Ever since that night, Xu Lai has always walked past him with sidelong glances, never looking at him directly.

The aiyu fruits in the village were ripe. Xu Lai pulled Xia Ning along and took a long pole with a sickle tied to it, which could be used to cut the fruits on the higher parts.

Aiyu fruit is a vine plant, and it consists of female and male fruits. Only the female fruits can be used to make jelly.

She grabbed the pole and started slashing wildly, and a few leaves actually fell off. Xia Ning couldn't stand it anymore and said, "Let me try. You're making my head covered in leaves."

Xia Ning took the pole, only to find that she could only reach the lower ones, which had mostly been picked by the villagers, and she couldn't even touch the higher ones.

Xu Lai couldn't help but laugh, "That'll teach you to be stubborn."

Just as they were considering whether to go back and get a stool, Zhao Qingyun drove by, saw Xu Lai over there, parked his car on the side of the road, and walked towards them.

Xu Lai subconsciously turned his face away, signaling Xia Ning to ignore him and let him leave.

Xia Ning didn't receive her signal. When she saw Zhao Qingyun coming over, she felt like she had seen a savior. She handed over the pole and said, "It's just in time that you're here. We're both not tall enough to reach the fruit on the top. Can you help us out?"

Zhao Qingyun looked at Xu Lai, but she pretended to pick up fruit from the ground, refusing to look at him.

He sighed. They hadn't spoken for almost two days. Was it because she saw the mung bean cake that Qin Huan had given him? But he hadn't accepted it at all.

He picked up the pole and easily reached the fruit. He then tossed the fruit down along with the branch, and Xia Ning and Xu Lai picked them up from below.

He had been throwing the fruit to the side, but one of them, no matter how hard he threw it, landed straight on Xu Lai's head. Xia Ning quickly shouted, "Xu Lai, get out of the way!"

Before Xu Lai could react, the fruit hit her in the face. She immediately became angry, suspecting that Zhao Qingyun had done it on purpose, knowing that she was nearby, and still throwing it at her.

Zhao Qingyun quickly explained, "I'm sorry, I really got the direction wrong."

Xu Lai glanced at the aiyu fruit in the basket, which was already almost half full. She picked up the fruit that had hit her earlier and put it in, then said to Xia Ning, "Let's go home."

As she passed by Zhao Qingyun, she snatched the pole from her and said, "You're really boring."

Zhao Qingyun stood there stunned for a moment, then realized what he meant and said, "Who's weaker? Didn't he help pick so many fruits?"

Xia Ning laughed until her stomach hurt on the way back. She stopped laughing and asked, "Is your face okay? It's a little red."

Xu Lai rubbed her left cheek and said, "It's nothing, it just feels a little itchy."

Xia Ning, who had just witnessed the interaction between the two, asked curiously, "What did he do to you? Why are you so angry?"

Xu Lai felt annoyed just thinking about what happened that night. That man was really something, so petty and calculating. Before she even entered the house, he saw her turn around and ran away. So narrow-minded.

But she still said on the surface, "It's nothing, what could possibly happen to us?"

When she got home, she cut the fruit in half, put it in a winnowing basket, covered it with a dust cover, and first put it in the main room to dry. The sun was about to set, and there was dew at night, so it was not suitable to dry things.

Tonight's dinner was mung bean porridge. Grandma also stir-fried some vegetables and eggs to go with the porridge. She also picked out a few pickled cowpeas and chili peppers.

At dinner, Grandma noticed her face and asked, "What happened to the left side of your cheek? It looks a little red."

Xu Lai explained, "It's nothing, I was just accidentally hit by a falling object while picking aiyu berries."

Grandma looked at it carefully: "You should still apply some medicine, otherwise there will be a mark on it."

After dinner, Grandma gave her some tea seed oil and said, "Use this to rub your face, and the red marks will be gone by tomorrow."

This was the first time Xu Lai had ever heard of tea seed oil being used to treat wounds. Although there was nothing wrong with her face, she still used a cotton swab to apply some oil.

Grandma told her to take it back to her room and wipe it again after she took a bath.

After Xu Lai finished showering and drying her hair, she lay in bed looking at her phone when she suddenly heard something fall to the ground from the balcony, and then there was no more sound.

She thought she had misheard, so she didn't pay attention. But after a while, the sound came again, and judging from the noise, there were quite a few things.

Xu Lai opened the balcony door and saw a few candies on the ground. Without even thinking, she knew that the neighbor had thrown them there.

She yelled, "Who's so inconsiderate, littering like that?"

Upon hearing her words, Zhao Qingyun quickly stood up and said, "I bought you a big bag of candy; it's not junk."

Xu Lai bent down to pick it up, pinched it in her hand, and said, "I didn't say I wanted it, so isn't it just trash?"

Zhao Qingyun had no choice but to explain, "I have never accepted any food from anyone other than you."

Xu Lai hummed in agreement, suppressing a laugh, and said, "So?"

Zhao Qingyun glanced away: "Although I don't know if this is why you're angry, I think it's still necessary for me to explain things to you."

Xu Lai coughed lightly, afraid that she might burst out laughing. "What is our relationship? Why are you telling me all this?"

Zhao Qingyun looked into her eyes and said, "I don't believe you can't guess it."

Xu Lai regained her composure and said, "I know, we are good neighbors of China."

Zhao Qingyun wasn't discouraged when he didn't hear the answer he wanted; he knew he would ask her for a proper title sooner or later.

After the misunderstanding between the two cleared up, Zhao Qingyun said, "I hit your face today, so I bought you some ointment."

Xu Lai leaned closer and said, "It's really nothing, just a small red patch, the skin isn't even broken."

He still took out the ointment and asked her to apply it herself. Xu Lai teased him, "I don't want to apply it myself. Why don't you apply it for me?"

Zhao Qingyun readily agreed, "Alright then."

He opened the packaging, dipped a cotton swab in the ointment, and wanted to apply it directly to her, but Xu Lai's hair blocked her face. He hesitated for a moment, then used his hand to push it behind her head.

Neither of them turned on the balcony light; they could only vaguely make out each other's faces by the moonlight and the lights in the yard.

Zhao Qingyun held her chin, turned her face to the right, revealing her left cheek, which was no longer so red. He gently blew on it, and then Xu Lai felt the cool ointment imprinted on her face.

After applying the medicine, Zhao Qingyun's ears were already bright red. He was glad that it was a hazy night, which helped to hide his emotions.

Xu Lai took a step back. "Okay...okay."

The atmosphere between the two was somewhat ambiguous, indescribable, but it felt like if they took things any further, things would get out of control.

After all, everyone here is an adult, but Xu Lai didn't drink tonight. She was very sober and wouldn't take a step forward until she clearly knew the other person's feelings.

Zhao Qingyun raised her wrist and said, "It's getting late, let's go back and rest."

Xu Lai nodded: "Good night then."