Chapter 23

Looking at the tall man’s stiff back, Ye Wanqing could not hold it in and laughed out loud.

People were like this—seeing someone else more embarrassed, she herself seemed not so tense anymore.

Then Ye Wanqing discovered that her tall man’s body had become even stiffer. From the angle she was looking, the roots of his ears were so red they were about to drip blood.

Apparently knowing that her gaze was still falling on him, he did not dare move an inch and only called her in a hoarse voice that was a bit flustered and a bit anxious. “……Can you…… can you turn around!”

“……Ah, like this?” Ye Wanqing answered especially gently and especially readily. “Okay.”

In fact, she did not turn at all.

She simply leaned against the doorframe, a pair of almond eyes full of smiling meaning looking at him, her feet not moving an inch.

Yet Ge Yuan believed it. He quietly let out a breath, no longer caring about rinsing his body with water once more. With mismatched hands and feet he walked a few steps away, picked up the towel to wipe away the water beads on his body, and in two or three moves put on a clean upper garment.

Before taking off his pants he still paused once, as if worrying about something. Yet in an instant he dismissed the worry, nimbly pulled the pants downward, and prepared for a quick battle and decisive victory.

However, it was also at this moment that a voice that could no longer be held back and carried smiling meaning rang out mischievously……

“Brother Yuan, your figure is pretty good!”

Ge Yuan: “……”

His body stiffened. His hands could not hold the pants. The wet pants “pa” dropped onto the ground. Ye Wanqing “pfft” laughed out again.

“Brother Yuan……”

“Shut up! Turn…… turn around!”

“Hahaha……”

Amid Ye Wanqing’s sweet and crisp laughter, Ge Yuan jumped up as if scorched by fire. In two or three moves he kicked off the wet pants. He did not even care about wiping and directly pulled on clean pants. The moment he pulled up the waistband he glared at Ye Wanqing with a red face.

How…… how could this little girl be so spicy?

Simply, simply…… Ge Yuan’s heart let out a silent roar!

Yet Ye Wanqing was still especially regretful and fearlessly offered an opinion. “Why did you put on clothes first? The hem is so long—I only saw your two long legs……”

Ge Yuan was so angry and flustered that his face was so red it was about to emit smoke. “……Ye Wanqing! You…… you you you still want to see what? Ah?!”

Ye Wanqing used a finger to scratch her face. Her innocent gaze glanced once at his buttocks and she said uncertainly, “……Whether it’s perky or not?”

Ge Yuan: “……”

Ahhhhhhhh!

—

“Brother Yuan, that pushcart was actually forged by you? You even know how to blacksmith—you’re really amazing!”

“Brother Yuan, what else can you do? Tell me about it.”

“Still angry?”

“……At worst, from now on I won’t look at you! Even if I look, I won’t laugh—how about that?”

Ge Yuan’s face was flushed red. He put on a fierce appearance with a cold voice. “……Ye Wanqing, you…… stay farther away from me!”

“I……”

“After…… after eating we’ll talk.”

“Okay.”

As a result, after eating, a certain someone still ignored people. The moment the bowl and chopsticks were put down he hid out the door—big liar.

“What’s wrong with you two? Having a conflict?” The two of them were making it so obvious that Old Zhong also noticed something was not right.

“……” Meeting Old Zhong’s gentle and kind gaze, Ye Wanqing was a bit embarrassed. “That…… maybe he’s throwing a tantrum with me.”

After that scene in the evening, Ge Yuan had not paid attention to people. After returning he split firewood and carried water. No matter how she tried to please him he kept a cold face and looked puffed up with anger—simply…… so cute it killed her, haha.

However, Ye Wanqing felt her own psychology was still not good to let an elder know, otherwise it would be too improper.

After all, elders all hoped the younger generation would get along harmoniously.

However……

Old Zhong poured himself another cup of tea and said with extreme interest, “Don’t worry. He might have gone out to handle business. By the way, do you know how much bride-price that little brat has accumulated these years? Not bad—at least this much……”

He stretched out a hand and indicated an eight.

“Eight thousand?” Ye Wanqing was surprised. She was already guessing on the high side.

Unexpectedly Old Zhong shook his head. Carrying a bit of the pride of sharing in the glory, he said heavily, “Eighty thousand!”

Ye Wanqing: “……”

At this time, Ge Yuan was already this capable?

She suddenly became full of curiosity toward the things Ge Yuan was currently doing and wanted to know how he had accumulated so much capital.

He truly had always been stronger than she thought.

Ye Wanqing was curious and wanted to ask about Ge Yuan’s matters. As a result Old Zhong’s tone shifted. He pointed at Ge Yuan’s room. “His bankbook is placed in the room, stuck to the back of the bed board with glue. However, the password is up to you.”

Ye Wanqing: “……” Unbelievable!

Old Zhong’s face was full of righteousness. “Anyway you two are going to get married sooner or later. What’s wrong with you holding the money? Men shouldn’t manage the money!”

Ye Wanqing: “……”

“Do you think if he has no money, will he learn archaeology from me? He studies one day, I give him one gold bean—honest with young and old!”

Ye Wanqing: “!!!”

This was the true words?

She suddenly felt Ge Yuan was so pitiful! Did her pure rough man know that the woman he liked and the elder he respected were both not good things?

Truly too pitiful!

However……

“Elder Zhong, can this really make him read a bit?” If it truly worked like this, Ye Wanqing felt perhaps she could try it.

Ge Yuan who was currently instructing Houzi on matters felt a chill on his back, a feeling of being targeted.

Houzi looked at him curiously. “Brother Yuan, what’s wrong?”

Ge Yuan reacted. “Nothing.”

Then, as if possessed, he asked a few more sentences. “Is my figure good? Strong? If you were a woman, would you like it or not?”

Houzi: “……!!!”

Save me!

—

After the small shop was on track, Ye Wanqing adjusted her own schedule.

She entrusted Ge Yuan to buy a bicycle. Every early morning she and Fatty Wang’s mother went out to deliver the dishes prepared the previous evening to the shop. In the afternoon she prepared the evening’s steamed dishes in advance and returned home around five o’clock.

In this life she wanted to achieve something through hard work—that was correct. Yet an individual’s energy was limited. She felt what she needed was reasonable allocation of time, increasing work efficiency, using her brain to do things, rather than squeezing her physical strength and energy too hard.

Most importantly, accompanying family was also very important…… Thinking of Ge Yuan who had been awkward with her for several days, Ye Wanqing’s brows and eyes held a smile. Her footsteps returning home became a few points lighter.

Before entering the small courtyard, she did not know whether it was her illusion, yet she always felt as if someone was staring at her, observing her.

Yet the moment she turned back to look, she discovered there was no one behind her at all.

Shaking her head, Ye Wanqing thought as she closed the courtyard gate.

Regarding Ye Wanqing’s decision to return home earlier from now on, Ge Yue and Old Zhong expressed extreme joy. Especially Ge Yue—she was so happy she directly clapped her little chubby hands and bounced up. If there had been a little tail behind her it would definitely already be frantically wagging.

After all, foodies no matter their age all paid great attention to the feeding situation of every meal. Tongues that had been raised picky already found it difficult to return to the past.

Looking at the happy appearance of the grandfather and grandchild, Ye Wanqing decided to make a table of Sichuan dishes tonight.

It just so happened there was a piece of fresh pork tenderloin at home. She cut the tenderloin into fine shreds, added salt, starch, and a spoonful of Huadiao wine, mixed them evenly, and set them aside to marinate and absorb flavor. Then she cut the soaked black wood ear mushrooms, carrots, and green peppers likewise into fine shreds and set them aside for later use.

In the time while the meat shreds were marinating, Ye Wanqing minced a small lump of meat, planning to first make mapo tofu.

She put a small amount of oil in the wok and stir-fried the minced meat open. When the minced meat turned golden and even slightly charred she added the bright-red, salty-fragrant bean paste, then added fermented black beans and garlic. Thinking that the family’s taste was all heavy, she also added a small handful of chopped facing-heaven chilies.

When the fragrance dispersed, she put a ladleful of clear water into the wok. With a “sizzle” a wave of hot mist rose from the wok. She turned her body to avoid it. When the meat broth boiled she seasoned it with salt, then cut the tofu into small pieces one after another and poured them into the wok. She carefully shook with the spatula, making sure every piece of tofu was submerged in the bright-red, numbing-spicy broth.

Cooking the tofu for three to five minutes was about enough. Before taking it off the heat she added a small bowl of water starch to thicken. When the broth became a bit viscous, after taking it off the heat she sprinkled some Sichuan pepper powder, then added emerald green onion flowers and cilantro for seasoning and decoration. A bowl of fresh, fragrant, numbing-spicy mapo tofu was ready.

By this time the tenderloin shreds had also been marinated about enough. Ye Wanqing first mixed a bowl of seasoning sauce with white sugar, soy sauce, vinegar and other seasonings. Then she used a hot wok with oil to release the fragrance of ginger, scallion, and garlic, added the meat shreds and stir-fried. When the meat shreds turned white she added the prepared seasoning sauce and stir-fried.

The meat shreds coated in the seasoning sauce turned a sauce color. Then she added the shredded carrots, and finally added the quickly-cooked wood ear mushroom shreds and green pepper shreds and stir-fried together for a moment. Seeing the sauce evenly coat every fine shred, it could be taken off the heat.

The sour-and-spicy flavor was too fragrant. Ye Wanqing as the cook could not hold it in and used chopsticks to pick up a bit and put it into her own mouth. As a result she was caught red-handed by Ge Yue who had come to the kitchen to squat and wait.

The little one’s eyes lit up. Hugging her small water bucket she “scrape scrape scrape” charged over. Like a little bird waiting with open mouth to be fed she raised her head and opened her little mouth wide. “Ah……”

Ye Wanqing could not help laughing.

She put one chopsticks of fish-fragrant shredded pork into her mouth and incidentally rubbed her dog head. “Delicious?”

“Delish!” Ge Yue kept nodding, her voice already muffled.

“After eating go out. We can eat right away.”

“Okay!” Ge Yue was so happy her eyes curved.

Already having one heavy-flavored mapo tofu and one meat dish of fish-fragrant shredded pork, Ye Wanqing thought of balancing meat and vegetables and quickly stir-fried a plate of spicy shredded potatoes, then braised a bowl of seaweed and egg drop soup.

When the rice and dishes were on the table, Ge Yuan also returned.

Unexpectedly Ye Wanqing had returned so early again today. He secretly glanced at Ye Wanqing once, then quickly sat down on the chair, picked up the bowl, and shoveled rice into his mouth.

Cooking for Ye Wanqing was a kind of enjoyment. She preferred the appearance of the people close to her liking her cooking skills, their expressions pleasant while eating.

However……

Wasn’t a certain someone eating a bit too fast? Even if the food was delicious, there was no need to be so urgent as if going to the rice fields for double harvesting?

Ye Wanqing raised her brows and decided she could not let a certain someone keep hiding like this.

A rough man one meter eighty-eight tall—standing up he almost hit the courtyard gate. She did not know why he would be this embarrassed. Teasing him a little and for several days he did not dare look her straight in the eye. Clearly…… in the previous life it had not been like this!

Ye Wanqing: “Brother Yuan, this evening I have a few words I want to say to you. Do you have time?”

“……” Ge Yuan’s movements paused for a moment. After swallowing the food in his mouth whole he shook his head. “Sorry. Tonight I…… am a bit busy.”

Yo, he even knew how to say sorry now—how civilized!

Ye Wanqing nodded considerately. “Oh…… you’re a bit busy? Then it seems I can only go find Houzi. Houzi is so warm-hearted—he shouldn’t be as busy as you.”

Ge Yuan: “……”

Those few little hooligan brothers by his side also lived in this area. These past few days Ye Wanqing had also met Houzi a few times. Saying she wanted to go find Houzi for help was not impossible either.

That ghost Houzi—did he deserve a beating?

Ge Yuan adjusted his expression and said with a serious face, “Although I’m a bit busy, if you have any important matters still leave them to me. Don’t go trouble outsiders.”

Ye Wanqing glared at him once. In front of Old Zhong and Ge Yue she did not speak, yet those bright almond eyes said everything: Since you know it’s not an outsider, why have you been hiding and hiding these past few days?

Ge Yuan: “……”

He…… he still had to eat!

—

After dinner, Old Zhong leisurely claimed the dishwashing work and directed an encouraging gaze toward Ye Wanqing.

Ye Wanqing: “……”

Truthfully, she felt Old Zhong was impossible to make Ge Yuan become an archaeologist. Not in this lifetime.

Like her—she was very sensible. She simply did not think of changing Ge Yuan’s life. She only hoped her rough man could read a bit more books and preferably develop a habit, broadening his horizons in books.

Because he himself was already a very outstanding person with many ideas. Reading books for him was not a brightly lit path to a future, yet it could be a tool that added wings to a tiger.

This time finding Ge Yuan was also not for the matter of reading books, but because she did not want to continue being awkward with this tall man.

Forget it—coax the person.

Perhaps it was precisely that she owed him in her previous life!

“Let’s go into the room to talk.” Ye Wanqing subconsciously reached out wanting to take Ge Yuan’s hand, yet was dodged by him. She raised her brows. Her almond eyes narrowed dangerously. “You’re still angry with me and won’t even let me touch your hand?”

This dialogue particularly resembled an unfeeling scumbag speaking to a little girl he had bullied…… After Ye Wanqing finished speaking she first felt awkward in her heart, feeling she seemed to have even more local-tyrant temperament than Ge Yuan.

Unexpectedly Ge Yuan’s ears instantly turned red. After she finished speaking he silently extended his own right hand over. “This hand is okay.”

Ye Wanqing: “……”

Not thinking that much, she grabbed his hand and pulled him into the room.

The two of them sat on the edge of the bed. Ye Wanqing’s clean almond eyes reflected the lamplight and appeared even brighter. Ge Yuan who was being gazed at by her became more and more uncomfortable. Unable to restrain the itch in his throat, he muffledly coughed twice.

“Why have you been hiding from me these past few days?”

“……I haven’t.”

“You haven’t? In the morning you fly faster than a chicken snatching food. In the evening you return later than a mouse stealing oil. If this isn’t hiding from me then what is it? If you don’t want to see me, from now on I’ll……”

“No!” Ge Yuan became anxious. He could not hear her words about leaving and quickly interrupted her. “I…… I just feel I’ve let you down. Don’t overthink!”

Ye Wanqing originally had not overthought. Now she was instead strange. “Clearly I was the one who peeked at you. What have you done to let me down?”

Ge Yuan: “……”

Misspoken!

This time he tightly closed his mouth. No matter how Ye Wanqing asked him, his eyes kept staring at the roof and he simply did not utter a single word.

Ye Wanqing seriously thought for a moment and recalled that the day after that evening, the bedsheet in Ge Yuan’s room had suddenly been changed.

That day was clearly not the time for changing and washing bedsheets and quilt covers. That plain blue checkered bedsheet of his was hanging on the bamboo pole, fluttering with the wind under the somewhat overcast weather. She had even been curious why Ge Yuan suddenly washed the bedsheet yet did not wash the quilt cover.

Just now when she wanted to take Ge Yuan’s hand, Ge Yuan refused to let her touch it, yet afterward extended his own right hand over…… They were both organs on his body. Had his left hand done something wrong?

That was it……

Ye Wanqing held back a laugh. “Brother Yuan, has your left hand been sentenced by you? That…… are you certain that only your left hand touched there during that bath, and your right hand has never touched?”

“Cough cough cough……”

Caught off guard, Ge Yuan was choked by his own saliva. Instantly his face turned red to the ears.

Who would have thought this was simply not the end!

Ye Wanqing leaned in front of him. A pair of pretty and charming eyes looked at him with a smile and spoke the ghost hidden in his heart. “That night, did you dream of me?”

“In the dream, were you very happy?”

“How many times did you go wild?”

“Ye Wanqing!” Ge Yuan directly jumped up and once again shouted out in flustered anger. He glared with a pair of black eyes, simply unable to believe that the secret he had hidden deepest would be so easily seen through and still be…… spoken out like this.

He…… he knew he himself was a bastard!

Yet, yet……

Ye Wanqing likewise stood up. She no longer teased her own pitiful tall man. Instead under his tense gaze she walked in front of him, lightly circled his lean and powerful waist, and pressed her own likewise reddened face against his chest.

Actually she was also a bit embarrassed.

Listening to his heartbeat that was fast like gunshots—“tu tu tu”—Ye Wanqing’s heart softened into a sheet.

“Brother Yuan, I know you’re good to me and don’t want yourself to have any place that offends me. But…… we’re going to be husband and wife in the future, aren’t we? Some normal physical reactions—don’t treat this as original sin. Don’t hide from me anymore. If you hide from me, I’ll be sad.”

“I……” Ge Yuan was at a loss for words. He took a deep breath, nodded calmly with a red face. “I know.”

He hugged Ye Wanqing back, a bit aggrieved as he rested his chin on the top of her head. His voice was muffled. “I just feel I’m too filthy. Actually…… actually treating you like that in a dream. I’m also afraid I won’t be able to control myself and will hurt you.”

That early morning after he woke up he could no longer sleep. Everything in his mind was the beautiful scenes in the dream—both excited, both stirred, both ashamed, and even more regret and self-disgust.

Because of this he had not kissed her for several days!

Ye Wanqing: “Then you still have to control yourself. Fighting! I’m still young right now. Give me a bit more time.”

Ge Yuan of course knew, yet still felt even more aggrieved. “……Mm.”

Ye Wanqing pressed her lips into a light smile.

Her body was only eighteen. Ye Wanqing felt she had to wait another two years. No matter what, she had to reach the legal marriage age. Contraceptive measures at this time were not that complete yet. Accidentally getting pregnant would not be good.

Besides, actually she still quite enjoyed this feeling of being in a relationship.

In her previous life although she and Ge Yuan had gotten along for several years before marrying, the mode of interaction between the two of them from the very beginning was the mutual-respect old-married-couple mode…… no passion, no heart-stirring. Many things lacked that bit of flavor.

Starting over once, she wanted to have a better love with him.

Ye Wanqing applied heavy medicine. The two of them finally counted as having spoken things through. Only then did she speak the proper matter she wanted to talk to Ge Yuan about tonight.

“Brother Yuan, can I ask what you’re doing right now? And your future plans—can you tell me about them?”

Ge Yuan had not expected her to ask this. Yet after thinking for a moment he sat down again, his expression becoming serious.

“I do the business of reselling fresh vegetables. I know quite a few people in Qingshui County and also know quite a few people in the provincial city. Usually I have Houzi and them go to the towns and countryside to collect goods for me. After the goods are collected I turn around and sell them to the provincial city side. One part goes to factory cafeterias; one part is given to people to do retail. Because collecting goods and moving goods are both relatively smooth, I’ve also earned quite a bit.”

To put it bluntly, Ge Yuan was using personal connections and channels to act as a middleman.

Although reform and opening up had already begun at this time, because transportation was inconvenient and the economy underdeveloped, the circulation and operation of commodities was still very restricted. For ordinary people to buy the things they wanted to buy was truly not that easy.

Ge Yuan saw the business opportunity within this. He used low prices to purchase agricultural products from the townships and countryside, then marked up the prices and sold them in the provincial city. This was indeed a good path.

Ye Wanqing had previously also guessed some of it.

Because the fresh vegetables at home had never been interrupted, and the varieties were extremely rich. Moreover after opening the shop the quantities she wanted grew larger and larger. Even the ingredients for the Chen family’s stall were also purchased from Ge Yuan’s side. Yet Ge Yuan could always supply them without the slightest difficulty.

What Ye Wanqing had not expected was that Ge Yuan’s stall at this time was already spread this large and he actually still had long-term cooperative relationships with factory cafeterias on the provincial city side.

However, Ge Yuan doing this line at this time was seizing the first opportunity. Yet this line had no technical content and was not that difficult to replace. When more and more people did this in the future, competition would definitely grow larger and larger, and profits would also grow thinner and thinner.

She had previously vaguely learned that Ge Yuan’s entrepreneurial path still took some detours. She did not know whether it was related to this.

Thinking of this, Ye Wanqing proposed the idea she had considered for several days.

“Brother Yuan, if there’s an opportunity in the future, what do you think about us taking over a food factory?”

“Food factory?” Ge Yuan was surprised, yet did not express opposition.

Ye Wanqing nodded affirmatively. “I want to open the restaurant into a chain and let many people come to franchise. But I also want to try a food factory. Not to mention anything else—if I make vacuum-packed braised foods to sell, do you think the sales channels can be opened?”

Ge Yuan seriously thought for a moment and felt it was feasible.

His insight was unique. He had a natural sharp commercial intuition. Although currently the timing and funds were both not mature, he still proposed quite a few suggestions that gave Ye Wanqing quite a few gains.

The two of them chatted and unconsciously chatted until late at night.

Ye Wanqing suddenly realized the time had reached ten o’clock in the evening. She quickly stood up and told Ge Yuan she wanted to return.

Ge Yuan was a bit reluctant yet still stood up. “I’ll send you back to your place.”

“Mm.” Ye Wanqing smiled and nodded, rose on her tiptoes, and kissed him once on the chin.

The two of them walked out of the room and were just preparing to walk toward the courtyard gate when unexpectedly a aged cough came from under the eaves’ shadows. Old Zhong’s voice floated over ethereally. “Chatted a whole evening—have you settled when to get married?”

Ye Wanqing: “……”

Ge Yuan: “……”

Grandfather!