Niley twisted her waist slightly to avoid Mier's playful hands but kept counting the copper coins out loud without stopping.
Their little movements didn't escape the eyes of the others at the table, but since everyone was busy counting money, no one bothered with them. Only Han, sitting opposite Mier, had a darkened look in his eyes, and his mood for counting money dropped a lot.
Liam, sitting in the rattan chair, saw everything clearly and couldn't help but chuckle, whispering, "Interesting."
"Finished! I counted seven hundred coins." Xing counted his share, then pushed the extra few coins toward Mr. Chen to make the total a round number, easier for calculating later.
"I have four hundred coins," Mier said after finishing his count and also pushed the extra coins toward Han, who was still counting.
Mr. Chen finished next and did the same, pushing an extra coin to Han.
But Han, while counting, ended up gathering all the coins back together. When he realized everyone was waiting for him, his face turned red and black with embarrassment. Finally, he simply shoved all his coins toward Xing, who was excited to take over.
Niley shook her head and said, "We earned two thousand seven hundred coins from selling the wolf, plus the money you made from selling handkerchiefs. Just add it all up. Why bother counting again?"
Xing counted silently in his heart but still argued with Niley, "You don't understand! Counting money is so fun. I wouldn't mind doing it every day."
"Madam, the fifth brother has loved money since he was little. Now that he's older, he's practically fallen into a money pit," Mier said, laughing out loud.
Niley was infected by his laughter and asked him, "What about you? Do you like money?"
Mier glanced at Niley, then looked around and saw everyone was focused on Xing. He leaned close to Niley's ear and whispered, "I like it, but I like you even more."
This answer made up for him not replying when Niley asked while they were counting.
Niley understood and smiled. She didn't expect that in the next second, under the table, Mier held her hand and even lightly scratched her palm. When she looked over, he winked at her proudly but shyly.
She took a deep breath and smiled meaningfully.
If there weren't other people around, she would have pinned Mier down right there and then.
"Madam, when you smile like that, it scares me," Mier said, his body stiffening because he recognized that mischievous smile from their time in bed. He quickly tried to stop her, worried she might actually do something in front of everyone.
Unfortunately, his words caught everyone's attention.
"I'm hungry. Shouldn't we make dinner now?" Niley said casually, looking around as if nothing happened.
Han said coldly, "Mier, let's go cook."
Niley frowned, looking at Han, but he didn't even glance at her. He just stood up and left the room.
She then turned to look for Lei. If anyone else in this house could cook food she could eat, it would be Lei, who loved learning.
But she remembered Lei went to town to work.
She sighed. Mier let go of her hand and got up to follow Han to the kitchen. Niley followed too.
"What do you want to eat, Madam?" Mier asked.
"You'll cook what I like?" she asked.
Mier nodded. His cooking skills were decent.
Seeing her little husband so eager to cook for her, Niley smiled and said, "It doesn't need to be complicated."
While they were talking, Mr. Chen walked over, greeted them, and said he was going home.
"Going home? Dad, why don't you stay and eat with us? Otherwise, you'll have to cook again when you get home," Niley said.
Since Mr. Chen had stayed for meals many times, he agreed happily and said he'd just go back to fetch something.
Soon, he returned carrying a notebook and went into the kitchen.
When he walked in, he saw Niley leaning against the door, teaching Mier how to stir-fry vegetables.
Han, as usual, was tending the fire.
After washing his hands, Liam joined in to help.
Everyone was busy, and soon dinner was ready.
After eating, no one wanted to leave. They all stayed in Niley's room. Xing worked on embroidering a handkerchief by candlelight, teaching Liam at the same time, while complaining that Liam was not as good as the fourth brother.
Mr. Chen and Han sat together, checking the account book.
Mier and Niley leaned against each other, secretly holding hands.
"Ah! Third Brother, your hands are worse than your feet!" Xing shouted after seeing Liam struggle with the embroidery for a long time.
Then he added, "Look at what you made—it's horrible..."
"Shut up! You think you're so good? Sure, you can sell a handkerchief for a decent price, but how much can you really make?" Liam shouted back, embarrassed and red-faced.
In the end, Liam's yelling made Xing cry and stomp angrily back to his room.
Niley watched the whole thing, holding back her laughter. When Xing finally stormed out, she laughed out loud and gave Liam a thumbs-up. Finally, someone was able to deal with Xing.
Mr. Chen shook his head helplessly, watching the two brothers argue.
Only when facing Jiang Yu did these kids unite against an outside enemy.
"Madam, are you that happy to see the fifth brother cry?" Mier teased while playing with her slender, fair fingers. Her fingers were beautiful, but calloused from hard work.
"Of course! Someone finally managed to tame him!" she said with a grin.
Seeing his madam say something so childish, Mier smiled helplessly. "The fifth brother is small but has a big temper. Out of all of us, he has the worst temper. But actually, he's just pretending. He acts like that to protect us from getting bullied by Mother."
Niley paused.
"You saying that makes me feel guilty."
She pinched Mier's chin, her eyes flashing with complex emotions.
"It's fine. The fifth brother doesn't hold grudges," Mier said.
"Second Brother, I heard everything! This woman laughed when she saw me getting bullied!" Xing had come back and stood there glaring at Niley with teary eyes.
Sure enough, he didn't even call her "Madam" anymore, just "that woman." He was truly angry.
Niley smiled, completely calm. "Yes, I was happy."
"You!" Xing burst into tears, crying so hard it looked like a string of pearls breaking, while shouting, "You're all bullying me!"
Niley covered her ears and frowned at Mier. "Do you guys all love to cry?"
"Not... really?" Mier answered carefully.
Ever since being with Madam, he mostly cried only in bed, and the rest of the time, he was usually pretty happy.