Wu Yiyu noticed Ren Yaoyin’s gaze and also looked toward Yun Wenfang, only to discover that although Yun Wenfang was talking with Yun Qiuchen, his gaze was intermittently resting on…

Wu Yiyu raised an eyebrow, then slowly revealed a cold smile.

Ren Yaoyin glanced at Wu Yiyu and smiled slightly, then looked toward Yun Wenting and Xiao Jinglin. The smile on her face never changed, but her dark eyes were unfathomably deep.

What Ren Yaoyin didn’t know was that although Ren Yaoqi had been laughing and chatting with Xiao Jinglin the whole time, she was quietly observing the people around them. She had noticed from the moment Ren Yaoyin approached Wu Yiyu. Although she couldn’t hear exactly what Ren Yaoyin and Wu Yiyu were saying, Ren Yaoqi was very alert.

Later, when Yun Wenting joined their conversation, Ren Yaoqi saw Wu Yiyu’s expression change, while Ren Yaoyin smiled impassively. However, Ren Yaoqi ultimately had more experience than Ren Yaoyin – no matter how perfect Ren Yaoyin’s smile was, it couldn’t hide her coldness.

Ren Yaoqi had felt something was off about Ren Yaoyin from the moment she saw her today. Her gaze kept drifting toward Xiao Jinglin in a cold, uncomfortable way. She couldn’t help wondering what exactly Ren Yaoyin had heard later at the Yun residence yesterday.

Could it be that Xiao Jinglin was going to marry into the Yun family? Ren Yaoqi couldn’t help glancing at Xiao Jinglin.

Xiao Jinglin was wondering why Ren Yaoqi had suddenly gone quiet. She turned and met her gaze: “What’s wrong?”

Ren Yaoqi glanced at Yun Wenting, shook her head, and smiled: “Is there anything else fun in this garden?”

Xiao Jinglin thought for a moment: “There’s a butterfly garden over there. Though it’s more interesting to see in winter, the garden also has some exotic flowers and plants. How about I take you to see it?”

At this point, Xiao Jinglin deliberately lowered her voice and whispered: “They’re too noisy. Let’s go by ourselves, without them.”

Ren Yaoqi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, and also whispered: “We came here together with them. What excuse do we have to leave them behind?”

Xiao Jinglin thought briefly, then beckoned Hongying over and gave her instructions. Ren Yaoqi was close enough to hear Xiao Jinglin tell Hongying that she needed to go freshen up and to inform Yun Qiuchen.

Ren Yaoqi: “…”

Yun Wenting was also very close to Xiao Jinglin. After Xiao Jinglin finished instructing Hongying, she frowned and looked at Yun Wenting. Yun Wenting’s expression didn’t change as he turned to watch Yun Qiufang and Guo Yujiao feed the peacocks, appearing as if he hadn’t heard anything. Satisfied, Xiao Jinglin turned back to look at Ren Yaoqi.

Ren Yaoqi was about to laugh when she met Wu Yiyu’s gaze.

Wu Yiyu was also smiling, but her smile made people feel chilled to the bone. Ren Yaoqi suppressed her discomfort and calmly looked away, saying to Xiao Jinglin: “Let’s go then.”

Hearing this, Xiao Jinglin pulled Ren Yaoqi along. She only left behind one sentence: “Please make yourselves comfortable. I have something to attend to and will be away for a moment.”

Yun Qiuchen, having heard Hongying’s words, explained a few things to her.

Xiao Jinglin pulled Ren Yaoqi in another direction, leaving the rest to Yun Qiuchen. Once they were out of everyone’s sight, Xiao Jinglin relaxed. Her facial expressions became more animated as she began introducing the animals and plants in the garden to Ren Yaoqi, proving to be a very competent guide. With only Xiao Jinglin beside her, Ren Yaoqi finally experienced some of the pleasure of touring the garden.

Xiao Jinglin took Ren Yaoqi to the butterfly garden. Because it was summer, there were already quite a few butterflies in the garden, and Ren Yaoqi couldn’t see any difference between the butterfly garden and other places. The two strolled around casually for a while.

Xiao Jinglin said, “Do you like monkeys? If you do, we can go feed the monkeys. Or we can feed something else.”

Xiao Jinglin didn’t know what refined young ladies liked to do. Seeing that Guo Yujiao and the others seemed to enjoy feeding small animals, she thought perhaps Ren Yaoqi would like it too.

Ren Yaoqi thought this wasn’t a bad way to pass the time and agreed.

Xiao Jinglin called over the garden’s supervising woman, asking her to first clean up the monkey mountain area and leave a few gentle-tempered monkeys for feeding. Then she took Ren Yaoqi to a pavilion in the garden where they could rest and drink tea.

Shortly after, the supervising woman returned. Xiao Jinglin thought she had made the arrangements and was about to get up, but when the woman came closer, she discovered that she had brought back a large bamboo basket.

Xiao Jinglin raised an eyebrow: “What’s this?”

The supervising woman placed the bamboo basket on the stone table in the pavilion and bowed: “County Princess, this was sent by Second Young Master.”

Hearing it was sent by Xiao Jingxi, Xiao Jinglin couldn’t help but be curious. Ren Yaoqi also put down her teacup and stared at the large bamboo basket with interest.

The bamboo basket was covered with a layer of Songjiang cloth. Just as Xiao Jinglin was about to reach out and lift it, Ren Yaoqi saw something moving under the cloth and was startled, quickly grabbing Xiao Jinglin’s hand: “Something is moving inside.”

Xiao Jinglin glanced at the supervising woman who was standing to the side smiling at them, thought for a moment, then lifted the cloth with one swift motion. She saw a fluffy, adorable fat cat lying in the basket, staring at Xiao Jinglin with round black eyes.

Ren Yaoqi was startled: “Eh? This is…”

Xiao Jinglin reached out with two fingers to grab the fat cat by the scruff of its neck and lifted it to eye level. The fat cat looked at Xiao Jinglin innocently.

This white “big cat” had black stripes on its body. Ren Yaoqi came closer to examine it carefully for a moment and couldn’t help exclaiming: “This is… a tiger?”

Xiao Jinglin held the little creature up in front of her eyes and shook it, nodding: “Yes, it’s a little white tiger.”

She then asked the supervising woman: “Where did Xiao Jingxi get this? Didn’t the Princess Consort have all the dangerous animals in the garden moved elsewhere?”

The supervising woman smiled: “This little white tiger was sent from Dali by one of the Second Young Master’s friends. Originally, there were two, but unfortunately, one died on the road. This one was barely kept alive. Second Young Master said little tigers don’t bite people, so he had this servant bring it to entertain the County Princess and Miss Ren Five.”

Xiao Jinglin looked at the tiger in her hand, then at Ren Yaoqi, put the little tiger back in the basket and pushed it toward Ren Yaoqi, muttering quietly: “Don’t know where he learned these coaxing methods!”

Ren Yaoqi, seeing that the little white tiger was docile and cute, reached out to stroke its fur. Hearing Xiao Jinglin speak quietly, she didn’t catch it clearly and looked up to ask: “What?”

Xiao Jinglin thought about it and swallowed her words: “Nothing. Do you like it? Then give it a name.”

“This is the Second Young Master’s tiger, isn’t it? Better let Second Young Master name it. Maybe it already has a name.” Ren Yaoqi smiled and shook her head in refusal.

The supervising woman immediately said: “No name, no name. Second Young Master said the little tiger is a gift for the County Princess and Miss Ren Five to play with. Miss can give it whatever name she wants.”

Xiao Jinglin showed a “just as I thought” mysteriously profound expression, but said, “I’m no good at naming things. If I had to name it, I’d call it ‘Rascal.’ Better you do it, Yaoqi.”

Ren Yaoqi played with the little tiger’s paws and joked: “I’m not good at naming either. If I had to name it, I’d call it ‘Silly Girl.'”

Xiao Jinglin immediately decided: “Good name! Then it’s ‘Silly Girl’!”

Silly Girl: “Roar—”

Xiao Jinglin poked the little tiger’s head and grinned: “See, it likes it too.”

Ren Yaoqi: “…”

Ren Yaoqi thought, I was just joking, Xiao Jingxi, don’t blame me!

The supervising woman hesitated several times, finally only showing a subtle expression of a toothache.

She thought she’d better not tell the County Princess and Miss Ren that this tiger was male. Protecting the master’s dignity was every servant’s duty, and besides, the little tiger couldn’t talk anyway.

With the little tiger, the two no longer thought about feeding monkeys, until Hongying came to say that Yun Qiuchen had sent someone to ask if they wanted to go boating together.

Because Xiao Jinglin was impatient with being around those young ladies, she had instructed that no idle people should be allowed to come over, so they had sat in the pavilion for a long time without anyone being able to find them.

Thinking about Wu Yiyu and Ren Yaoyin’s expressions earlier, Ren Yaoqi was afraid they might cause trouble. And boating involved contact with water – Ren Yaoqi didn’t want to take that risk. So when Xiao Jinglin asked if she wanted to go, Ren Yaoqi refused.

Xiao Jinglin didn’t want to be with them anyway, so she had Hongying go back and say they were tired from touring the garden and didn’t want to go.

Not long after Hongying left, Xiao Jingxi arrived.

Xiao Jinglin propped her chin on her hand and studied Xiao Jingxi for a long time, slowly revealing a smile: “I was wondering when you would make your appearance.”

Xiao Jingxi seemed not to understand Xiao Jinglin’s words, his smile unchanged: “I had some matters to handle, so I arrived late.”

He looked toward Ren Yaoqi, who was holding the little tiger, and reached out to stroke the little tiger’s head: “Do you like it? If you do, take it home with you.”

Ren Yaoqi had originally wanted to hand the little tiger to Xiao Jingxi, but hearing this, she was startled and hurriedly said: “Second Young Master should keep it. I have nowhere to raise it if I take it home.”

Ren Yaoqi did like the adorable Silly Girl very much, but the little tiger wasn’t a cat after all – it would eventually grow up. What would she do with a big tiger then? Even if the Ren family was willing to help her raise it, she couldn’t bear such a favor from the Ren family.

Xiao Jingxi had originally thought that since the tiger was still small, it would be fine for Ren Yaoqi to keep it for fun, and he could take it back when it grew up. But remembering the Ren family’s situation, he thought about it and gave up: “Then I’ll help you raise it.”

Xiao Jinglin snorted lightly.

Xiao Jingxi smiled at her: “By the way, have you given it a name?”

Xiao Jinglin reached out and poked the little tiger standing on the table, making it tumble: “Yes, Yaoqi said to call it Silly Girl.”

Ren Yaoqi: “…”

Xiao Jingxi’s expression didn’t change: “Good name, it’ll probably be easy to raise.”