Since his mother, Madam He, passed away, Wu Hui has become much more introverted than before. Moreover, due to the heavy mourning period, he has been confined to Guishan Residence all day and has been unwilling to see anyone.
Wushuang and Wuhui did not get along, and Wushuang had not visited her at Guishan Residence since returning from Jiangnan. This was the first time the two had met.
Wuxia is the eldest sister, so she is naturally more generous and magnanimous than Wushuang. She has visited Guishan Residence several times. Even though Wuhui would ignore her every time she went there, she still made sure to visit her every few days.
At this moment, she also took the initiative to call out, "Wu Hui, come over and sit next to your sister."
Unexpectedly, Wu Hui snorted and turned her head away, saying, "I don't want to sit with you guys, you jerks!"
After saying that, he opened his arms and jumped off the carriage. Fortunately, the wet nurse standing next to him caught him in time, so he was not injured.
"I'm not taking this bus, I want to change buses!" Wu Hui shouted, kicking her legs.
The Jun family's trip this time involved the entire family, with four carriages carrying the women. Leading the way was the old lady with Wuyou, followed by the sisters Wushuang and Wuhui, then Yangshi carrying Junyu, and the last carriage carried the maids and servants.
Hearing the commotion behind her, the old lady lifted the carriage curtain and spoke a few words to Qi Mama. Qi Mama then quickly walked to Wu Hui's side and said, "Fourth Miss, the old lady wants you to sit with her."
Wu Hui stopped shouting, rolled her eyes, and agreed.
Not wanting to see Wuyou when she lifted the carriage curtain, she started making a scene again, for the same reason as before: she still didn't want to ride in the same carriage with someone she disliked.
Since moving to the old lady's courtyard, Wuyou has rarely had the chance to see Wuhui. She doesn't know what she did to offend her, so she just lowers her head and remains silent.
The old lady was getting on in years and preferred peace and quiet, hating noise the most. Wu Hui kept shouting, which gave her a headache, so she had no choice but to wave her hand, signaling the wet nurse to take her away.
The wet nurse was also in a dilemma. She tentatively asked, "Fourth Miss, the last carriage is for the maids, and the second to last carriage is for your aunt and younger cousin. Which carriage would you like to ride in?"
Wu Hui hesitated for a long time. Although she didn't like her aunt very much, she was even more unwilling to lower herself to sit with the servants, so she chose the carriage that Yang Shi and Jun Yu were in.
As soon as Wu Hui sat down in the car seat, Jun Yu burst into tears. He was usually a cheerful and easy-to-coax baby who rarely cried, but for some reason, he couldn't be soothed for quite a while.
"Stop so noisy! Stop so noisy!" Wu Hui had no patience left and stood up, yelling at Jun Yu, "If you cry again, I'll throw you down!"
If Wu Hui had been cursing Yang Shi, she might have refrained from arguing with her out of respect for her elder status. But as a mother, she would never let anyone who tried to bully her child get away with it.
"Since Fourth Sister is impatient with her brother's crying, we dare not keep you in this carriage any longer. Please get out." Although Yang's words were polite, her tone was forceful and brooked no argument.
Wu Hui was slunk off the bus, pouting as she looked at the last bus, refusing to get on no matter how much her nanny tried to persuade her.
Jun Nian led the horse over, squatted down, and coaxed his daughter, "Wu Hui, do you want to ride a big horse? Daddy will take you riding, okay?" As he spoke, he pointed to a spot not far away, where Jun Shu was already riding a horse, with Wang Hongbo sitting in front of him, looking very excited. "Just like Uncle takes Bo-ge'er, okay?"
He was fully expecting his daughter to agree, but to his surprise, the tears that had been welling up in her eyes suddenly fell like a broken string, and she shouted at him without any politeness, "I hate Father the most! If it weren't for your mother, she wouldn't have died! And you still want to marry someone else! You're a big bad guy!"
After she finished shouting, she took off running back into the mansion without looking back.
Jun Nian had never known that her daughter harbored so much resentment towards her. She stared at her small figure for a long time before turning around, walking to the window of the first carriage, and whispering, "Mother, otherwise I won't go today and will stay home with Wu Hui."
The old lady pondered for a moment and agreed, "I think her temper has gotten worse and worse since no one has disciplined her this year. You should have a good talk with her today." She couldn't help but sigh, "Fortunately, Caiqiong will be married next year. When she has a stepmother, she can still correct her stubborn temper while she is still young."
Jun Nian responded repeatedly, then said some filial words about being careful on the road, and watched his family's convoy drive away before returning to his residence.
Since we planned to stay overnight at Biyun Temple and weren't in a rush to make a day trip, the carriage wasn't moving very fast. It was already past 9 AM, and we had only just reached the halfway point up the mountain.
As the mountain road wound its way up, the Jun family's convoy rounded a bend and saw carriages and horses parked at the viewing pavilion ahead.
The old lady lifted the curtain and peeked out, then turned to Jun Shu, who was riding alongside her, and said, "Those are the Pang family members, right? Let's go over and say hello."
When the car arrived at the viewing pavilion, the old lady of the Marquis of Pingyang came out to greet them with her daughter-in-law and grandson: "Oh, old sister, what a coincidence to run into you here today! Come on, let's rest together for a while."
Although they had made a verbal agreement long ago, they pretended to bump into each other when they met, so that whether they got together or not, it would feel more natural to Pang Yuan and Wu Xia.
As the old lady got out of the car, she couldn't help but scrutinize Pang Yuan carefully, and the more she looked, the more satisfied she became.
Wuyou had just taken a nap in the car and was not fully awake yet. She was walking a little unsteadily, and when she was following behind the old lady to get out of the car, she accidentally tripped over her own foot and fell straight to the ground.
Unaware of what was happening behind her, the old lady was caught by Pang Yuan, who was standing diagonally opposite her.
Wuyou was so frightened that she couldn't utter a single word for a long time.
The old lady led her and the Lady of Pingyang, mother and daughter-in-law, into the pavilion and sat down at the stone table.
Pang Yuan was two steps slower, and just then he came face to face with Wuxia.
He was an honest and simple man who never spoke to pretty girls. At this moment, he just nodded silently.
Wuxia was much more generous than him, and smiled, "Thank you, Young Master Pang, for saving my sister just now."
"It was nothing, not worth mentioning," Pang Yuan said.
Wuxia no longer stood on ceremony and led Wushuang up the stone steps.
Wushuang subtly pursed her lips.
Why does Pang Yuan seem a bit silly?
Shouldn't he have said something that would make it easier for his sister to respond? Even asking for thanks or a reward like Chu Yao did would have been fine. Why did he so abruptly cut the conversation off...?
Wuxia has always been lively and outgoing. Since she knew that she was here to meet someone, she was not shy at all and naturally leaned on the railing to look into the distance and enjoy the scenery.
Until the two families set off again, Pang Yuan sat quietly opposite them and did not go up to chat with Wu Xia.
After her father helped her into the carriage, Wushuang puffed out her cheeks and let out a sigh of relief. She had never been on a blind date before and didn't know whether men and women should chat during a blind date or just look at each other. But how could she know if someone was willing to marry her without talking to them? Marriage wasn't just about looks.
The carriage rumbled along, and Wushuang, tired from sitting, lay down and rested her head on her sister's lap. Wuxia, who had been sitting upright, pinched her younger sister's cheek and said softly, "If you're sleepy, take a nap. We'll have to eat vegetarian food after we arrive at Biyun Temple at noon."
Without a word, she turned slightly to the side, took out a book from a drawer, and quietly began to read.
Wu Shuang scratched her little face. Seeing that her sister's mood was not affected at all, and that the two families walked side by side without lifting the carriage curtain to take a closer look at Pang Yuan, it was probably because the two of them didn't like each other.