As Lu Taobao looked up, he saw Shen Xiaoyan watching him with a peculiar expression. He couldn't help but ask, "Sister-in-law, why are you looking at me like that?"
"Sister-in-law was wrong," Shen Xiaoyan said, shaking her head with regret.
"What do you mean, Sister-in-law?" Lu Taobao was utterly confused by her words.
"Sister-in-law used to think you were the biggest foodie, but now, looking at you, you're still too weak," Shen Xiaoyan said earnestly.
Lu Taobao was first stunned by her words, then he chuckled, "Are you praising me, Sister-in-law?"
Shen Xiaoyan didn't reply, but in her heart, she thought, Lu Taobao, you must believe that I am definitely praising you. You're just a foodie, but Yi Zhixie and Namuzhong are true gourmands. Their appetites are so enormous that she suspected their stomachs were bottomless pits.
"Ah, this is delicious. I haven't eaten this much in a long time."
Namuzhong wiped her mouth with a handkerchief and sighed contentedly.
"Brother Xiao Xie, are you full?"
Yi Zhixie smiled and nodded, "I'm full. See? I told you it was a good idea to come here, didn't I?"
Namuzhong nodded, "Yes, yes, yes, it was definitely the right decision."
Shen Xiaoyan watched the two of them back and forth, feeling as though their words were deliberately aimed at her.
Could it be that they realized Luoluo had been eavesdropping on them?
But that shouldn't be the case. She knew Luoluo's abilities. Not to mention ordinary people, even she herself wouldn't have been able to detect Luoluo if not for their special connection.
Thinking this, Shen Xiaoyan's heart settled a little.
After the meal, Yi Zhixie and Namuzhong returned to the front yard, saying they wanted to take a nap.
Lu Taobao and Shen Xiaoming also returned to their rooms. Shen Xiaoyan and the other three were to feed the four children after they woke up.
By evening, the blizzard had finally stopped.
Shen Xiaoyan stood on the corridor, looking outside. Through the red light of the sheep horn lanterns hanging overhead, she could see that the accumulated snow outside was about a foot deep.
This was the first snow of the year, and it had fallen so heavily. Shen Xiaoyan couldn't help but feel a little worried.
"What are you thinking about?"
Namuzhong emerged from the room at some point and stood beside Shen Xiaoyan, asking.
"I'm thinking, is it too cold this year?" Shen Xiaoyan's tone was tinged with faint worry.
"What are you afraid of? No matter how cold it gets, this home of yours won't be cold," Namuzhong said with a smile.
"It's not that I'm afraid for myself, I'm... never mind. I shouldn't worry about things that haven't happened. It snows every year. This year the snow came later, and it's a bit heavier, but it should be fine."
Shen Xiaoyan smiled at Namuzhong as she spoke.
"I didn't realize you had such concerns," Namuzhong's expression turned a little serious.
Just as Shen Xiaoyan was about to look closer, she had already returned to her usual smiling demeanor.
"Let's go inside, it's cold out here. If it doesn't snow tomorrow, we can build a snowman to play with," Namuzhong said, taking Shen Xiaoyan's hand and leading her indoors.
Shen Xiaoyan lowered her head, looking at the hand holding hers. It was fair and tender, clearly not one that had been pampered, no wonder she had such a simple temperament.
But why did she feel that Namuzhong was not as foolish and simple as she appeared on the surface?
As the two of them entered the house, Lu Taobao looked up and asked, "Sister-in-law, where did you go? It's so cold outside? Wouldn't it be better to sit here and have some tea?"
Shen Xiaoyan smiled at him without speaking.
After they both sat down, Shen Xiaoyan asked, "What were you just talking about?"
"We were talking about whether it's unusually cold this year," Zheng Wei's tone was tinged with a hint of worry.
Shen Xiaoyan was a little surprised to hear him say that, and she also felt a little sweet, because they had thought of the same thing.
"I think so too," Lu Taobao sighed and continued, "Take this first snow of the year, for example. In previous years, would it have snowed this heavily?"
Although everyone was only talking about the cold weather, they all understood the underlying meaning.
For a moment, the atmosphere became rather subdued.
Seeing that everyone was in low spirits, Zheng Wei said, "Everyone should go back and rest early. Xiaoming, you have to go to the study tomorrow, so sleep early, alright?"
After speaking, Zheng Wei looked at Yi Zhixie, "Grand Tutor, you've had a long journey, you should go rest early."
After bidding each other farewell, everyone returned to their respective rooms.
That night, Shen Xiaoyan and Zheng Wei lay in bed. Shen Xiaoyan was still a little restless.
"What's wrong, Mi Mi?" Zheng Wei asked softly, holding Shen Xiaoyan's shoulder.
"I'm still thinking about what happened earlier," Shen Xiaoyan said listlessly.
At the same time, she wondered what was wrong with her.
Or was it that her life was too comfortable, and thus she had developed the "Madonna complex"?
Thinking of this, Shen Xiaoyan quickly shook her head. No, no, she was not a Madonna.
"Mi Mi, you don't need to worry too much. What's meant to come will come. Worrying is useless, and it will only make you suffer. Don't you think so?" Zheng Wei coaxed her softly.
Shen Xiaoyan didn't reply.
She understood the logic of what Zheng Wei said, but...
Shen Xiaoyan shook her head. She was really developing the Madonna complex. No, she couldn't let this continue.
"Let's go to sleep. Namuzhong also said we're going to build a snowman together tomorrow." Shen Xiaoyan said, then closed her eyes, forcing herself to fall asleep quickly.
Zheng Wei looked at Shen Xiaoyan's face for a long time, his eyes filled with complex emotions. Finally, he sighed and closed his eyes.
As he had just said, what's meant to come will come.
The next day, as soon as Shen Xiaoyan woke up, she felt a bit of a glare.
She opened her eyes and looked towards the window, only to see the window bathed in a different hue.
"The sun is out," Shen Xiaoyan murmured to herself, a hint of happiness unconsciously in her tone.
"Mi Mi, you're awake. Get dressed and wash up, it's time for breakfast."
Hearing Zheng Wei's voice suddenly, Shen Xiaoyan remembered that she should get the three children dressed first.
But when she looked at the kang bed, she found no sign of the children.
Seeing Shen Xiaoyan's confused expression, Zheng Wei explained, "You slept very soundly today. You didn't even know they woke up, so I got them dressed and had the nanny take them to the west wing to play."
Knowing that the three children were in the west wing, Shen Xiaoyan's heart settled.
But in the next second, she felt a little strange. Why had she slept so soundly today?
"They must have felt sorry for you. They woke up without crying, so you didn't know," Zheng Wei added.
Shen Xiaoyan gave Zheng Wei a big smile upon hearing this. It wasn't just because of his words, but also because, without even asking, Zheng Wei could guess what she was thinking just by looking at her expression.
Shen Xiaoyan happily thought, this must be telepathy.
After Shen Xiaoyan washed up, the two of them went to the west wing to see the three children. They were already full and were playing with toys. Seeing Shen Xiaoyan and Zheng Wei enter, they looked up and gave their parents a toothless smile, then went back to playing.
"You ungrateful little things, Mother was so worried about you. I came to see you as soon as I washed my face..."
Listening to Shen Xiaoyan's rambling, Zheng Wei found it amusing and a little helpless.
It was fine for Mi Mi to say these things to them, it could even make them understand how much their parents doted on them.
However, she should at least wait until they could understand what she was saying.
Indeed, just as Zheng Wei had thought.
After hearing Shen Xiaoyan's words, the three children stared at her with their big eyes, their expressions clearly conveying, "We don't know what you're talking about."
Shen Xiaoyan's heart melted at their expressions. She hurried forward and kissed each of the three children.
After breakfast, Shen Xiaoyan and the others were pulled by Namuzhong to the courtyard to build a snowman.
Unfortunately, before they could even build the snowman, a snowball fight broke out.
By the time they had played enough and wanted to build a snowman, there wasn't enough snow left in the courtyard.