"Aunt Li, the guys won't blame you. It's not like you ordered me to skin the garlic," Liu Duo grinned.

Aunt Li and Little Lian were quite happy too. They knew the four men treated Liu Duo really well. They adored her so much that they would not let her do any housework or manual labor around the house.

"I don't know about that," Aunt Li said, her eyebrows creasing.

Little Lian chuckled. "Sister Duo, the boys absolutely adore you, you're so lucky!"

"Brother Li treats you well too, so I think, Little Lian, that you're quite lucky yourself," Little Duo returned the compliment.

Li Wazi's affection towards Little Lian was plain for all to see. Li Wazi might look like a simple man, but he really took good care of his wife.

Little Lian hung her head low, appearing bashful when she heard that. It seemed she was as easily shy as Ye Ling.

The three women had their fun in the kitchen as Liu Duo skinned the garlic...

Because of the rain, the sky was quite dark outside, so Aunt Li prepared an early dinner. With the roads so slippery, in addition to the darkness, walking would be quite inconvenient, so they had to be careful not to slip and fall.

After the men got back from town, all of them sat around the table for dinner!

"Ran Er, I haven't seen you in days! You've gotten more handsome! Very soon you'll be just as good-looking as us!" Ye Liu commented mischievously.

Liu Ran got embarrassed hearing that. Ye Liu seemed to be able to flirt with anybody!

Liu Duo gave him the stink eye. It was fine if he wanted to praise Liu Ran but he had to beat around the bush and praise himself too?

This guy's narcissism was surely going through the roof!

Aunt Li agreed with him after she gave Liu Ran a once-over. "Indeed, Ran Er's gotten quite handsome. So fair and clean, he's irresistible."

Another one. Liu Ran's cheeks grew bright red as he kept his head low while digging at his rice.

Everyone chuckled at his reaction, all except Ye Yang and Ye Mo, one aloof and the other too cool to care.

After dinner, the pitter-patter of the rain slowly came to a stop, turning into a drizzle instead.

"Yang, we'll be going now. Be back tomorrow." Li Wazi bade them farewell, scooped up Li Huzi and the few of them carefully exited the yard, watching their step.

Now that Li Wazi's family, as well as Lao Liu, were gone, only the original six were left in the house.

"Ran Er, you go take a bath first so that you get a good night's sleep. You don't have to get up that early tomorrow, got it?" Liu Duo spoke to him in a gentle tone.

Sleeping on a rainy day was the best experience ever. She really did not want Liu Ran to live on a tight schedule and not have a proper childhood.

Liu Ran nodded. "Alright."

It was not the first time she told him this, so Liu Ran decided to obey her and wake up a little later the next day.

The sky darkened rather quickly, and very soon they had their oil lamps lit.

"Little Duo, how about we take a bath together after Ran Er's done with his, hmm? What do you say?" Ye Liu beamed at her, his eyes practically urging her to say yes, say yes!

Liu Duo responded the way she always did, and without a thought, she shook her head. "No can do!"

She was not getting in the bath with a 'predator.'

Ye Liu had assumed she would say that, but he was not giving up. He got closer to her and linked his arm in hers. "Little Duo, I want to wash your back, give it a good massage. It's a waste to turn down free labor."

"I said no!" Liu Duo glared at him. She had been living with him long enough to know what his true intentions were!