[Mo Dao Zu Shi Fanfiction] I Raise A Ying in Yiling

Chapter 183 Late Return

The lights are on, and night falls.

In the dining room on the first floor of Taoyuanju (the residence of Wei Chaoyan's family and Lan Zhan in the study space), the room was brightly lit. Wei Chaoyan sat with her chin resting on her hand in front of the table, which was covered with delicious food. She stared intently at the closed door, waiting for her younger brothers, who were late and had not returned for a long time, to come home for dinner.

Lost in thought, Wei Chaoyan didn't notice which number the hands of the round clock on the front hall wall were pointing to. Only when she glanced out of the corner of her eye at the food that had long since lost its steaming heat did she vaguely realize that the delicious food she had carefully prepared was already cold, and the person she was waiting for had not yet returned!

Not knowing why Wei Ying and the others hadn't returned yet, Wei Chaoyan frowned and pondered for a few moments. Unable to suppress her worry, she prepared to get up and go out to look for them.

Just as she stood up, a soft "click" came from outside the tightly closed door. Knowing that those runaway brats had returned, Wei Chaoyan raised an eyebrow and plopped back down, resting her chin on her hands and staring intently at the opening door.

Wow!

As soon as Wei Ying, who had been chattering away, pushed open the door, he was startled to see Wei Chaoyan staring at him intently, gesturing wildly as he talked.

Lan Zhan, who was standing behind Wei Ying, stared in confusion at Wei Ying's stiff figure. He stepped forward to Wei Ying's side and was also struck by Wei Chaoyan's resentful gaze. Only then did he realize that he, uh, no, it was the group of them who seemed to have stood Wei Chaoyan up!

Realizing this, Lan Zhan felt a little embarrassed, but he was always tongue-tied and didn't know what to say to ease the awkward atmosphere.

Just then, Qi Ye, who didn't want to be a third wheel between Wei Ying and Lan Zhan and had deliberately lagged behind them, slowly walked over with Qing Yan by the hand. Not knowing why the two were frozen at the doorway and wouldn't go inside, he asked with a puzzled look, "Brother A-Ying, Brother A-Zhan, why aren't you coming in? I wonder if Sister is... um... getting impatient waiting..."

As they spoke, they approached the open door. Soon, through the gap between the two figures, they met Wei Chaoyan's increasingly resentful and accusatory gaze. Their words faltered, and they finished speaking haltingly. Together with Qingyan, they blocked the doorway like door gods.

The main reason was that their older sister's resentful and accusing gaze was too chilling. Those who knew they had stood her up saw the cold dishes on the table and thought about how they had already filled their stomachs at Mingsi Pavilion, and they felt guilty.

Seeing the group of people who hadn't returned yet standing at the door looking guilty and embarrassed, Wei Chaoyan's premonition was confirmed—these kids must have been chatting with others and completely forgot what she had said, and then they ended up having dinner together while they were chatting!

Hmph! Not a single person thought to send her a message to let her know, making her wait all this time for nothing!

Wei Chaoyan rolled her eyes three times: They're all heartless brats!

"Tch!" Having figured it out, Wei Chaoyan put away her eerie and resentful expression, rolled her eyes and barely managed to calm the anger that was stuck in her chest. Her nostrils flared, and a cold snort slid out from her nose, which was particularly conspicuous in the overly quiet space.

Realizing that Wei Chaoyan had been waiting for them on an empty stomach, the four felt guilty. They looked up at each other and their eyes met, instantly understanding each other's meaning.

Wei Ying and Qingyan, the two sons of the Wei family who are always good at acting cute and silly, put on their smiling faces and moved to Wei Chaoyan's side, doing everything they could to please the angry person.

The shy Qi Ye and Lan Zhan lowered their heads and pursed their lips, silently walking to the table and taking the cooled dishes, intending to heat them up in the back kitchen so that Wei Chaoyan could have this long-delayed dinner.

Wei Chaoyan, who was being pestered by two sweet and adorable girls like a twisted candy, was torn between continuing to be angry and being softened by their flattery, wanting to forgive them but unwilling to give up. In the midst of this entanglement, she discovered that the other two energetic kids had already run to the kitchen with several plates of food, ready to start cooking.

Wei Chaoyan's heart skipped a beat, and she immediately shouted at the top of her lungs, "Azhan, Qiye! You two stop right there! You're not even as tall as the stove, and you want to cook!"

Yes, don't be fooled by the fact that these kids are more mature and sophisticated than most adults. In reality, they are just five or six-year-old toddlers. Their souls and physical forms are the same, with short statures that are no more than an adult's waist. Going to the kitchen to cook is a really dangerous thing for them!

The two, whose actions were stopped by Wei Chaoyan's loud shout, turned around. Qi Ye opened his mouth somewhat helplessly: "Sister, the food is cold. We need to heat it up so it won't hurt your stomach."

Lan Zhan: "Cold food is bad for your health."

Wei Ying/Qingyan: "Sister..."

"Alright!" Wei Chaoyan raised her hand to stop the two spoiled brats from talking, and said with a sigh, "I know you two are still young. The stove in this kitchen is not like the earthen stove outside. It's too high for you to reach! You're likely to get hurt if you cook and heat up the food. I'll do it myself!"

Pushing aside the two people tugging at her sleeves and shaking her, Wei Chaoyan sighed and walked towards the kitchen. "Alright, your sister isn't blaming you. Why are you acting like this? I can't eat much by myself, so there's no need to reheat all the food."

Ah Zhan, put the two dishes you brought in the fridge. I'll just heat up the two dishes Qi Ye brought! Oh, and by the way, the three of you should also put the remaining dishes on the table in the fridge and heat them up tomorrow!

Wei Chaoyan walked into the kitchen, snatched the spatula from Lan Zhan's hand (he was the tallest, so he was originally in charge of cooking the hot dishes), and chased the two of them out of the kitchen like chickens. Seeing her turn around and busy with pots and pans, the few who knew her temper knew that this matter was over for now.

The group breathed a sigh of relief and worked together to quickly clear the dishes off the table before settling comfortably on the sofa to wait for Wei Chaoyan to come out.

While constantly turning the spatula in her hand, Wei Chaoyan asked loudly, "Aying, you four have been messing around in Mingsi Pavilion for most of the day, have you figured out a plan yet?"

At this point, Wei Ying shook off his embarrassment and guilt, and answered with renewed vigor: "Sister, don't you know how we brothers and Teacher Zhao are? It's nothing, nothing at all!"

"Then why did you take so long to finish?" Wei Chaoyan retorted without even turning her head.

"Ah, this..." Wei Ying, whose tone had circled back to the beginning, awkwardly touched his nose, gave a sheepish smile, and quickly made a threatening look to Qi Ye for an explanation.

"Sister, we spend most of our time planning the future. After all, there are many large and small families scattered around, and various forces are deeply intertwined and scheming against each other. Moreover, our intelligence and knowledge are extremely limited, mostly obtained from books, A-Zhan, and the imperial court. This information is too one-sided and shallow, and we cannot generalize from it."

Therefore, all our previous calculations failed at this step.

Upon hearing this, Wei Chaoyan paused in her stir-frying, and after a moment's thought, asked dryly, "So where do you plan to start?"