Chapter 4: Pinky Promise and Seal

Unlike in the capital, several men on the road in the village weren’t wearing veils. The villagers didn’t seem to find this inappropriate.

Li Ruantang finally felt somewhat relieved.

The young man had left in a hurry earlier, and his tied-up hair was a bit messy. Now squatting by the river, he suddenly became annoyed again. He turned his head and accusingly pointed at her, “How could you not tell me!”

“What?” Li Ruantang squatted beside him at the river’s edge, holding a bar of soap in her hand, examining it.

The young man frowned, so annoyed he wanted to bite her a few times. He had walked around half the village with his hair in such a mess, and she was still oblivious.

See, he knew Li Ruantang was reckless and careless.

Meng Jun glared at her resentfully, reaching out to undo his hair tie. From the corner of his eye, he saw Li Ruantang’s fingers about to take his dirty clothes.

Startled, the young man’s face paled, and he quickly swatted her hand away, “I’ll do it myself!”

His voice was much louder this time.

Li Ruantang frowned slightly, but before she could speak, the guilty young man grabbed her pinky finger as if to make amends.

“Wife, wife-master.” Meng Jun lifted his eyelids slightly, secretly peeking at Li Ruantang’s expression, “These are a man’s clothes. When has the Great Jin ever had women do such chores?”

His nervous palm was sweating, afraid that his earlier action might have made Li Ruantang suspicious.

“……”

Li Ruantang lowered her gaze, her eyes seeming to look at the pinky finger he was tightly holding, or perhaps just glancing over casually.

Meng Jun’s heart skipped a beat. Oh no, could she have noticed the difference in touch?

“Wife-master.” The young man bit his lip, extending his fingers into her palm, grasping it tightly, “Are you angry with me?”

His face looked pitiful, while his heart was filled with anxiety.

Li Ruantang shook her head slightly. The fingers the young man had slipped into her palm were slender, with long joints, not at all like those of someone who had done rough work.

She sighed softly, “Jiujiu, I know what you’re worried about.”

“But now is not the time to distinguish between men and women. If I weren’t penniless, you wouldn’t have to suffer like this.”

“But……”

The young man hesitated and felt frustrated. He had only borrowed her name, how had they become so close now?

He glumly looked at the cheerfully flowing small river, unable to directly tell Li Ruantang that he had never worried about her reputation at all.

“Jiujiu, have you used this soap bar before?”

Meng Jun pursed his lips and shook his head. Li Ruantang chuckled softly, no longer hesitating, “Then I’ll try first, and teach you once I’ve learned.”

She said she would teach him, but by the time the young man understood how to scrub, those two or three pieces of clothing had already been washed clean.

It was also Li Ruantang’s first time doing laundry. After scrubbing the clothes clean, she rinsed them for a long time, her fingers turning red from soaking. Finally, she picked them up to show Meng Jun, who was squatting eagerly beside her, “Jiujiu, do you think they’re rinsed clean enough?”

“Clean.”

Several young men had come over at some point and had been watching for a while. Now they hurriedly spoke up with smiles, “The lady has washed them clean enough. Looking at your attire, you don’t seem to be from our village. Are you here from town to play?”

The villagers were simple folk. Seeing that Li Ruantang wore no jade ornaments, they assumed she was just a wealthy lady, and their conversation became more natural.

“I see the lady is injured. Could it be that you went hunting in Changshan Gully a few days ago and got hurt?”

Li Ruantang smiled faintly and nodded to them.

“Since the lady isn’t from our village, you probably don’t know how dangerous Changshan Gully is. Now that you’ve escaped with your life this time, you shouldn’t go to Changshan Gully again in the future.”

They glanced at the young man hiding behind Li Ruantang and winked, saying with a smile, “Otherwise, someone might cry their eyes out.”

Even though these men hadn’t named anyone specifically.

Meng Jun’s face still turned red, feeling very uncomfortable as he clutched her sleeve and turned his face away.

Hmph, not at all, he wouldn’t cry for Li Ruantang.

The young man awkwardly hid behind her. Li Ruantang casually placed the wrung-out outer garment into the bamboo basket, patted his arm, and then smiled, “My husband and I have just arrived here. We originally came to see the beautiful scenery of Changshan Gully, but unexpectedly got injured. How did this place become so dangerous?”

Her words were half-true and half-false. One of the men with a kind face sighed deeply after hearing this, “That’s a long story. Actually, our Hu Family Village used to be the most prosperous place for miles around. If it weren’t for someone insisting on blasting the mountain to change the river course two years ago, how could Changshan Gully have become like this?”

“In the end, the river course wasn’t changed, but Changshan Gully had several sinkholes because of it, which ended up killing people, making everyone feel uneasy.”

He angrily scrubbed the clothes in his hands. The people around him quickly nudged him with their elbows and changed the subject with a laugh.

“Looking at your husband’s appearance, he’s just like an immortal from a painting. No wonder the lady is so considerate.”

“Indeed, you two are a perfect match.”

The group chatted and laughed, practically introducing the entire Hu Family Village.

Li Ruantang understood and smiled, asking again, “I heard that you rely entirely on one peddler to send messages out?”

“Yes, the person the lady mentioned is Sun Huolang. Besides her, there’s really no one else willing to come here.”

“This Sun Huolang, originally was……”

“Li Fulang!” The most silent man among them suddenly spoke up, “Didn’t you say you had porridge simmering at home when you came? If you don’t go back after so long, what if the pot burns dry? Your wife-master has a bad temper, she’ll surely give you trouble.”

The kind-faced Li Fulang was startled. He had been talking happily and hadn’t noticed the time.

The group hurriedly washed and rewashed the clothes in their hands, and soon bid farewell to them, leaving in twos and threes.

“Wife-master.”

Meng Jun gently tugged on Li Ruantang’s sleeve. Her face was becoming increasingly pale, and the young man was worried. They had already found out most of what they needed to know.

“When we go back, we should ask Hu Niang if she has any herbs to replenish qi and blood.” As soon as he finished speaking, Li Ruantang beside him swayed unsteadily, almost unable to stand.

“Wife-master!” The young man was startled. Without bothering to pick up the bamboo basket, he quickly embraced the person who was about to fall to the ground.

“I’m… fine…”

Li Ruantang’s voice was intermittent. She forced herself to stand straight, her fingers hesitantly resting on Meng Jun’s shoulder.

“Wife-master, is your head hurting?”

Li Ruantang slowly shook her head. Her wound was indeed painful, but this situation was likely more related to her squatting for too long and then standing up too quickly.

Now her vision was completely black, and her ears were ringing. Her whole person seemed to have floated out of this world. Her face became even paler, frightening the young man who had pressed close to her, his shoulders trembling slightly.

He tightly embraced her waist, his eyes rimmed with red again, “Wuu, Li Ruantang, you can’t die.”

If she died, he might never be able to return to the capital in this lifetime. Even if he could go back, how would he explain to the imperial family? After all, when they fell down the cliff, he had reached out to pull Li Ruantang.

Among all the people who went on that spring outing, everyone was a witness.

The more the young man thought about it, the more distressed he became. He buried his face in the crook of her neck, tears dripping into Li Ruantang’s collar.

“Silly Jiujiu.”

Li Ruantang, who had come to her senses, gently patted his shoulder, “I’m really fine.”

“Wuu.” The young man’s face was streaked with tears. Now he looked up to examine her face closely, still a bit worried, “Really?”

“Mm.”

“Then you have to pinky promise me that you won’t leave me alone.”

He cried sincerely, “Li Ruantang, I, I’m so scared.”

Those beautiful phoenix eyes looking at her were red, tears falling one after another, yet he still stubbornly held up his pinky finger. As if as long as she agreed to this promise, even life and death couldn’t separate them.

So silly.

Li Ruantang’s heart was almost melted by his crying, and even her voice unconsciously became softer. She reached out to hook his pinky finger, “Don’t be afraid, I’ll pinky promise with you.”

“Then you have to keep your word this time!”

The young man sobbed, standing on tiptoe to implore her to promise to return to the capital safely together.

Li Ruantang happened to lower her head.

His lips just so happened to touch her chin accurately and unintentionally, only a hair’s breadth away from Li Ruantang’s slightly pale lips.

In an instant, the redness that had originally tinted his eyes and brows, like a blooming camellia, spread across the young man’s temples.

“I, I……”

Those beautiful phoenix eyes had long since lost their tearful look. Meng Jun stammered, wanting to explain seriously to her but afraid Li Ruantang might misunderstand. He quickly added, “Don’t misunderstand, I, I was just sealing the promise just now!”

His face was utterly sincere.

Li Ruantang lowered her gaze to look at Jiujiu, who was still hugging her, and softly responded with an “Mm.”

“……”

Huh, what did she mean by that “Mm”!

The young man’s heart skipped a beat, and he frowned as he glanced at her, “Don’t misunderstand.”

“Mm, I won’t misunderstand.”

She had said a few more words than before, but Meng Jun still felt uncomfortable no matter how he heard it. On the way back, the young man followed behind Li Ruantang, angrily stepping on her shadow.

If only it had been Sister Wei he had touched just now, the young man thought silently, stepping on the shadow of the person carrying the bamboo basket again.

Although he didn’t know if Sister Wei would feel as soft as Li Ruantang when touched, Sister Wei definitely wouldn’t just respond with an “Mm” to brush him off.

The young man glumly looked at the evening clouds in the sky. He really wanted to return to the capital immediately.

However, Mother had just recently gone to Jiangnan for an imperial inspection in the name of the Empress, and only Han Fushi was in charge of the household. He wondered if Han Fushi had sent people out to look for him by now.

After eating the porridge that Zhou Fulang had specially left for them, the young man became increasingly listless.

He lay on the pillow, carefully thinking through the day’s events again.

The fried egg he had left for her was something he couldn’t eat and didn’t want to eat.

Even not letting her help wash clothes wasn’t out of consideration for her, but because he didn’t want to be contaminated by her scent.

He wasn’t really her husband at all.

But how could Li Ruantang be so foolish as to believe him with just a few casual words!

Meng Jun lay on the kang bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

In the courtyard, the sound of Li Ruantang expressing thanks could be heard.

The young man got up and secretly peeked out through the half-open window. Li Ruantang’s complexion still looked unwell. No wonder, she had spent the whole day taking care of him and hadn’t had a chance to rest properly.

Even the wound on her back……

Meng Jun felt a bit guilty, listening as her footsteps came closer and closer.

Creak—

The moment the thin wooden door was pushed open, the young man quickly lay back down in bed. Just now he had been sleeping on the outer side, but now that Li Ruantang had entered, Meng Jun instinctively moved to the side near the window without thinking.

The newcomer’s footsteps were very light. The young man tightly closed his eyes, afraid that Li Ruantang would notice he was pretending to sleep.

In the quiet night, Meng Jun only felt the dim yellow oil lamp before his eyes darken, a faint floral fragrance wafting around, startling him so that his lips trembled slightly.

His mind was filled with only five words: She’s leaning towards me!

***

“I’ve given birth to two children for you, yet you still think about him. Was I nothing but his substitute to you from beginning to end?” (Female-dominant)

Synopsis:

Meng Huan, a scumbag who has dated countless girlfriends transmigrates to a female-dominated country.

Day 1: Whether it’s female dominance or not doesn’t matter. The beauties here are passionate and amorous. Isn’t it easier to date them than in modern times?

Day 2: After a night, Meng Huan discovers the differences in the female-dominated world. Men here actually have chastity locks and menstrual cycles. This hinders his ability to perform, damn it!

Day 3: What’s wrong with sleeping around? I don’t want you to marry me. I’m meant to be a playboy. I don’t care about male virtues… What? You want to drown me in a pig cage? Marry, I’ll marry!

Day N: Meng Huan inexplicably vomits and receives the shocking news of his life… He’s pregnant.

Day NNN:

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