The moment Ning Xiaotian heard Ning Hui say he wanted to go out and have fun, he scolded him without a second thought. "Ning Hui, you will stay home and behave yourself today. You're not going anywhere. Keep your sister company! She's finally come home, and instead of spending time with her, you want to run off and play? What kind of behavior is that?"
"Father, my sister wants to go out too," Ning Hui said with a grin. With his sister as his shield, his father certainly wouldn't stop them.
Sure enough, the words had barely left his mouth when his father turned to his sister with a beaming smile. "Sang-sang, if you want to go out and have fun, go ahead. I'll have your second brother accompany you."
Now that he had found his daughter, he wanted only to give her all his love, spoil her, and grant her every wish. He would do everything he could to make up for all the years he had failed her and let her know that she was his precious treasure.
"Thank you, Father," Ning Sang-sang said, smiling brightly.
[This father of mine is really wonderful.]
Hearing his daughter's inward praise, Ning Xiaotian couldn't help smiling.
Seeing how happy his father looked, Ning Hui thought to himself, Looks like my sister will be able to keep Father in line from now on.
Ning Xiaotian had someone summon Ning Chengxiao and told him, "Xiao'er, Sang-sang wants to go out and have fun. Go with her and take good care of her."
Ning Chengxiao agreed with a nod, without the slightest hesitation.
When Madam Jiang learned that Ning Sang-sang was going out with her two sons, she earnestly instructed her second son, Ning Chengxiao, "Xiao'er, take good care of your sister while you're out. Protect her, and don't let anyone bump into her or hurt her."
Ning Chengxiao nodded.
Before they left the Duke of Ning's Residence, Ning Xiaotian and Madam Jiang both instructed Ning Chengxiao, "Buy your sister whatever she likes."
Ning Chengxiao's lips twitched. "Father, Mother, I understand."
Now that his sister had been found, his parents truly treasured her.
Ning Hui waved at his parents, who had come to see them off at the entrance. "Father, Mother, go back inside. Second Brother and I will take good care of my sister." Then he couldn't resist adding a quip. "If she loses so much as a single hair, I'll bring you my head!"
Ning Xiaotian: "..."
Madam Jiang: "..."
Ning Chengxiao: "..."
The corner of Ning Sang-sang's mouth twitched, and she joked inwardly:
[Little brother, there's really no need. I lose dozens of hairs every day.]
While his parents were still stunned, Ning Hui hurriedly pulled Ning Sang-sang and Ning Chengxiao away.
"Phew, we finally got away. Any longer, and I was afraid Father and Mother would keep us there for a whole hour giving instructions," Ning Hui said with a sigh of relief once they were some distance from home.
Ning Chengxiao glanced at him. "They were giving me instructions."
"Same thing."
"How is it the same? They gave me the instructions because they don't trust you to be reliable."
Ning Hui: "..."
Who needs a second brother like this anyway?
"Fine, I'm unreliable. You're the most reliable of us all."
Then he looked at Ning Sang-sang and remarked, "Sister, Father and Mother really do treasure you."
[Oh my, has this little brother of mine grown jealous because Father and Mother dote on me?]
[He's thinking: Before Ning Sang-sang came back, I was the family's most beloved child. Now that she's here, she's stolen all the love that belonged to me. She's so hateful! No, I have to get rid of Ning Sang-sang without anyone being the wiser. I swear I'll take back everything that's mine.]
Ning Sang-sang imagined a whole scene and recited it inwardly with great dramatic flair. Because of the nature of her work in her previous life, she loved dreaming up scenarios.
Ning Hui: "..."
What on earth was his sister making up?
What was all this about him hating her, getting rid of her without anyone being the wiser, and taking back everything that belonged to her? Heaven was his witness-he had never thought any such thing!
After listening to Ning Sang-sang's dramatic inward recitation, Ning Chengxiao couldn't help twitching his lips. His sister certainly had quite an imagination.
"Sister, please don't misunderstand what I said. I'm delighted that Father and Mother treasure you! I'm not jealous of you at all," Ning Hui hurriedly assured Ning Sang-sang once he recovered.
Ning Sang-sang patted his shoulder. "You don't need to explain. I know."
She had only been unable to resist making silly jokes to herself. This little brother was a very good person.
"Sister, boo-hoo, thank you for believing me! I'm so touched!" Ning Hui threw his arms around Ning Sang-sang, putting on a thoroughly moved expression as his inner actor took over.
Ning Sang-sang hugged him back, putting on an equally dramatic act. "Little brother, boo-hoo, thank you for welcoming me home! I'm so touched!"
Ning Chengxiao's mouth kept twitching at the sight. With these two characters in the family, life was going to be lively from now on.
"Let's go. If you don't get moving, forget about having fun in the streets. We're going home," he said, unable to watch their theatrics any longer.
Hearing this, Ning Sang-sang and Ning Hui, both eager to go out and have fun, immediately released each other. Then they turned to him in perfect unison and said, "Let's go."
As they spoke, they moved to his sides as though their minds were linked, each taking one of his arms and pulling him forward.
By the time the three of them reached the streets, the sky had darkened. The streets bustled with activity, adorned with lanterns and colorful decorations. Men and women, young and old, had all come out to admire the lanterns, with young couples particularly numerous.
They had left without eating dinner, so Ning Chengxiao took Ning Sang-sang and Ning Hui to the Capital's finest restaurant, the Fragrant Drunkard Tower.
"Wow, Second Brother, you iron rooster who won't part with a single feather, you're finally being generous today! You're actually willing to treat us to dinner at the Fragrant Drunkard Tower," Ning Hui marveled when he saw where Ning Chengxiao had brought them. Then he looked at him. "Second Brother, what shook you up?"
Before Ning Chengxiao could answer, Ning Sang-sang's inner voice rang out:
[Second Brother was shaken up by heartbreak. He used to scrimp and save so he could spend all his money on Bai Xinrou. Now that he knows what she's really like, his heart has shattered into crumbs. He feels like he fed his sincere love to a dog, so now he wants to spend, spend, spend.]
Ning Chengxiao: "..."
He hadn't been shaken up by heartbreak at all. He simply thought his sister must have suffered plenty of hardship during her years away, and now that she was home, he wanted her to eat well.
So that's how it is. Listening to Ning Sang-sang's inner voice, Ning Hui nodded and patted Ning Chengxiao's shoulder sympathetically. "Second Brother, since that's how you feel, I won't hold back today. Let's eat on the top floor," he said earnestly.
Ning Chengxiao: "...In your dreams."
The Fragrant Drunkard Tower had nine floors. The first through fifth floors were reasonably priced and suitable for ordinary people.
The fourth through ninth floors catered to high officials, nobles, and the wealthy. The higher the floor, the steeper the prices, with a meal on the top floor costing three thousand taels. Though he could afford three thousand taels, spending that much on a single meal was simply too extravagant. If his father, a frugal man, found out he had spent three thousand taels dining at the Fragrant Drunkard Tower, he would surely give him a thorough dressing-down.
Moreover, dining on the top floor required an advance reservation. No matter who you were, you had to reserve ahead of time. Without a reservation, you couldn't enter the top floor.
Ning Hui had only been joking, so he didn't insist after hearing his brother's response. Instead, he smiled and said, "If we can't go to the top floor, let's eat on the sixth."
Looking at the Fragrant Drunkard Tower's signboard, Ning Sang-sang thought, The Fragrant Drunkard Tower... that name sounds so familiar.
Suddenly, a flash of insight lit up her mind, and she remembered. Before her fifth senior brother left Ten Thousand Flowers Valley, he had given her a jade pendant as a token. He had told her that the Fragrant Drunkard Tower was his business, and if she ever left Ten Thousand Flowers Valley to roam the martial world, she could eat at the Fragrant Drunkard Tower whenever she was hungry. He had opened branches all over the country.
It wasn't only her fifth senior brother who had given her a token. Her other senior brothers and sisters had all given her tokens before leaving the valley. With their tokens, she could travel the world.
Today was the Qiqiao Festival, and business at the Fragrant Drunkard Tower was booming. The first through fifth floors were packed, and the fourth through eighth floors were packed as well.
"Ah, business is too good here today. Looks like I won't get to fleece you after all. Come on, let's eat somewhere else." Ning Hui turned to leave.
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