In the end, Wen Qiao chose a dark red robe with gold thread and a round collar.
With a face as fair as pear blossoms and a cool, elegant bearing, he was strikingly bright and beautiful.
After he left,
Wen Yuan said innocently, "The eldest young master rarely dresses so flamboyantly, like a peacock spreading its tail."
Wen Ying laughed. "Silly Yuanyuan, this is what a young man in spring looks like."
Wen Yuan looked puzzled. "Sister, you're the silly one. It's autumn now."
Wen Ying shook her head and clicked her tongue. "With the young lady, that delicate flower, around, for the eldest young master, every morning and evening, every month and year, it's spring."
*
As soon as Wen Qiao stepped into the courtyard of Penglai Study, he saw Jiang Xuesui standing under the eaves outside the main hall, wearing the long-life butterfly ink jade lock pendant on her lapel again.
Standing beside Jiang Xuesui, Wen Yuanjia teased her, "Yuanyuan, don't wear that pendant Xiao Lin returned to you. Be careful not to throw it in his face. Who knows how many times he's touched it before returning it? It's been contaminated by that stinky man. We don't want it anymore."
He Lanlin, who had just come out of the house, heard Wen Yuanjia's words and began to swear sincerely.
He said, quite amusingly, that during this time, he had placed the found pendant on an incense altar, surrounded by fresh flowers, and had returned it to Jiang Xuesui wrapped in a handkerchief, never touching it directly with his hands.
Wen Yuanjia said, "If that's true, I have indeed underestimated you. I thought you were just like those ordinary men who only know how to ruin girls' things."
Jiang Xuesui asked He Lanlin to lower his head and placed a string of white crabapple flowers she had made herself around his neck.
"Please accept this, and don't go complaining to Grandmother that I only make flower necklaces for my female cousins."
"A boy wearing flowers?" Wen Yuanjia made a face at He Lanlin. "You really don't see yourself as an outsider, even competing with us for a string of flowers."
"It's not about the flowers; it's about status and rank." He Lanlin raised his chin with a faint smile. "I'm the one closest to Yuanyuan."
"No, I'm the one closest to Yuanyuan!" Wen Yuanjia pretended to be angry and chased He Lanlin around the courtyard.
Jiang Xuesui let them play and turned to meet Wen Qiao's clear eyes, a look of admiration in her own.
In the eyes of the young ladies in the capital, Wen Qiao was unmatched in talent and appearance.
There was even a poem written about him:
"Smiling, you ask where the spring breeze goes? On Chang'an Street, I gaze at Wen Qiao."
It meant he was a beautiful youth whom even the spring breeze often gazed upon.
Jiang Xuesui tossed a round taro to Wen Qiao.
"Taro roasted in gold, your favorite. I couldn't outcompete them, so I only kept one for you, Brother.
"And, Xiao Lin said those two lanterns were from you.
"So, I have a thank-you gift for you too."
She pointed to the sky behind him.
He turned and looked up. Sixteen kites soared high in the sky.
They were the various poses and expressions of the black-clad child gate god that Yuanyuan had painted when she was little: sitting, lying, standing, jumping, happy, angry, sad, joyful... And the features of the black-clad child gate god were all based on him as a child.
Wen Qiao gazed, mesmerized, the corners of his mouth lifting high.
He Lanlin popped up from somewhere and, rather ruining the moment, said, "I know what Yuanyuan means by these kites for you, Cousin. She's saying, 'Brother, fly bravely; your sister will follow forever.'"
Jiang Xuesui: "..."
Xiao Lin is the world's biggest blockhead.
She just wanted to give Wen Qiao some fun new toys and secretly show off her painting skills.
Wen Qiao: "..."
Although Xiao Lin said something stupid, he felt very pleased.