Chapter 202: The Kite with the Severed String

Chapter 202: The Kite with the Severed String

Grandfather Liu pulled out the poem that he found somewhat impressive.

"This poem has a certain charm to it..."

Grandfather Liu couldn't help but feel a bit of admiration for the talent displayed.

He then looked at the dragon-like strokes of the signature at the very bottom.

——Yu Yongliu.

Grandfather Liu, who had almost memorized the family structure of the Yu family these past few days, couldn't help but curl his lips upwards.

He remembered that this child, Yu Yongliu, was only eleven or twelve this year.

His calligraphy was excellent, and his poem was quite good too.

"With such a scholarly gem in the Yu family, in at most twenty years, there will definitely be a Yu family member in the court."

The more he thought about it, the happier Grandfather Liu felt.

Whether or not he planned to find a son-in-law for Ah Wu, the prosperity of her future husband's family meant an additional layer of security for Ah Wu's future. How could Grandfather Liu not be pleased?

While Grandfather Liu was feeling happy in the courtyard, the girls in the garden suddenly encountered a small accident.

——The wind shifted suddenly, causing the girls to struggle to control their paper kites. In the confusion, they collided with one another.

Although no one was hurt, three of the kite strings got tangled together.

The girls hurriedly pulled their strings to regain control and, after quite some effort, managed to separate them.

However, one of the kites had its string severed and drifted away, eventually falling into the other side of the garden.

It was a butterfly-shaped paper kite. The girl whose kite had the severed string felt a bit embarrassed and offered to go fetch it from the neighboring garden.

The other girls looked at each other and remembered something.

There was more than one banquet at the Liu family villa today.

It was said that in the front courtyard, there were many scholars composing spring poems.

In Mapo County, the separation between men and women wasn't strictly enforced. They had been eager to see the scholars, but they weren't sure about the Liu family's stance.

But as they say, every cloud has a silver lining. The severed kite string was the perfect excuse!

The girls eagerly suggested going together to retrieve the paper kite.

Fan Pingfang, after a moment of surprise, quickly caught on and exchanged a subtle glance with her friend Miss Bai. The two also expressed their intention to join in picking up the kite.

Where there was excitement, it was naturally better to go and see it together.

Ah Wu, however, didn't quite catch on. "Huh?"

Why were they all so eager?

Although Ah Wu couldn’t understand why, she was a very easy-going person.

Seeing that everyone wanted to go and retrieve the kite, she waved her little hand and said, "Then let's go over there together."

With bright smiles, they crossed the garden and entered the nearby woods—the place where the kite had finally fallen.

Several small tables were set up in the woods, where many students sat, writing poems and painting to capture the spring scenery.

Máo Lín had heard Grandfather Liu talk about the Yujia family several times. He secretly observed them as well and found that the younger Yu Yongliu was indeed very intelligent.

Before submitting his spring poem to Grandfather Liu, Máo Lín had already reviewed it and found that Yu Yongliu’s poem stood out the most.

Máo Lín was considering how to approach Yu Yongliu for a chat when he noticed the young mistress leading a group of pretty girls toward them.

"..." Máo Lín was puzzled but didn’t dare to neglect them. He quickly went forward to greet them, "Young mistress, what's the matter?"

Ah Wu said in a clear voice, "We were flying kites over there, and one of the kites fell down. It seems to have landed in this forest."

Máo Lín immediately had his servant search for it.

The girls behind Ah Wu were clearly not interested in the kite. Their bright eyes were secretly glancing at the students behind Máo Lín.

The students, who had been quietly writing poems and painting, suddenly became much more enthusiastic, their voices rising as they recited their verses.

However, they didn’t want to seem like they had hidden agendas.

But in this awkward moment, someone stood up and walked straight over to Ah Wu and the others.

Many students: "!"

Who’s the brave one?!

"Xingxing." The student who was deemed the brave one by many called out to the girls.

A small figure stepped forward and waved at the brave student.

"Big brother!"

Yu Yonghuai walked over to Xingxing and gave her a quick once-over, relieved to see that his little sister was fine—her clothes neat, her little face fair, and her smile as sweet and lovely as ever.

He reached out and patted Xingxing’s head. "You enjoy your time with Ah Wu sister. Once we’re done here, we’ll meet you at the entrance."

Xingxing nodded vigorously.

Yu Yonghuai was very satisfied.

Taking advantage of Yu Yonghuai greeting Xingxing, someone who had just chatted with him stepped closer and said with a smile, "Yonghuai, is this your sister?"

Yu Yonghuai was somewhat proud, "That's right, this is my youngest sister."

As he looked at the person who had struck up the conversation, he felt that they surely had more to say—wasn’t this the time to compliment how lovely Xingxing was?!

But the person seemed disinterested, glancing past Xingxing to look at the girls behind her, only half-heartedly commenting, "I didn’t expect your sister to attend the banquet as well... At such a young age, did she come alone?"

Yu Yonghuai’s expression darkened.

He's not stupid.

"What do you think?" Yu Yonghuai shot back, his tone sharp. He then instructed Xingxing, "Go play with Ah Wu."

He also reminded Shuang He, who was behind Xingxing, "Keep an eye on Xingxing."

Shuang He nodded repeatedly.

Her eyes hadn't left Miss Xingxing for a moment.

Just now, a few of the young mistresses had bumped into each other and almost fell, giving her quite a scare. Luckily, Miss Xingxing was far enough away and didn't get hurt.

Yu Yonghuai turned to leave as well.

Leaving the guy who had tried to chat him up standing there.

It was only then that he realized Yu Yonghuai hadn't even acknowledged him. A flash of embarrassment crossed his face, and he grumbled to himself, 'What a pain this Yu guy is!'

Fortunately, at that moment, a servant came back to report about the kite, so not many people noticed him. He took the opportunity to return to his seat.

"Young mistress, Ah Lin, we found the kite, but..." the servant said, looking troubled, "It's stuck in the branches at the very top of the tree. It's way too high for even our tallest pole to reach."

Ah Wu, upon hearing this, became curious and asked the servant to lead the way. "Let me see how high it is."

With Ah Wu leading the way, the other girls eagerly followed to see what was going on, and soon everyone was heading over in a flurry.

Máo Lín paused for a moment. "I'll check it out too."

As soon as he said this, many of the peers brightened and finally had a reason. "We'll go take a look too."

So, a bunch of the girls and their peers ended up heading off to the other side of the woods in a rush.