Her hands were fair and soft, long and slender like tender bamboo shoots; once Qi Yunxiao took them, he couldn't bear to let go.

He examined it closely while gently kneading it, looking quite curious.

Shen Qingyu allowed him to study it.

As Qi Yunxiao looked at it, he sighed, "I've really lost out! I was tricked into consummating my marriage with you, and before I even got to taste the pleasure, I had three children."

"Now that my child is almost seven years old, I never realized that the woman's hands looked like this..."

Shen Qingyu became curious: "All these years, you've traveled all over the country, haven't you ever had a beautiful woman by your side? Have you ever drunk wine with courtesans? Have you ever sent any beauties to you?"

When this was brought up, Qi Yunxiao also felt embarrassed: "I don't like getting close to women, I always feel that they are...too troublesome."

"How so?"

Qi Yunxiao began to recount past events.

Qi Yunxiao was just over ten years old when his stepmother arranged for him to be a maidservant.

He was quite happy at first, thinking he had someone to play with.

But who knew that the maidservant was proud and thought that Qi Yunxiao had such a big black mole on his forehead, was ugly, could not enter the court, and would not be able to inherit the title in the future, so he had no future.

The maidservant's eyes were set on the Marquis of Qingping.

So even though Qi Yunxiao was very polite and protective of her, and always gave her the best things, she took advantage of his kindness, bossed him around, and never got close to him.

One day, Qi Yunxiao overheard the maidservant and her mother, who was also a nanny in the mansion, saying that he was "ugly and had no future." Only then did he realize that he was being looked down upon.

It was from that day that he realized his stepmother had arranged for the maid who gave birth to him to kill two birds with one stone: to monitor and control him, and to send away a little vixen who was seducing the Marquis.

From then on, he drove the maid away and stopped getting close to women.

Shen Qingyu sighed upon hearing this: This is probably why Qi Yunxiao is always distant and wary of women.

Feeling a pang of heartache, Shen Qingyu took Qi Yunxiao's hand in return, her voice softening unconsciously: "Don't worry, I'll take care of you from now on. I won't look down on you."

When this was mentioned, Qi Yunxiao felt even more aggrieved: "You also dislike me. Every time I come back, you argue with me and you're very fierce."

Thinking about the original owner's situation, Shen Qingyu could only explain, "It wasn't disdain, it was wanting but not getting it."

"What do you mean?" Qi Yunxiao was indeed confused.

“You are the father of my three children. I only hope that you can be home and share this responsibility with me, but you are never home. I must feel resentful.”

"As time went by, I experienced hope and despair time and time again, so I gradually stopped having any expectations of you."

After being explained in such a detailed and thorough way, Qi Yunxiao understood.

He had a sudden inspiration: "So we are actually the same, both of us are people who want but cannot get."

"Um."

Their eyes met, and they both saw heartache in each other's eyes.

Qi Yunxiao suddenly said, "I want to hug you."

He paused for a moment and then asked, "Is that alright?"

Shen Qingyu: "..."

Seeing that Shen Qingyu did not respond, Qi Yunxiao mustered up his courage: "You said I should say what I want... If you don't want to, that's fine, but don't be angry."

Shen Qingyu was both amused and exasperated, and nodded affirmatively: "You learn very quickly."

Just when Qi Yunxiao thought he had failed, Shen Qingyu opened her arms and said, "Let me hug you."

Qi Yunxiao: "!!!"

Is this for real?

Does saying it really work?

He quickly stepped forward and hugged Shen Qingyu in his arms.

A moment later, Shen Qingyu, who was in his arms, said in a muffled voice, "Let go of me, I'm suffocating."

Qi Yunxiao quickly loosened his grip, revealing her head.

Shen Qingyu pushed him away: "You really are..."

That's incredibly inexperienced!

It evokes both helplessness and感动 (a feeling of being deeply moved).

Qi Yunxiao also blushed, and not only that, he also started breathing heavily.

The young master's eyes sparkled: "Qingyu, can I stay with you tonight?"

"no!"

Shen Qingyu's face darkened: You're learning way too fast!

I just asked him to express his needs, and he came up with a whole bunch of demands, taking advantage of my kindness!

The young master, however, was quite clear-headed and immediately grinned: "It's okay if it doesn't work, but you can't get angry. You told me to make any requests I have."

Shen Qingyu was at her wit's end.

She talked to Qi Yunxiao about hiring people.

Qi Yunxiao's idea was simpler: "If there's no issue of keeping the formula a secret, you can just pick people from the refugees to do the work."

Shen Qingyu thought for a moment and said, "That works too."

The refugees are now starving; they only have two meals of thick porridge a day, which is just enough to keep them from starving.

If some of them could go out to work and buy rice and grain, their lives would be better.

"Then we'll choose from the refugees, and we'll need someone in charge..."

"This is easy to handle, Chen San..."

Chen San has arrived.

Qi Yunxiao came out of the room and explained the situation to him, asking him to find someone.

"How much do you want to find first?" Qi Yunxiao asked Shen Qingyu.

"Find fifty."

"You need to be efficient and honest in your work," Shen Qingyu reminded him.

"yes."

"Find five more literate people to be in charge of bookkeeping and management."

"yes."

With the factory and personnel issues resolved, the next challenge is transportation.

Even though I knew Qi Han would definitely support me, I should have told him beforehand.

This is the proper attitude for cooperation.

Therefore, Shen Qingyu and Qi Yunxiao decided to pay a visit to Qi Han.

Having received the news, Qi Han was waiting at home early in the morning. As soon as Shen Qingyu and Qi Yunxiao's carriage stopped in front of Qi Han's house, the steward, who had been waiting, immediately stepped forward to greet them.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!