Chapter 13

Yun Pianpian and Jiang Cuicui held their breath and hurried to the fields.
When they passed by the private school earlier, neither dared to breathe too loudly, afraid of disturbing the young man in blue.
It was only when they reached the fields that they finally let out a long sigh of relief.
Yun Pianpian sighed with emotion, “I never thought there would be such an unparalleled beauty in this world.”
She had thought Xiao Changyuan was already exceptionally handsome, but she hadn't expected there to be someone in this world who could rival him.
Xiao Changyuan's beauty was like that of a deity, cold, aloof, and unattainable.
The young man in blue, however, was like an immortal who had stepped out of an ink, wash landscape painting, elegant, refined, and seemingly harmless.
Hearing her words, Jiang Cuicui immediately became wary. “You already have Brother Shitou! Don't even think about setting your sights on Brother A’Yu!”
Yun Pianpian was taken aback for a moment before chuckling lightly. “Alright, alright, I know. I won't compete with you for your Brother A’Yu.”
Jiang Cuicui's pretty face flushed bright red all of a sudden. “He's not mine! Don't talk nonsense.”
Yun Pianpian smiled but said nothing more.
The two of them went down to the cornfield and worked hard all morning, harvesting quite a bit of corn. To thank Yun Pianpian, Jiang Cuicui gave her ten ears of corn. Yun Pianpian happily carried the corn back home and saw Xiao Changyuan standing at the door.
“Husband, why are you back so early today?”
Xiao Changyuan's thin lips were pressed tightly together, his entire demeanor cold and forbidding. His handsome face was as icy as a desolate, snow, covered wasteland.
“Where have you been?”
Yun Pianpian didn't notice Xiao Changyuan's cold expression. Beaming with pride, she held out the corn in her arms for him to see.
“I helped Cuicui harvest corn! Look, darling, I gathered all of these myself!”
Upon hearing this, Xiao Changyuan glanced at the corn in her arms, then furrowed his long brows and looked at Yun Pianpian with displeasure.
“You wouldn't go up the mountain with me, but you went to harvest corn with Jiang Cuicui?”
Yun Pianpian was taken aback, finally sensing the displeasure in his tone. A bit belatedly, she asked, “Husband, are you angry?”
Xiao Changyuan's voice was cold.
“What do you think?”
Seriously? Is he even jealous of Jiang Cuicui?
If you're this prone to jealousy, why not just marry a dumpling and dip it in vinegar?
Yun Pianpian hastily made up an excuse: “I didn’t really want to go harvest corn, but Cuicui was so insistent. She kept pestering me to hang out for the longest time, and I only reluctantly agreed to go with her to the cornfield. Look, as soon as I finished, I came right back, didn’t stay a moment longer. I never wanted to spend time with her anyway; I only want to be with my darling.”
No choice, she had to throw Jiang Cuicui under the bus for now.
Yun Pianpian figured that someone as cold and detached as Xiao Changyuan wouldn’t bother confronting Jiang Cuicui.
Hearing her explanation, Xiao Changyuan pressed his lips together and said nothing.
After a moment's thought, Yun Pianpian added, “How about I go up the mountain with you to hunt every day from now on? Please don’t be angry, okay?”
Being a freeloader is so boring anyway, taming the big tyrant is much more fun.
At her words, the icy expression on Xiao Changyuan’s face softened slightly.
“Why the sudden change of heart?”
Seeing an opportunity, Yun Pianpian immediately poured on the sweet talk: “You know what they say, a day apart feels like three years. Since we haven’t seen each other all morning, it’s like three months have passed. I missed you so much I couldn’t stand it, so I just had to come back…”
Hearing this, a faint blush spread across Xiao Changyuan’s pale, coolly handsome face.
He slightly furrowed his brow. “Are you always this shameless when you speak?”
Yun Pianpian was taken aback for a moment, then curved her eyes into crescents as sweet words poured out like they cost nothing. “I was originally feeling shy, but after seeing my husband, my heart is filled with nothing but sweetness, and I can no longer care about being shy.”
Xiao Changyuan couldn't stand Yun Pianpian's sugary bombardment. Furious, he stormed out, slamming the door behind him.
His slender, elegant figure looked somewhat disheveled.
As if he were fleeing in panic.
Watching his flustered retreat, Yun Pianpian clutched her stomach and laughed for a long time.
At first, she had lied to complete her mission.
Later, she lied to cover her tracks and survive.
But now, lying seemed purely for the sake of finding amusement in teasing Xiao Changyuan.
Quantity leads to quality.
Hegel truly didn't deceive me.
Yun Pianpian stood there, philosophizing for a moment, then placed the corn into a basket.
She went to the kitchen, washed the rice, chopped the vegetables, and sat on the bluestone step in front of the doorway, waiting for Xiao Changyuan to return.
There was no helping it, she still didn't know how to start a fire, so she couldn't cook the meal.
After about the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn, Xiao Changyuan returned to the courtyard with a cold, handsome face.
He glared icily at Yun Pianpian, his expression guarded.
“You are not allowed to say those things again.”
Yun Pianpian found his overly serious demeanor amusing, as if she were some kind of heavy weapon. She curved her eyes and smiled at him. “Yes, yes, if my husband says not to speak, I absolutely won't. I always listen to my husband.”
Only then did Xiao Changyuan's tense expression slowly fade from his handsome face.
Yun Pianpian looked at him. “Husband, where are the game you hunted this morning?”
Xiao Changyuan pointed to the corner of the fenced yard. “In those baskets.”
Yun Pianpian walked over to take a look. The baskets were filled with plenty of pheasants and wild rabbits, quite a bountiful harvest.
She smiled. “My husband is truly amazing!”
Xiao Changyuan didn't even lift an eyebrow at her praise.
Yun Pianpian added, “If my husband could help me start the fire, he'd be even more amazing!”
Upon hearing this, Xiao Changyuan immediately strode into the kitchen, lit a fire starter, and helped Yun Pianpian get the fire going in the stove.
Soon, thin wisps of smoke rose from the chimney.
Yun Pianpian prepared a plate of stir, fried carrots with meat, a plate of chili, fried eggs, and a large bowl of vegetable and meatball soup, accompanied by two side dishes of pickles.
Xiao Changyuan ate quite a lot.
After lunch, Yun Pianpian brought the dishes to the kitchen, and Xiao Changyuan casually helped her wash them.
Yun Pianpian poured the brewed herbal medicine into a small bowl and handed it to Xiao Changyuan.
“Husband, it's time to take your medicine.”
Xiao Changyuan took the bowl, tilted his head back, and drank it in one go. As soon as he set the bowl down, Yun Pianpian handed him some preserved fruit.
“Eat this, and it won't taste bitter anymore.”
In Xiao Changyuan's mind, the taste of preserved fruit was actually about the same as the herbal medicine.
He couldn't tell which was worse.
But he couldn't refuse his wife.
Xiao Changyuan took the preserved fruit and swallowed it, the sensation akin to chewing on bitter herbs.
Yun Pianpian smiled and asked, “Can you still taste the bitterness?”
Xiao Changyuan saw the hopeful smile on her face.
He fell silent for a moment.
Then, as if bewitched, he nodded.
“It's not bitter anymore.”
“I knew it.”
Yun Pianpian smiled contentedly upon hearing this.
Her smile was like a light feather, gently brushing against the icy tip of Xiao Changyuan's heart.
Xiao Changyuan suddenly felt that the overly sweet preserved fruit wasn't so hard to eat after all.
At least when paired with his wife's smile, it wasn't entirely unpalatable.
Could this be what the books meant by “feasting the eyes on beauty”?
In the afternoon, Yun Pianpian and Xiao Changyuan went to the town to sell their game at the market.
There were many people selling game at the market, and just as many buying it. Many, like Xie Yu, bought the game to resell in the more distant county town, where they could fetch a higher price. The basket of game eventually sold for a hundred copper coins. Since the household's seasonings were running low, Yun Pianpian took the opportunity to buy some more at the market. Satisfied, the two returned home, bringing the day to a close.
That night, after washing up, they lay down together in bed.
Yun Pianpian fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
Her soft, shallow breaths were like a lullaby, calming his heart and lulling him into drowsiness.
Xiao Changyuan soon drifted into a deep sleep.
The moonlight shifted, casting flower shadows, and the long night stretched on.
Suddenly, an unusual sound came from outside the courtyard.
In the darkness, Xiao Changyuan abruptly opened his eyes, cold and sharp.