Chapter Three Sister and Brother

  Chen Lan turned over and looked out, but before she could respond, the door curtain moved, and Chen Yan suddenly rushed in. Perhaps he had just returned from school, his sleeves still stained with a few drops of ink, but his face was full of joy. Seeing that there was no one else in the room, he sat down on the embroidered stool in front of the bed, reached out to touch her forehead, and then tried it himself.

  "Huh? How come it's still hotter than my head?"

  Although she had already decided to accept reality, the familiar face was indeed endearing, but Chen Lan still felt a bit awkward about this sudden younger brother. However, at this moment, she couldn't help but be amused by his self-talking behavior. She immediately scolded him in a bad mood: "This is an external injury, not a fever, what's the point of touching your forehead? And, you must have run all the way back, look at you, sweating profusely, and it will naturally cool down when the wind blows. Look at you, your sleeves are all stained with ink, and you'll have to send them for washing again..."

  As she spoke, she suddenly froze. Unconsciously, how did she habitually use the tone of her sister scolding her brother? Just as she felt a little strange in her heart, she heard a wronged voice: "Sister, I'm just anxious to see you!"

  Chen Yan's face was plastered with a flattering smile, Chen Lan let out a sigh in her heart, propped herself up against the bed, and moved over to get a handkerchief from under the pillow, indicating that she should wipe herself. Chen Yan took it and clumsily wiped himself twice, then looked around and suddenly lost his smile: "Sister, where are the servants waiting on you? You're still sick, did they all go out to play? This is too unreasonable! I didn't see a single person when I came into the courtyard just now, these dead girls..."

  Before the words were finished, several voices came from outside, and soon the green flower curtain was lifted high. The first person to enter scanned the room, suddenly shocked, and hastily called out to the back. In an instant, three people rushed into the house, with Yun'er leading the way, and the three of them knelt down in unison to pay their respects.

  "Fourth Master."

  Chen Yan's eyes widened, and he immediately burst into flames: "Where did everyone go? No one is watching the door, no one is guarding the house. If you don't want to stay, then I..."

  "Fourth brother!" Chen Lan heard him say more and more outrageous things, so he had to open his mouth to stop him, and asked lightly, "What's going on?"

  Although she knew she wasn't the real Chen Lan, her words and actions couldn't help but have some deviations. However, since she had been seriously injured and in a coma for over half a month, she still needed time to recover. She also knew that this was not the time to pretend to be deaf and dumb. Seeing the three maids staring at each other without saying a word, she couldn't help but furrow her brow and speak with an even heavier tone: "Can't you even say a single sentence?"

  At this time, the leading Yuner finally raised her head and explained with a bad face: "Miss, it was Zhu Ma who called us all out and scolded us severely. If it weren't for Qingfang sister saying that there were still Sufang and Hu pepper in the house, I wouldn't have gone to listen to her scolding, and it took a lot of effort to hold back from arguing with her..."

  At this time, Chen Yan, who had been silent with a straight face, couldn't help but scold: "What's with the 'congratulations, mom'? When did it become her turn to interfere in the affairs of this courtyard? Previously, my sister was ill, so she came over to point fingers and draw pictures. I tolerated it then, but now that my sister is awake, what right does she have to speak up again?"

  Chen Yan was originally a violent and impulsive person. As he spoke, he suddenly stood up and stomped his foot fiercely, saying: "From now on, don't let her in again, do you understand?"

  Yuner immediately smiled and nodded repeatedly: "Fourth Master is right, I will definitely remember it from now on!"

  "Alright, alright, Fourth Brother, don't talk nonsense!"

  Chen Lan saw Chen Yan in a great rage, but the maids below were all smiling, thinking that these maids must be used to it. Seeing Chen Yan still had not dissipated his anger, she lightly coughed and said: "Since Auntie Zhu called you over, then let's just drop it."

  Just then, the curtain moved again, and it was Xiangfang who entered the room. Her eyes were still a bit red and swollen, and her face seemed to have been touched up with some powder, looking rather well. Seeing the three maids standing in front of the bed, she naturally looked taken aback for a moment.

  "This time, however, it was Chen Yan who asked first: 'Where did you go?'"

  Qinfang saw Chen Lan looking at her, and she hastily stepped forward to explain: "Today happened to be the day for distributing monthly allowance, because the amount was incorrect, Su Mu and Hu Jiao led several young maids to go out and reason with Zhao Dainiang. I could only try my best to stop them, but in the end, I couldn't stop them no matter what, so I had to go with them on this trip. I'm to blame, I forgot that someone should be left in the house."

  At this point, Chen Lan really didn't have the heart to continue asking questions. Firstly, her injury was not yet fully healed, secondly, the situation was still unclear and it was unknown whether there were other hidden dangers among the people in the courtyard, and thirdly, it would take some time to get a clear answer about this month's money. Therefore, after giving a few more instructions, she dismissed the person and even rejected Xianfang's suggestion that the young maids come to apologize.

  As soon as the person left, Chen Yan said indignantly: "Sister, you're too weak and easy to bully! The Zhu family is not good-hearted! If it weren't for Old Lady still being around, Second Aunt would have kicked us out long ago. She thinks she's the wife of the Marquis just because of that! It's all because Father didn't inherit the title back then, otherwise these servants wouldn't dare to be so arrogant! Sister, when I become an official in the future, we'll move out and live elsewhere!"

  At the age of eleven, he was already thinking about these things. Chen Lan couldn't help but sigh in her heart and gently patted his hand, shaking her head to signal him not to continue speaking. Seeing Chen Yan's eyes that seemed to be saying "hate iron for not becoming steel", she didn't take it to heart, just smiled and reminded him again, then took out a small pouch from the small box beside the pillow and gave it to him.

  "This... is also made by sister's own hands? The needlework is still so good!" Chen Yan was overjoyed and put the pouch into his bosom, then smiled, "The New Year is approaching, I was just thinking of asking sister to make one for me, didn't expect you had already prepared it."

  In these three days, Chen Lan couldn't get out of bed, but she had become familiar with all the objects on the bed, including the various needles and threads in the headboard box. There were embroidered pouches, fan tassels, handkerchiefs, shoe covers... In short, there was everything one could possibly need, even though Chen Lan's needlework skills were not bad at all, to the point where she could even make clothes, but back then there were sewing machines, and now this was genuine embroidery. If the original owner hadn't left so many things behind, plus her injuries weren't fully healed which served as an excuse, how would she manage when it came time to give gifts during the New Year?

  Chen Yan sat for a while, and Chen Lan finally didn't mention what Zheng's mother said. He only instructed him to be careful with himself and not to cause trouble. After he left happily, Chen Lan took a deep breath, pressing his chest.

  Although she was completely in the dark about the history of this era, whether modern or ancient, the days without parents were the same, let alone the people and things here being more complicated and difficult than her original environment. However, living is hope, since she has been reborn, she will definitely live a good life for the poor girl who lost her parents but took care of her brother with all her heart, and she will also take good care of Chen Yan!

  Apart from nursing her wounds, she had to think carefully about what Zheng Mama had mentioned earlier about sending Chen Yan to live in the outer courtyard. Chen Yan was only eleven years old and didn't have parents to take care of him, living all alone in the outer courtyard, who knew what would happen? This wasn't just for his sake, but also for her own, as she currently relied on this younger brother the most in this household.

  P.S: New book...