Behind them was a three-zhang-high gray brick wall, and in front of them were their grandfather's henchmen who were fanning out from behind. Forced into a corner, the twins looked at each other and, as if in perfect unison, turned around and climbed up the sycamore tree near the courtyard wall one after the other. The large leaves immediately concealed their two small figures.
"Half of the people, go outside and wait!" Yang Xi instructed.
His own grandson, whom he had watched grow from a baby in his arms to a child, and who personally supervised his studies daily, naturally knew better than anyone and immediately saw through the two little ones' plans. [Qiushu.cc has almost every book you want to read; it's much more stable than other novel websites, updates faster, and it's all text with no ads.]
The century-old sycamore tree was lush and its branches stretched beyond the courtyard wall, which they intended to use to escape.
As expected of Yang Xi's grandson, he is quick-witted, resourceful, and agile!
But the smarter and more capable you are, the more you need to know your limits, what you can and cannot do. If you don't establish rules from a young age and form strict boundaries in your mind, it will be harder to correct them as you get older.
The more Yang Xi couldn't help but feel proud, the more determined he became to discipline his grandson.
Yang Tiange and Yang Tiandi peered down from the tree branch. There were servants guarding the tree both inside and outside the courtyard. No matter which way they climbed down, they would be caught. Just as they were hesitating, someone brought over a long ladder. One guard climbed up the ladder from the inside and one from the outside, grabbed the two men by the collar, and dragged them down.
"Help! Help! Grandmother, help! Mother, help! Sister, help!" Seeing that he was about to be beaten, Yang Tiandi couldn't help but cry out. In his desperation, he even forgot his dignity as an older brother and made Wushuang the one he was begging for help.
Yang Tiange kept a straight face, neither making a fuss nor shouting, and even glanced at his younger brother with utter disdain, clearly looking down on his behavior.
The guards pressed the two brothers down next to Yang Tianxing, who had been kneeling obediently, and Yang Xi personally came forward with the family discipline board.
"Grandfather, please don't hit me, I won't do it again!" Yang Tiandi was not stubborn at all and quickly admitted his mistake.
"You won't learn your lesson if I don't hit you!" Yang Xi was unmoved and slapped down, instantly giving each of the three brothers a blow on the buttocks.
Yang Tiandi felt extremely wronged. He had already admitted his mistake, but he was still being beaten. He might as well stick to his original intention, so he changed his words and said, "Grandfather, you are being unreasonable. Our family is short of younger sisters, and the sisters have agreed to stay. Why are you still beating me?"
Yang Xi was both angry and amused. He hit her while scolding her: "That little girl is only a few years old and doesn't understand anything. You used sweet words to persuade her to stay. This is taking advantage of her vulnerability, which is not the behavior of a gentleman! If your plan fails, you will also stab her horse, aiming to prevent her from returning home. This is robbery! Don't you deserve to be hit?"
After being given a beating, the three brothers outwardly learned their lesson and never mentioned the matter of keeping the little sister. Every day after school and lunch, they would line up and go into the ancestral hall to reflect on their actions for an hour.
Before Yang's marriage, in Yingliu Residence, Wushuang knelt on the couch by the window in the side room. She had propped up a window by herself, her two small hands resting on the window frame, supporting her small round chin. She looked in the direction of the ancestral hall and sighed with great sorrow.
Hearing the noise, Wuxia, who was lying behind her, opened her eyes and sat up. She pulled her restless younger sister back and laid her flat, gently patting her as she said softly, "Shuangshuang, be good, go to sleep quickly. There will be snacks after your nap. Li Mama said today's snack is cherry shortbread, which is your favorite."
"If my cousins are punished by having to reflect on their actions during their afternoon nap, will they not get any snacks?"
Although the three cousins' behavior was somewhat inappropriate, Wushuang knew they meant no harm; they were just children who were simple-minded and didn't know any better.
"Sister, shall we go and bring them some food?" she suggested.
Wuxia tilted her head and thought for a moment. Logically speaking, she shouldn't be disturbed when facing the wall in the ancestral hall. However, since no elder had said that the two sisters were not allowed to visit their cousins, it wouldn't be a problem to go.
"What does Shuangshuang want to give them? Your cherry shortbread?" Wuxia, who was used to being the eldest sister at home, was always exceptionally considerate and caring towards her younger sisters. This good habit naturally extended to her three younger cousins as well. She tentatively asked Wushuang, "Or, what do they prefer to eat?" After all, her younger sister had spent most of the day playing with them alone, so she might know them better.
Wushuang shook her head. She wanted to eat the cherry cheesecake, but didn't want to give it to her cousins. She didn't know their tastes either.
She whispered a few words in her sister's ear, and Wuxia laughed out loud: "Why has Shuangshuang suddenly become so clever lately?"
Wuxia's remark was unintentional, but it startled Wushuang. Had her childish act become so unnatural that even her unsuspecting sister noticed something was wrong?
Recalling her interactions with Chu Wan, she pouted, fiddled with her fingers, slowed her speech, and said in a childish voice, "I...I'm just afraid that my brothers won't understand and will really hide Shuangshuang away." As she spoke, she pouted again and clung to her older sister with her little hands and feet, "Shuangshuang doesn't want to be separated from her sister."
Wuxia chuckled, "What a child! He takes everything so seriously. Do you think they'll just hide you away and abandon you when your parents can't find you? How could a family be separated like that?"
Upon hearing this, Wushuang nestled shyly into her sister's arms, secretly relieved.
Unable to follow her sister's suggestion, she went to the kitchen herself to make two kinds of pastries, packed them in a food box, and took them to the ancestral hall.
They pushed the door open quietly and saw Yang Tianxing, who was sitting cross-legged on a futon with his back to the door, quickly adjust his posture and change from sitting to kneeling. The speed was so fast that it was like lightning. If the two sisters hadn't seen it and could vouch for each other, they would have thought it was just an illusion.
Yang Tiange was a little slower, but he still managed to adjust his posture smoothly.
As for Yang Tiandi, he was lying on the ground with his legs crossed. When he heard the door open, he jumped up with a jolt and turned his head to meet Wushuang's eyes.
"It's my younger sister and older cousin!" He stood up and announced to his brothers as he walked towards them.
"We brought you some snacks," Wushuang said with a smile, her eyes narrowed.
Yang Tiandi cheered as he took the food box from Wuxia, carried it to his brothers, opened it, and enjoyed the food together.
The two snacks in the food box are both unique to Beijing. The pea-yellow pastry is light yellow in color, melts in your mouth, and is sweet and refreshing. The kidney bean roll is tender and soft, sweet but not greasy.
The three boys ate with great relish.
"Is it delicious?" Wuxia asked softly.
The boys nodded.
He added, "This is something only available in the capital. I haven't made it quite authentically yet. When you come to the capital in the future, I'll take you to eat the real thing."
"It's already delicious!" Yang Tiandi said straightforwardly.
Yang Tiange then asked, "When are we going to Beijing?"
“Go to study, take exams, become an official, travel, or even stay there for a long time if Grandpa is promoted to a high-ranking official in the capital.” Wushuang counted on her fingers one by one, completely forgetting that there were some things she shouldn’t understand at her current age.
Fortunately, the three boys were young and did not think there was anything wrong with her.
“We are cousins, so we’ll definitely have plenty of opportunities to visit each other often,” Wushuang earnestly advised. “Even if I don’t live in Hangzhou for long, I won’t have to worry about not seeing each other.”
Yang Tiandi realized this was a response to the claim that he had "hidden his younger sister at home and wouldn't let her leave," and he became somewhat sullen.
Wushuang added, "When you go to the capital, you can also invite Wanwan to play together."
"I don't even know when I'll be able to go," Yang Tiandi said impatiently. "Grandmother said she hasn't seen Aunt for eight years! Maybe the next time we meet, we'll both be in our seventies or eighties! It's better for my sister to stay."
"Grandfather said that even if you like your sister, you can't do it in an improper way." Yang Tianxing was older and naturally more educated than his younger brother. Seeing that Yang Tiandi was showing signs of reverting to his old ways, he couldn't help but remind him.