Chapter 10: Fickle-mindedness

“Chiu chiu?”

Li Ruantang waited for a while, but didn’t hear the young gentleman speak. She coughed lightly a few times, and hearing the courtyard was quiet, she gestured with her hand on her head, “Look, it’s like a little rabbit hopping up and down like this.”

“Oh.”

The young gentleman, coming back to his senses, responded faintly, but his fingers, which had retreated into his sleeve, seemed to have been burned by fire, suddenly gripping a palm full of sweat.

Heavens!

What was he just thinking about!?

The young gentleman furrowed his brow, but the instigator still appeared oblivious. He immediately felt annoyed and asked quickly, “Wife-master, who told you that all male gentlemen like little rabbits?”

She coaxed people so naturally, it’s likely she had already said this to someone else several times.

Meng Jun turned his face slightly, glancing at Li Ruantang who was standing there stunned. He secretly snorted in his heart, he wasn’t just some young master cooped up in the inner courtyard with no experience of the world. He wouldn’t lose his bearings just from being casually coaxed.

Little white rabbits weren’t anything special, certainly not comparable to gold, stones, and jade.

He didn’t want one.

The young gentleman slightly pursed his lips, haughtily glancing again at Li Ruantang who was drafting an explanation.

The more serious her expression became, the more spirited Meng Jun felt.

Just as Li Ruantang was about to open her mouth.

“Oh~”

The young gentleman drawled, deliberately cutting in front of her, “I understand now, wife-master truly has other lovers outside!”

“That’s not it, chiu chiu, listen to my explanation!”

“I won’t listen.” The young gentleman sat dejectedly on the edge of the kang bed, his figure trembling slightly. Looking only at his back, he seemed both hurt and pitiful.

But where Li Ruantang couldn’t see, those beautiful phoenix eyes showed no trace of sadness, only turning about happily, ears pricked up listening to the movements of the person behind him.

This scene was common in storytelling.

When Meng Jun first read it, he only felt it was affected, but now he understood the fun in it.

After all, it was just teasing someone.

He hugged his own arms, secretly glancing at the flustered Li Ruantang, his tone lowering a few more degrees, “Wife-master, no need to mind chiu chiu, chiu chiu was just talking nonsense earlier.”

“If wife-master has a young master she fancies, just bring him back to the capital later.”

“As the principal husband, one should be magnanimous.”

“Chiu chiu, listen to me, I—”

Long fingers timely covered Li Ruantang’s lips gently through a handkerchief, the young gentleman sighed long and deeply with great vigor, “Wife-master need not say more, I understand everything.”

Those beautiful phoenix eyes still had a slight redness, like peach blossoms just awakening in spring, vividly falling into Li Ruantang’s heart, directly evoking full sympathy.

“I only have……”

Through the handkerchief, her words were muffled and unclear.

The young gentleman, still acting, curiously raised his eyes, and immediately fell into a sincere gaze.

“Chiu chiu.” These two words she called clearly.

Was she saying she only had him, or was she just calling his name?

The young gentleman’s breath stagnated, but he couldn’t ask her, immediately feeling three more parts annoyed. If he had known earlier, he wouldn’t have imitated those male characters in stories who were always covering people’s mouths, now he had only added many troubles for himself.

Although she had previously sworn that there was no one else, how much of her past could an amnesiac woman remember? Even if there was someone she fancied, she would have long forgotten.

The young gentleman lowered his eyes, uncomfortably releasing his hand.

Anyway, they weren’t really wife and husband, he… he couldn’t be bothered to care about these matters that weren’t even settled yet.

Taking a deep breath to suppress that wildly beating heart in his chest, Meng Jun stood by the table, seeing the boiled fish that Ah Ning had just brought in, he remembered the main issue.

“Wife-master.”

The young gentleman ladled her a bowl of fresh fish soup, saying, “The sky outside is still overcast now, if it rains, the water level in Changshan Gully is likely to rise. Ah Ning said that usually during the rainy season, even Sun Huolang who is familiar with the mountain roads finds it difficult to enter the village.”

“Yes, Hu Sanniang mentioned this too.” Li Ruantang nodded, before she could get up, a bowl and spoon were handed to her.

In the extremely fresh fish soup, there was fish meat that the young gentleman had carefully removed the bones from.

He quite seriously first scooped up a spoonful and blew on it, before feeding it to Li Ruantang’s lips, “But this way, it will delay wife-master’s return to the capital.”

“Should we make other plans?”

The longer they stayed here, the harder it would be to explain this pretense later.

Moreover, not long ago, in order to thwart his mother’s intentions, he had specifically sought out Li Ruantang to make a bet.

Although Li Ruantang hadn’t agreed to it at the time, words once spoken couldn’t be taken back. Now he was eagerly pretending to be her husband.

If Li Ruantang suddenly regained her memory in these few days, he would be thoroughly embarrassed.

Just thinking about this, the young gentleman’s brows immediately began to knot with worry.

“Actually, staying here for a few more days isn’t a problem.” Li Ruantang swallowed the last spoonful of fish soup and smiled lightly.

“But wife-master is injured.” Meng Jun frowned, “Even if we can’t invite a doctor from this remote place, you should at least eat something to replenish your qi and blood.”

Hu Sanniang’s family was in straitened circumstances, and these past two days they had been eating the grain they had prepared for the New Year. Moreover, Li Ruantang had just taught Fu Lanxian a lesson today, and it was unknown whether this village bully would cause trouble for Hu Sanniang again in a few days if no one from the capital showed up.

Even if these weren’t considered, when it was time to return to the capital, it would be the moment for him to come clean. If Li Ruantang was still sickly, how could he bring himself to speak out?

So no matter what, Li Ruantang needed to recover as quickly as possible.

The young gentleman thought worriedly, not knowing what he had recalled.

“Wife-master!”

His eyes brightened, and he excitedly said, “Ah Ning said there are many medicinal herbs in Changshan Gully, and today he even discovered ginseng flowers, it’s just in a dangerous location, I—”

“No!” Li Ruantang put her finger on the tip of the young gentleman’s nose, shaking her head at him, “No fooling around.”

“But—”

“No buts.” Li Ruantang looked solemn, watching the gradually disappointed young gentleman, “My injury isn’t serious, it can heal slowly, but if young master Hu were to be put in danger because of me alone. How could I be at ease?”

Her words were clear and left no room for argument.

Meng Jun’s jade-like face gradually turned red, he lowered his head, too ashamed to speak.

Just now when mentioning the ginseng flowers, the young gentleman had indeed had the thought of asking Ah Ning for help.

As his arm dropped, the wide sleeve swayed slightly, Meng Jun pursed his lips, feeling somewhat at a loss. Since birth, he had been a young master raised in the inner courtyard, if he wanted something he only needed to say a word, and someone would soon present it.

How could he have thought about what others might go through?

He felt for a moment that he wasn’t being a good friend, not thinking more for Ah Ning, and then felt that he was truly selfish.

The young gentleman was overwhelmed with shame. Even though Li Ruantang had coaxed him gently for quite a while, she couldn’t dispel the gloom between his brows.

The sky was heavy that day, looking from afar, even the clouds in the sky seemed about to fall onto the roof tiles.

The fire in the kitchen burned brightly.

Hu Youning, busy cooking, took a moment to glance at chiu chiu who had moved a small stool to sit at the door.

He was silent, his whole person gloomy.

Even when Li Niang just went out, he didn’t react, lost in his thoughts.

Hu Youning looked at the sky, feeling vaguely worried.

There were indeed many rabbits in that small hollow behind the village. But finding a rabbit with pure white fur would still be somewhat difficult.

Moreover……

Hu Youning frowned slightly, not knowing if Li Niang’s physical strength could hold up.

“Sigh—”

Seeing the young gentleman sitting outside sigh deeply again, Hu Youning finally couldn’t help but ask, “Chiu chiu, do you have something on your mind?”

“Mm.” Meng Jun nodded, seeming somewhat listless.

“You’re not—” Hu Youning paused, before he could finish asking.

The young gentleman turned around and said softly, “Ah Ning, what do you think of wife-master?”

“Me?” Hu Youning hadn’t expected chiu chiu to bring this up, his rolling pin paused, then quickly resumed rolling the dough, “I think Li Niang is a good person.”

He gave a cautious and careful evaluation.

“She is indeed a good person.” The young gentleman covered his face with his hands somewhat troubledly, for a moment just now, he even felt Li Ruantang seemed to be faintly glowing.

He even had the dangerous thought that it wouldn’t be bad to really marry her.

Although this thought was immediately suppressed by the young gentleman as soon as it emerged, Meng Jun just felt uncomfortable in his heart.

The lady he had always been thinking of was clearly sister Wei. Having this thought, wasn’t that being fickle-minded?

Pah!

The young gentleman hurriedly spat secretly several times, it must be because he had been both startled and afraid these past few days, causing him to have illusions.

He was a devoted male gentleman!

The young gentleman, having calmed down, pinched his own face with his hand, waiting for the water in the pot to boil. Only then did he walk towards the door he had been looking at for a long time.

Who knows if Li Ruantang had woken up yet.

He tiptoed, gently pushing open the door. Seeing the kang bed empty at a glance, his heart immediately sank.

The small old room could be seen clearly at a glance.

Meng Jun anxiously circled the Hu family courtyard two or three times, checking the front yard and outhouse, but couldn’t find her anywhere.

Apart from the tightly closed courtyard gate and covered room doors, the only one open was the back window of the room they were temporarily staying in.

In an instant, countless horrifying thoughts flashed through the young gentleman’s mind, and those beautiful phoenix eyes immediately filled with tears.

“Ah Ning, wife-master is missing!”

Wuu, it must be that Fu Lanxian harbored a grudge and played a dirty trick. No, he must go save Li Ruantang.

The young gentleman wiped his tears, staggering towards the outside to search. Before he could step out of the courtyard gate, he was urgently stopped by Hu Youning, “Chiu chiu, don’t you remember?”

“Eh?” Meng Jun was stunned.

Hu Youning smiled helplessly, “You, didn’t Li Niang speak to you when she went out just now?”

“I saw you not responding to her, I thought you two had a quarrel. I didn’t expect—”

He pulled the young gentleman back into the courtyard, “You were really lost in thought and didn’t hear.”

Hm? Li Ruantang went out on her own?

Meng Jun was stunned, the redness at the corner of his eyes gradually spreading to his neck.

He turned his face away somewhat embarrassedly, fortunately Zhou Fulang and Hu Sanniang were delayed at noon and hadn’t returned from the fields yet.

Otherwise, he might have to pretend to faint to avoid the current embarrassment.

The young gentleman sniffled, looking at the gloomy sky, “Ah Ning, do you know where wife-master went?”

She’s still injured, not resting properly and just wandering about.

Meng Jun slightly pursed his lips, this was really worrying.

***

He first thought she played hard to get, only to realize she really disliked him (Female-dominant)

Short intro:

What she can’t stand the most is the streets full of effeminate men, especially that so-called top beauty whom she avoids at all costs.

Shen Yaoxing looks at Jiang Mingyue, who keeps approaching her with coy shyness.

Shen Yaoxing: Bro, don’t be like this, I’m really about to throw up!

She fears nothing in heaven or earth, except for him getting close to her.

*

At first he thought she was just using the trick of feigning indifference to attract his attention. Later, he learned that she truly despised him.

This dealt a heavy blow to Jiang Mingyue, and he vowed to make her, like everyone else, fall at his feet in worship!

***

Synopsis:

Before transmigrating, Shen Yaoxing only wanted to find a reliable man to spend her life with. Who knew that after transmigrating, she would become a reliable woman herself…

A forced misandrist, highly skilled, and reliable female lead

vs.

An initially aloof and arrogant, later morbid, obsessed male lead

_____

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