Twins

Being told he needed protection by a little girl of six or seven made Li Nuo feel strange.

However, thinking about how she had stepped forward earlier, Li Nuo was still a little touched.

Children's thoughts were often the purest; this adorable little girl truly saw him as a friend.

He smiled, indicating he didn't mind, and said, "Let's continue playing shuttlecock."

"Mhm!"

Song Mu'er nodded and threw the shuttlecock over. Li Nuo kicked it back with an aerial spin. Song Mu'er leaped lightly, her skirt twirling with her. Li Nuo couldn't clearly see her movements before the shuttlecock flew back again.

Soon, Li Nuo discovered that this little girl was also a master at playing shuttlecock.

Not only was her play fast and accurate, but her movements were also incredibly graceful. Her learning ability was also very fast. The moves Li Nuo subconsciously used, she could quickly replicate, and play even better and more beautifully.

If Li Nuo guessed correctly, she must have a foundation in martial arts, because many of her movements were impossible for ordinary people.

Song Mu'er was truly happy tonight.

At home, besides a few maids, no one was willing to play with her. However, those maids' skills were too poor; they couldn't even return the shuttlecock she kicked. Unlike this big brother, they played for a long time, and the shuttlecock never once fell.

"No more, no more..."

A little while later, Li Nuo stopped the shuttlecock on his foot, bending over and panting, "I can't kick anymore..."

The frailty of this body exceeded his expectations. Moreover, he had an injury on his shoulder; after just a short while of playing, the wound on his shoulder began to ache faintly. In contrast, the little girl, apart from her messy hair, didn't even have a bead of sweat on her forehead, making Li Nuo feel a bit embarrassed.

"Okay..."

Although Song Mu'er wanted to play a little longer, she saw how tired Li Nuo was and obediently nodded. She put the shuttlecock away and back into her small bag.

While playing shuttlecock earlier, her hair tie had come undone, and she couldn't tie it herself. She could only look at Li Nuo for help. Li Nuo took the hair tie from her hand and was about to help her tie her bun when, the moment he touched her hair, countless methods for styling hair suddenly appeared in his mind.

This was, of course, not Li Nuo's own memory. Li Nuo looked at Zhang Xiaoyun's portrait on the Codex again.

He had initially thought the Codex would only allow him to master one skill from a criminal, like the female assassin's calligraphy or the thief's thievery technique. But the reality seemed different from his guess. Shuttlecock, hair styling – he had already mastered two skills of Steward Zheng's concubine.

The skills valued by the Codex were all extraordinary.

The female assassin's calligraphy was praised by the Magistrate of Chang'an as "rarely matched."

And the goatee man's thievery technique allowed the martial artist of the fourth realm, Steward Wu, and his wife to be completely unaware, proving he was undoubtedly an outstanding thief.

As for the adulterer named Cui Ze, he was too mediocre to even qualify for his portrait to be illuminated by the Codex.

But Steward Zheng's concubine had two skills recognized by the Codex, indicating that whether it was playing shuttlecock or styling hair, she had reached the pinnacle of her craft.

However, no matter what skill it was, it would expire by this time tomorrow. To avoid wasting the craftsmanship, Li Nuo said to Song Mu'er, "How about I style your hair again? A more beautiful one than before..."

What girl didn't want to become more beautiful, even if she was only six years old?

Song Mu'er didn't doubt Li Nuo at all. Without a moment's hesitation, she nodded repeatedly, "Okay, okay..."

Li Nuo set the hair tie aside and his hands moved swiftly through her hair. He didn't even need to look or think; it was as if his muscles had performed the actions thousands or tens of thousands of times. Before long, a beautiful Flying Immortal Hairpin appeared on Song Mu'er's head.

One had to admit, hairstyles greatly influenced a person's appearance and temperament.

Earlier, Song Mu'er looked like just a slightly prettier young lady from a prominent family. But after changing her hairstyle, her entire demeanor exuded a nobility and an ethereal grace. The two hair rings trembled slightly with her subtle movements. If a few more hair accessories were added, she would truly look like a little fairy.

Song Mu'er left Li Nuo and eagerly ran back to her room to look at her new hairstyle. At this moment, Li Nuo also saw Song Jiaren and a beautiful middle-aged woman walking towards them.

The woman was beautiful, appearing to be in her early thirties. However, judging by the crow's feet at the corners of her eyes, her real age was likely older than she looked.

Song Jiaren brought the beautiful woman to Li Nuo's side and said, "This is my aunt. You've met her."

Li Nuo bowed to the beautiful woman and said, "Greetings, Aunt."

Old Madam Song had four sons and one daughter. Her only daughter was named Song Zhen, her third child.

The beautiful woman stared at Li Nuo, her eyes filled with surprise and even more so with joy. She looked at Song Jiaren and asked uncertainly, "He's really not foolish anymore?"

Song Jiaren nodded. Based on his behavior over the past two days, he indeed wasn't foolish anymore.

Not only was he not foolish, but he could even be considered intelligent.

The beautiful woman couldn't help but reach out and pinch him here, pat him there, murmuring as she did, "I knew it. How could the son of Li Xuanjing be foolish..."

She tugged at Li Nuo's face and sighed, "Don't tell me, he really has some of his father's youthful charm."

Li Nuo felt like a toy, being handled as they pleased. The key was that he couldn't say anything, as they were his elders. He could only stand there awkwardly.

What was even more awkward was that women in Great Xia dressed quite openly. She was wearing a chest-baring dress adorned with a necklace. Below the necklace, half of her fair bosom was exposed. Being so close to Li Nuo, his gaze didn't know where to rest. He focused on his eyes, then his nose, then his heart, and a strange thought inexplicably arose in his mind: they say nieces take after their aunts, but my wife really didn't take after you at all...

"I don't care, I don't care, I want one too!"

A girl's crying and wailing could be heard from a distance, drawing everyone's attention and rescuing Li Nuo. Seeing the beautiful woman and his wife both looking in a certain direction, Li Nuo breathed a sigh of relief. He took a step back, maintaining a distance from the beautiful woman, and also turned his head to look.

The one sitting on the ground, crying and making a fuss, was a little girl.

The girl was about six or seven years old, exquisitely carved and adorable, but she was crying quite sadly, kicking her feet as she wept.

When Li Nuo's gaze shifted to the little girl's face, he was slightly stunned. Wasn't that Song Mu'er, who had just been playing shuttlecock with him? Strangely, the Flying Immortal Hairpin Li Nuo had just styled for her had somehow reverted back to a bun...

His gaze shifted again, and he saw, standing beside the crying little girl, hands on her hips, a smug expression, with a beautiful and noble little girl sporting a Flying Immortal Hairpin...

How could there be two Mu'er's?

Li Nuo was bewildered.

At this moment, the beautiful woman had already hurried towards the crying little girl, muttering as she walked, "Who styled Mu'er's hair so beautifully? Don't they know Ninger will throw a fit when she sees it? Last time Mu'er was sick, Ninger insisted on having a bowl of medicine for herself, so this time it'll be even worse!"

Li Nuo understood. It wasn't that there were two Mu'ers; they were twins.

Li Nuo was all too familiar with the situation of twins.

His university professor's family had twins, and as the professor's disciple, Li Nuo sometimes had to shoulder the responsibility of picking up and dropping off the children from school, acting as both a long-term helper and a nanny.

When a family has two children, they must ensure fairness. This is even more true for families with twins. Whatever the older sister has, the younger sister must have. Not only must their clothes be the same, but their hair accessories must also be identical. They must also prepare double portions of everything they eat and play with, and they must be exactly the same. If the older sister coughs and takes a sip of cough syrup, the younger sister must also have a sip to show fairness...

Even the slightest difference would lead to the family being thrown into chaos.

Li Nuo got a headache just thinking about that experience.

If he had known Mu'er had a twin sister, Li Nuo would absolutely never have helped her style her hair...

At this moment, Song Zhen had already walked over and said to a woman beside the crying little girl, "Who styled Mu'er's hair? Hurry and have them style Ninger's hair exactly the same. The Old Madam's birthday banquet is about to start, don't delay the time..."

The woman looked at the maids beside her and angrily asked, "Who did this?"

Several maids from the Song residence shook their heads. They knew the two young ladies better than anyone. The maids and servants of the Song family would never do such a thing.

Song Zhen waved her hand and said, "Let's not worry about who did it for now. Who knows how to style this kind of hair? Hurry and style one for Ninger, or it'll be too late."

If she hadn't been the eldest young lady since childhood, she wouldn't know how to style hair herself. She even thought about doing it herself.

The maids exchanged glances. Finally, an older maid spoke up, "Eldest Young Lady, it was Miss Mu'er's stylist. This isn't an ordinary Flying Immortal Hairpin. The person who styled Miss Mu'er's hair made many complex modifications to the original Flying Immortal Hairpin. The modified Flying Immortal Hairpin looks more dignified, elegant, spirited, and noble. We don't know how to do this hairstyle..."

The person who tied the knot is the one who can untie it. Song Zhen rubbed her temples, squatted down, and smiled at the triumphant girl with the beautiful hairstyle, "Mu'er, tell your auntie, who styled your hair so beautifully?"

Song Mu'er snorted at the crying little girl and turned her head away.

From childhood to adulthood, Song Ninger always wanted to snatch her things. She absolutely refused to share Brother Li Nuo with her.

Brother Li Nuo could only style her hair; Song Ninger shouldn't even think about it!

At this moment, a guest in the crowd pointed in a certain direction and said, "I just saw that young master styling Miss Mu'er's hair..."

The women immediately looked in the direction he pointed.

At the end of their gaze, a handsome young man was trying his best to hide his body in the shadows...

I have to attend a closed-door Communist Youth League training today, so the update will be around midnight. This closed-door training will last for three days, and the updates during these three days should all be around midnight.