Wei Changxian truly enjoyed it on the inside, but his mouth spoke: “Not your third older brother, rather your third older brother’s dog must win. Ah Luo, look carefully, third older brother is determined to win and help you get your longevity locket back!”
Ah Luo said ‘okay’, and heavily nodded her head.
*
The two big dogs were fighting together, each bite creating wounds on their bodies, loud barks could be heard all over Count Zhongyi’s residence. Because it looked too savage, Liang Yurong and Song Ruwei, those two young ladies, gradually got a little scared, and distanced themselves. Ah Luo also followed after them, arriving under a crabapple tree by the lotus pond.
Song Ruwei proposed a game of hide-and-seek, taking out a cloth with winding peonies embroidery to serve as a blindfold. Whoever was caught would lose. At first, Ah Luo didn’t want to play, but she was now a six year old little girl, behaving too unusually for herself would make people suspicious. Under Liang Yurong’s prompting, she also nodded to agree.
As a start, they drew lots to pick the person in charge of chasing. Pulling out the longest stick, Ah Luo was responsible for the first round.
The cloth currently covered her eyes, her vision turned dim, she couldn’t see anything. She could only hear the numerous and disorderly noise of footsteps and barks in her surroundings. Extending both hands forward to feel about, she took a few steps, but couldn’t catch anyone, her hands landing on a crabapple tree instead.
Liang Yurong laughed from behind: “Wrong, wrong, it’s not that one!”
She had no choice but to change directions and go on fumbling about. Not far from here, the noise of the dog fight grew more excited and covered up this side’s sounds, to the extend of making her somewhat disoriented. She didn’t know which direction was good to pursue right now. There was someone ahead, who snapped a branch off the crabapple tree, and softly touched her shoulder with it, luring her to go forward.
Ah Luo took two steps forward, then paused. She remembered that the crabapple trees were planted at the edge of the lotus pond. Walking forward a few steps, it was possible that she would fall into the water. Just a moment ago, Liang Yurong’s voice had come from behind. If the pond wasn’t behind, then it was precisely in the direction she was walking. She bent her lips in a small smile. She could roughly guess who it was, that was trying to steer her over here, but she didn’t speak up. She deliberately walked a few steps forward again.