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“What's a business plan?” Fan Sizhe cast a pleading look at his sister.
Fan Ruoruo blinked and explained, "It's just what you plan to do. It's very simple."
Fan Sizhe nodded. From childhood, he had established a grand goal in his heart, which is why he could work so diligently on these things, in a way that didn't fit the stereotype of a wastrel.
Fan Sizhe's childhood ambition was: to become the next Ye family, rich beyond compare!—Though at the time, he didn't know what relationship his encouraging brother had with that Ye family.
A nanny took Fan Sizhe away to wash up, leaving only the siblings in the reception hall. Fan Xian silently walked out, with Ruoruo quietly following behind. The siblings walked in tacit understanding along the corridor. As they were about to reach Ruoruo's boudoir, they stopped by a shallow pond.
Ruoruo spoke first, "I know there shouldn't be class distinctions, but I just feel that if Zhe'er really wants to go down that road, it might be very difficult."
Fan Xian smiled and shook his head. "Where there are people, there are classes. I've told you this before. There's no need to force a change. But the problem is that we can acknowledge the existence of this, but there's no need to change our own original intentions because of its existence."
Fan Ruoruo opened her big eyes and looked at her brother curiously. "What are original intentions?"
“Original intentions aren’t what those charlatans call ‘the Way’." Fan Xian patted his chest. "It's just a simple literal meaning. Original intentions are… what you really want."
He continued, "Life is only once for everyone. How should this only life be spent? When we look back on the past, we won't regret wasting our years, nor will we be ashamed of accomplishing nothing. When I'm dying, I can proudly say: I've done everything I wanted to do. Even if I didn't succeed, I still tried."
Fan Ruoruo's eyes sparkled as she stared at Fan Xian's face, admiration flowing out.
"That's not what I said." Fan Xian explained awkwardly, "Someone named Ostrovsky said it."
"That name is strange… like a name from overseas."
"That's right, but I changed the last part a bit. After all, I'm not a noble person. My gaze will only focus on the next three years, the next three *li*."
"So… if Zhe'er likes it, then let him work hard at it, so he won't regret it in the future. That's acting according to his original intentions." Fan Ruoruo seemed thoughtful, as if she had grasped something.
Fan Xian continued his words, "People have to survive, so if you can find a way to support yourself, and that method is also your interest, then that's a relatively ideal state of survival."
"Understood." Fan Ruoruo smiled like a blooming flower.
Fan Xian smiled. "You may not have noticed Sizhe's expression when he's calculating. That kind of expression reminds me of a saying: a serious person is the most beautiful."
Fan Ruoruo giggled, thinking, how could her brother's appearance be called beautiful?
Fan Xian said sternly, "Don't laugh. In this regard, you're really not as good as him. At least he knows very clearly what he wants in this life. But what about you? Although the people of Kyoto call you a talented woman, what do you really want to do? The path of poetry and prose is not a minor path. If you really want to devote yourself to it, you have to be serious and diligent, and don't just treat it as a pastime."
Fan Ruoruo lowered her head to accept the instruction, but her heart was filled with warmth, thinking that this kind of teacher-student-like Q&A, which had only been on letters in previous years, had finally become reality, what a happy thing this was. Moonlight shone down overhead, reflecting off the shallow pond, creating a faint silver ripple on the walls of the corridor. Fan Xian's face was perfectly enveloped in this faint radiance, making his already beautiful and otherworldly face appear even more delicate and extraordinary.
"Brother is truly beautiful." Fan Ruoruo said softly, looking at him.
Fan Xian didn't hear this sentence. He was thinking about the scenes in the reception hall, slightly lost in thought, muttering to himself, "I hope this house can be quieter. I hope Madam Liu is smart enough not to disappoint me."
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Just as the two were about to part, Fan Xian suddenly remembered the white-clothed woman he had encountered in the Qing Temple at dusk. He eagerly described the other party's attire and appearance, thinking that the girl was clearly the daughter of an extremely wealthy family in Kyoto, and his sister often frequented the gardens of the Kyoto princes and nobles, so she should know something about it.
But after Fan Ruoruo heard her brother's description, she didn't have a clue. She giggled and asked, "Where did brother see this fairy? She's even stolen your soul away."
In her mind, her brother was always the teacher who was far more mature than his age. This was the first time she had seen a somewhat lost expression on his face, so she couldn't help but be curious about the white-clothed woman. Fan Xian said with a wry smile, "Even you don't recognize her, then it seems I really won't be able to find her." Despite what he said, his heart was filled with determination, knowing that he would meet that… chicken-leg-eating girl again one day.
He suddenly thought of something, and his heart trembled.
A string of candied haws led him to the Qing Temple he had always wanted to go to, and then he saw that girl. These coincidences made him believe in the word "fate". Great anticipation arose in his heart, and he said excitedly, "Do you think… is it possible that she is… that Miss Lin from the Lin family."
Fan Ruoruo frowned. "Miss Lin from the Lin family, I really haven't met her. After all, her identity is a little, a little…" She glanced at her brother and said carefully, "...a little inconvenient, so very few people know what she looks like. Only occasionally, some news comes from Miss Ye of the Ye family. I heard that the two of them are close friends."
"Miss Ye of the Ye family?" Fan Xian felt a sense of instinctive tension whenever he heard the name Ye now.
"Ye Zhong's daughter, Ye Ling'er, the Kyoto Garrison Commander." Fan Ruoruo asked curiously, "What's wrong?"
Fan Xian smiled, thinking of the girl on horseback he saw when he first entered Kyoto, thinking that since he could find people, he wasn't afraid of losing the clues. But Fan Ruoruo pondered for a while and then said, "But I guess the woman brother met today definitely isn't Miss Lin, so even if I go ask Ye Ling'er, it won't be of any use."
"Why are you so sure?" Fan Xian had always hoped that the plot of romance novels could be realized on himself, so he couldn't help but be surprised when he heard this.