Storm Clouds Gather, Wind Fills the Tower

An Nuan opened the door and ran down the steps, where she saw Liu Chang'an walking towards her with his usual steady and slow pace, stepping on the shade of the trees on both sides.

The scene was so comforting to look at. Every time she saw him walk like that, his steps seemed to be in sync with the rhythm of her heartbeat, sometimes tight, sometimes loose, squeezing out a lot of tenderness in her heart.

So An Nuan raised her hand straight up and placed it beside her waist and hips, swinging it up and down as she ran, looking very cute as she ran to Liu Chang'an's side.

"Why are you walking like that?" Liu Chang'an remembered Zhu Juntang from yesterday; when he called her over, she had run over like that too.

It turns out this wasn't Zhu Juntang's unique way of acting cute.

"It makes me look cute!" An Nuan pouted, waving her hands and mimicking a penguin's movements.

"She looks like she has a mental disability." Liu Chang'an might have found An Nuan's actions cute when he saw her do them first, but Zhu Juntang did them first, and this preconceived notion changed his perception.

An Nuan was just about to act cute when his sudden rebuke angered her. She stubbornly maintained her position, threateningly saying in a wronged tone, "I'll give you one more chance to rephrase that!"

How can this be reinterpreted? Even Liu Chang'an felt somewhat perplexed.

"I mean, it looks like her intelligence has been activated in love, allowing her to effortlessly embody the characteristics of a cute young girl." Liu Chang'an nodded. "Intellectual disability" has many meanings, but describing the mild intellectual disability and small actions of a girl in love is exactly what he meant, and that's what everyone thinks.

"That's more like it," An Nuan said smugly.

"Um."

"Your reaction was lukewarm! You should have continued by saying I'm cute all the time!" She was dissatisfied again.

"That's enough!" Liu Chang'an wasn't going to indulge her.

"I want it!" An Nuan always acted very imposing in front of Liu Chang'an, but she secretly glanced at him beforehand to see if he was really getting impatient.

"Let me tell you, it's not that I'm afraid of you. I'm just afraid that your endless nagging will make me even more annoyed, since I'll have to coax you in the end." Liu Chang'an wanted her to understand this key point.

So you're still afraid of me!

"Bother."

"You have to like me even if I'm annoying."

Liu Chang'an pulled her back to prevent her from continuing her endless whining.

As soon as she entered the room, An Nuan glanced at her mother's bedroom and said sweetly to Liu Chang'an, "I was learning to knit and was planning to knit a little outfit for a cute puppy when I got poked in the finger."

As she spoke, An Nuan held up her finger to show Liu Chang'an.

"Luckily I arrived in time. If I had been a little later, I'm afraid I would have had to have my leg amputated!" Liu Chang'an said, sounding lingering fear, and cooperated fully.

"What nonsense are you talking about!" Despite his exaggerated reply, which showed no genuine concern whatsoever, An Nuan couldn't help but laugh out loud.

If he also said something like "I'm afraid that would be better," it would mean that he and his mother were too in sync, which would make An Nuan angry.

Liu Chang'an took her finger in his hand and gently bit it between his lips and tongue.

Feeling her fingertips touch his tongue, An Nuan's cheeks flushed slightly. She shyly withdrew her finger and said reproachfully, "Aren't you afraid of getting my finger dirty?"

"I can't give you an excuse." Liu Chang'an was a man of deep thought and foresight.

"What do you mean?" An Nuan didn't quite understand, but her intuition told her that Liu Chang'an was talking about something extremely filthy.

"I can't let you have an excuse sometime in the future: 'You wouldn't even suck my finger back then! And you still want this and that from me... Dream on!'" Liu Chang'an was prepared.

An Nuan realized what was happening and was immediately filled with shame. She started flailing her arms and legs, yelling, "You're dreaming! You wish! You... you... you filthy scoundrel! I'll bite you to death!"

An Nuan was overcome with shame and pounced on him, biting wildly. She was still an innocent girl who knew nothing, yet this person was already plotting to defile and train his naive, cute, and forever pure girlfriend!

"What are you thinking? I mean, if my finger gets injured in the future, I'll definitely rely on you to suck on it for me. If I don't suck on it now, you definitely won't do it then either, right?" Liu Chang'an was very puzzled. What was this little girl thinking all day? It was one thing for her to overthink, but she also misunderstood him. It was really annoying.

An Nuan found it both funny and embarrassing. She stopped biting him and instead started punching him with her little fists, punching him repeatedly.

"Chang'an, you're here." At first, Liu Yuewang could still clearly hear An Nuan touching her finger and trying to be cute, but later she couldn't hear clearly even when she strained her ears, so she quickly came out to check.

This is only human nature. Sometimes when you can't hear clearly when you eavesdrop on gossip, you might as well pretend to bump into the gossip scene to gain a sense of participation.

"I hunted a wild boar yesterday, so I'm bringing some wild boar meat over." Liu Chang'an held up the plastic bag in his hand.

Liu Yuewang smiled and accepted it. "This is good. Wild boar meat, it must be all-natural."

Liu Chang'an watched as Liu Yuewang took the wild boar meat and put it in the kitchen.

An Nuan turned his face towards her. There was nothing she could do; Professor Liu's back view was too alluring. She could only physically stop him. She couldn't expect these men to be pure of heart.

Today, Liu Yuewang wore a tropical-style gauze dress, tied diagonally around her waist, making her waist appear as light and graceful as her surname. As she swayed, looking down at her full, moon-like breasts, she truly lived up to her name.

"You killed a wild boar?" An Nuan knew her boyfriend was unconventional and unlike most people, but this ordinary college student who grew up in River East, went to school in River West, had never lived in the mountains or learned hunting from hunters, actually killed a wild boar? That was too absurd!

"Of course, otherwise, do you think I hit it? Do you mean I hit it like this?" Liu Chang'an tapped An Nuan's finger that was pointing at him.

"This is my injured finger!" An Nuan withdrew her finger, angrily circled around Liu Chang'an, and looked him over from left to right. "Are you alright? Why do you always do such dangerous things?"

"What's all the fuss about killing a wild boar? Do you think everyone's like you, lazy and clueless about farming? Have you never seen a wild boar come down from the mountain, ruining crops and getting killed?" Liu Yuewang released the boar meat and came out, revealing a gentle and approving smile. She patted Liu Chang'an's arm. "Chang'an has plenty of skills. Killing a wild boar is nothing. Maybe one day he'll bring you back a tiger."

"Mom! What are you doing here again!" An Nuan was disciplining her boyfriend when this troublemaker showed up, making her even angrier. Fighting a tiger, huh? Did she think she'd found Wu Song as her son-in-law?! Wouldn't her words just make Liu Chang'an less concerned about the danger?

"It's alright. To be honest, there aren't many tigers to hunt these days. Otherwise, hunting tigers and wild boars wouldn't be much different," Liu Chang'an said to Liu Yuewang. In these matters, older girls tend to be more knowledgeable.

Liu Yuewang smiled and lightly tapped Liu Chang'an's arm. There is a difference between hunting tigers and hunting wild boars. Right now, it's just a casual joke, just teasing An Nuan. If Liu Chang'an really wanted to hunt tigers, Liu Yuewang wouldn't let him go.

Liu Chang'an smiled, looking at the two women who seemed to really have him under their control. Liu Chang'an coughed politely, "We're not going to hunt the tiger anymore, but we still need to eat the wild boar we did hunt. I'll cook it later."

An Nuan felt helpless. Generally speaking, wild boars were probably the limit of what wild animals she could encounter. What more dangerous things could he do? Thinking this way, An Nuan felt a little relieved, but she was also curious about her boyfriend's limits. What was the biggest surprise he could give her?

Maybe it's true that he claims to Longevity. An Nuan couldn't help but laugh again. This guy does all sorts of weird things all day, yet he always seems so reliable. It's really strange.

"Did you send some to Teacher Qin?" Liu Yuewang asked casually.

"I forgot." Based on the same reason, Qin Yanan didn't need wild boar meat for nourishment, so Liu Chang'an naturally didn't specially send it to Qin Yanan to eat.

However, I felt that I had overlooked something. After all, Qin Yanan and An Nuan Liu Yuewang were different. This mother and daughter were unlikely to cook for him or serve him food, but Qin Yanan often prepared exquisite ingredients to treat him to meals.

"Then you should send some to Teacher Qin." Liu Yuewang was somewhat satisfied, because she finally had the opportunity to guide her almost omnipotent boyfriend as an elder, and it felt quite good.

"Okay, I'll bring it to her again when I get home," Liu Chang'an agreed. "Thank goodness you reminded me."

"Then could you ask around for me if you could get me the same rice cooker as yours at a lower price?" Liu Yuewang said with a beaming smile.

"OK."

After saying that, Liu Chang'an went to the kitchen to marinate the pork.

An Nuan had been winking and making Liu Yuewang for a long time, and finally stamped her foot in frustration, "You, you, you... how could you come up with such a terrible idea?"

"How did I give such a bad idea? Chang'an is still young and not good at social interactions. He hunted a wild boar and gave some to us, how could he not give some to Teacher Qin? It would be bad to offend someone." Liu Yuewang certainly had her reasons, especially in a school where there are a lot of social interactions.

"You're sending a lamb to the slaughter! Liu Chang'an might be devoured by her." An Nuan was extremely anxious.

What nonsense are you talking about?

"You're only after your rice cooker, aren't you?"

"I... is that what I meant? I just asked Chang'an to mention it to me casually." Liu Yuewang coughed slightly guiltily.

"No, I want to go with him." An Nuan didn't knit her sweater that afternoon, nor did she go to the volleyball training camp.

"Why are you so annoying?" Liu Yuewang was too lazy to pay attention to her. Anyway, she really annoyed Liu Chang'an, and judging from her behavior, she was now behaving herself.

So An Nuan quickly ran to the kitchen to bother him.

"You miss me again?" Liu Chang'an asked without turning his head, a common excuse An Nuan used.

"Mmm," An Nuan hummed nasally, "And I want to go with you to deliver wild boar meat to Teacher Qin."

"Good."

An Nuan was taken aback. "Why did you agree so quickly?"

"If I hesitated, wouldn't you say that I only agreed reluctantly, that I had something to hide, that I resented you for interfering with my time with Qin Yanan, that I must have... something else?"

"You must be planning to cheat on me with someone else." An Nuan blurted out, then saw Liu Chang'an's "I knew it" smile and blushed slightly. "I didn't mean that... Anyway, you agreed too quickly, which means you were being deliberately wary. Normally, you should have naturally asked with a hint of doubt: 'What are you going to do?'"

"Keep going, I'll wait until I can't take it anymore, then I'll beat you up." Liu Chang'an didn't mind that she was already acting up.

Women... Generally speaking, you can't discipline them by hitting them. But if she's the one causing trouble, don't be too violent. A light spanking or a slap that won't cause a concussion is fine. It'll calm her down. If she's still crying and wailing, just walk away and let her calm down.

Those public accounts that teach how to handle male-female relationships always like to preach things like you shouldn't use emotional abuse on women... Sometimes you have to let her cool off so she can reflect on herself. Many women just don't listen to reason and end up having to suffer the consequences.

Of course, teaching should be tailored to individual needs. If you're not suited to doing this, then don't do it, lest you regret it later.

"How are you going to hit me?" An Nuan wasn't afraid; she wouldn't drive Liu Chang'an to the point of losing his mind.

"Use a soaking wet willow branch to whip her bottom. Of course, the kind where you take your pants off." Liu Chang'an thought about it and felt it was pretty good, so he casually patted An Nuan's little volleyball.

Rosy Cheeks were flushed, her face as red as a hard-boiled egg. An Nuan hadn't expected Liu Chang'an's teasing gestures to be so practiced and natural. The force and technique of his patting were clearly just to feel it, but An Nuan was wearing very thin silk pants today, so he could feel it all clearly!

So An Nuan quickly ran out of the kitchen. When she got to Liu Yuewang, she realized that she couldn't tell her mother about this. So she ran back into the kitchen and started hitting and biting Liu Yuewang.

What an annoying little devil! Liu Chang'an simply washed his hands, turned around, and hugged her tightly in his arms, holding her close to his chest. He also bit her ear, her nose, and her lips. After struggling for a while, she didn't know what to do. Her eyes were glazed as she leaned against him and quieted down, panting as she let Liu Chang'an do whatever he wanted.

An Nuan never expected that her size would be confirmed in the kitchen; it really was real, and it had even grown larger than before.

This was completely different from all the romantic scenarios a young girl could imagine... but she remained shyly content.

Liu Yuewang had been listening to An Nuan making a ruckus in the kitchen, but then it suddenly quieted down. Liu Yuewang quietly peeked through the doorway and exclaimed, "Oh dear, I've got a sty!" She quickly returned to the living room, turned on the TV, and blasted the volume.

So the kitchen was filled with the clattering of various cooking utensils and bowls again, and An Nuan deliberately spoke loudly about random things, as if she had just been chatting with Liu Chang'an about the weather forecast and traffic conditions.

"You bullied me." After talking about the weather forecast and traffic conditions for a while, An Nuan's voice softened, her eyes brimming with tears. She said she had been bullied, but the blush on her cheeks and the girlish charm in her eyes suggested she hadn't.

"You always used to claim that only you could bully me, but now the tables have turned. You need to understand, before dating, it's usually the girl who bullies the boy; after dating, it's the other way around—I'm the one bullying you." Liu Chang'an glanced back at the stunningly beautiful girl, her beauty a blend of shyness and allure. "Accept your fate."

"I understand." An Nuan hugged Liu Chang'an from behind, rubbing her cheek against his back and nodding.

After blanching and marinating the wild boar meat, Liu Chang'an added Sichuan peppercorns, cloves, bay leaves, cinnamon, and dried chili peppers to a pot, along with ginger slices and water, and boiled it. After boiling, he poured it into a clay pot, added the wild boar meat, brought it to a boil over high heat, then reduced the heat to low and simmered it. He also stir-fried two side dishes for lunch, allowing the mother and daughter to enjoy a hearty meal.

Although An Nuan said she had to accept her fate of being bullied by Liu Chang'an, she didn't stay at home obediently and still went with Liu Chang'an to deliver pork to Qin Yanan.

Liu Chang'an went back in the afternoon to get some wild boar meat, and then came back to meet An Nuan at the foot of Mount Lu.

When An Nuan saw Liu Chang'an carrying wild boar meat, he looked exactly the same as when she saw him come to the Juyuan community at noon today. He pursed his lips and drew circles on the ground with his toes. She felt that because of their intimacy in the kitchen at noon today, the two of them seemed to have become even closer. Most importantly, An Nuan shyly discovered that she liked this.

You must never let him find out that you like him; you must be reserved, elegant, and pure.

"I called, she's home, we can just go upstairs," Liu Chang'an said, waving as he saw An Nuan.

An Nuan walked over and took Liu Chang'an's arm. "Let's take the cable car up. I've never ridden a cable car with you before!"

Does it really matter if you've ridden a cable car together before? But girls just feel that many things have to be done together, so Liu Chang'an and An Nuan bought cable car tickets, queued for a while, and then took the cable car up the mountain.

Fortunately, it wasn't peak tourist season, so people coming to the Love Evening Pavilion to admire the maple leaves weren't taking this route, and the queue wasn't stretching for hundreds of meters.

Upon arriving at the hotel suite at the mountaintop, even An Nuan, who didn't pay much attention to other people's material conditions and lifestyle, felt that Qin Yanan was a refined and elegant person. It was a pity that she was her love rival, otherwise she could have praised her a few more times.

"An Nuan is here too." Qin Yanan knew from the phone call that An Nuan and Liu Chang'an had come together. Of course, she knew exactly what this jealous girl was thinking.

So what if she's jealous? The fact that she's the one being jealous means An Nuan acknowledges Qin Yanan's charm and believes that Qin Yanan possesses a charm that threatens An Nuan's position with Liu Chang'an. This... is something to be happy about.

Qin Yanan's smile was genuine today. She greeted An Nuan with a warm welcome and spoke in a very gentle tone.

An Nuan wasn't surprised. Although she and Qin Yanan didn't get along, they weren't petty shrewish women. Would they start sniping each other's nails, scissors, or hair as soon as they met? Of course, she greeted them as usual. An Nuan was certain that it wouldn't be long before they started exchanging barbs and veiled insults.

"I'm here with him. I hope Teacher Qin won't mind that I came uninvited." An Nuan's smile was also very sincere, and she didn't think much about whether Qin Yanan's first greeting had any other meaning.

"No, no, of course not." Qin Yanan smiled as she walked to the counter, casually picked up the key that was on it, and then went to the bar to get drinks to serve them.

An Nuan saw Qin Yanan put the key away... Of course, An Nuan recognized it as Liu Chang'an's house key. Did Qin Yanan not intend to provoke An Nuan? An Nuan was afraid that Liu Chang'an would hit her with a wet willow branch, so she specially took out the property certificate from her bag and hid it carefully at home.

That's good, at least she won't use the key to provoke An Nuan, and An Nuan won't have to worry about not having her property certificate with her.

"Wild boar meat." Liu Chang'an handed it to Qin Yanan.

Qin Yanan opened the package, looked at it, and said with a smile, "I'll marinate it for a bit, and we'll eat it tomorrow. I'm sure you've already had a taste today, so we won't be having wild boar meat tonight. I'll cook a few other dishes."

"Ah... I can't accept that, no need, we'll go back for dinner tonight." An Nuan was a little surprised that Qin Yanan would actually invite her to stay... Wouldn't Qin Yanan find An Nuan's presence in his way? Logically speaking, two people living under the same roof should dislike each other, like they're not on the same wavelength.

"Let's have a meal together." Liu Chang'an insisted that eating together was an important event for promoting harmony. If everyone could sit down and eat together, wouldn't the relationship be more harmonious?

"Alright, then I'll take my leave." An Nuan felt she couldn't show weakness, otherwise she would be considered to have lost. If Qin Yanan could act so generously and nonchalantly, and she couldn't do the same, she would seem petty.

"It's alright. You're Chang'an's girlfriend, so you're my sister-in-law. What's the big deal?" Qin Yanan's lips curled up slightly, revealing a warm and affectionate smile that wasn't deliberate or pretentious. She bent down to pour orange juice for Liu Chang'an and An Nuan.

Seeing Qin Yanan bend over, An Nuan couldn't help but become wary. However, Qin Yanan didn't seem to be deliberately provoking or seducing her; she was holding her collar, and not a trace of her skin was visible to others.

Liu Chang'an felt that something was off about Qin Yanan. Could it be that Su Nanxiu's appearance created a comparison for her, thus diverting her hostility? After all, the animosity between Qin Yanan and Su Nanxiu was much longer-standing.

"Chang'an, show An Nuan around and let her play upstairs. I'm going to the kitchen to cook. I'll call you when the food is ready." Qin Yanan said to Liu Chang'an, then changed into a pair of non-slip slippers and went to the kitchen.

Liu Chang'an then took two glasses of orange juice and, holding An Nuan's hand, went up to the rooftop viewing platform for a visit.

An Nuan frowned. She would deal with whatever came her way, and she wanted to see what Qin Yanan was really up to.

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