"Young master, the begonias on South Mountain are in bloom. Want to go?"
Yan Zi fluttered into the courtyard, her lithe figure clad in a pretty green dress. Smiling like a flower, she held a cluster of freshly picked white lotus fruits in her hands. With a flick of her fair fingers, she tossed a branch toward Xu Yi, its stem bearing seven or eight fruits.
"Of course. Get the tent ready. The weather's lovely today; the sky will surely be full of stars. The valley on South Mountain is perfect for stargazing."
Xu Yi plucked off a fruit and bit into its crisp flesh. Then he lazily rose from the wicker chair beneath the parasol tree and stretched.
Yan Zi eagerly hurried into the house to make preparations.
Just then, someone knocked outside. Xu Yi's brow twitched, and he smiled. "You're already here, so come in. Between us, is there any need for such formalities?"
Yan Zi peered out from beside the window and saw Meng Fan enter, looking utterly dejected. Xu Yi turned back to her, spread his hands, and shrugged. Yan Zi stuck out her little tongue and ducked her head back inside, knowing their trip to South Mountain would most likely fall through.
"I'm leaving."
Meng Fan walked straight over to the wicker chair Xu Yi had been lying in and flopped down, stiff as a board. The words burst out of him without warning.
Xu Yi smiled. "You've stuck it out for three years. That couldn't have been easy. It's time to pack it in. Wouldn't it be better to go home and be a lord? Why keep forcing yourself to stay here and put up with everyone's disdain?"
Meng Fan's career as a lecturer had not gone well. Strictly speaking, it had gone very