Extra 1: Rural Life (1)

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, another year has passed. When the first snowflakes fell from the sky, a loud noise erupted from the kitchen in the courtyard, followed by hurried footsteps.

Li Zhaoyue's spatula fell to the ground with a thud. Her vision blurred, and when she came to her senses, Xu Xing had already forced her out of the kitchen. She looked confused, with several pieces of black ash on her cheeks.

Thick black smoke emanated from the kitchen behind them. Looking in from the doorway, they could still see tiny flames dancing. Xu Xing casually cast a spell, and the smoke and fire in the kitchen subsided.

The Lunar New Year was approaching, and Xu Xing had been busy with household chores for the past year, including cooking and washing. Li Zhaoyue, thinking how tiring it must be, offered to help with the cooking. However, she didn't expect the kitchen to be full of problems, and soon she got into trouble.

Xu Xing's clothes were wrinkled, and it was obvious that he had rushed here in a hurry. He sighed and knocked her head hard.

"Let me do it. There's a lot of smoke in the kitchen, so I won't let it choke you." After saying that, he was about to push Li Zhaoyue back to the room.

"Don't you really need my help?" Li Zhaoyue turned her head, her big watery eyes blinking, looking very innocent.

Xu Xing held his forehead and shook his head helplessly.

"What's with that expression on your face?" Li Zhaoyue frowned and pretended to be angry.

Snow was falling outside, and the cold wind blew tiny ice crystals onto the eaves, where they fell onto her smooth black hair. In Li Zhaoyue's hair was an exquisitely crafted golden hairpin, meticulously carved with lifelike osmanthus flowers. It was made by Xu Xing himself.

He still remembered that this morning her eyes were filled with spring water, and the osmanthus flowers in her hair rose and fell with her movements.

Xu Xing coughed lightly, reached out and pulled the clothes around Li Zhaoyue's neck tighter, and said fiercely: "It's cold outside, come back to the house quickly, I'll do it."

His action of looking at the hairpin was too obvious. Li Zhaoyue blushed and couldn't help but think of what happened in the morning.

She frowned slightly, as if to deliberately oppose him, and continued: "Today is New Year's Eve. It must be hard for you to cook so many dishes by yourself. Let me help you."

As she spoke, she tried to run inside while Xu Xing wasn't paying attention. With a sigh, Xu Xing stretched out his long arm and grabbed her waist. Then, a huge force hit her, and Li Zhaoyue felt her body weight lurch forward. Suddenly, she was thrown forward and fell hard into Xu Xing's arms.

The young man's embrace was warm. She raised her head in comfort and nuzzled Xu Xing's chest. Her hands felt warm and cozy. Li Zhaoyue couldn't help but laugh as she thought of something.

"Ayue always likes to do things that make people worry." Xu Xing rubbed Li Zhaoyue's head with his chin, raised his hand to curl her fallen hair, and said casually.

"You've already snatched a lot of work from me this morning. You wouldn't let me move the table, and you wouldn't let me wash clothes, so I had no choice but to cook. And, I just talked to the big brother next door for a few words, and it wasn't much of a cold wind, but you hurriedly pulled me into the house. I'm not that delicate." Li Zhaoyue muttered, and when she saw Xu Xing's dark eyes, her voice became smaller and smaller until it disappeared.

"Why are you looking at me like that? I didn't say anything wrong." She turned her eyes away and whispered.

The hand holding her waist tightened, and Li Zhaoyue was forced to fall back into Xu Xing's arms. This time, it was a perfect fit, their bodies pressed so tightly together that they could even feel each other's breathing and heartbeats.

Xu Xing leaned close to her ear, his voice filled with a hint of grievance: "I'm just afraid that you'll suddenly disappear again."

"The waiting time was just too long, and I don't want to go through it again."

Li Zhaoyue had been holding a lot of resentment in his heart, but after hearing these words, it disappeared immediately, and he felt even more guilty instead.

Since she came back, Xu Xing would always stay by her side unless absolutely necessary. He would follow her wherever she went. He found it interesting at first, then a little annoying, but now...

Li Zhaoyue felt extremely sad. She looked into Xu Xing's unfathomable eyes, stood on tiptoe, and gently kissed his pale lips.

"Why don't you say anything?" He rubbed her cheek with his fingertips and said gently.

"I don't want to talk about it anymore." Li Zhaoyue lowered his head and said in a muffled voice.

"Why don't you want to talk anymore? I won't be angry no matter what you say." Xu Xing leaned over and kissed her eyes. The cool ice crystals mixed with the kiss made her feel itchy. Li Zhaoyue didn't hide and snuggled into Xu Xing's arms again.

Hot tears flowed from his eyes. Xu Xing, who had been calm and composed just now, suddenly panicked and tried to find a handkerchief to wipe them, but was stopped by Li Zhaoyue.

"Why are you crying?" Xu Xing's tone was filled with deep helplessness. He pointed to the kitchen and said, as if coaxing a little girl, "Okay, okay, I'll let you in. It's just that the kitchen is a mess right now. Let me clean it up, okay?"

The more gentle and indulgent Xu Xing was to her, the more Li Zhaoyue cried. In the end, no matter how Xu Xing coaxed her, she couldn't stop crying.

"I'm not crying because of this." Li Zhaoyue looked at Xu Xing with tears in her eyes and said in a hoarse voice, "Xu Xing, you are too good to me. It's a bit wrong to be so good."

"Isn't it good for you?" Xu Xing forced a smile, suppressing the panic rising in his heart. She looked so fragile, as if she would disappear with a single puff of wind. The fear he thought had faded surged back.

The person in my arms is still warm, but could it really be an illusion?

No! Xu Xing closed her eyes uncontrollably. She couldn't disappear.

In just a moment, Li Zhaoyue felt a flash before his eyes. He and Xu Xing were standing in the bedroom, and the charcoal fire in the middle of the room was burning brightly.

As her body slowly warmed up and her emotions gradually calmed down, Li Zhaoyue realized that she was a little embarrassed and wanted to withdraw from Xu Xing's arms. At this moment, she realized that something was wrong.

Xu Xing was shaking, his whole body trembling. He held her tightly, so tightly that Li Zhaoyue could feel the pain.

This had never happened before in the past year. Xu Xing had always been gentle, considerate, and obedient in front of Li Zhaoyue. This made her completely ignore the uneasiness that had been planted in Xu Xing's heart after a century of fruitless waiting.

This uneasiness did not disappear with Li Zhaoyue's return, but instead grew deeper and deeper.

Tears filled her eyes again, but this time Li Zhaoyue didn't let them flow out. Instead, she forced herself to hold them back. She hugged Xu Xing back with all her strength and whispered in his ear, "I'm back and I won't leave again. Don't be afraid, I'm right here with you."

After saying this dozens of times, Xu Xing's out-of-control emotions finally calmed down.

The two of them hugged each other quietly until they heard the sound of firecrackers outside, accompanied by the shout of the big brother next door: "Sister Li, I brought you firecrackers, come out and play!"

Li Zhaoyue was about to leave when he heard Xu Xing's faint murmur in his ear: "When did you tell him that you wanted to buy firecrackers?"

The neighbor's older brother was very enthusiastic. Seeing that Li Zhaoyue and Xu Xing didn't know many people in the village, he always came to help. Xu Xing was very cold to outsiders, but Li Zhaoyue liked the crowds, so after a few visits, he became familiar with this older brother.

Li Zhaoyue asked his elder brother to buy these firecrackers a few days ago.

In the past, Li Zhaoyue never understood why Xu Xing was so hostile to this elder brother, but today he finally understood.

She suppressed her laughter, looked at Xu Xing, and blinked mischievously: "Are you jealous?"

Xu Xing was stunned by her sudden question. He was stunned for a long while. He didn't know what he was thinking. He snorted coldly: "Can't he see that you already have a husband? He always comes to your house to show his affection."

As he spoke, he glanced at Li Zhaoyue with a half-smile and asked, "What kind of firecrackers are so special that Ah Yue would ask an outsider to buy them for her?"

His expression was so funny that Li Zhaoyue burst out laughing and said deliberately, "But Brother Wang is more familiar with the markets in the surrounding towns and the types of firecrackers."

"So what you mean is that Brother Wang is good in every way." Xu Xing's tone was full of sourness, and the look he gave Li Zhaoyue became increasingly unfriendly, as if as long as she dared to nod, he would cry, make a fuss, or even commit suicide.

"Oh," Li Zhaoyue slipped out of his arms lightly, ran to the window, and pretended to open it, saying with a smile: "Actually, Brother Wang is not as bad as you say...Xu Xing!"

Her hand, which was lightly touching the windowsill, was held down hard. Xu Xing, like a snake, coiled up from behind her, accurately found her lips, and kissed her fiercely. At the same time, Li Zhaoyue felt her hand being pushed forward fiercely.

The window opened with a bang, and the flying snowflakes, swept by the cold wind, blew away the loose hair on Li Zhaoyue's forehead, and also allowed Brother Wang, who was not far away, to see the scene outside the window clearly.

The pretty girl who always greeted him with a smile was being pressed against the window by the handsome young man, kissing him passionately. Her face was flushed, and her eyes were filled with moisture. The young man seemed to notice his gaze and gave him a provocative look before closing the window again.

I originally thought that the two people living at the end of the village were brother and sister, but it turns out... they are husband and wife? So he had been doing some inappropriate flattering things in front of the girl's husband recently?

The firecrackers in Brother Wang's hand fell to the ground with a bang. He ran home in shame and slammed the door shut.

Inside the house, it was warm and cozy. Li Zhaoyue was held in Xu Xing's arms and sat on the windowsill, with her back pressed tightly against the window.

"You...you put me down." She gasped, afraid that the window behind her would suddenly open. Xu Xing laughed softly, his laughter unclear.

"Wouldn't it be nice if he saw us? Then he'd know whose wife you are, and he wouldn't have the guts to approach you on purpose." He leaned over to her neck, kissing and biting the side. Soon, a faint red mark appeared on Li Zhaoyue's fair skin.

An ambiguous and charming atmosphere fermented between the two. Li Zhaoyue turned away with a red face and said sullenly, "Don't you want to cook? Go quickly."