Chapter 8: Xu Xiaona, the Mischievous

Yan Moshan stopped the work in his hands and looked at Xu Xiaona askew, "What's the matter? Why so mysterious?"

"Hehe," Xu Xiaona just laughed without speaking, her face turning a bit red as she kept twisting the corners of her clothes with her hands.

"Hey, what's so embarrassing that you can't even ask? Why are you shy talking to your brother?" Yan Moshan reached out and flicked Xu Xiaona's forehead lightly.

"Ouch, it hurts so much," Xu Xiaona said, touching her head and making faces to pretend she was in a lot of pain before turning around and running away.

"If you won't say it, forget it. I have important things to do," Yan Moshan said, not asking further, and started pulling the cart away. He planned to do some farm work in the fields in a bit.

Meanwhile, Xu Xiaona hurriedly ran after the cart to push it, but she was still mulling over whether or not to ask her brother. If she asked, would it upset him? But if she didn't, it was so frustrating to keep it inside. What if she got sick from the frustration?

With such feelings, Xu Xiaona followed behind the cart and started pushing hard. However, Moshan was pulling the cart so fast that Xiaona could hardly keep up, let alone push it.

This made Xiaona even more suspicious that her brother had a problem, maybe he really had taken that kind of medicine.

Xu Xiaona followed behind the cart, her mind preoccupied with the same worry.

Just then, Yan Moshan's voice floated from the front of the cart, "Little sis, what did you want to ask just now? I've been obsessing over it because you didn't say. Come on, what is it?"

"It's nothing much. I just remembered something but forgot it again." Hearing Yan Moshan bring up the subject again, Xiaona couldn't help but laugh secretly. This was really thinking something into existence. Could her brother have guessed what was on her mind? No way, she must hold it in a little longer. She had to get a "Gold card" to protect herself at any rate.

Xu Xiaona knew her brother too well. If he really became curious about something, he would relentlessly probe until he got to the bottom of it, so she wasn't worried that he would stop asking.

"Forgot it? You forgot it just like that? What could your clever little brain possibly forget? Tell me, what did you want to ask?"

"If I tell you, you promise not to hit me?" Xu Xiaona raised her voice calling out to the front.

"Why are you making it sound so scary," Yan Moshan muttered to himself, then went silent.

Xu Xiaona giggled to herself in silence.

After a long while, as Yan Moshan had pulled the cart to the path leading to the river, he couldn't hold it in any longer, "Whatever you want to ask, just ask. I won't hit you."

"That's what you said, no takebacks," Xu Xiaona demanded, tilting her head back.

"What's with all the fuss? Just ask me. No matter what you ask, I won't hit you, okay?"

"Well, it's nothing much really. I just saw you working so hard and wondered if you took that kind of medicine," Xu Xiaona said coyly, her cheeks rosy with an inexplicable thrill, finally managing to ask.

"How does working hard have anything to do with taking medicine? What kind of medicine makes someone work that hard?" Yan Moshan asked, genuinely puzzled.

"Bro, do you really not know or are you pretending not to know? What else could it be but that kind of medicine?" Xu Xiaona intentionally emphasized the words 'that kind'.

"What kind of medicine? Which kind of medicine are you talking about?" Yan Moshan was truly clueless about what his sister was referring to.

"Ah, I'm so embarrassed, it's the kind of medicine my father sometimes takes specially before going to sleep at night, what else could it be?" Xu Xiaona didn't expect to blurt it out in haste, her face flushed even hotter, embarrassed beyond words, yet she couldn't help but meekly ask, "You... you didn't sneak some of dad's medicine, did you?"

With a "snap," Yan Moshan suddenly stopped pulling the cart, and in two or three steps, he was behind the cart, grabbing Xu Xiaona's shoulder with a face that was also turning red, "Look at you, Little Na, what do you keep in your head all day long? Do they teach you this stuff at school? To think your older brother would take that kind of medicine, you really underestimate me."

"Ow, You don't keep your word, you're not a man, you don't even have a... mmm mmm..." Xu Xiaona struggled and began to scream randomly before Yan Moshan covered her mouth with his hand.

"How am I not a man, tell me." Yan Moshan let go of the hand covering Xu Xiaona's mouth and asked.

"You said you wouldn't hit me, but you were going to hit me. That's not keeping your word, right?" Xu Xiaona argued, huffing and puffing, "Only women go back on their words. Are you a woman?"

"I didn't hit you, did I? I just wanted to scare you a bit." Yan Moshan realized he didn't have a leg to stand on and couldn't argue with his sister, so he awkwardly tried to explain.

"Is that your way of scaring someone? Bullying a little girl like me? You almost scared me to death just now." Xu Xiaona was relentless in her pursuit, even patting her puffed-up chest.

Yan Moshan glanced at his sister's figure and thought to himself that she had grown so much, she was no longer the little kid from years ago, not little at all, but he knew it was futile to continue this conversation, so he moved back to the front of the cart again.

Just then, Yan Moshan suddenly saw a burly figure rush out toward the path to the river, carrying a snake-skin bag and looking around cluelessly.

"Second Fool!" Yan Moshan called out loudly as he approached, startling Second Fool, who shuddered, "Sneaking around, what did you steal?"

Second Fool clutched his bag tightly, "Who's stealing anything? Don't talk nonsense, I caught this myself, didn't steal it."

Xu Xiaona also crowded over and opened up Second Fool's snake-skin bag to look. Her eyes lit up: "Wow, what a strong eel. I've heard my dad tell my mom that if you eat this as a side dish with drinks, you're guaranteed to run around the whole village, and women would have to hide from you, or else the next day they would all walk with their legs apart!"