Making pork rib soup wasn’t too difficult. Xu Qi had stewed it a few times herself. From the beginning, it was hard to swallow, but now she could drink it reluctantly, and she could make it quite well.

Ye Lan sat at the table, watching Xu Qi. She didn’t allow him to help, not even to sit and keep the fire going. He could only sit idle.

Xu Qi first blanched the pork ribs, then briefly stir-fried them before adding potatoes and mushrooms to stew together.

After adding the seasoning, it was finished.

Since there wasn’t much else, she thought she might want to drink pork rib soup with corn.

“Hey, Qi’er.”

As voices came from outside, Xu Qi was about to say something to Ye Lan, but she was interrupted. When she looked up, she saw Uncle Man carrying a basket of things over.

“Qi’er, these are freshly picked from the mountain today. Take them and have a taste.”

While Uncle Man’s voice came, Ye Lan was still sitting, but by the time he entered, Ye Lan had already nervously stood up.

This was the first time Ye Lan had met someone Xu Qi knew. His palms were sweating nervously.

“Uncle Man, why are you here?”

“I’ve come to bring you some fruit.”

Uncle Man said and put the basket on the table. Then he noticed the man standing beside Xu Qi.

“Ah, you’re the husband Qi’er bought, right? Not bad looking.”

Not just “not bad,” in this rural place, only the best-looking ones could compare with Xu Qi’s husband. If he didn’t look good, the adult wouldn’t have taken a fancy to him.

Ye Lan was still recovering from his illness, his complexion not very good. When he heard Uncle Man say this, he lowered his head nervously and gave up his seat, “Umm… You, Please have a seat.”

He looked a bit flustered as he looked at Xu Qi, as if seeking help.

Xu Qi walked over to him and whispered, “Call him Uncle Man.”

“Ah? Oh, Uncle Man, hello.”

He lowered his head, trying to appear obedient.

“Ah, he’s a good kid.”

“Uncle Man, I’ll go out and fetch some firewood. You can chat with Ah Lan for a while.”

“Alright, you go ahead. I won’t bully your little husband.”

Uncle Man joked with Xu Qi, and Ye Lan was already feeling overwhelmed by the affectionate address.

He had never realized that just being called by someone could make him feel so flustered.

“Is your name Ye Lan?” Uncle Man asked gently.

Although he felt a bit dissatisfied that Xu Qi had spent so much money to buy back a broken person, he knew that it was done, and he was just a neighbor. He could only vent his dissatisfaction to his own woman. In the adult world, one couldn’t express everything one felt.

“Yes, this slave is called Ye Lan.”

Ye Lan replied softly.

Uncle Man frowned. Was he still a slave?

“Are you… a slave?”

Ye Lan lowered his head even more, “This slave was bought by the mistress to serve.”

Oh, fortunately, he wasn’t that kind of slave, the kind sentenced to servitude for a crime.

He heard that those people would have the character for “slave” tattooed on their bodies, but he didn’t see it on Ye Lan’s body last time, so he guessed it wasn’t the case.

“Oh, I see. How old are you this year?”

Ye Lan lowered his head even more. He didn’t know how old the mistress of the house was, but when he thought of her youthful face, his palms sweated even more.

“I… this slave is twenty-eight this year.”

“What?!” Uncle Man couldn’t control his voice and couldn’t help but exclaim.

Ye Lan looked up and saw him trembling, pointing at him.

“You… you’re already twenty-eight this year?”

Ye Lan nodded, his face almost transparently pale.

“But Qi’er, Qi’er is only nineteen!”

He had thought this man might be a bit older than Qi’er, but he didn’t expect him to be this much older, a whole nine years!

“Being twenty-eight, it’s not easy to have children.”

Uncle Man muttered to himself. He thought his voice was light enough, but in the countryside where people were used to speaking loudly, every word was heard clearly.

Ye Lan took a few steps back, feeling a bit shaken and a bit inexplicably sad.

Did the mistress of the house… not know he was this old?

If she knew he was this old, how could she want him? Any woman wouldn’t accept a man who was not only unclean but also much older than herself, as the man in front of him said, it’s not easy to have children and carry on the family line.

The mistress of the house, she must be like this too.

Ye Lan looked up, his eyes pleading. He even wanted to beg the man in front of him not to say anything about this.

Just then, Xu Qi came in carrying a bundle of firewood.

“What’s going on with you guys?”

She stood at the door for a moment before realizing something was wrong with the atmosphere inside. It was too strange.

Ye Lan heard Xu Qi’s voice and turned his head suddenly, his watery eyes looking at her anxiously, then at Uncle Man.

If Xu Qi didn’t understand Uncle Man, she might have thought Ye Lan was being bullied.

She walked over and put the firewood next to the stove, then hugged Ye Lan from behind, feeling the pressure on his back increase. She simply picked him up and, amidst his soft cries of surprise, brought him back to the room and placed him on the bed.

“What’s going on?”

Xu Qi asked him.

Ye Lan curled up, almost hiding in the corner of the bed, “Mistress, do you know how old this slave is?”

He raised his head to look at Xu Qi, but his eyes were evasive.

Xu Qi patiently asked, “Then how old are you?”

With his eyes closed, his eyelashes trembled, as if he were about to face an executioner.

“I… this slave is twenty-eight years old.”

After saying that, he dared not open his eyes, fearing to see any shock, regret, or disgust in her eyes.

However, after a long time, all he heard was an extremely calm “Oh.”

Ye Lan opened his eyes in surprise, wanting to say something, but he was hit by an unpleasant smell of burning.

He widened his eyes, and the person oppositehim widened theirs too.

Fortunately, Xu Qi reacted quickly. She almost immediately got up from the bed and scrambled out the door.