Bonus chapter for Fairy Miao Xiaomiao

When Su Yuhe was fourteen or fifteen, back in middle school, she would eat breakfast at seven, then need a little bread to tide her over during the long break after nine. Otherwise, she simply could not make it to noon.

Teenagers got hungry easily. She had been through that stage herself, so she understood Lu Mingxi quite well.

He was actually fairly restrained. A couple of years ago, Xubai had eaten far more than he did.

The servants around Xubai had urged him to eat less every day and coaxed him into binding his waist. During that time, he had thrown terrible tantrums every day.

Lu Mingxi eagerly opened the steamer and took out several steamed buns to share. Once Su Yuhe had accepted hers, he started handing them to the others while munching on his own.

When he offered a stuffed bun to Meng Zhixian, Meng Zhixian frowned and refused without the slightest courtesy. "I'll get my own."

Lu Mingxi looked at the bun he had held out, then looked at Su Yuhe.

Su Yuhe: ?

He tentatively withdrew his hand and took a bite of the bun meant for Meng Zhixian.

Su Yuhe thought for a moment, then kindly reminded him, "Eat slowly. No one's going to fight you for it."

Reassured, Lu Mingxi held a bun in each hand, taking a bite from the left, then a bite from the right.

Meng Zhixian gave a cold snort, went inside to wash his hands, and took a bun too, eating it in tiny bites.

Li Yun copied him and Lu Mingyi, eating slowly. He managed to stretch a palm-sized bun that he normally would have stuffed down in a couple of bites into more than a dozen.

He looked up at Lu Mingyi and Meng Zhixian. Both still had more than half left. Held in the hands of those two jade-faced gentlemen, the white flour buns seemed to share their hazy white glow, looking less like buns than white jade cups.

Maintaining his good table manners, Lu Mingxi quickly finished two buns, but still did not feel he had eaten enough. He looked around at the others.

Lu Mingyi noticed his gaze and looked over. Lu Mingxi withdrew his gaze with a sheepish smile.

Then he looked at Li Yun. "Brother Li, I'll go get you another."

Li Yun gave a slight nod, and Lu Mingxi asked Meng Zhixian, "Second Brother Meng, would you like me to get you one?"

"No. One is enough for me." Meng Zhixian looked him up and down, the malice in his tone barely concealed. "Eating that much in one sitting-even a pig couldn't eat as much as you."

He had only meant that remark for Lu Mingxi, but when he caught sight of Li Yun out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly realized that his words had caught Li Yun, who had been working all along, in the crossfire.

"Get me another one too."

Puzzled, Lu Mingxi asked again, "Another one?"

"Mm."

Once Lu Mingxi brought it over, Meng Zhixian did not take it, leaving his hand suspended in midair. Only after a long while did he say, "You don't look full. You can have it."

"Really?"

"Mm."

Lu Mingxi opened his mouth and bit off almost half of it, mumbling, "Second Brother Meng, you're so nice!"

Meng Zhixian pushed him away in distaste. "Just eat. Keep your mouth shut."

Su Yuhe shook her head as she watched the two bicker. On his own, Meng Zhixian was extremely alluring, but put him together with Lu Mingxi, and they were like a pair of elementary schoolers.

She was even beginning to wonder how she had brought herself to kiss him before.

At noon, with the sun blazing overhead, Ruan Puchuan went out beneath the scorching sun to deliver lunch to the fields.

Liu Xiaobo sat nearby, sweat streaming endlessly down his face. He roughly snatched the bowl and chopsticks from Ruan Puchuan's arms and began wolfing down the food.

Ruan Puchuan waited quietly beside him. The older man from the Zhuang family nearby teased, "Xiaobo's son-in-law is still the considerate one. Mine thinks it's too hot to come out."

Liu Xiaobo shot Ruan Puchuan a sidelong glance. "If he dared, I'd sell him."

The older man from the Zhuang family frowned in disapproval. "How can you say that? Most families can't wait for their daughters and sons-in-law to live happily together. But you're always talking about selling him. If you spoil their marital harmony, you won't get to hold a grandchild."

"Who are you saying won't get to hold a grandchild? Keep spouting nonsense and I'll tear your mouth apart! Don't think being related to the village chief means you can say whatever you like."

Ruan Puchuan kept his head lowered, as though both men were strangers to him.

This was his first time meeting the older man from the Zhuang family too. He was from the village chief's in-laws' family, the husband of the private school teacher in the neighboring village, and had accompanied the village chief's eldest son back.

Ruan Puchuan had heard about him while washing clothes by the river that morning. He had not expected to meet him so soon.

The older man from the Zhuang family was no match for his father-in-law in a fight. The former tried to reason, while the latter had no idea what reason even was.

A carriage passed slowly by, its shadow bringing him a brief spell of coolness.

The bickering beside him continued, and Ruan Puchuan kept waiting in silence.

Suddenly, the carriage stopped, and two young men jumped down. Their bearing was extraordinary, as were their clothes, and they looked about seventeen or eighteen.

One of them, dressed in pale blue, glanced at the two men arguing nearby and asked Ruan Puchuan, "Are you from Reed Flower Village?"

"Yes."

Both the older man from the Zhuang family and Liu Xiaobo fell silent. Liu Xiaobo looked over the two young men's attire. The fabric was clearly of excellent quality, gleaming in the sunlight, and brand-new too.

He then glanced at the carriage's fittings. Two horses pulled it, and the compartment looked quite spacious. There was little decoration outside, but the carved windows and satin-like curtains alone offered a glimpse of its owner's wealth.

Most people could scarcely get enough satin to wear, yet here it was being used for curtains.

Liu Xiaobo reached Ruan Puchuan's side in a few quick steps and smiled fawningly at the two young men. "Is there something you need, honored gentlemen?"