“Hm?”

Just a few steps away from their front gate, Hu Youning looked at those smiling phoenix eyes gazing at him, hesitated, then gathered his courage and said, “Actually, I already have someone in my heart……”

Creak–

The courtyard gate opened from the inside at that moment. The woman who came out with a lantern to welcome them nodded slightly to him, then turned her gaze to Jiu Jiu, who had suddenly lowered his head and was quickly pulling at his own sleeve.

“Wife-master.” Meng Jun’s voice lowered, revealing a hint of guilt as if about to be caught. Li Ruantang stepped aside to avoid Hu Youning and reached out to take her young husband’s hand.

They spoke quietly for a few moments.

Hu Youning stared blankly at the pair of shadows cast on the ground, his lips curving in self-mockery.

Some things, once the opportunity is missed, there’s no second chance.

The room lit by oil lamps gave off a faint warm yellow glow.

The young gentleman obediently soaked in the hot water prepared by Li Ruantang. He occasionally glanced at the figure sitting with her back to him, not even noticing that the small red flower petal in his palm was almost crushed.

For some reason, he felt that Li Ruantang seemed to have something on her mind.

Those beautiful phoenix eyes narrowed slightly as he thought of all the possible reasons that could make her unhappy. Through the half-open window, the aroma of braised meat gradually wafted in, making one’s mouth water just from the smell.

Ah Ning’s culinary skills were truly impressive.

The young gentleman envied him silently for a while, then suddenly became melancholic. If only he knew how to cook, then he could immediately make whatever she liked to eat.

“Jiu Jiu?” The sound of water behind gradually lessened. Li Ruantang turned her face slightly, glancing at the bamboo screen with her peripheral vision. She saw the young gentleman very carefully hanging her mutton-fat jade around his neck before hastily putting on his inner clothes.

That flash of white like fire made Li Ruantang’s face burn secretly, and she could only grip the cup in her hand tightly.

“Wife-master, did you call me?” The footsteps behind were light and quick, rushing over like a gust of wind. Not to mention those bright black phoenix eyes, looking up at her without blinking.

Li Ruantang’s heart stirred, and the words she wanted to ask turned over and over before being swallowed back. Her silly young husband couldn’t hide anything, how could he be someone skilled at manipulating people’s hearts?

“Mm.” Reaching for the wound medicine placed beside her, Li Ruantang grasped the young gentleman’s wrist that he was hiding behind his back. “Your wound hasn’t scabbed over yet, it needs to be treated properly with medicine.”

“Eh? Wife-master……” Meng Jun was stunned, not expecting her to have actually noticed. He had hidden it very well when he saw her earlier.

The young gentleman’s nose inexplicably soured, and he asked foolishly, “How, how did you discover it?”

Li Ruantang shook her head slightly, gently poking his cheek, “There’s dirt on your sleeve.”

It had rained for a day and a night outside, and even though the rain had cleared, it was still half-dry and half-muddy. It wasn’t strange to accidentally get some mud on the wide sleeves.

Moreover, the young gentleman was usually very clingy, but he had acted out of character when he just returned. His eyes kept darting to the small basket Hu Youning was carrying.

In addition, the fire had been lit in the kitchen.

Li Ruantang applied a large dollop of medicine, gently rubbing it onto his wrist. The young gentleman’s hand also had several marks where the rabbit’s claws had kicked forcefully.

“Why did you say the rabbit was caught by Young Master Hu?” She felt pity in her heart and lightened her touch even more.

“Because Ah Ning indeed put in a lot of effort.” The young gentleman lowered his eyelids, looking quite sad. “I also don’t know how to cook.”

“Silly Jiu Jiu.” Li Ruantang sighed inwardly, gently blowing on his medicated wrist. She lowered her brows in concentration, completely missing how her young husband’s handsome face suddenly turned red.

For a moment, Meng Jun felt his heart beating wildly. He hurriedly withdrew his hand, clutching the medicine bottle, his breath slowing, “I, I’ll help apply medicine for wife-master too!”

The young gentleman had already planned out tonight’s schedule: first, he would give Li Ruantang extra nourishment, then lie on the kang bed waiting for her to fall asleep, and then—

Those bright black phoenix eyes secretly glanced at the person who went to open the door and bring in a plate. The corners of his lips lifted slightly. And then he would snuggle with her!

However, regarding this matter of detoxification.

Meng Jun had seriously recalled that in novels, it was usually described as “another night of candle tears falling.” Although it was written vaguely, if it took a whole night, it seemed that snuggling for detoxification was indeed an extremely laborious task.

It wasn’t that the young gentleman minded the trouble, he just couldn’t understand why after snuggling, all those novels would write that the man’s waist was sore.

If it was really uncomfortable, shouldn’t it be the mouth?

Meng Jun was full of doubts, but all those novels he had read had been censored by the Bureau of Editing, and anything slightly out of line was either [censored] or skipped over.

Fortunately, whether this bit of content was there or not, it didn’t affect the plot.

Now, it had been quite a while since Li Ruantang turned off the lights and lay down beside him. The young gentleman secretly rubbed the corners of his mouth before turning over to face Li Ruantang, who was lying flat.

Whether it was because he was too nervous, or because he had just eaten too much.

A belch rang out softly.

In that instant, in the clear moonlight streaming through the window, Meng Jun clearly saw a smile spread across the lips of Li Ruantang, who had her eyes closed in sleep.

She… how was she still not asleep?!

It’s over, the young gentleman covered his head with the thin quilt, feeling somewhat embarrassed. She must have heard that sound. Wuwu, he didn’t want to live anymore.

No matter how he thought about it, he felt that Li Ruantang’s smile just now had a hint of bitterness. Perhaps she was inwardly complaining that he could eat so much, that he wasn’t an easy husband to keep.

Although most of the midnight snack that Ah Ning had prepared was fed into his mouth by Li Ruantang. But if it wasn’t for her smiling so beautifully, he wouldn’t have been distracted and swallowed it unconsciously.

The more Meng Jun thought about it, the more aggrieved he felt. He normally couldn’t eat this much.

It was all Li Ruantang’s fault!

The young gentleman secretly pinched the mutton-fat jade in his bosom, and then surreptitiously poked it at the sleeve of her inner garment. Hmph, once the poison was neutralized, she would know how useful he was!

Li Ruantang looked at the small mound under the thin quilt with a mixture of amusement and exasperation. “Jiu Jiu, can’t you sleep?”

“No, wife-master, I’m asleep!” The voice from under the quilt was clear. Li Ruantang was stunned and almost laughed out loud.

“Snore– Snore–” As if afraid she wouldn’t believe him, the young gentleman imitated the sound of his mother snoring during her afternoon nap.

Li Ruantang raised an eyebrow, suddenly curious about what he was trying to do.

Meng Jun, who had been waiting for quite a while, never imagined that snoring could be so uncomfortable. After imitating for a while, his throat became parched and burning.

The young gentleman was feeling uncomfortable from holding it in. Just as he sat up, a cup of tea was handed to him. He glanced at the obviously sleepy young woman and gulped down a lot in one go.

Very good, she was already tired!

The young gentleman secretly pinched his leg, then closed his eyes with renewed vigor and lay back down on the pillow.

Learning from the previous two experiences, this time Meng Jun lay down very properly.

But when the entire Hu family village had quieted down,

He had barely moved his arm when Li Ruantang, sleeping beside him, very consciously moved a bit to the side.

Her young husband had climbed up and down last night, expending a lot of energy, only taking a nap during the day, and hadn’t gotten enough sleep at all. If he hadn’t been frightened, how could he possibly stay awake until now, not daring to fall asleep.

He had never walked at night before, and she didn’t know how he had mustered the courage to go to Changshan Gou alone last night.

However, recalling the conversation she had unintentionally overheard in front of the kitchen earlier, Li Ruantang let out a soft sigh. Perhaps he hadn’t gone alone after all.

This Sister Wei was probably the person who had sent the message to the Hu family.

So, was it not that he dared not sleep, but that he was preparing to leave?

Just thinking about it made Li Ruantang feel as if she was standing in a cold draft, with threads of sourness wrapping around her heart.

But even so, she still wanted to try to keep him.

“Jiu Jiu.”

Li Ruantang’s voice came low and soft, gentle and pleasant to hear, “Don’t be afraid, I’m here. You can sleep peacefully.”

Eh?

The young gentleman, who had been tightly closing his eyes pretending to be asleep, was puzzled upon hearing this. Strange, his pretend sleep was almost indistinguishable from real sleep, how did Li Ruantang know he wasn’t asleep?