Inviting the Moon to the Farmhouse

Chapter 128 Li Tao Who Can't Be Shaken Off

On a country path, Xia Yao, her son, and A-Cheng were walking back to the village after having a great time in town.

They were accompanied by people from a neighboring village. They didn't interact much on a regular basis, but they knew each other well. Everyone knew Xia Yao, in particular.

Among these people was Li Tao.

Li Tao walked at the very back of the crowd. She was very quiet, and all she did was stare at the back of someone in front of her, occasionally chuckling to herself.

An aunt from the village came up to Xia Huifang and said, "Sister Xia, the poem your son wrote today is really erudite."

Xia Huifang smiled and replied politely, "You flatter me."

“Don’t be modest. We’re both scholars, but Ma Ruisheng can’t say anything. Mr. Xia is far superior,” the aunt said.

At this moment, someone nudged the aunt, indicating that the Tian family members were still behind and shouldn't talk nonsense.

The aunt glanced at Wang Cui, rolled her eyes, and didn't say anything more.

Xia Huifang wasn't one to cause trouble, and hearing this was clearly a provocation, she quickly tried to smooth things over, "They're just keeping a low profile, waiting for the imperial examinations to make a name for themselves! Unlike my Xia Yao, who's showing off all this time, hehehe..."

Finally, at the fork in the road, the group headed home, while Acheng went to the fields.

Li Tao was the last to leave. As she passed by Xia Yao, her fingers intentionally or unintentionally brushed against the back of Xia Yao's hand. Then, she stood generously in front of the mother and son, bid them farewell, and walked towards Heguo Village.

After Li Tao turned away, Xia Yao breathed a sigh of relief and continued walking home with Xia Huifang. But when they were almost at their doorstep, Xia Yao stopped and said to Xia Huifang, "Mother, I have something to do. You should go home first."

"What's wrong? We're almost home," Xia Huifang asked.

"Never mind that, you go back first," Xia Yao said, and then walked towards the river.

Xia Yao walked all the way to the riverbank, looked around to make sure no one was there, and then walked upstream for a while before seeing Li Tao standing on the riverbank not far away.

Li Tao looked at Xia Yao walking over with a smile in her eyes. When he got closer, she couldn't wait to rush up and hug him.

Xia Yao shoved her away and looked coldly at Li Tao, "You did this on purpose today, didn't you? Coming over while I was composing poetry, as if you wanted people to know about our relationship, right?"

"So what if we are? We are related!" Li Tao said sarcastically.

Xia Yao sighed, "I've made myself perfectly clear, don't you understand? Let's never see each other again."

"So you've come with me now, haven't you?" Li Tao said teasingly. "Could it be that you can't forget her?"

Xia Yao sighed again, "I'm here to make this clear to you: don't come near me in public, or don't blame me for not giving you face."

"Oh my, so heartless?" Li Tao's smile faded. "Someone once told me that when scholars become cold-hearted, they are more ruthless than anyone else. Today I've witnessed it firsthand. But you can't get rid of me."

Xia Yao was truly at a loss with Li Tao's persistent pestering. "Don't ask me out in Zhou Yuan's name again. If I find out you're doing this again, I won't see either of you siblings."

Li Tao sneered, put on a wronged look, pulled over a reed, played with it in her hand, and ignored his words.

Helpless, Xia Yao turned to leave.

Li Tao rushed over and hugged him from behind.

This time, Xia Yao didn't pull her away. He just sneered and advised, "There's no future for us. It'll have to end eventually!"

Li Tao shook her head, closed her eyes, seemingly immersed in her own world, and hugged him even tighter. "Ayao, do you still remember how we got together?"

"You seduced me."

Li Tao chuckled, "So what? You're just a hypocrite, aren't you still captivated by me?" Li Tao looked up at Xia Yao, "Let's stay like this forever, okay? Let's not separate."

Xia Yao did not answer her. He sighed, broke free from her, and walked out of the reeds.

Xia Yao returned home and went straight into his room.

Xia Huifang had been waiting for him. Hearing his movements, she quickly followed him into the house.

As soon as Xia Huifang entered the room, she smelled a fragrance and couldn't help but sniff. "Pangao, what's that smell? It smells so good!"

"It's nothing, Mother, you must have smelled it wrong," Xia Yao said, unbuttoning her robe and taking it off. She then took a clean set of clothes from the closet and put them on.

Xia Huifang picked up the clothes she had changed out of, unfolded them to check, and found them quite clean. She then smelled them and asked, "Why do your clothes smell so much like a woman's perfume?"

"I picked it up in the crowd during the day, Mother, is something wrong?" Xia Yao asked.

"Oh, something's wrong," Xia Huifang leaned closer and whispered, "It seems like someone came to our house when we went out just now."

Xia Yao frowned, then his gaze fell on the folding fan on the table.

“There’s a jar of wine in A-Yue’s room, but it doesn’t look like our wine. Also, there are two bowls on the table, as if someone has been here!” Xia Huifang said anxiously. “Do you think A-Yue might have brought some man home and done something to betray you?”

"Oh?" Xia Yao thought for a moment and said, "Mother, don't be so suspicious. She has always had the habit of drinking. Besides, with her health like this, what can she do?"

"That's not how it works. Don't wait until you actually have a man, or it will be too late," Xia Huifang said anxiously.

Before Xia Yao could say anything, Xia Lanyue's voice came from the doorway, "Is Xia Yao back?"

“Yes, I’ll be right there,” Xia Huifang said for Xia Yao, then nodded to him, signaling him to go out.

Xia Huifang took Xia Lanyue's hand and said, "Ayue, you want to know about his poem, right?" Then she looked at Xia Yao and said, "Tell Ayue about the poem you wrote today."

Xia Yao also walked to the door, still giving Xia Lanyue a cold look, "I don't remember."

Xia Huifang and Xia Lanyue were both stunned, then looked at each other and gave an awkward laugh.

How could you forget so quickly? It's true that you don't want to talk about it, Xia Lanyue couldn't help but complain in her heart. Fine, if you don't want to talk about it, then so be it. She didn't want to hear it anyway.

Xia Huifang's mind wasn't on this. After thinking for a moment, she said to Xia Lanyue, "It's customary to wash your hair today for the festival. Lanyue hasn't washed her hair yet, so why don't you let Pangao wash it for you?"

Xia Lanyue was stunned, her eyes filled with surprise. She glanced at Xia Yao, then quickly waved her hand and said to Xia Huifang, "No, Aunt Xia, I won't wash it. I'll wash it myself another day when I'm feeling better."

"Oh dear, why are you being so polite with him? Besides, it's a festival today, and everyone should wash their clothes for good luck," Xia Huifang said, pulling Xia Yao's arm as she saw Xia Lanyue still looking reluctant. "Come help her, I'm going to prepare dinner."

After Xia Huifang left, Xia Lanyue and Xia Yao stood there, looking at each other awkwardly. Xia Lanyue said, "You're busy reading, so don't worry about me," and then hurriedly ran back into the house.