Dear Cousin

When Lin Xiaofei left Hong Pei Lou, her hands were carrying a small box that looked like it could store a few gems in it.

When she entered the restaurant, the road she took and the market was empty but now, people were walking everywhere and the sun that had yet to fully risen up earlier was now almost at its peak.

Thankfully, before coming out of the door, Lin Xiaofei already wore her veil to cover her face.

She didn't use a carriage when she went to Hong Pei Lou hence, Lin Xiaofei used her own feet to walk to her next destination.

Walking through the crowded street, Lin Xiaofei made sure she didn't bump or carelessly touched others. However, it seems that things weren't going well for her as someone suddenly touched her arm and held her in place.

She was about to pull her arm back but stopped when she heard the person say, "Fourth Cousin, what are you doing out here?"

Lin Xiaofei turned to look at the person and saw a young man wearing pale green robes. He was taller than Lin Xiaofei and was handsome. Lin Xiaofei never met this man and didn't know who he was since she never got to meet him inside the Lin manor.

However, since he called her as his cousin, this young man must be Lin Feng or Lin Sang's son.

Not knowing how to address him, Lin Xiaofei decided to pull her arm back before she said, "Greetings to you too, dear cousin. I don't think there is a law that says I can't be here."

Lin Shen Yu was startled at her answer and laughed out loud, catching the attention of the people in the market.

Confused why he laughed, Lin Xiaofei reviewed what she had just said and didn't find anything funny from it.

"Why is dear cousin laughing?" Lin Xiaofei asked. Calling the young man 'dear cousin' was like a foreign word that tasted bad in her mouth. She had never addressed anyone like this even in her past life and felt bitter.

If only she knew who was this young man and whose son was he, she would be spared from using this term.

Lin Shen Yu kept laughing until tears started to form at the edge of his eyes. He wiped it with his sleeves and waved his hand, "Nothing. Of course, there's no law that says you can't."

Lin Shen Yu chose to not divulge why he was laughing. It just that he never heard Lin Xiaofei calling him 'cousin' much less, her 'dear cousin'. It was such a shock that his first reaction was to laugh.

He wished that there was a device he could use to record it so he could listen to it every day.

As for why he didn't mention this to Lin Xiaofei, Lin Shen Yu didn't want to correct and wanted her to keep calling him in that way.

Unlike the other Lin family members, Lin Shen Yu never antagonized Lin Xiaofei even after witnessing her arrogance and rude behavior, he found it quite cute for a young girl to act like the world was hers and before he knew it, he would always try to talk to Lin Xiaofei first.

That's why the previous Lin Xiaofei would always get irritated at his presence and would always try to run away from him. He was Lin Feng's son and as she hated the first and second branches of the family, the previous Lin Xiaofei didn't want to have anything to do with Lin Shen Yu.

"But dear cousin, where's your maidservants?" Lin Shen Yu said after seeing that Lin Xiaofei was alone. He also smoothly changed the way he addressed from 'fourth cousin' to dear cousin.

"I told them to go back first." Lin Xiaofei lied without changing her expression.

"I see..." Lin Shen Yu thoughtfully said before asking again, "But why is dear cousin wearing a veil? Did you perhaps catch a cold again?"

"No." Lin Xiaofei shook her head. She frowned at the fact that she was wasting her time trying to have a useless conversation with Lin Shen Yu.

"If there's nothing else, I should head back first." Lin Xiaofei added and was about to turn around when she heard Lin Shen Yu.

"You're going back to the manor already? Dear cousin, why don't you spend some time with me first before returning. It has been a while since we got to take a walk outside together." Lin Shen Yu offered.

He wanted to take this opportunity to finally have Lin Xiaofei walk together with him since, in the past, his cousin would always run away from him and refuse him that's why they never got to do anything together. Thus, he lied that they have walked together before, and knowing her, she would probably assume that they did since she was never good at remembering things.

"I'm tired. You can enjoy your time walking around the town if you want." Lin Xiaofei ruthlessly said without considering his feelings.

She stepped two steps away from him but instead of going away or giving up, Lin Shen Yu followed her with a smile on his face.

Stopping in her tracks, Lin Xiaofei glared at him, "What is it now?"

"Hm?" Lin Shen Yu tilted his head, "It's nothing. I just thought since you're not joining me for a walk and going back home. I might as well return."

Lin Xiaofei wanted to roll her eyes at him. She didn't know why she must encounter two persistent and annoying men early in the morning.

"Then you go first. I need to go since I remembered I have to go somewhere."

"Oh… Where?"

"You don't have to know."

"But I want to go!"

Lin Xiaofei closed her eyes and gritted her teeth, "Just go home."

"No. Just let me come with you or I'll just follow you." Lin Shen Yu said.

"You want to come along?" Lin Xiaofei asked him since he was quite persistent and might just follow her if she continued to shoo him away.

Lin Shen Yu nodded his head.

With a smile and a glint in her eyes, Lin Xiaofei said, "Then, follow me. But don't say I didn't stop you."