, but composing poems and verses? That would really be asking too much of her.
"You all go ahead. I’m not participating."
"Me neither." Zhou Jingwan also raised her hand. She wasn’t fond of studying, and she was born without the talent for poetry.
Yan Wenxiu, seeing Dong Yuanxuan’s awkwardness, quickly stepped in, "The two younger sisters are still young, so let us handle it."
At first, Xiao Yeyang joined in and composed a few lines, but soon he lost interest. These gatherings were always the same, and he found them extremely boring.
Once he lost interest, everyone else naturally stopped as well.
The pavilion fell into a brief silence.
Meanwhile, Daohua and Zhou Jingwan were still happily chatting about the scenery around them.
After a while, Daohua noticed that the pavilion had become quiet. She turned around and saw that everyone was looking at her and Zhou Jingwan. Even with her thick skin, she felt it was inappropriate to continue laughing loudly.
"Well, I’ve prepared something to pass the time on this trip. Would you like to give it a try?"
Seeing that everyone was sitting there awkwardly, Daohua couldn’t help but speak up.
Xiao Yeyang became interested. "What is it?"
"Barbecue!" Daohua quickly explained to everyone what a barbecue was.
Xiao Yeyang and the others had never tried it before, and they all showed great interest.
"Well then, why are we waiting? Let’s do a barbecue!" Xiao Yeyang immediately decided.
But Daohua’s face suddenly dropped.
Xiao Yeyang asked, "What’s wrong?"
Daohua replied, "I forgot to mention, the tools and ingredients are on the boat down the mountain."
Xiao Yeyang thought it was something serious and casually said, "That’s not a problem. I’ll send someone to get them. It’ll be quick."
Seeing how easygoing he was, Daohua immediately called Wang Man’er and asked her to go with Xiao Yeyang’s people to fetch the items.
When the items were brought up, Daohua noticed that the tools were fine, but all the ingredients had been replaced.
She was momentarily stunned, then noticed Defu, who was cleaning the tools, and quickly realized that the royal family must have been worried about poison or food going bad due to lack of freshness.
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This novel is translated by the Eternal Novel Hits translators. Please read it at https://eternalnovelhits.blogspot.com
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"Royal people really value their lives!" she thought.
Well, if they had changed the ingredients, so be it. Defu’s preparations were far more luxurious than what she had planned.
The skewers were naturally prepared by the maidservants, and the charcoal was set up by the servants. All they needed to do was cook.
"Don’t just sit there. Barbecue is fun when you get involved. Come and try it," Daohua handed a skewer to Xiao Yeyang.
Xiao Yeyang hesitated for a moment but took the skewer from her. Under Daohua’s guidance, he managed to cook it decently.
"For food, I think you really have a talent," Xiao Yeyang said to Daohua.
Daohua ignored him, considering it a compliment.
There were two barbecue grills—one for Xiao Yeyang, Daohua, and Zhou Jingwan, and the other for the rest of the group.
Dong Yuanxuan and the others were also excited to cook their own food. However, some of them either used too much or too little seasoning, and many of the skewers were burnt, making them look unappetizing and tasteless.
Still, despite their mistakes, the group was having a great time trying something new.
"Next time we go out, I’m definitely bringing this with me," one of them said.
(End of Chapter)
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