Chapter 11 – Family Dinner (2)

Next came the much awaited family dinner and old Madam Lu asked Ye Zhen personally to sit beside her; the same seat where Lu Lingzhi was supposed to sit if not for his sudden appointment. This invitation, more like an order, made the Fourth miss Lu to send a fleeting glare towards the timid Ye Zhen.

As expected, Lu Family, even with their advancement in society, didn’t still regard table etiquette. They were no nobility and Ye Zhen saw it quite easily. As a member of a noble family, she was honed on the standard requirements of aristocratic woman and she was always forbidden to chat at the dinner table.

But Old Madam Lu was persistent in asking her of her life in the border town even if it was clear that she was unwilling to speak. Finally, she simply forgot all the rules she learned through years of discipline and talked rigorously with the old madam, coaxing her into liking her all the more.

“Border town is fun. Fourth brother taught me how to catch sparrows. We roasted sparrows in the mountains and ate them fresh from the grill.” Ye Zhen looked mischievously at Lu Xiangzhi and continued to speak, “There was one time that he stole father’s wine, but he only let me drank a small amount.” This earned gasps from everyone on the table and some shake of heads towards the beet-red Lu Xiangzhi.

“-and in summer we went to the river to do fishing. This miss didn’t know what’s gotten into him but Fourth brother stayed underwater far too long that I thought he was in trouble! So, I desperately cried for help. I couldn’t save him myself, I can’t swim. The next thing that happened is one thing I shall never forget.” Ye Zhen looked at the people around her with her hand on her chest. All of them hanged into her every word.

“He jumped up from underneath the water surface and scared me causing me to lose my balance! I fell hard into the river and went home drenched and freezing that day.”

Old madam Lu listened to Ye Zhen’s story with delight. She laughed and looked at Lu Xiangzhi sitting on the other side of her and scolded him in jest “Such a naughty boy! Bullying her sister!”

“Grandma, these are all things of the past. Don’t you know this girl is also very unruly?” Lu Xiangzhi begged for mercy and there was laughter at the dinner table afterwards.

Ye Zhen saw that Old Madam Lu turned her atten