Chapter 20

Their eyes met.

In the night, Ye Wanqing could still see that someone’s eyes seemed to have been ignited by firelight and suddenly became even brighter.

The large palm locked on her waist abruptly tightened even more. The man was very excited, using so much force that it seemed he wanted to embed her body into his embrace. His low, hoarse voice even carried a few points of tremor. “Okay! Teach me!”

Waiting for this sentence, Ye Wanqing blinked her eyes, her expression carrying a few points of innocence. “But…… I don’t know how either.”

“……” Ge Yuan’s face looked as if he had been struck by lightning.

Don’t…… don’t know how?

Then still……

Ye Wanqing sighed and deliberately teased him. “After all, I’ve never tongue-kissed anyone either. I’ve never been in a relationship. I only have theoretical knowledge, no practical experience. Brother Yuan, can you understand me?”

Ge Yuan: “……”

So reasonable! Yet he wanted to say something to fight for it. He absolutely could not watch the opportunity slip away with his own eyes.

He wanted that…… wanted a tongue kiss!

However, he was only a pitiful young man who had never experienced this kind of torment and simply had no way to respond.

He did not know what to do.

His heart burned with anxiety yet he could not think of a good idea. Ge Yuan gave up on himself. The moment he lowered his head he wanted to impulsively and roughly kiss the woman’s tender lips, fulfilling his local-tyrant reputation…… Yet her smiling voice once again rang mischievously by his ear.

“However, we can explore and try together.”

“Brother Yuan, want to?”

Ge Yuan gritted his teeth. “Want!”

—

People do, Heaven watches.

It is not that there is no retribution—only that the time has not yet come……

Ye Wanqing covered her lips that had been kissed swollen and stung with fiery pain. She felt even the tip of her tongue had been sucked numb, and thoroughly understood what it meant to suffer the consequences of one’s own actions.

Truly…… an overly passionate tall man was like a husky with excess energy that even the Heavenly King would fear when it ran wild. Kissing and biting, not squeezing the last bit of air from her lungs dry, he simply would not stop.

Once or twice was still fine. After several times……

She particularly wanted to slap the self who had teased the tall man just now to death!

Serves you right for randomly flirting!

“Not working again? Breathe.” Ge Yuan licked his lips with lingering interest. “You rest for two minutes. We’ll try again.”

How smart he was—he even knew how to switch breathing now!

“No!” Ye Wanqing felt her speech was already thick-tongued. A pair of water-bright almond eyes glared round in accusation. Her slender fingers poked the man’s solid chest as she said angrily, “Ge Yuan, you…… if you dare kiss me again today, you won’t get to kiss for a whole month afterward!”

“……Why?!”

Ye Wanqing smiled. “Because I’m unhappy.”

“Then how can you be happy?”

“If you stay farther away from me, I’ll be happier.”

Ge Yuan: “……”

Why was the little girl so changeable? Clearly just now when she looked at him with tear-filled eyes she had been so soft, so tender, so cute. Yet now…… so fierce! Not even allowing kisses!

Ye Wanqing rested outside for a while. Feeling the swelling on her lips had gone down, only then did she pull the dejected tall man toward the waiting hall.

Inside the waiting hall the candlelight was warm. Fatty Wang’s mother led several people sitting on the ground playing cards. There was water to drink and sunflower seeds to crack. When they laughed and made noise there was actually a special kind of interest.

Seeing Ye Wanqing and Ge Yuan enter, even though the two of them showed nothing unusual on their faces, they were still thoroughly teased for a good while.

Ye Wanqing was not shy. She smiled and exchanged a few words with Fatty Wang’s mother and the others. It was Ge Yuan whose ears quietly turned red. Like a large cat he walked far away and sat down in a place away from this group of women.

Ye Wanqing chatted for a while then went to find him. It was also at this time that she discovered Ge Yue was actually also there!

The tiny little person was sleeping on another quilt, covered with a small blanket. Her little face was flushed red as she softly snored, sleeping extremely fragrantly.

But…… this wasn’t good either?

Was sleeping like this comfortable?

Ge Yuan discovered Ye Wanqing staring at the little one and quickly seized the opportunity to speak, while also softly praising himself. “This girl knew we were coming to keep you company and insisted on following. I felt it wasn’t good to leave her alone at home either, so I brought her. But she’s not as good as me. Look—I’m not sleeping right now. I’m accompanying you.”

“Oh……”

Ye Wanqing answered neither coldly nor warmly. Seeing the light in the tall man’s eyes dim and watching his ears about to droop as well, she instantly could not help the corners of her lips rising.

She reached out and pinched the tall man’s large palm. Then she saw him abruptly look over, a pair of black eyes bright again.

This foolish man.

“Want to know why I’m angry?” Actually she wasn’t that angry.

“Want!”

“You just kissed my mouth swollen. It hurts a lot…… This time I’ll forgive you. Next time if you’re like this again, I really won’t let you kiss.”

“……” Ge Yuan first froze, staring at her lips as if surprised why a woman’s lips were so tender that they could not withstand his kisses. Then his Adam’s apple could not help sliding up and down as he said dryly, “I…… I guarantee next time I’ll definitely kiss lighter. Then…… then……”

“Then what?” Ye Wanqing smiled and glanced sideways at him.

“Can I still kiss tomorrow?”

“……Mm.”

Can kiss!

Ge Yuan’s heart instantly bloomed with joy. All the previous dejection vanished. He was so excited he abruptly stood up from the chair, as if he had suddenly been injected with several liters of chicken blood.

Ye Wanqing: “What are you doing?”

“I…… I’m going out for a walk!”

“……Going to practice boxing again?”

Ge Yuan’s face instantly turned red. “I…… I……”

“All right, you go.” Ye Wanqing could not hold back a laugh.

By a twist of fate, not long after Ge Yuan went out, the night-duty people from the bus station came over.

The waiting hall was brightly lit with laughter and noise. No matter what, someone would come to take a look. Ye Wanqing did not feel surprised because of this.

She was a familiar face at the bus station. When the night-duty people came, she went over and explained a few sentences, received a few words of advice, a few words of comfort, and a sympathetic gaze. Then it was fine.

No doubt this matter would spread to many people’s ears tomorrow, yet no one would be able to say that she, Ye Wanqing, stayed out all night with improper conduct.

After a while, Ge Yuan who had finished practicing boxing returned carrying the scent of sweat. Ye Wanqing called out to him, took out her own cotton handkerchief and wiped away the sweat beads on his forehead. She was amused by his rigid body that did not dare move an inch, and her heart felt warm.

While they were harmonious and joyful here, some people were tossing and turning.

—

Qingshui County Guesthouse.

The Wang couple had rushed over from Niujiao Town during the day. They had openly and secretly inquired about the Ye family’s matters for a whole day. Too lazy to return at night, they stayed here.

In the middle of the deep night, Zhao Yan had not the slightest sleepiness. Listening to the snoring of the sleeping Wang Qiang beside her that grew stronger wave after wave only made her irritable.

Men—there were few good ones. Not thinking of the family at all, not thinking of their son at all. Such a big matter had happened at home, yet every night he could sleep like a dead pig and simply did not worry.

Unable to hold in the anger, she used her elbow to poke Wang Qiang. “Wake up, wake up!”

“What?” Wang Qiang furrowed his brows, opened his eyes, then was stabbed by the light Zhao Yan suddenly turned on so that he closed his eyes again. Yawns rolled out. “Not sleeping in the middle of the deep night—are you crazy?!”

“You say I’m crazy. Am I not anxious for your old Wang family?”

“What’s wrong again?”

“About Jiabao and Ye Wanqing’s marriage—do you think it can succeed?” Zhao Yan furrowed her brows. “Although Ye Wanqing is a bit older, has stopped studying, and looking at how thin she is she’s not the type who will easily bear children, if she can make Jiabao settle down I’ll still be reluctantly satisfied.”

“Whether it can succeed or not, won’t you know if you go ask the Ye family tomorrow? It’s already this late and you’re still making a fuss!” Wang Qiang muttered once, turned over with his back to Zhao Yan, clearly having no intention of discussing further.

Zhao Yan pushed him again. He directly slapped her arm once, his voice also carrying fire. “Quiet down! Make trouble again and this old man will beat you to death!”

Thinking of the shadow of being beaten several times before, Zhao Yan’s heart jumped with fear. She took several deep breaths and swallowed this grievance.

Yet she still could not fall asleep no matter what.

Her Jiabao was seventeen this year, the only seedling of the Wang family. From childhood he had been protected and raised like an eyeball—a proper and well-behaved good child. If it weren’t for that shameless little slut seducing her Jiabao, how could he have made that kind of mistake?

The little slut’s belly was big—so what?

Even if she gave birth to a boy, their Wang family only wanted the child and would absolutely never let that little slut enter the door!

Ye Wanqing was born with a fox-spirit appearance, previously still entangled unclearly with little hooligans, and was a bit older. She was a hundred times dissatisfied with this daughter-in-law.

Yet thinking again—no matter what Ye Wanqing had a good skill and could earn money. It was said she already had over a thousand yuan in her hands. If she could rely on that pretty face to hold Jiabao’s heart and make him not go outside in the future, that wouldn’t be bad either……

Thinking and thinking, Zhao Yan became even more determined. Tomorrow she must get this marriage settled.

—

Ye Wanqing not returning for a whole night—the Ye family simply did not take it seriously. Anyway there had been situations like this before, and hadn’t nothing happened?

Only when Ye Xiangdang went out the next day and heard from others the rumor that Ye Wanqing had slept a whole night in the waiting hall, and also heard people openly and secretly fabricating words about the Ye family, did his expression turn ugly.

“That damn girl is simply stepping our face into the ground!” Liu Lizhen was so angry she could not even eat lunch.

Ye Xiangdang’s face was also ashen as he said heavily, “You go bring the person back later. We gave her a key and she didn’t want it. There’s a place to sleep at home and she doesn’t sleep—going to the waiting hall to mess around. What kind of matter is this? Making people a laughingstock!”

Liu Lizhen rarely did not listen to Ye Xiangdang, yet this time she was unwilling. “I’m not going. I can’t afford to lose that face! That damn girl now simply doesn’t listen to me at all. In her eyes there are simply no parents of ours!”

The matter of making a scene in the logistics department office yesterday—she simply did not dare let Ye Xiangdang know. That matter was only even more face-losing.

If that damn girl came back and spoke of it, what then?

“If you don’t go, who goes?” Ye Xiangdang furrowed his brows.

The air quieted for an instant. Then the two of them consistently looked toward Ye Mingzhu who was eating with great relish.

Ye Mingzhu raised her head and said heartlessly, “Why are you looking at me?”

“This afternoon you go find your sister and tell her to come home.” Ye Xiangdang said gently. “You sisters have had good feelings since childhood. When you were little it was your sister who raised you. She loves you most. If you go persuade her, she can also listen a little.”

Liu Lizhen added, “Talk properly with your sister. Tell her to do less of the things she shouldn’t do and not say the words she shouldn’t say!”

“Okay.” Ye Mingzhu nodded noncommittally, then took the opportunity to make a request. “Dad, give me twenty yuan! I’ve taken a liking to a set of clothes and have no money to buy it.”

Liu Lizhen could not help furrowing her brows and muttering, “Your sister was still working last month. Didn’t you receive your sister’s wages this month? Where’s the money—all spent? You child, how can you be so free with money.”

That was twenty-five yuan—not a small sum!

Although the Ye family’s conditions were good, they were not spent like this. Liu Lizhen truly felt the pain.

Ye Mingzhu sweetly acted coquettish. “Aiya, the provincial city has so many good things—exquisite and pretty, much better than our Qingshui County. The wages I received—I bought a bag of red Fuji for Sister and a gauze scarf for myself and it was gone. You don’t know—that bag of red Fuji cost me over ten yuan!”

“You even bought her red Fuji?” Liu Lizhen became even angrier.

She and Old Ye had never eaten such good things. Why should Ye Wanqing eat them?

Ye Xiangdang also said, “You’re only fourteen. When going out be careful. Don’t run around randomly. Follow the driver, understand?”

“I know!” Ye Mingzhu giggled, pushed away the bowl and chopsticks. “All right, all right. I’m going out to find my sister.”

With that she picked up her satchel and went out.

Yet after wandering around the waiting hall for a while without seeing Ye Wanqing, Ye Mingzhu threw this matter to the back of her mind. Having received the money, she directly boarded the bus to the provincial city, planning to buy the clothes she had taken a liking to that afternoon.

Ye Xiangdang and Liu Lizhen, meanwhile, welcomed the Wang couple who arrived carrying heavy gifts at home.

—

Ye Wanqing had slept a whole night in the waiting hall and had not rested well. The next day her body was a bit fatigued. Fatty Wang’s mother and the others were even more tired and went home early in the morning to catch up on sleep.

In contrast, Comrade Ge Yuan was full of energy and radiance.

The stall in the waiting hall had been handed over and there was no work to do. Ye Wanqing simply caught up on sleep on Ge Yue’s small bed. Ge Yuan had gone out, and there was still a group of little children playing with Ge Yue in the courtyard, so there was no fear of people gossiping.

By the time Ye Wanqing had rested well it was already noon.

When she came out of the room, the first thing she saw was the tall and big Ge Yuan standing under the tree, smiling at her with a mouthful of white teeth. Beside him stood an elderly man in a Zhongshan suit who looked sixty or seventy years old. His features were very kind, only that the gaze looking at her carried a few points of appraisal.

“Your house is settled. You can move in this evening.” Ge Yuan walked over excitedly, his face full of a look seeking praise.

The tall man who usually looked a bit rough with his stubble—what most attracted people at this moment was the brilliant sunny smile on his face and those sparkling black eyes. Looking extremely well-behaved. If there had been a tail behind him it would definitely have been wagging into a fan.

Ye Wanqing secretly pinched his hand and looked toward the elderly man. “This is?”

“Oh, this is Old Zhong.”

“……” Ye Wanqing politely greeted the elderly man. “Elder Zhong, hello.”

“Good, good.” Old Zhong nodded, his eyes full of gratification.

The piglet he had watched grow up had learned to dig up cabbage, and had dug up such a water-fresh and clever cabbage—not bad. A person’s gaze could not deceive people. This girl’s heart was kind and her body upright. No mistake.

Having a very good impression of Ye Wanqing, Old Zhong actively proposed, “My courtyard isn’t far from here. Shall I take you to look?”

Ye Wanqing nodded in pleasant surprise. “Mm. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

At this time Ye Wanqing still did not have much psychological preparation. She thought Old Zhong’s courtyard was only an ordinary small courtyard. Yet when she walked into Old Zhong’s courtyard she was instantly attracted by that elegant arrangement.

Whether the ivy on the surrounding walls, the gladiolus planted in tile pots at the base of the walls, or the grape trellis set up in one corner of the courtyard and the set of ancient, simple stone table and stone stools beneath the trellis—none of them failed to display the master’s elegance and rustic interest.

This still did not count as anything. When she followed Old Zhong into the study and saw the bookshelves filled with books, and box after box of ancient books and antiques in the camphor wood chests, her entire nerves went numb.

These…… were all antiques ah!

The rough man Ge Yuan looked completely indifferent, standing bored at the doorway, clearly uninterested in everything in the study. In his heart only kisses from his little girl could make him excited enough to practice a set of boxing.

Yet when Old Zhong saw Ye Wanqing’s shocked appearance he smiled.

“Looks like you’re someone who knows the goods. With you looking after these things of mine from now on, I also won’t have to fear this stupid thing ruining them!” Old Zhong pointed at Ge Yuan with an expression of hating iron for not becoming steel.

Ye Wanqing nodded in agreement. “Exactly! He’s stupid!”

In her previous life she had been married to Ge Yuan for several years. How many assets Ge Yuan had was never hidden from her, yet she had never heard that he collected so many ancient books and antiques. Perhaps it was precisely because he did not take them seriously that they got ruined.

Just thinking of it made her heart ache.

Ge Yuan: “……” What did he do wrong!

After looking at the study, Ye Wanqing went to look at the bedroom and discovered that while she was sleeping that morning, Ge Yuan had already prepared a complete set of bedding and various daily necessities for her.

Even the small bundle she had brought out from the Ye family had been carefully placed in the clothes chest. Beside the small bundle were also several sets of newly bought clothes. That flowery straight-man aesthetic sense should also have come from Ge Yuan’s hand.

Lowering her head, Ye Wanqing could not stop the corners of her lips from rising.

Her tall man was truly too considerate.

After looking at the courtyard and coming out, in order to thank Old Zhong for his help, Ye Wanqing went into the kitchen and made an abundant lunch.

While eating, Ye Wanqing only then learned that Old Zhong was originally a university archaeology professor who had dealt with ancient books and antiques his whole life. Because his family assets were quite abundant, he had collected quite a few good things.

During those years of the Cultural Revolution, Old Zhong had received the news early and fled to this small county town of Qingshui County, bringing all his treasures as well. Unexpectedly, he trusted people too easily. The news that his home had “prohibited items” still leaked out and he was targeted by the Red Guards.

At that time, the only thirteen-year-old Ge Yuan had actually stood out and protected him.

Ge Yuan had given him a message in advance so he could prepare, then led a group of Little Red Guards to publicly burn quite a few of his books, smash quite a few porcelain and bronze vessels, and “fiercely” struggle against him. He even publicly claimed he found him displeasing and that all future struggle sessions against him would be handled by him alone.

The things destroyed were all worthless fakes, and he actually did not suffer much hardship.

In this way Ge Yuan’s already not-good reputation became even worse, yet he used this method to protect some people. Besides him, several other teachers had also received Ge Yuan’s protection and did not fail to survive those years.

“Speaking of it, it was also fate. Back then I saw the child was pitiful and gave him a few mouthfuls of food. I never expected he would later save my life.” Old Zhong chuckled. “Now it’s good. Days are better. He also has you by his side. I can finally stop worrying that after I die there will be no one to keep him in line.”

Ge Yuan furrowed his brows. “Stop talking about dying or not dying. A scourge lasts a thousand years.”

“Yes yes yes.” Old Zhong laughed heartily.

Ye Wanqing pressed her lips into a smile, wiped away the rice grains that had stuck to the face of Ge Yue who was focused on eating, and felt an emotion she did not know how to express slowly surging in her heart.

Ge Yuan…… her tall man—exactly what kind of person was he?

Every time she thought she understood him enough, some shining points would emerge from him again, making her feel moved and respectful, making her…… unable to control liking him a little more.

—

Ye Wanqing could not stay idle. After resting at home for one day, the next day she pushed the pushcart to the entrance and exit of the bus station, found a place with a good location, and continued setting up the stall.

Unexpectedly the passenger flow here was nearly double that of the waiting hall. Besides the passengers entering and leaving the bus station, there were also people passing by on the street who bought a few skewers of oden as snacks or carried them home as dishes. Her business was even better.

After one day she was a bit flustered and could not keep up. The next day she simply increased Fatty Wang’s mother’s wages and brought Fatty Wang’s mother along to set up the stall together. She herself became much more relaxed.

After these two days, when Ye Wanqing returned home and calculated the accounts she discovered the profit was half again more than before. Her mood instantly became even better.

Yet this good mood of hers only lasted two days.

On the third day of setting up the stall, Ye Mingzhu found her in the late morning.

The moment she saw her face, Ye Mingzhu anxiously and flusteredly came to pull her while urgently shouting, “Sister, why are you really setting up a stall here? Why don’t you go home? You’re truly going to worry us to death.”

“What’s wrong?” Ye Wanqing found it laughable and did not believe the Ye family would have even one person who worried that something had happened to her.

Ye Mingzhu bit her lip. “You haven’t returned home these past two days. The bus station is saying all kinds of things about our family. Mom and Dad are about to die of anger. Mom said if you don’t want to acknowledge her and Dad anymore, then let you go back to your previous home, so…… so she called Eldest Aunt over! Right now Eldest Aunt is at our home. You…… hurry home and take a look!”

“Really?” Ye Wanqing was extremely surprised.

In her previous life after learning her own life background she had also paid attention to the situation of Eldest Aunt’s family. Yet after Liu Lizhen discovered it she cried and made a big fuss, was very dissatisfied with her, and forced her to swear she would never contact that side again before she stopped.

In this life Liu Lizhen actually actively called Eldest Aunt over?

However although Ye Mingzhu was willful, at this time her age was still young and she rarely told lies. She should not be deceiving her.

“Why would I deceive you?” Ye Mingzhu stamped her foot. “If you don’t believe it then go back and take a look! If you still don’t go stop Mom and Dad, do you really want to go to the countryside with Eldest Aunt? Mom is just angry in her heart. You just need to apologize to her.”

Ye Wanqing shook her head and scoffed. “My household registration was originally in the countryside. Only the three of you have urban household registration. Don’t you know?”

Ye Mingzhu was stunned. “Then…… are you going back or not?”

Ye Wanqing nodded.

Going back was still necessary. If Eldest Aunt had truly come, she had to make this trip.

After giving Fatty Wang’s mother a few instructions, Ye Wanqing followed Ye Mingzhu’s footsteps.

Yet the moment she entered the Ye family’s door, the door behind her was “bang” closed and locked from the inside.