Yang Ruxin was amused; she found the child quite entertaining, and teased him even more vigorously, "Being ugly isn’t your fault, but remember not to frighten people by coming out after dark—that would be your fault..."
"You’re the ugly one!" Gu Yao bristled. Although he wasn’t as handsome as his older brother, he certainly wasn’t bad-looking. So why did he suddenly become ugly in this infuriating girl’s mouth?
"You’re ugly..."
"You’re ugly..."
The two of them childishely traded insults, creating a rather jovial atmosphere.
Gu Qingheng was initially a bit shy. The women he had interacted with before were all coy and reserved. Although he had witnessed the shrewish nature of the village women after arriving here, the interactions between men and women were still mostly bashful. He had never heard a woman so brazenly assess a man—honestly, he was quite at ease listening to it now. However, his mood was even better because it was Xinxin who was looking at him, and it was him she was seeing.
He even thought, if one day he went blind or lame, if he lost his good looks, would she still like him? This question had no answer, because he didn’t dare to ask.
The six or seven li journey might have felt long for one person, but with company and playful bickering, they quickly reached the entrance to the village.
"Xinxin, don’t forget to find time to learn to read and write," Gu Qingheng reminded her, though in his heart he regretted how short the journey had been.
"Don’t worry, I won’t forget," Yang Ruxin waved her hand, "I’m off." She then hurried away, not going home, but running towards the mountains.
"Big brother," Gu Yao’s expression darkened after Yang Ruxin left, "someone has been following us all along."
Gu Qingheng nodded, "I know."
"So..."
"Let it be," Gu Qingheng shook his head, "as long as I don’t wish it, he won’t force me... Besides, if he managed to find us, it means he is already familiar with my surroundings. So, what’s the harm in letting him know a little more?"
Gu Yao fell silent and pushed the wheelchair back home, while the person who had been following them left after canvassing the entire village.
Yang Ruxin went to the place she had agreed to meet Sanni, but didn’t see anyone. However, she found a bundle of firewood at the spot where they had parted ways earlier. Frowning, she searched around for a long time without finding anyone and felt a sudden unease. Hurrying, she picked up the firewood and went home.
But Sanni was not at home.
"Sanni brought back a bundle in the morning, went out again after lunch, and hasn’t come back yet. It’s been about an hour," Erni’s face was pale, "Do you think something could have happened?"
"It won’t," Yang Ruxin shook her head, "Where’s mom?"
"In the backyard chopping pork."
"Then don’t tell her, to avoid worrying her. I’ll go look for Sanni." After speaking, Yang Ruxin turned to leave but came back after just two steps and took out an oil paper packet from her bosom, "Hide this and eat it."
Upon looking, Erni saw there were five meat buns and her eyes widened in surprise.
"I did a little favor for someone, and they thanked me with six buns," Yang Ruxin didn’t feel like explaining much, "I ate one, you guys have the rest. I’ll go look for Sanni." Saying so, she hurried out of the house again, only to see Yang Ruyu in the courtyard. Ruxin didn’t want to deal with her, but the white lotus blocked her path.
Yang Ruxin leisurely looked at the white lotus in front of her.