By the time Chen Yi returned to the Xiao Family, half an hour had already passed.
From afar, he saw Xiao Die standing at the entrance, gazing toward the other side.
Pei Guanli was squatting beside her, using the big toe of one jade-white bare foot to scrape at the bluestone slabs, as though she were exfoliating the sole of her foot.
She was still muttering, "Brother-in-law really won't be in trouble. Just believe me this once."
Without turning her head, Xiao Die said, "I don't."
Clearly, she still remembered how Pei Guanli had said she would return quickly when she went to the poetry gathering at Guiyun Academy, only to vanish for several hours.
"Hey, why don't you believe me? Brother-in-law, he..."
Pei Guanli raised her head and spotted Chen Yi approaching. A smile immediately bloomed across her round little face. "Brother-in-law, you're finally back."
Hearing her, Xiao Die continued looking toward the other side. "This is already the third time you've lied to me. I won't be fooled."
Chen Yi could not help laughing. He lightly tapped Pei Guanli on the head and said with a smile, "Don't bully Xiao Die."
Pei Guanli stuck out her tongue and giggled that she understood, then wrapped her arms around the turned-around Xiao Die. "See? I didn't lie to you this time, did I?"
Unable to break free, Xiao Die could only let Pei Guanli hold her as she looked at Chen Yi. "Son-in-law, you came back late again today."
"Mhm. I took a stroll around West Market."
As Chen Yi spoke, he held up the unfinished candied hawthorn skewer as proof for them. "I haven't even finished eating it..."
Before he could finish, Pei Guanli had already snatched the skewer, which only had two hawthorns left, and popped them into