Ye Lan buried his head in Xu Qi’s arms, rubbing gently. The familiar scent surrounded him, dividing his mind into two realms: one where he was being punished for his mistakes and pleading desperately, and the other where he was being gently embraced by a woman with a blurred face and a pleasant fragrance.

She took me to see the doctor, treated me gently, touched me. She was very good to me, even in that matter, she was gentle, bringing a completely different sense of comfort than usual.

“Wife.”

Ye Lan murmured in Xu Qi’s arms.

Xu Qi only used two fingers to pinch the wooden basin and clothes, feeling very uncomfortable, naturally not in the mood to respond to Ye Lan.

Unexpectedly, the person in her arms seemed dissatisfied, lifted his head from Xu Qi’s arms, and almost sat on her two arms.

“Uh.”

Damn it, it’s a bit heavy.

But seeing Ye Lan’s unstable emotions, Xu Qi still spoke to him in a very gentle voice.

“What’s wrong, Ah Lan?”

 

“Wife?”

 

Ye Lan called out again.

This time Xu Qi responded to him, “I’m here.”

Ye Lan saw tears suddenly flowing from her eyes, as if disregarding everything, and rushed over to hug Xu Qi.

Xu Qi was knocked over, but she didn’t get angry. Instead, she stopped her steps, threw down everything in her hands, and focused on hugging the little baby in her arms.

With the posture of holding a child, one hand supported Ye Lan’s buttocks, and the other hand patted his back gently.

Ye Lan seemed extremely sad, but extremely restrained, lying silently in the warm embrace without making any sound.

After a long time, Xu Qi’s clothes were wet.

Wet inside, sticking to the skin, the touch was obvious.

“Ah Lan…”

Xu Qi called him softly.

Ye Lan rubbed against her clothes again, making her suspect that he wanted to wipe all his tears on her clothes.

“Have you cried enough?”

Xu Qi asked him again, and Ye Lan hesitated before crawling out of Xu Qi’s arms, “Um, I, I didn’t cry.”

 

But those reddened eyes and nose didn’t seem convincing at all.

“Hey, Missy, what are you guys doing? Aren’t you afraid of being seen in broad daylight like this?”

A man passing by recognized Xu Qi and also recognized Ye Lan in her arms, and laughed.

Only then did Ye Lan realize that he had sat on his wife in such a shameful posture and hurriedly pushed Xu Qi to let her put him down.

But Xu Qi enjoyed teasing him. The more he wanted to get down, the more she didn’t let go.

“Huh, isn’t it my husband who’s being clingy? He’s upset as soon as he comes back from outside and insists on me holding him.”

Ye Lan was shocked. He never expected Xu Qi to say such words.

His face turned red with embarrassment, and he secretly pinched Xu Qi’s slender white fingers hard behind her back.

Xu Qi’s arm shook, and she loosened her grip, causing Ye Lan to panic and use his hands to grab Xu Qi’s neck.

Xu Qi indulgently said to him, “Look at you, so careless, what if you fell just now? Loosen up a bit, your wife can hardly breathe.”

Ye Lan was already ashamed to see people, so he quickly buried his face in Xu Qi’s arms, pretending not to see anyone.

Xu Qi didn’t want to attract too much attention, so she didn’t provoke anyone too much. Otherwise, she might not be able to get on the bed tonight. Seeing Ye Lan looking more lively, she bid farewell to the middle-aged man who was teasing them, one hand holding Ye Lan, and the other picking up the things on the ground, and went home.

“Wow, it smells so good.”

As soon as she opened the gate, Xu Qi smelled the meaty fragrance wafting throughout the courtyard, with a hint of sweetness.

“Did my husband specially make something delicious for his wife?”

Xu Qi approached Ye Lan and asked, Ye Lan turned his face away, “It’s not for you to eat, I made it to feed the pigs!”

 

“Hehe, hahaha.”

Xu Qi couldn’t help but laugh, and hooked Ye Lan’s slender waist with her hand, “Ah Lan, pigs don’t eat their own kind.”

Ye Lan suddenly realized that he had said something stupid again, and didn’t want to talk to anyone anymore, nor did he want to get down. He just hummed and hugged Xu Qi.

In this way, he looked a bit like a young man, and Xu Qi shook her head with a smile.

Xu Qi opened the pot and saw two big elbows inside, emitting a charming fragrance. She patted Ye Lan from behind, “Are you coming down to eat by yourself or waiting for me to feed you?”

Of course, Ye Lan wanted to come down and eat by himself.

With a blush on his face, he crawled down from Xu Qi, went to the cabinet to get two sets of chopsticks, served the elbows from the pot and arranged them neatly. Everything was ready, waiting for Xu Qi to eat, but Xu Qi was sitting by the stove burning the fire.

Ye Lan called out to her in confusion, “Wife?”

 

“You can light a fire? It’s burning quite well.”

Considering how long it took her to learn when she first came, she thought.

“I used to light fires too.” Ye Lan also took out a dish of wild vegetables he had previously cooked. Now both dishes were ready.

“Who was that person we met today?”

Seeing Ye Lan in a better mood, Xu Qi asked him.

The person who was busy stopped again, burying his head even deeper, his long and curly eyelashes trembling.

Seeing that he didn’t speak, Xu Qi leaned over boldly, hugged Ye Lan’s waist, and hung on him, swaying back and forth.

“Hurry up and tell me, so I’ll know how to reject him next time. Look at him today, dressed like that and asking me to take him in.”

Xu Qi was still a little dissatisfied. How could she be remembered by such a person? Did he think she would pity him just because of his pitiful background?

Ye Lan obviously also recalled the scene today. He lightly covered Xu Qi’s hand on his back, feeling extremely uncomfortable when he saw that scene.

He thought of the safe harbor he had finally encountered, the wife he had exchanged for half his life of suffering, being snatched away by someone.

How many means does Lin Yu have? How could he not know? It’s said that when Pengcheng was captured, he followed the adults and didn’t have a good life, so he set his sights on Xu Qi.

“Ah Lan?”

Xu Qi noticed Ye Lan’s distraction and shook his arm gently.

Ye Lan snapped out of it and looked at her, then buried his head back into Xu Qi’s arms, rubbing gently, before lifting his head again to observe Xu Qi’s expression.

When he saw her expression was gentle, he slowly opened his mouth, “He used to be a slave of the former mistress and had a grudge against me. So he targeted me everywhere, and even fabricated an unchaste accusation against me, selling me off.”

Although he spoke calmly and simply, his body was trembling slightly.

Xu Qi knew that things were definitely not as simple as he said.

That man seemed to be quite eloquent and cunning. Since Ye Lan couldn’t speak, he must have suffered a lot in his hands!

Her poor Ah Lan.

Xu Qi hugged Ye Lan tightly and comforted him softly, “It’s all in the past. Now that I’m here, I won’t let anyone bully you again.”

Ye Lan nodded in Xu Qi’s arms, and unconsciously climbed up even higher, wrapping his arms around Xu Qi’s neck.

He had to explain clearly so that his wife wouldn’t think he was promiscuous and had done something unchaste.

His appearance clearly showed his reluctance, so Xu Qi pressed him down and gave him a fierce bite before they both sat down.

Ye Lan’s lips were slightly swollen as he sat there stealing glances at Xu Qi.

This time had passed, and the elbows were almost cold, but fortunately, the delicious taste was still there.

Xu Qi tore off a piece of hot skin from the elbow and put it in her own bowl, then scooped out the soft meat inside and fed it to Ye Lan.

Ye Lan nibbled delicately, looking obedient and enticing.

Xu Qi thought, most likely the person Ye Lan mentioned was blind.

Such a good Ah Lan couldn’t be seen, and he only liked those with twisted minds.

After finishing the meal, Xu Qi went out with a large basket.

Ye Lan remembered meeting Lin Yu today and refused to let her go alone. After drinking the medicine, he insisted on accompanying her.

Helpless, Xu Qi had to take out several thick clothes and put them all on Ye Lan.

She changed her own clothes as well, otherwise, with the clothes from noon wet by Ah Lan’s tears, going out in the cold wind would be risky.

Although Ye Lan had been out a few times, he was not very familiar with the outside world. Now he could only follow Xu Qi’s lead and followed her to a slightly distant place behind the mountain where the grass was still green.

“What kind of grass is this?”

Ye Lan asked timely.

“This? Pig grass, for feeding pigs.”

Ye Lan nodded as if he understood, and obediently went forward to help cut the pig grass.

With Ye Lan’s help, this task was completed very quickly. The sun had just set a little when they could go back.

After returning, Ye Lan became even more diligent and insisted on helping Xu Qi feed the pigs. Xu Qi couldn’t refuse him, so she taught him how to mix the pig grass and took it to feed the pigs.

There were ten little pigs in the back. Ye Lan’s eyes widened, “Why are there so many?”

 

“They gave birth. There weren’t many originally, but there was a litter born recently. Look at that one, it’s going to give birth again.”

Xu Qi pointed it out to Ye Lan.

Ye Lan’s eyes widened, feeling like he had never seen such a thing before.

The big pig’s belly was round and plump, and upon closer inspection, it was indeed a bit larger than the other pigs.

“With so many pigs, can my wife sell them all?”

Ye Lan asked a question that Xu Qi was also considering. She was alone, and if she wanted to sell so many pigs, she might not be able to handle it all.

Ye Lan quietly looked at Xu Qi, letting her think it over without disturbing her.

It wasn’t until they were about to return that Xu Qi saw the wild mushrooms sent by Uncle Man and suddenly had an idea. Maybe she could ask Uncle Man’s family for help?

Wait until the pigs give birth a bit more, then she’ll hire a few more people to help, weigh all the pig meat, entrust them to help sell, and earn forty wen a day.

This was already more profitable than most of the odd jobs done by people in the village.

Then, when she had saved up enough money, she would open a restaurant in town, hire an accountant, be self-sufficient every day, and use her own pig meat for her own business.

Xu Qi’s thoughts were very beautiful, and she hugged the little husband and went back.

Ye Lan didn’t know what his wife was thinking, but seeing her happy, he was also happy, obediently following Xu Qi and being tightly hugged by her.

Since the incident at noon, Ye Lan seemed to be unwilling to let Xu Qi go out alone, so Xu Qi gained a cute little follower who followed her everywhere. Even when she was chopping wood, he insisted on bringing a small stool to sit beside her and watch.

Xu Qi felt a bit embarrassed but also felt happy.

Who could resist such a husband who was so gentle and willing to come over to wipe your sweat?

Certainly not her.

So the next day, Ye Lan, who had tasted the sweetness, insisted on going to town with her.

Afraid that he might catch a cold again, Xu Qi couldn’t agree no matter what, and the two of them ended up in a deadlock.

Ye Lan silently made breakfast, and Xu Qi handed over the medicine she had fried herself, but he didn’t even glance at it and just did his own thing.

Xu Qi smiled. He really had a temper. Why not stay and accompany him today?