Chapter 255: Chapter 247: Showing Off
Tian Sisi remained silent, and Tian Qinghua felt uncomfortable. He shouted loudly at Lu Yunfei, "Ah Nan plays the piano so well, a hundred times better than your butt-twisting dance!"
"Ha ha ha! Butt-twisting dance!"
The crowd burst into laughter, especially Lei Gang and Luo Jun, who laughed most exaggeratedly.
Lu Yunfei was so angry that she was almost in tears, looking grievously at Lei Gang, but Lei Gang did not look at her and was still laughing joyfully. It was purely a waste for her to cast amorous glances to a blind man.
Ma Jiajia could not stand it and was about to stand up to denounce Tian Qinghua, but at that moment Tian Sisi got up and said loudly, "Everyone is having such a good time tonight, let me dance a piece for you all. Just now, Sister Yunfei danced a Dai dance, so I’ll do an Inner Mongolia dance!"
Tian Xinhua looked at Tian Sisi with some concern. He knew that Ah Nan had never learned to dance before. How was she going to perform an Inner Mongolian dance now?
Tian Sisi winked at Tian Xinhua and smiled as she walked towards the center of the room. Since everyone had laid out their cards, it would be too weak for her not to follow. At this moment, she was incredibly grateful that in her past life, Zhong Juying had forced her to take hobby classes. It was just dancing, after all, she had also learned for several years!
"Brother Wu, could you trouble you to play ’The Sun That Never Sets on the Grassland’ again?" Tian Sisi said sweetly, and Wu Tianfang still had that indifferent demeanor, as if the sky falling wouldn’t make him blink.
The bold and vigorous music began; this song could be said to be the hottest song currently, almost everyone could sing it, and even now, many people were still covering this beautiful song.
This dance was the one she used to perform the most in her past life, as her dance teacher was a Mongolian who loved to train students in Mongolian dance. Those movements were almost engraved in her heart like a standard template. Tian Sisi recalled this set of dance moves once through, everything was OK!
If the Dai dance highlighted the soft beauty and charm of a girl, then the Mongolian dance showcased a different kind of unrestrained beauty. Although Tian Sisi’s movements were not as proficient as Lu Yunfei’s, laymen watch the excitement, experts watch the intricacy. In the eyes of Lei Gang and others, Tian Sisi’s dance was not at all inferior to Lu Yunfei’s, and even looked better, of course, this was based on Tian Sisi’s beautiful appearance.
At the end of the song, Tian Sisi felt extremely exhilarated. She did not expect that her body in this life was quite flexible and it was easier to dance than in her previous life. She bowed and, smiling cheerily, ran down.
"Beautiful, Sister Sisi, dance another one!" Lei Gang shouted loudly.
"No, I’m tired. Let Sister Yunfei dance!" Tian Sisi pouted her lips, intentionally thrusting Lu Yunfei forward.
Lei Gang didn’t ask her to perform another one, but neither did he respond to Tian Sisi’s suggestion. Instead, he turned to drink horse milk wine with Liu Datou, the aroma hitting straight to the nose.
At this moment, Lu Yunfei finally understood what it meant to lift a rock only to drop it on one’s own foot. She didn’t expect that Tian Sisi could actually dance, and although in her view, the movements were not in place at all, Lei Gang and the others didn’t know that. They even thought that Tian Sisi danced better than she did!
And what did Tian Sisi mean just now? What did she mean by saying she was tired and letting herself dance, was she, Lu Yunfei, just a substitute for Tian Sisi? Lu Yunfei felt deeply insulted, but what made her even more uncomfortable was that Lei Gang had no reaction at all to her words. Did he think her dance wasn’t attractive?
The more Lu Yunfei thought, the more annoyed she became. She had underestimated her opponent; she didn’t expect that Tian Sisi, despite her young age, was quite adept at hooking men. It only took a few days for the men in this courtyard to be utterly infatuated with her. Lu Yunfei glared hatefully at Tian Sisi, who was chatting and laughing with Tian Xinhua and Lei Gang, gritting her teeth secretly, wishing that Tian Sisi would just disappear.
"Ah Nan, when did you learn to dance?" Tian Xinhua was both shocked and delighted.
"Mm, I learned it when you were not around. Grandpa Zhang taught me a bit, and I figured out some on my own." Tian Sisi secretly regretted, wondering how she could have forgotten about this. She had no choice but to hastily make up a reason, hoping to keep it from Tian Xinhua.
"Ah Nan is really smart!"
Tian Xinhua, of course, did not believe such a clumsy excuse, but he did not expose it either. He knew Ah Nan had secrets and would wait for Ah Nan to share them voluntarily. He had plenty of patience.
Tian Sisi did not dare to look at Tian Xinhua. She felt very guilty; Tian Xinhua was so good to her, yet she kept so many things from him! The more she thought about it, the more ashamed she felt, and she avoided Tian Xinhua’s gaze. She felt unworthy of his kindness.
Tian Xinhua sighed softly. He hadn’t mentioned anything, yet Ah Nan started blaming herself, such a silly girl. He put his arm around Tian Sisi’s shoulder and whispered in her ear, "Ah Nan, if you don’t want to talk about it, then don’t. I will wait for the day you are willing to tell me."
"Sorry, Brother Xinhua, I didn’t mean to not tell you, I..."
"Mm, I know, if you don’t want to talk, then don’t!"
Tian Xinhua had actually somewhat guessed it, just like the Old Man initially thought, feeling that there must be a mysterious expert helping Ah Nan, which could explain why Ah Nan always had recipes for wild rabbit, wild chicken, and brewing.
Tian Sisi also understood that Tian Xinhua probably knew something, alas, since she hadn’t spoken, if Tian Xinhua guessed it himself, there was nothing she could do. Tian Sisi comforted herself in the style of Mr. Q, feeling too lazy to worry about these troublesome matters.
Tian Sisi rested her head on Tian Xinhua’s lap to watch the stars but soon fell asleep. Seeing the two of them being so intimate, everyone else felt it was a bit strange but couldn’t quite put their finger on what was strange.
"Qinghua, your Sixth Brother and sister Sisi seem really close!" Lei Gang approached Tian Qinghua and probed.
"That’s right, Ah Nan and Sixth Brother have been close since they were little. Ah Nan is like a little sister-in-law to me."
Tian Qinghua realized he had misspoken as soon as he said it; his parents had instructed him not to disclose it, so he quickly covered his mouth and refused to speak another word.
Lei Gang himself was also startled; how could he have not anticipated such a relationship between Tian Xinhua and Tian Sisi? Weren’t they cousins? How did it turn into childhood sweethearts?
He shook his head with a smile and thought no more of it, as it was someone else’s family matter, why should he, an outsider, worry so much about it?
The next day, they went to Uncle Bala’s Mongolian Tent to return the horse milk wine pouch from the day before. The Mongolians were indeed very hospitable and friendly; upon entering, they were greeted with a bowl of steaming hot milk tea, which smelled fragrant, but Tian Sisi was not used to this milk tea, she still preferred her tasty flavored milk.
She reluctantly drank a few sips of the milk tea in the bowl then set it down, as Luo Jun had explained, if your bowl is full, the host will not refill it.
While at the warm home of Uncle Bala, they had a delicious meal of hand-torn meat and sweet milk tofu. Luo Jun was right, the Mongolian Tent’s milk tofu was indeed tastier, with a richer milk flavor. Uncle Bala even served the precious milk skins.
Tian Sisi didn’t understand, but Luo Jun and Lei Gang knew that milk skins were something only the well-off local families made, and typically only brought out for honored guests. Luo Jun and Lei Gang sincerely thanked Uncle Bala.
When leaving, they left all the biscuits, pastries, and flatbreads they had brought with Uncle Bala. Tian Qinghua and Uncle Bala’s young son Morigen hit it off very well, and Tian Qinghua gave Morigen the dagger he carried. Morigen solemnly offered Tian Qinghua the wolf tooth pendant he wore around his neck, and thus the two boys of similar age became loyal friends.