The afternoon sun cast a warm glow over the small courtyard.
After finishing their meal, Ning Xian brought out several small jars from the corner of the room.
"Go to the apricot grove on the back mountain and gather some flowers," she said to Fang Xuan, who was basking in the sun on a bamboo chair, while she checked if the jars were clean.
"I promised to brew some wine for you..."
Unfortunately, there were no plum blossoms... she could only use apricot flowers instead.
As for the future... she feared there might not be another chance...
...
"Sure thing, Senior Sister."
Upon hearing he could go out, Fang Xuan stood up from his chair.
He could go out to play again.
Watching his joyful expression, a faint smile flickered in the depths of Ning Xian's eyes...
....
The apricot grove on the back mountain was not far from the small courtyard, just a short walk up a gentle slope.
It was the flowering season, and from a distance, it looked like a misty expanse of pink and white clouds.
When the wind blew, petals drifted through the air like snow.
Ning Xian walked ahead with light steps.
She wore a simple, light green dress today, her ink-black hair held up by a plain wooden hairpin.
A few stray strands of hair brushed against her fair neck in the breeze, and her silhouette looked slender from behind.
Fang Xuan followed her, watching as her fingertips gently plucked the flowers, her profile focused.
He quietly picked a blossoming apricot flower from a nearby branch and, while Ning Xian wasn't looking, stepped forward and gently tucked the pink-white bloom behind her ear.
Ning Xian paused, turning her head to look at him with a hint of confusion.
"It looks good," Fang Xuan said, smiling brightly as he looked at her.
Ning Xian reached up to touch the flower behind her ear, her cold features unconsciously softening, and her voice grew a bit quieter.
"Apricot flowers... are indeed quite beautiful."
"I meant you are beautiful, Senior Sister," Fang Xuan leaned in closer, his voice full of mirth, "How could an apricot flower possibly compare to you?"
Ning Xian felt the tips of her ears grow warm again, and she turned her face away, no longer looking at him, only offering a low response: "Mhm..."
She quickly walked over to a nearby clear stream and poured some apricot flowers from her basket, carefully washing them in the water.
The stream gurgled as the petals flowed through her fair fingers.
Fang Xuan leaned beside her, propping his head on his hand as he watched her diligent movements.
A layer of crystalline sugar followed by a layer of washed and dried apricot flowers were carefully layered into the clean wine jars.
Ning Xian thought about how, before long, her junior brother would sit in the courtyard, drinking the wine she brewed with a satisfied smile on his face...
The corners of her mouth curved upward unconsciously, her smile faint and tender, a change she herself hadn't even noticed...
Watching that gentle smile on her profile, Fang Xuan felt as if a feather had lightly brushed against his heart, making it itch.
He really wanted to...
Cough, cough...
"Senior Sister, why don't we dig up a small apricot tree and plant it in the courtyard?" he suddenly suggested.
"That way, we can see the flowers every year and pick them ourselves to brew wine."
Ning Xian thought for a moment and nodded. "That’s a good idea. You pick a healthy one first, and be careful not to damage the roots."
"Will do!"
Fang Xuan perked up and began wandering through the apricot grove, comparing one tree to another.
After sealing several jars of partially prepared apricot flower wine and placing them in the shade, Ning Xian looked at the sky and said to Fang Xuan, "You keep looking. I’m going to town to buy some fresh vegetables."
"Mhm, you go ahead, Senior Sister. I’ll find you once I’ve picked one."
Fang Xuan replied without turning his head, currently preoccupied with a beautifully shaped sapling.
Ning Xian walked toward the town.
Her pace was steady as she calculated what dishes to make for dinner.
Her junior brother seemed to like fish quite a bit; she wondered if there would be any fresh ones at the market today...
As she neared the town entrance, she suddenly smelled a familiar toasted aroma—it was the stall selling shaobing.
Her junior brother loved those shaobing; it would be good to buy some.
There was only a seven or eight-year-old child guarding the stall, standing on tiptoe to flip the shaobing in the oven, his small face flushed red from the heat.
Ning Xian walked over.
The child looked up and was momentarily stunned upon seeing her.
Then, as if remembering something, he puffed out his chest and tried his best to put on a serious expression.
"These are reserved for Big Brother Fang Xuan! They’re not for sale! If you buy them, he’ll beat you up real bad!"
The child tried to mimic the tone Fang Xuan usually used to tease him, though he didn't quite get it right.
Ning Xian’s cold eyes blinked.
Her junior brother dared to beat her up real bad?
Recalling a certain very disobedient person from last night who wouldn't stop even when told no... in the end, he had...
Ning Xian’s face heated up, and her small grudge about her "senior sister's authority being compromised" flared up again.
Without saying a word, she reached out, took a freshly baked shaobing from the oven, and finished it in two bites.
The child: "!!!"
His eyes widened as he watched this impossibly beautiful sister eat the best-looking shaobing he had specifically saved for Big Brother Fang Xuan in just two bites!
"You... you're in for it!" The child pointed at her, both anxious and angry.
"You don't know how strong Big Brother Fang Xuan is. He’s definitely going to beat you up real bad! Over and over!"
Ning Xian brushed the sesame seeds off her hands and looked at the frantic child, her voice calm and level.
"I’m the one who’s going to beat him up real bad."
The child: "...Huh?"
He was dumbfounded, looking at the empty spot where the shaobing had been and then at the slender, delicate-looking sister before him. He couldn't quite wrap his head around it.
There was... there was actually someone stronger than Big Brother Fang Xuan, someone who even dared to say they would beat him up?
Just then, a laughing voice came from nearby.
"Senior Sister."
Fang Xuan strolled over.
Seeing his savior, the child immediately zoomed behind Fang Xuan’s legs.
He tugged at his pant leg and pointed at Ning Xian to complain, "Big Brother Fang Xuan, hurry and beat her! She ate your shaobing, and she even said she’s going to beat you up real bad!"
Fang Xuan looked down at the child huddling by his leg, with only half a head poking out.
What nonsense; how could he ever bear to hit his senior sister?
"Go play somewhere else. If you keep talking nonsense, I’ll be the one beating you."
The child: "???"
He looked at Fang Xuan and then at Ning Xian with a look of pure betrayal, finally realizing that these two "scary adults" might be on the same side.
His lip trembled, and without even minding the stall, he turned and ran away crying.
From the look of it, he’d probably get another scolding once he got home.
...
"Senior Sister, don't mind the kid. He's just talking nonsense," Fang Xuan said as he approached Ning Xian and took her small hand.
Ning Xian glanced at him and averted her gaze. "It... it wasn't exactly nonsense."
Fang Xuan: "???"
He didn't quite catch her meaning.
Ning Xian pursed her lips as if having made a decision. She raised her clear eyes to look directly at Fang Xuan and said seriously, "Ahem... your... your Senior Sister is indeed going to beat you up real bad."
Fang Xuan’s mouth dropped open slightly as he looked at Ning Xian’s stern little face, yet the corners of his eyes began to flush with a faint crimson.
The first thought that popped into his head was—
Was Senior Sister going to reward him again?
He blinked and asked tentatively with a hint of expectation, "Senior Sister... ahem... can you use your feet?"
"Yes," Ning Xian followed her own logic of punishment, trying her best to keep a stiff face as she added, "It will be with my feet, and without socks."
If she didn't punish her junior brother severely and show him who was boss, her authority as a senior sister would be completely gone; he would surely be even more disobedient next time.
Fang Xuan leaned even closer, almost able to feel the warmth coming from her face, and lowered his voice. "Senior Sister, will it be tonight?"
"Yes," Ning Xian’s heart skipped a beat under his gaze, but she maintained her composure. "Tonight."
After saying that, she didn't dare look at Fang Xuan again and turned to walk into the town.
Her pace was much faster than when she arrived, and her departing figure betrayed a sense of flustered, forced calm.
Rate on N.U.
