Jiang Changyang turned his head, looking at the little girl with a flushed face and sparkling eyes in surprise. With just one glance, he confirmed that he absolutely did not recognize her. He looked at her and asked: "May I ask who this is?"

  The peony had not yet opened its mouth, when Snow Maiden squeezed past her and walked up to stand next to Jiang Changyang, gazing up at him with wide eyes and saying in a clear voice: "My surname is Huang, my name is Snow Maiden. I'm He sister's good friend!"

  The little girl's behavior when she met the person she idolized was indeed the same everywhere. To satisfy Xue Niang's curiosity and admiration for Jiang Changyang, Peony smiled slightly and stepped aside a few steps.

  Jiang Changyang took a step back without revealing his emotions, bowed solemnly to Xue Niang and smiled warmly: "Hello, Huang Niang."

  Xuěniáng extremely disliked his formal and distant address, took another step forward, didn't return the courtesy, but instead looked at him seriously and said: "You're being polite, most people call me Xuěniáng." The implication was that she wanted Jiang Changyang to do the same.

  Jiang Changyang smiled slightly and didn't say a word, but took another step back.

  Mrs. Fu's face changed greatly, and for the first time meeting, she wanted a strange man to call herself like that, Xue Niang was really not sensible. Those who know her will say that she is naive and doesn't understand things, those who don't know her will say that she is frivolous and lacks self-respect. As for this Mr. Jiang, although she didn't know his exact identity, she was also present when he flew his horse to strike the money last time, so she knew he wasn't an ordinary person. Xue Niang acted like this, fearing that she would be ridiculed behind her back.

  Fu's mother was thinking of a way to stop Xue Niang from saying something foolish and embarrassing when Xue Niang looked at Jiang Zhangyang with admiration and said: "You don't recognize me, but I've known you for a long time. Last time you hit the ball into the goal, I was watching from the side, and I even had someone pick up the coin that you hit into the goal to take a look. You're really amazing, I've never seen anyone as amazing as you, and I also want to have such skills. Can you...

  Her mother's face grew colder as she listened, and with a sudden movement, she grasped Xue Niang's sleeve and shouted loudly: "Xue Niang!" Xue Niang didn't understand the situation, but her mother was thinking that she wanted to get close to Jiang Zhang Yang. Last time he had sent peonies in a sedan chair, and this time he came over on his own initiative to greet them, clearly wanting to talk to Peony. If Xue Niang continued to entangle herself with him so lightly, it would be annoying, and her mother couldn't let Xue Niang become a laughingstock.

  Xue Niang was interrupted by her mother and turned back with a low, sulky tone: "What's wrong again? What do you want now, mom?"

  When everyone was present, Pheasant Mother didn't dare to advise her openly, but just smiled and said: "You wanted to go dancing earlier, didn't you? Go ahead now. Jiang Gong probably has something important to discuss with Sister He." Then she gave a wink to Snow Daughter's maid, letting the two maids pull her away to dance. At first, Snow Daughter was reluctant and unhappy, but after being pulled along for two rounds of dancing, she continued on, frequently turning her head back to look at Jiang Zhangyang and Peony.

  She bowed to Jiang Changyang and smiled: "Mr. Jiang, I'm really sorry, my little daughter doesn't understand things, she's been following our old master in the army since childhood, speaking without knowing the height of heaven and earth, used to being straightforward, thinking that everyone outside is as close as family, either brothers or sisters, it's really embarrassing you."

  Fu said to her mother, "This remark is well said, not only did it explain Xue Niang's personality and temperament, but also attributed her impulsive behavior to her respect for her elder brother." Peony also smiled and said, "Xue Niang has always been like this, naive and lively, very straightforward."

  Jiang Changyang waved his hand nonchalantly: "Mother is worrying too much, it's nothing. I've also grown up in the military, and most women in the military have this kind of personality, Huang Niang's character is indeed straightforward. May I ask which household are you from?"

  When Mother Fu saw his expression and found no trace of contempt or hypocrisy, she smiled with a hint of pride: "My husband is Huang Jing."

  Jiang Changyang just heard the name and knew who it was, and smiled: "So it's General Huang." After praising General Huang for a few sentences, seeing that Fu's mother's expression had eased, he turned his head to look at Peony with a voice that everyone could hear: "I remember last time you and Monk Fuyuan said you couldn't find good stone, I wonder if you've found it now?"

  "Only found some lake stones. They're barely passable, these stones are valuable not for their words, but for being hard to come by. Rushing around trying to find satisfactory ones is really not easy."

  Jiang Changyang was silent for a moment, then suddenly said: "I have a friend who used to like traveling around the country when he was young and collected many strange stones. It just so happens that his family is going through some difficulties and they urgently need money, so they want to sell most of the stones. If you're willing, I can act as an intermediary and take you to his place to see how it goes? The price will definitely not be higher than outside, and the stones are good quality, you won't be cheated."

  "Ah," Peony exclaimed with a smile, "Really? Is such a good thing really happening?" If it were true, she would really love running into Jiang Changyang, for every time they met, something wonderful happened.

  Jiang Changyang saw her beaming with joy and couldn't help but smile slightly: "It's true indeed."

  "Anyway, it's all just business, a matter of money exchanging hands. No one owes anyone any great favors, so I'll just say thanks for now."

  Jiang Changyang said, "You don't have to thank me, he urgently needs money, but this is a stone, not gold or silver, and there aren't many suitable buyers. Those who like it may not be able to take out that much money, and those who have the money may not like or need it. I also have my own motives, wanting to help him out, and taking the opportunity to ask you for a personal favor." He paused, half-jokingly and half-seriously saying, "As long as you don't think I'm colluding with others to cheat your money, that's fine."

  Peony heard him say that, and she felt even less burdened: "How could it be? Director Jiang is not someone who lacks that kind of money. Every time I meet you, I always encounter good things." She unknowingly changed the formal "you" to the informal "you".

  Jiang Changyang swiftly glanced at her, lowered his eyes to stare at the moon's reflection in the yellow ditch, and chuckled twice, saying: "Is that really so? Then it doesn't matter if we meet a few more times."

  Peony burst out laughing: "If this goes on, after a few more encounters, I'll be lucky and rich!" She made a gesture of courtesy to Jiang Changyang, and said seriously, "May I ask, Mr. Jiang, which route will you take next time? So that I can go again and get some good luck and make some small fortune."

  Jiang Changyang was taken aback, then burst out laughing happily. He looked at Peony with a serious face and said: "I'll be returning to the city in two days. May I ask if you'd like to come with me to see the strange rock? If we really do get rich, don't forget to give me a share, so I can also make some small fortune."

  "Peony smiled: 'Giving you money is common, I'd rather give you two more peonies, you can exchange them for money yourself.' As she spoke, looking into Jiang Changyang's bright and dark eyes, she suddenly felt a bit uneasy, wondering if her previous behavior would make people think she was being flirtatious. She turned her head away, gazing at the joyful crowd, and changed the subject: 'They're dancing again, from the moment the moon rises until midnight, it really requires good physical strength.'"

  Jiang Changyang saw that she had averted her eyes, and he calmly withdrew his gaze, smiling: "In my younger years, on sunny spring days, I would often spend the whole night singing with friends, but I didn't feel particularly tired."

  At this time, the singing voice changed to another one: "The moon in the sky looks like a silver ball. The night is deep and the wind is getting stronger, blowing away the clouds around the moon, shining on the heartless person." Xue Niang was jumping among the crowd, seeing Jiang Changyang and Mudan laughing and chatting, as if they were getting more and more into it, and hearing this song, suddenly her eyes and nose became sour. She couldn't say what specific feeling she had, just felt very uncomfortable. So she abruptly shook off the hand of the maid beside her, rushed towards Mudan, pulled her away from Jiang Changyang's side, and shouted: "He sister, don't just stand there, come and jump together!"

  The peony hadn't reacted yet, and was already pulled by Xue Niang to walk a few steps forward. She stood firm with force, laughing: "Good Snow Girl, spare me, I really can't dance. Everyone inside is dancing, only I don't know where to put my hands and feet, it's too awkward."

  Xue Niang said impatiently: "It's very simple, anyone can learn it at a glance. Who didn't start from scratch? What are you afraid of?"

  Peony saw a strange expression on Xue Niang's face, as if she was angry with herself, yet not quite. Was it because her mother forbade her from talking to Jiang Changyang? Peony called out cautiously: "Xue Niang, what's wrong?"

  Xue Niang felt embarrassed and a bit wronged, she pulled Mudan's hand and said softly: "He sister, I..." She wanted to say that her heart didn't feel well, but was afraid that Mudan would ask her why, so she bit her lip and hung her head, saying in a low voice: "Anyway, I want you to accompany me to dance, it's not fun alone." Her eyes were filled with tears.

  "Okay, okay, I'll dance with you. Just don't laugh at me for being clumsy."

  Jiang Changyang stood by quietly watching, then suddenly said: "Let's jump together, I'll teach you."

  He didn't mention Peony's name, but everyone knew he was talking to Peony. Madame Feng rarely showed a smile and pulled Yuhe forward, encouraging Peony: "Since you're here, let's dance together, I haven't exercised in a long time. But if you don't go down to dance, I won't dare to lose you either."

  The peony saw that everyone was interested, and she didn't want to be the one to spoil the fun. Moreover, treading on songs was a national activity, and she also wanted to join in and blend in. So she smiled and said: "Okay, you all teach me, don't laugh at me." As she spoke, she went to pull Xue Niang: "Let's go, see, everyone is willing to accompany you."

  Xue Niang looked at Peony in a daze, then looked at Jiang Changyang's broad and straight back, suddenly feeling like she couldn't breathe. She pouted her mouth, wanting to cry, but felt embarrassed, so she looked at Peony with tears in her eyes: "I don't want to jump anymore, I need to rest first, you two go ahead." As she spoke, she pushed Peony towards Jiang Changyang with all her might, and looked at the two of them with a crying face.

  The peony was pushed by her and stumbled out, Yuhe hated the arrogant Xueniang, just about to stretch out his hand to pull Peony, but was pressed down by Feng Dama. She looked at Feng Dama in confusion, but Feng Dama didn't look at her, instead shouting loudly: "Ah yo, Dan Niang be careful!" A completely unexpected and unable to reach out to support Peony's appearance.

  Xue Niang's sudden strength was extremely great, and Peony was caught off guard. She crashed into Jiang Changyang's body, lost her balance, and almost fell to the ground in a sorry state. She thought she would definitely fall flat on her face, but a pair of strong hands grasped her waist and shoulders, and with a skillful pull and tug, she steadied herself.

  Jiang Changyang quickly withdrew his hand from Peony's body and asked in a low voice, "Didn't twist your foot?"

  This time was different from the last time when Jiang Changyang flew over and grabbed her waist, she only remembered being scared, terrified, and the joy of narrowly escaping death, everything else was a blur. Peony this time smelled the faint scent of grass coming from his body, felt his breath blowing her scattered hair flying up, brushing against her neck making it itch, as if a small bug was crawling, the places he touched also felt a bit strange. Peony quickly retreated several steps, covering her nose and tearfully said in a small voice: "No."

  Feng Da Niang then pulled Mudan over and anxiously asked: "Mudan, what's wrong? Where does it hurt?"

  The peony forced a awkward smile, wiped away her tears with her sleeve, and said: "I bumped my nose." Her nose had bumped into Jiang Changyang's chest, it hurt to death, fortunately there was no bleeding.

  Yu Hezi didn't care if Xue Niang was a guest or not, she first gave her a fierce stare. Fu's mother's face looked unpleasant as she whispered two sentences to Xue Niang, who then burst into tears and ran over to Mu Dan, throwing her arms around her and burying her head in her shoulder, sobbing softly: "He sister, it was my fault, I didn't mean to push you down on purpose. Don't hate me or ignore me. I'm sorry! Hit me twice to vent your anger."

  The peony vaguely guessed Snow's little thoughts, but was amused by her straightforward expression, and comfortingly wrapped his arms around Snow's shoulders, pulling her into his own embrace, handing over a handkerchief with a smile: "How old are you now? Still crying like this, look, others are laughing at you. I won't hit you or scold you, just don't be so willful in the future. If I were older, this fall would have killed someone."

  Xue Niang's eyes were blurry as she swept a glance, and indeed many people looked over curiously. Jiang Changyang stood aside with his hands behind his back, quietly looking at the side profile of Peony. She vaguely understood in her heart, feeling both shy and sad, forcing a smile to wipe away Peony's tears with her handkerchief, saying: "I won't bother you again, you also have to keep your word. Today you said in front of everyone that you wouldn't get angry with me, afterwards you have to take responsibility."

  "Of course, what I said is true," Peony replied seriously. It's not easy to make friends, and she acknowledged that her age was much older than Snow Girl's, so she had a broader mind and could tolerate others.

  Xue Niang saw that she was speaking seriously, and burst into laughter: "Then let's go to the dance. I'll teach you." She pulled Mudan into the crowd, not looking at Jiang Changyang again, as if Jiang Changyang had a deep grudge against her.

  Jiang Changyang smiled faintly and followed the crowd into the revelry, keeping a distance from Mudan and the others. He naturally fell into rhythm and started dancing. Xue Niang patiently taught Mudan to make up for her earlier mistake. Mudan found that it wasn't as difficult as she had imagined, and after jumping around in circles, although she couldn't be said to have mastered the dance with elegance, she grasped the basic movements. As she danced, she gained interest and stole glances at the people around her.

  She saw a Jiang Changyang who was very different from usual, the round-necked and sleeveless bamboo green robe on him was tailored extremely well, highlighting his good figure and temperament without missing a single point. His face was radiant, with vivid eyebrows and eyes, compared to the girls' slender and elegant appearance, he had a clean and neat demeanor in every move, very rhythmic, full of masculine beauty.

  Under the moonlight, more and more girls sang in unison, slowly surrounding Jiang Changyang. With a smile, they flirted with him through their eyebrows and eyes. Some even dared to touch him or bump into him. Peony personally saw a tall woman in her twenties with no expression on her face touching his butt. Jiang Changyang was shocked by the invasion, panicked, stumbled, lost his rhythm, and looked around wildly with wide eyes, seemingly unable to understand why these girls were bolder than those he had danced with before.

  Peony couldn't help but burst out laughing, Snow Daughter's face turned gloomy, she grabbed Peony and dragged her to the side, squeezing her next to Jiang Changyang, pushing Peony to his left and standing to his right herself, glaring fiercely at those bold girls. Those girls didn't think much of it, still dancing and singing separately, but they stopped recklessly stretching out their hands.

  Jiang Changyang let out a big sigh of relief, awkwardly smiled at Peony, wanting to say something but ultimately didn't, and his footsteps regained their previous agility, keeping up with the rhythm. The more he danced, the better he got, occasionally reminding Peony in a low voice about the key points of the movements. Dancing with a master, Peony's confidence doubled, feeling like she had returned to her heyday, but because she knew she was inadequate, she was extremely nervous, and the more she wanted to dance well, the worse she danced.

  She felt a layer of fine sweat emerging from her pores, like thin needles piercing her skin. Her limbs seemed to be not her own, stiff and disobedient. Both her left hand and foot moved together, as did her right hand and foot. Snow Daughter watched from the side, trying several times to laugh, but seeing Jiang Changyang's calm and composed expression, without a hint of a smile, as if the movements of the peony dance were originally correct, she forced back her laughter.

  Peony slowly felt her stiff limbs becoming more agile, she subconsciously followed behind Jiang Changyang, imitating his movements, advancing and retreating together, twisting her waist and hips, clapping hands in unison. Peony was truly feeling happy, no matter whose eyes met hers, she would respond with a sweet and genuine smile. Jiang Changyang couldn't help but steal glances at her, then uncomfortably withdraw his gaze.

  Xue Niang watched from the side, initially trying to squeeze out a smile, but later couldn't help it and pouted her mouth, crying with a gloomy face, no longer having the mood to continue. However, this dejected mood of hers didn't last long, as similar situations happened again.

  The moon gradually fell, and the sky was much darker than before. Everything around looked blurry, and several young men in fine clothes rushed over to Peony. They had been surrounding her earlier, looking around, and then they tentatively jumped up and squeezed forward. One of them, who rushed the fastest, pretended to trip and fell towards Peony, but was gently pushed away by Jiang Changyang's broad shoulders, causing him to stumble several steps back before regaining his balance.

  But they were many, and in such a situation, as long as it wasn't too much, all the collisions and bumps were within reason. One of them was knocked flying, and several others with thick skin squeezed over. Looking at this group of shameless men, Xue Niang suddenly found her target. She pulled Ruo He's arm hard, indicating for him to follow her, and quickly dashed over, shielding Peony behind her. Whenever a man with ill intentions came close, she would step on his foot.

  The peony heavily stomped on the toe of a person who had taken advantage of the opportunity to approach. It was unclear whether she had really used too much force or if that person had deliberately made trouble, but in any case, that person let out a pained cry and hopped around in circles while clutching their foot, drawing the attention of everyone nearby.

  The person who was knocked flying by Jiang Changyang took the opportunity to squeeze over and said, "What's going on?" The person who was stepped on looked at Mudan, saw that Mudan seemed to be fine and was curiously looking at him, without any expression of guilt. Since Jiang Changyang was standing relatively far away from him, it was clear that he couldn't be blamed, so he pointed at Xue Niang, who was still stepping on his foot, and grumbled, "She did it! Ah, my foot is broken, what's to be done?"

  Xue Niang didn't care who had done it, she just knew she needed to vent her anger. Conveniently, there was someone delivered right to her doorstep, so naturally she wouldn't let him off easily. She raised her chin and loudly shouted: "Deng Tu! If you come again, I'll stomp your smelly foot into pieces!"

  The crowd erupted into a wave of kind-hearted laughter, and someone shouted: "Those who come for joy, if they get angry about it, it's not fun. You big masters, what are you arguing with the little girl? Since you dare to jump, think that you might go back lame. The sky is late, the moon is going down, let's disperse! Hurry up tomorrow!"

  The flute sound stopped, the singing voice also quieted down, and the crowd really wanted to disperse. Those young men in fine clothes smiled slightly, not very concerned, winked at Snow Daughter and Peony, and quickly retreated before Rain Lotus's scolding words came out, dispersing in all directions.

  A group of women laughed and squeezed in the direction of Peony, Jiang Changyang took a big step back with a lingering fear, and soon left everyone behind, standing outside to wait for Peony and others.

  That group of women squeezed past Peony and Snowflake, one of the girls whispered: "Ran quite fast, what a pity, didn't catch up." Snowflake heard this, turned her head back with a huff to see who said it, while Peony couldn't help but hold her waist and burst out laughing. That group of women was also pleased, similarly giggling and chuckling for a while before gradually walking away.

  He hobbled over, shouting and yelling: "Lord, these women are ruthless! I just accidentally touched one of them, and they kicked me with a big foot. Not satisfied, they trampled on my foot again, and now my toes are broken! I'm dying from injustice! If I had known this would happen, I'd rather..."

  Jiang Changyang cleared his throat, and Wu Li immediately stopped talking. He looked at Peony and Xue Niang standing aside, smiled awkwardly, and gently patted his own mouth, saying: "Hello, Mrs. He. I'm just a rough man, please pretend you didn't hear that."

  "Peony smiled and said: 'I didn't hear or see anything.' Before she finished speaking, she thought of Wu's crab dance and couldn't help but laugh out loud again."

  Jiang Changyang said lightly: "With your crab-like gait, it's strange if you don't bump into anyone. Let's go, first send He Niang and the others back."