But once the initial excitement wore off, although she was still lively and energetic, her laughter wasn't as hearty as when she first arrived.
Although the imperial cuisine was delicious, it was not the same as the home-cooked food she had grown up with.
Luo Cuiwei's eyes flickered, and she casually smiled as she replied, "This seems to be the first time you've been away from the capital for so long, half a month. No wonder you're so eager to go home."
"Sister, don't you think I'm too spoiled and weak?" Luo Cuizhen pouted and turned to look at the flower table. "You've traveled all over the country with Father since you were young, and you can handle anything with ease, unlike me and Luo Fengming."
“Well, you two are domesticated, while I’m wild,” Luo Cuiwei laughed nonchalantly. “But everyone knows that you two will definitely be more successful than me in the future.”
Luo Cuizhen paced back and forth, somewhat uneasy and annoyed: "Nonsense! My sister is the most successful, no one can compare to her!"
"It's rare for you to flatter me so frankly, so I'll just listen." Luo Cuiwei's dark eyelashes fluttered slightly, a faint smile playing on her lips, yet she seemed lost in thought.
****
The Luo sisters had traveled in the same carriage as Yun Lie when they arrived, but Yun Lie had already left. On the return journey, the Shaofu arranged for the Luo sisters to travel with the Xu family, as previously planned.
Although Luo Cuiwei did not want to meet Xu Yan, since the Shaofu had made such an arrangement, she could not make things difficult for him.
When she entered the carriage, Xu Yan and Xu Ying were already inside. Luo Cui smiled and performed the usual courtesies with a distant expression. After sitting down, she exchanged a few polite words with the Xu siblings, then casually picked up a book she had brought and stopped talking.
The caravan was not in a hurry, and it seemed that they would spend the night at an official post station along the way.
Luo Cuiwei had already noticed that her younger sister seemed a little restless, but she remained calm, leaning against the car wall and flipping through a book without looking up.
She neither looked at Luo Cuizhen beside her nor at the Xu siblings opposite her, as if she were the only person in the carriage.
After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Luo Cuizhen finally couldn't hold back any longer.
She leaned closer to Luo Cuiwei, carefully took her arm, and whispered, "Sister..."
"Speak," Luo Cuiwei said, her gaze still fixed on the pages of the book in her hands, her expression calm and serene.
Ever since she woke up from her afternoon nap, Luo Cuizhen had been acting strangely and unusually.
Although the young girl tried her best to hide it, if Luo Cuiwei couldn't even see it, then she would have wasted ten years of her life.
"Sister, I'm feeling stuffy and want to go to the front to get some fresh air," Luo Cuizhen added, her face flushed, as her elder sister finally glanced at her. "I won't wander off; I'll just sit next to the coachman!"
"Go ahead." Luo Cuiwei smiled faintly, but the smile didn't reach her eyes.
Luo Cuizhen felt that her elder sister seemed to have seen through something, and she turned to look at Xu Ying opposite her in a panic, her smile somewhat stiff.
Xu Ying, who was opposite, immediately stood up: "I'll go with you!"
As soon as she finished speaking, the two little girls held hands and hurriedly left the carriage.
Luo Cuiwei turned a page of the book in her hand expressionlessly, her fingertips slightly cool.
No wonder when she woke up from her afternoon nap, Luo Cuizhen's things were still unpacked.
It turned out that while she was taking a nap with her eyes closed, she slipped out and sold her eldest sister.
****
Actually, the relationship between the Xu and Luo families wasn't bad.
Although they were both merchant families, they did not have any major conflicts of interest in business. They each had their own way of doing things and lived in peace.
In addition, the two families were childhood friends, and they often visited each other during holidays or leisure time. They would also help each other out in business matters whenever possible, and occasionally borrow cash from each other to help out in times of trouble.
Everyone in the Luo family knows that Luo Cuiwei has always been reluctant to meet people from the Xu family.
In the past, she would avoid Luo Huai's interactions with the Xu family whenever possible; now, Luo Fengming handles most of the interactions between the Luo and Xu families, and Luo Cuiwei would never get involved unless absolutely necessary.
The source lies with Xu Yan.
It is said that when Luo Cuiwei was four years old, she went to the Xu family with her father. It happened to be the 80th birthday banquet of Old Master Xu. There were many guests, and the adults were busy greeting each other, so the children were left to play by themselves in the mansion.
For some reason, Luo Cuiwei was chased by Xu Yan all the way and finally cornered under the eaves of the small courtyard outside the kitchen.
Luo Cuiwei had long forgotten the cause and details of what happened that day; she only remembered that she pushed Xu Yan with all her might at the end.
Unfortunately, behind Xu Yan was a pillar, and for some reason, there was a pot of broth sitting under that pillar...
Unfortunately, the pot wasn't covered.
The four- or five-year-old girl and boy were not much different in size, and Xu Yan probably did not expect her to use so much force. He stumbled back two steps and sat right into the pot of soup.
Fortunately, it was the dead of winter, and the pot of soup had been sitting outside for quite some time, so it was only half-heated. Xu Yan was also wearing a thick cotton robe, which prevented him from getting seriously burned.
It was a close call, and children's squabbles usually don't last long. If no one brings it up again, it will be forgotten over time.
However, both Old Master Xu and Xu Yan's parents couldn't forget about this matter.
After that, whenever Luo Cuiwei and Xu Yan appeared together, the elders would always make fun of the incident, saying that Xu Yan thought little Cuiwei was cute and wanted to chase after her to kiss her; the little girl thought he wanted to eat her and was so frightened that she ran away... In the end, she was blocked under the corridor and had no way to run away, so she pushed him.
Perhaps the adults were just joking around to amuse the children, but they kept repeating the story over and over, embellishing it year after year until it became a vivid tale, as if they had been watching from the sidelines. In the end, they would even ask the two children with a teasing smile, "Do you remember?"
This was incredibly annoying to Luo Cuiwei.
For many years, the adults in the Xu family were keen to recount this incident whenever they saw Luo Cuiwei, adding details as they went along, striving to make the story of their "innocent childhood friendship" vivid, dramatic, and captivating.
When Luo Cuiwei grew to the age of eleven or twelve, she finally could not bear it any longer and firmly told her father that she did not want to have anything to do with the Xu family again—especially Xu Yan.
Although Luo Cuizhen was young and unaware of these past events, she was well aware that "her elder sister did not want to meet with Xu Yan."
Luo Cuiwei listened to the sounds of her sister and Xu Ying talking quietly outside, and anger gradually rose in her heart.