’He knows how to be shy?’

’And here I thought he was so bold.’

He was bold enough to put food on my plate at the dinner table. Mom hadn’t even said anything, so why was he suddenly so embarrassed?

Chen Wanqing pressed her lips together, hiding the smile in her eyes. She called to Zhao Jing, "Jing, let’s go to the backyard."

Zhao Jing’s voice sounded as if it were stuffed with cotton—hoarse and choked, with a raw edge. It was hard to tell if he was desperately reining in an overwhelming emotion or if there was some other reason.

"Alright. I’ll walk in front. A-jie, you can follow me."

"It’s fine. It should be safe here."

"It’s better to be careful."

"Okay, I’ll listen to you."

The courtyard was quiet; the voices of Xu Su Ying and Chen Song could no longer be heard.

On this brilliant, sun-drenched afternoon, the sun beat down with a scorching heat that made one drowsy, feeling light-headed and weak-kneed.

When Zhao Jing suddenly spoke, Chen Wanqing was actually a little startled.

She heard him ask, "A-jie, in the future, would you want to live here at your family’s home long-term?"

"What do you mean?"

"As the weather gets colder, you’ll be opening your shop and traveling back and forth every day. It’ll be a lot of hardship. If, after we’re married, you want to live at your family’s home, I would agree to that." 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Chen Wanqing smiled, her lips pressed together. "If I’m married and still living with my parents, the villagers will start to gossip, won’t they?"

"I’ll explain it to them. They won’t think too much of it."

"But when you were persuading me to agree to the marriage, didn’t you also say you wanted me to help take care of your mother and sister? If I’m not home day or night, how can I help you take care of your family?"

Zhao Jing choked, not knowing how to respond.

Chen Wanqing laughed again. "It’s too early to talk about all that. Let’s look at the house first."

As she spoke, something suddenly shot past her feet out of the corner of her eye. It was grayish and looked like a big rat.

Chen Wanqing cried out in alarm and reflexively ducked behind Zhao Jing.

Zhao Jing was startled, but he also reacted instinctively, grabbing her by the waist and spinning around to shield her with his body.

The concerned voices of Xu Su Ying, Chen Song, and Chen De’an drifted anxiously from the front yard. "What’s wrong? What happened to Qing’er?"

Chen De’an was the closest and came running straight out of the house. The first thing he saw was Zhao Jing holding his sister, and he immediately assumed Zhao Jing was trying to take advantage of her and had scared her in the process.

’That bastard Zhao Jing! Our whole family trusted his character enough to let him accompany my sister to the backyard, and this is how he repays us?’

"Jing, you’re asking for a beating! I’m going to crack your head open!"

"De’an, listen to me..."

"Listen to my ass! Let go of my sister right now, or else I’ll..."

Chen Wanqing pushed Zhao Jing away and stepped out. "You what? Just go back to what you were doing. It wasn’t Jing who scared me. A gray rabbit just ran by and startled me. There are a lot of vegetable seedlings left in the backyard; the rabbit was probably trying to steal some."

Chen De’an was skeptical. "Is that what happened?"

"What else could it be?"

Zhao Jing also sounded helpless. "We grew up together. You should be able to trust my character."

"Hmph. That depends on the situation. In normal matters, you’re pretty reliable. But when it comes to my sister..."

Chen Wanqing felt Zhao Jing’s gaze fall upon her. The skin on her waist, where he had held her tightly just moments before, suddenly felt tight and hot.

He had only held her for a moment and had made no other move—it couldn’t even be called an offense—but she still felt uncomfortable.

Just as she was about to say something else, Xu Su Ying spoke up from the front. "De’an, are you going to keep chattering on forever? Go look at your room and decide whether you want a wardrobe or a bookcase. Give me a plan later. As for the rabbit, Qing’er, watch where you’re going so you don’t get scared again."

"I know, Mom. Go on and get busy, De’an. We’re going inside to take a look too."

After Chen De’an left, Chen Wanqing led Zhao Jing toward the three rooms in the back of the house.

As they passed the vegetable patch, which was a good half-mu in size, her gaze couldn’t help but sweep over it again.

The vegetable patch was covered with a thick layer of rice straw. Through the gaps in the straw, she could faintly see small green seedlings.

The vegetable seeds the old couple had sown must have already sprouted. As long as they were tended to carefully, they would have fresh leafy greens to eat, perhaps before the new year, or maybe after spring began.

Don’t be fooled by the general poverty of the common folk in Qingshui County; there were still wealthy merchants and rich households.

The wealthy didn’t lack silver to spend and were willing to splurge on food and drink. When the time came, if they delivered these fresh vegetables to their mansions, the money they could earn might be more than what a whole year’s harvest would bring.

But this involved a management issue.