Ye Ling nodded to show he understood.

Other than the unfriendly familial relationship between them, and despite having not passed the government exams for so long, Ye Ling couldn't deny the level of education that Ye Xuan had attained.

"I suppose Ran Er will be in your good hands now. Do sit down. I have other business to attend to," Ye Ling said and went to the well, leaving Ye Xuan with a satisfied grin on his face.

By the time Liu Duo arrived at the well, after changing her cloth strip in the outhouse, Ye Ling had fetched some water for her and returned to the kitchen.

It was always heartwarming to find a bucket of water already prepared for her.

She washed her piece of cloth and left it out to dry, only to turn around and spot Ye Xuan looking at her, grinning.

Liu Duo, feeling nothing in particular, went over to him, "I realize you are more thick-skinned than I imagined! Leave here at once, you are not welcome."

With such harsh words, anyone else would have left immediately.

It just so happened that Ye Xuan wasn't an average person. He, much like Ye Liu and Ye Mo, had skin thicker than a brick wall.

Several strands of hair had unknowingly fallen to the front of his shoulders. He tossed them behind and said, "Sister Duo, how did you come to know the thickness of my skin? Have you felt it, or have you measured it?"

Liu Duo went to another corner and grabbed a broom. It was then that they heard Liu Ran's running footsteps.

"Sis, Brother Xuan says he can tutor me. I can ask him about anything I don't understand."

Ye Xuan, who always had his eyes on Liu Duo, noticed that she was getting a broom to chase him away, and he only had one thought, How could she be so sassy?

Brother Xuan?

She loosened the grip on the broom and approached Liu Ran, "Who said you could call him that?"

"Sis, it turns out Brother Xuan is not only my teacher, but surprisingly he is your husbands' cousin too! So doesn't that mean I should call him that?"

Liu Ran observed her serious face and wondered if he had said anything wrong. He was merely addressing him based on birth order and family relations.

Er...

Since Liu Ran didn't know what had happened between Ye Xuan and the Ye brothers, it wasn't wrong for him to call Ye Xuan, but she just didn't like to hear it!

"Ran Er, he..."

She wasn't quite finished when Ye Xuan interrupted them, "Ran Er, we should start the revision soon."

"Right," With that, Liu Ran sat beside his tutor and began reading.

Liu Duo looked on, surprised at at Liu Ran's obedience to Ye Xuan.

Ye Xuan chose not to bother Liu Duo on purpose. He wouldn't even cast a glance at her. Instead, he focused on Liu Ran as though that was his main purpose of visit!

A few seconds passed and Liu Duo came to her senses. She furrowed her brow and was about to say something when Ye Ling called out to her, "Duo Er, could you come take a look? Is the tomato sauce ready?"

They had yet to control the timing, so they weren't sure when to stop, but it wouldn't be good if the sauce ended up being too plain or too thick.

She took one last look at Ye Xuan before heading to the kitchen.

Once she did so, Ye Xuan looked back at her, feeling great.

Occasionally, Liu Ran would ask him questions, and he would always answer patiently.

Ye Xuan hadn't seen Liu Duo leave the kitchen for a while, so he said to Liu Ran, "Let's take a break and come back later."

"Alright," Liu Ran closed his book and decided to check out the kitchen.

Ye Xuan asked again, "Ran Er, what is your sister doing in the kitchen? They never seem to leave."

He had heard roughly four different voices coming from inside, but no one had come out.

"They're making tomato sauce, but you can't go in, Brother Xuan," Liu Ran said with a straight face.