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墨書 Inktalez
Watching Liu Anfeng's deliberately forced smile to get close, Qing Wu felt a sense of vigilance.
The saying goes, "When someone is overly attentive without reason, they are either deceitful or have ulterior motives," and Qing Wu deeply agreed.
Earlier, when they were gathered together, Liu Anfeng looked down on her and didn't even spare her a glance. Now, not even an hour had passed, and he was suddenly so warm and friendly...
If there were no ulterior motives behind his behavior, who would believe it?!
Qing Wu considered herself not foolish; it made no sense for the other party to set her up so obviously while she knowingly jumped into a trap. Determined not to fall for it, she moved closer to the He Family and ignored him.
Seeing his scheme about to fail, Liu Anfeng was unwilling to give up. Frustrated and anxious, he could only suppress his temper and engage Qing Wu in conversation with even more enthusiasm.
Qing Wu was reluctant to engage with him much. When she saw that he was persistent, she simply let go of her hold on the He Family's hand and moved behind them, planning to bypass Liu Anfeng from that side.
Perhaps her intention to avoid him was too obvious. After following her for a couple of steps, Liu Anfeng suddenly stopped and stared at her with narrowed eyes. No matter how one looked at it, his gaze was not clear at all; it was evident that he was calculating something.
Qing Wu felt uneasy under his gaze, knowing that if she didn't come up with a proper solution, Liu Anfeng would not let her off easily. So she quickly reached out again to grasp the He Family's fingers and raised her face eagerly, hoping they would notice her predicament and help persuade Liu Anfeng.
However, as she focused on keeping an eye on Liu Anfeng, she unconsciously shifted half a circle. When she reached out in what she thought was the correct direction, she realized too late that she had misaligned. By the time she felt something wrong as her fingertips touched another hand and tried to retract her hand, she had already put on a pitiful expression and looked up at the person beside her. Thus, her pleading look fell entirely into the other person's sight.
Liu An Ting did not expect Qing Wu to show such an expression at this moment.
The last time he saw her like this was when he intended to hand her over to Liu Anfeng. At that time, her soft-spoken "brother" left him utterly confused.
Now feeling the coldness transmitted from her fingertips and seeing her current demeanor, Liu An Ting inexplicably felt a slight softening in his heart.
He had been paying attention to Liu Anfeng for some time.
Having watched Third Brother grow up, how could Feng Ge'er not know what he was thinking? Seeing Liu Anfeng looking at Liu Anmeng with a sullen expression and constantly sizing up Qing Wu, Liu An Ting understood most of it.
At that moment, before Liu Qingwu could regret pulling back, he had already shouted at Liu Anfeng, "What are you doing? It's so cold; if your sister wanders around carelessly and gets cold, will you go fetch a doctor?"
His words were a direct reference to past events, each sentence striking at the heart.
Sister Lan's incident was a pain in the hearts of everyone in the Second House. With Liu Anfeng's impulsive nature, he was left speechless after hearing this. He slowly moved to Liu Anzhi's side, lowering his head and remaining silent.
The He Family and Liu Fangyi were quietly discussing matters and did not notice the series of actions from the children.
When they had looked over at the newcomers earlier, they had taken a careful look. The group that arrived early were all around the same age as Liu Anzhi. After a brief discussion, Liu Fangyi and his wife decided not to linger too long. After all, the Matriarch had not yet arrived, and they needed to go greet her.
After giving their sons a few reminders and instructing them to take good care of their sister, the He Family and Liu Fangyi continued on their way, looking back several times.
Having successfully shaken off Liu Anfeng, Liu Qingwu intended to release her grip on Liu An Ting's hand. Just then, Liu An Ting and Liu Anzhi responded together to their parents' words with "We will take good care of her."
At that moment, Qing Wu was unable to succeed in letting go.
Because of their conversation, Liu An Ting had already turned his hand around and wrapped her hand in his palm.
Liu Anzhi was rather slow to realize what had happened earlier with Liu Anfeng. Seeing Liu Qingwu obediently leaning against Liu An Ting, he smiled and patted her on the head.
Qing Wu was taken aback by his obvious affection and couldn't help but frown and glare at him in silent protest.
It's just a pity that she looked too cute. Not only did it fail to have any intimidating effect, but it also made the three brothers unable to hold back their laughter, and they all chuckled.
While they were enjoying themselves, a girl's extremely displeased voice came over: "Who is she?" Her tone was slightly sharp, sounding a bit harsh.
It was Liu Anmeng, who had gotten a bit closer. She walked forward quickly while occasionally glancing at Qing Wu with an unfriendly expression.
Liu Anfeng was the first to react. His eyes lit up as he smoothly followed his previous thoughts and said, "This is my sister. What do you think? Isn't she beautiful? I think it would be hard to find anyone here who looks better than her."
Upon hearing his somewhat boastful tone, Liu An Ting knew things were going south and quickly protected Qing Wu even more. After thinking for a moment, still feeling uneasy, he took half a step forward and slightly turned his body to shield her.
Beside them, Liu Anzhi lightly scolded Liu Anfeng: "Less talking."
Liu Anfeng huffed and turned his head away, neither good nor bad.
While they were having a slight argument, it completely went unheard by Liu Anmeng. She kept her gaze fixed on the cute girl in white, her mind entirely focused on her. Biting her lip tightly and then releasing it several times, she coldly asked, "Who is she? Who exactly is she?"
"Our sister," Liu Anzhi glanced at the pair of twin brothers who were rushing over and said, "Qing Wu."
With those two words, the corner of the white-clad girl's mouth lifted into a sweet smile. Her already rosy lips and white teeth made her look even more charming.
However, when her charming smile caught Liu Anmeng's eye, it made her feel uncomfortable. Gritting her teeth, she huffed, "Don't lie. Sister Lan is gone; where did you get this sister from?"
It was better if she hadn't mentioned Sister Lan. As soon as she did, all of Liu Anfeng's pent-up resentment and anger could no longer be concealed.
He was already impulsive by nature, and now that he was angry, he spoke without thinking: "What? Are you jealous because our sister is pretty? Some people are just too self-righteous. They always think they are exceptionally good-looking but don't realize there are always others better than them. Now that someone has outshone you, it's quite embarrassing." After a pause, he couldn't help but add pointedly: "Also, our sister has a kind heart. Beauty comes from within; naturally, she looks good all around."
The relatives of the Liu family all know what Liu Anmeng values most. Upon hearing this, they all turned to look at Liu Anmeng.
Liu Anmeng also heard the previous words, and her expression became even more difficult. She shot a sharp glance over, "Who are you!"
Liu Anfeng chuckled, his eyes devoid of any amusement, "You know who I am."
"You..."
"Third Brother! Enough with the chatter!"
Liu Anzhi stepped forward, blocking the two between them. He nodded at Liu Anmeng and said to the two, "Calm down. It's not easy to reunite; let's not waste time arguing."
Although he was usually steady and kept his word among his brothers, that was only within the Second House.
Liu Anmeng was the legitimate daughter of the Third Branch, raised with great pampering and had a high opinion of herself, so she was not swayed by his words.
The seven or eight-year-old girl felt wronged and turned away to her twin brothers, rushing to one of them with tears in her eyes, "Brother, they are bullying me!" She recounted the earlier dispute in full.
Upon hearing that their little sister was being mocked, Liu Anwen and Liu Anwu could no longer hold back. They roughly asked Liu Anmeng for the reason, and unable to contain themselves any longer, they rushed over and pointed at Liu Qingwu's nose, huffing, "You're just a little yellow-haired girl. If you want to pick a fight, come at us instead of targeting a girl."
Liu An Ting and Liu Anfeng completely ignored them. Liu Anzhi frowned tightly and said, "Enough with the chatter."
Liu Anzhi meant well and did not want to escalate the argument. However, his brief words sounded like an order to the twins.
The identical twins exchanged glances and shared a knowing look.
The slightly taller one on the left turned to glance at Qing Wu a few times and suddenly smiled, "Wow, this girl is truly beautiful. Her mother must be quite something too."
Another boy showed a look of realization, "Isn't that right! I thought she was so striking and was wondering which of the Second Uncle's concubines gave birth to her. But then I thought, wait, even if Second Uncle took a concubine and had a child, the child wouldn't be that big yet."
"Could it be that someone outside had the child and only sent her here after she grew up?"
"That makes sense."
The two of them were singing in harmony, directly turning Qing Wu into an illegitimate daughter secretly born by Liu Fangyi's outside mistress.
The children from the Second House did not expect them to come up with such slanderous words.
Such a well-behaved girl was inexplicably subjected to their verbal insults; how could anyone tolerate that? Even Liu Anzhi, who was usually gentle, became angry and immediately pointed at their noses to scold them.
At this moment, the tall boy who had been leisurely following the twins from a distance saw that things were not right and hurried over. "Alright, alright. Today is a joyous day for reunion; why quarrel? Why not all have a cup of tea to calm down? I believe Grandmother will be arriving soon." As he spoke, he used his strong arms to physically separate the group.
This person was Liu Anyang, the only child of the First Branch.
He was raised by Madam Meng Family and shared his mother's straightforward and honest nature. As the eldest son Changsun, he felt a sense of responsibility and would always lend a hand when he saw his younger siblings needed help. Now seeing that everyone was about to fight, he naturally came over to intervene.
But the boys were unwilling to listen to him. Just as he separated them, they turned in another direction and clashed again.
As the atmosphere reached a boiling point, ready to "break out," laughter from the ladies could be heard not far away. Soon after, the Matriarch dressed in a bright red embroidered gown appeared before everyone.
Liu Anmeng was the first to react; she lifted her skirt and ran towards her. Upon seeing the old lady, she choked back tears and called out "Grandmother," then threw herself into her embrace, sobbing as if she had suffered great grievances while briefly recounting what had just happened.
The twins quickly ran over and embellished the story of what had happened earlier.
Lady Liu called for someone to come and wipe Liu Anmeng's tears, then asked Liu Fangyi, "What exactly is going on with that extra child?"
The phrase "extra child" made Liu Fangyi's heart race with anxiety.
He took a deep breath and said, "Daughter's family was all killed by bandits. A colleague brought her to the yamen, and seeing her all alone and helpless, I brought her home."
Upon hearing this, Lady Liu turned to look at the girl in white.
The twins shouted for their grandmother to take their side, "They want to hit us over an outsider girl; it's just unreasonable!"
Liu Anmeng was about to argue further when Matriarch impatiently waved her hand to interrupt.
"What are you shouting about! This girl has suffered so much; can't you all calm down and give her some space?"
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