Little Prodigal Alliance Head (and Cook)

Outside the temple, it was still raining. The sound of the drizzling rain continued as the sky gradually darkened. Before she knew it, she had drifted off to sleep while meditating. When she shifted sleepily, she suddenly sat back up in realization. She glanced outside. Seeing that the sky was already turning dark, she slapped herself for almost forgetting about the main goal.

Achoo!

Oh no, she seemed to have a slight cold. Hopefully it wouldn’t get in the way of what she needed to do.

Just as she was about to head out, she heard urgent footsteps approach.

She looked around helplessly, then ran to hide behind the Buddha statue. One step after she hid herself, the people had entered the temple.

“I told you to hurry but you wouldn’t listen. Now this is just great, we have no choice but to stay in this temple for tonight!” An irritated-sounding voice appeared. Tang Doudou’s eyes whirled. The world sure was small. She had actually encountered that brat, Xiao Yi, again!

From the sounds of the footsteps and Xiao Yi’s words, there was probably one more person. If her guess wasn’t wrong, it was probably Xiao Siyuan.

As she had expected, right after Xiao Yi said that, Xiao Siyuan’s helpless and much more moderate voice appeared. “That grandma was very old. If we hadn’t helped her back, she definitely would’ve met with a mishap in this weather.”

“Whatever! In any case, you’ll always be able to argue back with something no matter what I say!” responded Xiao Yi, still annoyed. “I’m going to go make a fire. You should get changed!”

Tang Doudou poked out her head and saw that Xiao Siyuan just smiled without saying anything. He then took off his outer garments to wring them dry as he looked around the temple. However, since it was dark, he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

Meanwhile, Xiao Yi had already started throwing some dry wood in a pile. Following that, he picked up a bunch of straw, lit them with a rolled torch, and threw them onto the pile of wood.

Although this temple was quite drafty, the roof was strong and didn’t leak. These wood had been in the temple for countless years and had long dried out completely, so they easily caught the flames.

As the warm flames leapt up, Xiao Siyuan rubbed his hands, then swiftly lifted a bamboo pole and hung his wet clothes on it. “Ah Yi, you should take your clothes off too!”

It was clearly something said out of good intentions, but Xiao Yi’s face immediately turned dark. “No.”

Xiao Siyuan replied with a helpless tone. “You’ll catch a chill.”

“Tsk. It’s not like I’m a woman, as if I’m that delicate!” Xiao Yi didn’t agree and just sat down next to the fire. He untied a canteen from his waist, twisted it open, and took a large swig. “Refreshing!”

Xiao Siyuan stared at his canteen with a frown. “Why are you drinking alcohol again?”

“It warms you up. Have some?” Xiao Yi laughed mischievously as he waved the canteen at Xiao Siyuan.

Xiao Siyuan declined. “The 382th rule of the Xiao family is that alcohol is prohibited.”

Xiao Yi edged over with a smirk. “The 599th rule of the Xiao family: keeping violations secret is a first degree offense! You often see me drink. Why don’t you report me to the elders?”

Xiao Siyuan stiffen. He was just about to reply with something when a loud ‘achoo’ interrupted him.

The two’s expression turned serious and they shared a quick glance before simultaneously moving towards the Buddha statue.

Tang Doudou was covering her mouth nervously even as she rolled her eyes. It was seriously wonderful timing. She could’ve sneezed at any time, but it just had to end up at this time. Wasn’t this completely demanding her life?

Originally, she had been planning to sneak away once Xiao Yi and Xiao Siyuan fell asleep. Although Xiao Siyuan seemed pretty reasonable, Xiao Yi’s temper was nowhere as good. He probably still held a grudge against her about that incident last time. There was no one else around in the temple, so there was no guarantee that Xiao Yi wouldn’t attack her out of anger when he saw her. Based on how meek Xiao Siyuan looked, he probably wouldn’t be able to stop Xiao Yi.

As the two got even closer, Tang Doudou retreated backwards in a panic. However, after a few steps, she already hit the cold wall. There was nowhere left to hide.

“Who’s there?” shouted Xiao Yi as they came to a stop about a meter away from the statue.

Tang Doudou opened her mouth silently. After a moment of thought, she timidly stuck her head out. “It’s me.”

In reality, it had already been a month, so Xiao Yi with his careless personality had already forgotten about this aunt. “Who are you? Why were you hiding so sneakily behind the Buddha statue?”

Xiao Siyuan’s expression on the other hand showed that he remembered who Tang Doudou was. However, he didn’t bring it up and just extended a hand to stop Xiao Yi. “This aunt is probably here to take shelter from the rain as well. Don’t be so fierce, you’ll scare this elder.”

Xiao Yi humphed coldly. “Who would hide behind the Buddha statue to take shelter from the rain? She clearly had bad intentions!”

Tang Doudou hastily refuted. “N-no, that’s not it. I heard people coming and I was worried it would be bandits, that’s why I hid behind the statue. If you don’t believe me, look over there. I was the one that set that up. I was originally going to rest there.”

Xiao Yi didn’t move but he did glance over. When he saw that there were traces of a person lying on the straw over there, the guarded expression in his eyes lessened a little.

“I told you that this aunt isn’t a bad person.” Xiao Siyuan walked towards the statue with a smile. “I heard you sneeze earlier, you must be cold. If you don’t mind, you can warm yourself up near the fire with us!”

Xiao Yi glowered at him. “I don’t agree!”

“Ah Yi, you’re forgetting the family rules again!”

“I won’t agree. I don’t want to sit together with some stinkin’ old woman!”

“Ah Yi!”

“I’m not negotiating. If you feel like my behavior is wrong, then just tell on me to the Elders!”

Xiao Siyuan felt helpless when faced with Xiao Yi’s behavior. He was just about to try persuading Xiao Yi again when Tang Doudou said, “Many thanks for your good intentions, but I’ve already rested. I just ended up oversleeping a little. It’s already dark, so if I don’t hurry back, my family will worry.”

“Aunt, you’re someone of Huai City?”

Tang Doudou nodded with a laugh. “My maternal family is from Huai City. I came this time to visit relatives.”

Tang Doudou could tell from Xiao Siyuan’s words that he knew who she was. The reason he asked this was also very clear.

He was probing her.

After she said that, Xiao Siyuan was silent for a while. He glanced outside, then said, “Aunt, it’s probably not very safe to head back to the city this late at night. Why don’t I walk you there?”

“Are you crazy? When I told you to hurry up so that we can get to the city, you spouted a bunch of useless drivel at me, but now, for a random old woman, you’re…”

“Ah Yi, you won’t let her warm up by the fire and you won’t let me send her back home either. How am I supposed to rest easy if something happens to her?”

“Fine fine, you’re just an amazingly good person and I’m a bad person, alright?” Xiao Yi could hear slight anger in Xiao Siyuan’s words, so he became unhappy as well. After saying that sarcastically, he plopped himself down next to the fire. “If you want to send her, just do it. Do whatever you want! It’s none of my business anyways!”

Xiao Siyuan looked unhappy with Xiao Yi’s reaction as well, but he didn’t bother to argue and just said to Tang Doudou, “Aunt, let’s go. I’ll see you to the city.”

Originally, Tang Doudou wanted to reject his offer. However, then her gaze flickered and she walked out with Xiao Siyuan without a word.

Xiao Yi watched as the two left, then angrily kicked the fire as he grumbled, “If you want to court death, then just go! Humph, it’s none of my business! I don’t care!”

The woodpile was soon scattered by his stomping and the temple became a lot dimmer.

Although he said he wouldn’t care, he still couldn’t help but worry. He stomped on the almost extinguished fire again, then remarked angrily, “Fine! Xiao Yi, I guess I owe you!”

Outside, the rain had already lessened up a lot, but it still felt cold as it fell on one’s face. The coiling black clouds above in the night showed no signs of dispersing. There would probably be another large storm tomorrow.

Tang Doudou and Xiao Siyuan walked on the small road, one behind the other. There were only a few birds in the drenched old trees near the road.

“Aunt, why isn’t the uncle with you?” asked Xiao Siyuan after they walked silently for a while.