The smoke from the cooking pots curled up, slowly blending into the dusk and sunset clouds, gradually fading until it dissipated.
He Gu brought the prepared dishes to the hall and set them up, and then called Kong Rou and Lin Qier to come over for dinner.
The three of them had dinner together for the first time, and the atmosphere was quite magical.
This time He Gu took over all the work, even serving the rice, serving it to the two sisters first.
He should try to pretend less when he is a junior sister, and try to pretend more when he is empty and soft.
Lin Bian'er took advantage of the opportunity to look at her senior brother lovingly, and just said, "I'll do it." After being rejected, she stopped saying anything.
Kongrou seemed restless, trying to take over from He Gu several times without taking her eyes off the rice spoon.
"I will take care of you these days, and you will take care of me when I come back." He Gu joked.
Hearing this, Kongrou sat down a little more firmly.
Lin Bian'er blinked, as if he had discovered a problem: "There is only one rice spoon, and there are two of us, so what should we do?"
He Gu almost couldn't hold the bowl, and he always felt that it was not as simple as it seemed.
"Just let Xiaorou do it all. Sister Lin and Brother He take Xiaorou in. Xiaorou wants to do something to help." Kongrou said seriously with a small face.
"Then I'll leave it to Xiaorou." Regardless of whether the junior sister raised the question intentionally or not, He Gu quickly used the slope to skip the topic.
Lin Bian'er rolled her eyes at her senior brother and turned to pick up food for Kong Rou: "Don't listen to his nonsense. Sister Xiaorou is not a servant. We will take turns in the future."
"Thank you Sister Lin, Xiaorou listens to Sister Lin." Kongrou thanked her hurriedly, feeling very moved and no longer insisting.
Only then did he realize that he had become the bad guy. He Gu wanted to explain, but he opened his mouth and stopped himself.
It is better to be misunderstood than to face a proposition and have to admit the loss.
After this small episode, Lin Bian'er and Kong Rou started chatting, and the two gradually started talking and laughing.
On the contrary, He Gu, who worked the hardest, was gradually "left out".
In this situation, he was finally completely relieved about leaving in two days, and his meal became much more delicious as he felt relaxed.
He felt pretty good having one more person to have a lively meal with.
After the meal, He Gu packed up the dishes and chopsticks on the dining table and took them out to wash.
Lin Bian'er returned to the room alone, took out the sewing basket, held a man's clothes that was almost completed, and continued to sew by lamplight.
After a while, Kongrou came to knock on the door.
"Sister Lin, Xiaorou wants to see you if I have something to do."
Lin Bian'er put down her needlework, stood up, opened the door, and pulled Kongrou into the house.
After letting Kong Rou sit down first, she asked: "What does sister Xiaorou want from me?"
Kongrou held a thick book in her arms, and her eyes suddenly fell on the exquisite men's clothes in the sewing basket.
Thinking that this piece of clothing was probably made by Sister Lin's eldest brother, she suddenly became timid.
"I……"
Lin Bian'er tilted her head and glanced at the cover of the book in Kong Rou's arms, and then followed Kong Rou's line of sight to see the new clothes she was sewing in a hurry, and she suddenly understood.
With a smile on her face, she took Kong Rou's cramped hand and said in a dignified manner: "I guess, sister Xiaorou wants to ask questions about female workers, right?"
Kong Rou, who guessed the purpose of her visit, nodded slightly.
"You can ask, don't worry, sister is not a tiger, she won't eat you." Lin Qier said with a smile.
Kongrou plucked up the courage, took out her book, and nervously turned to a page that analyzed men's clothing, pointing out what she couldn't understand.
"Xiao Rou can't understand what's written here, so I want to ask Sister Lin for advice..." Her face turned red as she spoke.
"Let me see."
Lin Qi'er took the book, took a look at it, and immediately started to explain smoothly, without saying anything else because of the content in the book.
Kongrou listened carefully.
"What else don't you understand?" After solving one problem, Lin Bian'er asked again.
Hearing this, Kong Rou became bolder and quickly turned the page to point out another point.
Lin Bian'er answered in detail one by one.
"Is there any more?" She asked again without knowing which question it was.
Kong Rou shook her head vigorously this time and was very grateful: "No, thank you Sister Lin. It really helped Xiaorou a lot."
Seeing that Kong Rou had relaxed a lot, Lin Qi'er showed a meaningful smile: "Is it true that sister Xiaorou is feeling springy too.
Tell me, who are you planning to make clothes for? "
Kong Rou's face turned red, she lowered her head and did not dare to answer.
"I know even if you don't tell me, big brother..." Lin Bian'er shook his head and said with a smile.
"Sister Lin, I..." Kongrou wanted to explain.
"What's the point? Okay, you can understand it when you go back. My sister will teach you when she has time next time. Now she has to catch up on work." Lin Bian'er interrupted Kong Rou's words.
Kong Rou was stunned for a moment and nodded subconsciously.
Looking at Sister Lin again, she found that Sister Lin had been concentrating on sewing clothes, so she had to get up and go back.
…
The candle lamp on the table gave off bright light, and Lin Qian'er sat under the lamp, continuing to sew the man's clothes in her hands.
She picked each stitch with great concentration.
As the night progressed, the spiritual stones on the heating array in the corner of the room were all used up unconsciously, and the temperature of the room gradually became a little colder.
Her mind was focused on what she was doing, and she just thought it was going to be colder tonight. Her fair and slender onion fingers were still threading needles and threads, coughing from time to time.
At a certain moment, there was a gentle knock on the door.
"Have Junior Sister slept?" He Gu from outside the door asked in a low voice.
He had just finished practicing and went out to fetch water to rinse his body. Seeing that the junior sister's room was still lit, he was worried and came over to take a look.
"Not yet, senior brother, please come in by yourself." The new clothes in Lin Bian'er's hands were just a few stitches away from being finished, so she didn't stop.
He Gu pushed the door open and immediately spotted the silent formation in the corner, frowning slightly.
After closing the door, he took a few steps forward and added another spirit stone, and the formation was immediately activated again.
After doing this, he thought about his junior sister: "Why didn't you add some spiritual stones? Don't you feel uncomfortable?"
"I thought it was because it was cold, so I didn't take care of it." Lin Qier turned around and replied with a smile.
He Gu found a warm fox velvet coat from the back room and put it on his junior sister. Then he noticed the new clothes in his hands, and a smile suddenly appeared on his face that had been stern just now.
"Why did you secretly make new clothes for senior brother again?"
Lin Yan'er's face turned red and she ignored this difficult question.
Silver teeth bit the thread, she stood up, unfolded her clothes, and walked slowly behind He Gu.
"Senior brother, let's try it out."
He Gu cooperated with his movements and flattered his junior sister: "Junior sister made the clothes with her own hands. It should fit no matter what."
"You have a smooth tongue and you can fool people." Lin Bian'er said not believing it, but her eyes were sparkling.
"You can't coax junior sister to play with anyone. If senior brother lies even a little bit, he will die badly." He Gu was a little complacent.
"Bah, you're talking nonsense..." Lin Bian'er's voice was as thin as a mosquito's.
He Gu just liked Lin Bian'er's serious look, which was very pleasing to the eye.
Seeing that the size was correct, Lin Bian'er put the clothes away: "It's so late, what does senior brother have to do with Bian'er?"
He couldn't bear to give up the feeling of being surrounded and served by his junior sisters. He was so happy.
"It's nothing serious. I see you're not asleep yet, so I came over to take a look."
Lin Qian'er carefully folded the new clothes in her hand and handed them to He Gu: "Brother, please take this with you when you go out this time. It's cold outside in winter."
He Gu carefully accepted it. Lin Bian'er's body fragrance and warmth were still on the clothes, which made him feel precious.
Feeling a little sorry for Lin Bie'er's body: "Okay, it's getting late, junior sister, it's time to go and rest."
"Yeah." Lin Qian'er nodded lightly, with a sweet look on her face.
He Gu left, and Lin Yan'er packed up the needlework on the table.
After blowing out the candle, she lay down on the soft sandalwood bed.
Late at night, she had a dream, a dream that brought back memories.
In the green bamboo forest, the little girl burst into tears while walking.
The boy who was digging bamboo shoots nearby heard the noise and flew up to meet him: "Junior sister, why are you crying? Who bullied you? Tell senior brother!"
The little girl raised her empty white hands and said, "The gift that senior brother gave to Yan'er was taken away by them."
"I'll grab it back." The boy was furious and was about to go down the mountain.
The little girl hurriedly grabbed the boy's clothes and persuaded him while crying: "Brother, don't do it. There are too many of them."
"Don't worry, senior brother knows what's going on. You go back to the house and wait for senior brother to come back." The boy showed a confident smile and patted his chest.
The boy went down the mountain, and the little girl returned to the house obediently, and cried herself to sleep after a while.
In the evening, the little girl woke up when she heard a call.
Although the boy had changed his clothes, several bruises were still clearly visible on his face.
"Senior brother...does it hurt?"
The little girl's big eyes were shining with tears, and she stretched out her little hand, wanting to touch it but not daring to touch it.
The boy repeatedly reassured her that she was fine, and then took out a dirty, trampled straw dragonfly from his arms.
"Here, senior brother said he would snatch it back."
The little girl took it carefully: "It's all broken. If I had known this, senior brother would have..."
The boy grabbed the little girl's shoulders and said seriously: "Junior sister, remember this from now on!
As long as someone wants to snatch something you like, even if you break it and destroy it with your own hands, don't give it to them!
Understand? Even if the senior brother comes or the master comes, it will be the same. "
The little girl seemed to understand, but in the end she nodded heavily.
"You must remember what senior brother said."
…
Lin Qi'er, who was immersed in sleep, moved her eyelashes slightly, and on her slightly pale but delicate and almost perfect face, a small pear dimple appeared faintly at the corner of her lips.
This dream reoccurred to her every once in a while.
The little details in the dream have been deeply ingrained in her bones, and she will never forget them.
