Do you and your wife know you're together? Yes, he knows. He's laughing like that over there.

"What are you looking at?" Ye Qingzhou walked in, carrying a bowl of medicine.

“Look at those two birds outside the window. They both have wives. I don’t.” Jiang Jinghong turned his gaze away and watched the woman gracefully walk in.

She's almost three months pregnant, but probably because she's been working too hard lately and eating all that nourishing food, she's still very thin and her figure isn't very noticeable yet. Others can't really tell.

Jiang Jinghong sighed helplessly: "My child! No one can see you, and no one can see your father either. I have no name or status as your father!"

Ye Qingzhou smiled, sat on the stool by the bed, gently blew on the hot medicine, and then stirred the medicine with a spoon, making a crisp tinkling sound.

"It's not hot anymore. Drink it!" Ye Qingzhou handed over the medicine bowl.

Jiang Jinghong took the medicine bowl. The medicine was as black as ink, not to mention the bitter smell that made people shiver.

"Is it very bitter? I can smell the bitterness! Here, take this!" Ye Qingzhou took out a few candied fruits from the pouch at his waist.

Jiang Jinghong placed the medicine bowl on the table beside her, took the candied fruit, and looked at it in her palm.

For so many years, no one has asked him if he was suffering.

The medicine tastes bitter. Eat some candied fruit.

Life is tough.

Will she ask me again in the future?

If there is no end, why begin?

Before, he only needed to watch her from afar. Now, having tasted her, he could never forget the flavor. He wanted her.

Between him and her, it wasn't just about a child. He wanted to give her the child, gold, a house, and the tenderness and companionship of every day.

But she didn't want to.

Thinking of her rejection that night, Jiang Jinghong held the candied fruit, her heart feeling even more heavy.

That taste, the flavor on her lips, she could never taste again.

The tenderness and sweetness he could never taste. What good would it do to give him this little bit of sweetness? Jiang Jinghong frowned and placed the candied fruit on a small plate on the table.

"What's wrong? Is your back hurting again?" Ye Qingzhou noticed that he didn't look well and stood up.

It doesn't hurt. I've fallen off horses and boats before, so this injury is nothing compared to that.

Just as Jiang Jinghong was about to answer, Ye Qingzhou reached out to unbutton his coat and examine his wounds.

Jiang Jinghong's eyes darted around, but she subtly dodged away, saying, "Ouch! That hurts so much!"

He was in so much pain that his voice trembled. Was it that serious?! Ye Qingzhou became even more anxious and tried to undress him to check his strength.

Jiang Jinghong dodged again, her face contorted in misery: "I'd rather die from the pain. The night the fire started, you said you wouldn't marry me, and I didn't want to live anymore."

"Bringing this up again? You really are..." Ye Qingzhou helplessly released his collar and turned to get the medicine powder.

"I won't take the medicine! I don't want to live anymore! What's the point of me living if you don't marry me? Ahhhhh!" Seeing Ye Qingzhou's worried face, Jiang Jinghong deliberately wailed a few times.

"Listen to me! Apply the medicine!"

"No medicine! Just die!" When Ye Qingzhou stood in front of Jiang Jinghong, he turned his face away.

"Ugh! Jiang Jinghong, you're going to drive me crazy!"

"If you die, can you arrange a ghost marriage for me?" Jiang Jinghong turned her face back, her eyes filled with expectation.

"A ghost marriage? Can't I marry while I'm still alive?" She didn't want to die! She wanted to live!

"Then let's get married tonight?" Jiang Jinghong perked up, her face beaming with joy, her eyes and eyebrows practically dancing.

"I...don't want to get married." Ye Qingzhou secretly glanced at his expression: "I...am afraid."

"Afraid?" Jiang Jinghong's joy froze on his face as Yu Xi's face flashed through his mind. Meeting this man was truly Qingzhou's misfortune. Jiang Jinghong understood: "Then when will you think about it? When will you not be afraid? I can wait! Tomorrow? Or the day after tomorrow? Which day?"

"Maybe a long time. Maybe ten years, maybe three or five years. I don't know. Jinghong, on that night when he attacked so viciously, I happened to meet you. When you applied the medicine to me, I felt that things might not be so bad in the future."

"Will you marry me today?" Jiang Jinghong asked expectantly.

In his eyes, there was a straightforward expectation. He was hoping. He was in love. He was holding onto a sincere affection.

She once possessed the same unwavering courage.

She lost. She lost everything, her life and her heart shattered. Yet, looking into his eyes was like looking into her own past, a heart overflowing with love. Understanding him was like understanding her past self, lost in the illusion of family companionship.

To refuse outright would be to feel reluctant.

Ye Qingzhou's eyes flickered: "Perhaps two or three years. I need to settle down and make a living."

Two or three years? That's less than before. But by then, the kids would be old enough to run errands, and he, as their father, wouldn't even be officially recognized yet! Hurry up! Jiang Jinghong said, "Tomorrow! My fortune and my life are yours!"

"No way! Jinghong, can you give me two years?"

"Tomorrow won't do? Two years? Absolutely not! Qingzhou, when we're doing business, we always negotiate. Let's compromise, one month, okay?"

"A month? That's too fast! I... I'm not ready yet!" Ye Qingzhou looked troubled.

"Is it fast? A day apart feels like three months. A month! I... Ahhh!" Jiang Jinghong rushed to pull Ye Qingzhou away, but accidentally aggravated her wound, and this time it really hurt.

"Don't rush, I won't leave." Ye Qingzhou pressed him down to sit and patiently explained, "When the wheat we planted this time ripens, we'll get married, okay?"

Happiness came too fast, like a tornado. Jiang Jinghong was still thinking of other ways when she heard the good news. Her mind couldn't process it for a moment, and she was a little stunned: "Qingzhou, don't lie to me! I have been a widower for many years and I only care about you. You have to keep your word."

"Only when the wheat is ripe and I've made money do I feel confident," Ye Qingzhou said gently.

“Yes! Confidence! You have it. I have it too. Come on! Let’s put it in writing!” Jiang Jinghong pulled her to a table to the side, picked up his brush and wrote two characters in one stroke.

"The wedding day will be when the wheat ripens." Ye Qingzhou read aloud as she looked at the man, who was so earnest yet so childlike, and smiled brightly.

She was stunned when she saw the words that followed.

Jiang Jinghong finished writing, took out a stack of receipts from his package, and judging from the wording, they were some kind of bank deposit or similar document. He shoved it into Ye Qingzhou's hand, signed his name on the back, and pressed his fingerprint on it.

Jiang Jinghong pulled Ye Qingzhou along and also signed and pressed their fingerprints.

Ye Qingzhou squeezed his hand back and asked, "You won't regret it?"

Her eyes seemed to draw him in; they were so beautiful. Her skin was pink and delicate, so soft and inviting.

What did she just say? She wanted to kiss me.

Jiang Jinghong brought her lips close to his.

Then, Ye Qingzhou blocked it.

Kissing her hand is fine too.

"Jinghong! There was a reason for what happened before. After we are married, we can be intimate." Ye Qingzhou withdrew his hand.

What? You've already had your fill of meat, and now you want you to go back to a vegetarian diet? How are you supposed to survive like that? Another six months?

Jiang Jinghong closed his eyes, trying to convince himself to think long-term. He suddenly opened his eyes again: "Just kissing, not getting close, okay? This won't do either, are you trying to suffocate me?"

Anyway, he'll be sent to transport grain in a couple of days. Will he still beg to come from a thousand miles away? Ye Qingzhou's eyes darted left and right. Perhaps, maybe, that would work?

"Sign! Sign! Sign!" Jiang Jinghong urged her repeatedly, fearing she might change her mind if she didn't speak.

After signing and pressing his fingerprint, looking at the red mark on his index finger, Ye Qingzhou belatedly realized that the scene just now seemed familiar: "This morning when I bought cloth, I bargained like this. The shopkeeper only gave me a two-copper discount!"

This back-and-forth negotiation has gone on for years. Jiang Jinghong, you're such a shrewd negotiator!

"You've already made your decision! You've put your fingerprints on it, so you've agreed to marry me! You can't back out now!" Jiang Jinghong said with a beaming smile, presenting two pieces of paper, one for each of them: "You've also accepted the betrothal gifts! In our jargon, it's called a deposit. If you accept them and then back out, you're abandoning your husband and children!"

"Oh right! I almost forgot the important matter!" Ye Qingzhou packed up his things, then pressed Jiang Jinghong down onto a stool and unbuttoned his coat.

"Is this...? Hehe! On a stool? That works too!" Jiang Jinghong cooperated perfectly, quickly taking off his shirt to reveal his muscular upper body.

"Why are you pressing me down? How am I supposed to apply the medicine like this?" In the blink of an eye, Ye Qingzhou was pushed down onto the table by the man and pinned down.

"Huh? I thought it was..." Jiang Jinghong swallowed the last word with difficulty.

There was a knock at the door. Someone said, "Boss, we have some work to do."

It's a pumpkin.

Ye Qingzhou wanted to go and check on things, but Jiang Jinghong was worried and insisted on going with him, saying that she would be there to take care of him.

"You've just applied medicine, you need to rest well so your wound will heal faster. What can I do to take care of you?" Ye Qingzhou said to him as they walked to the front door.

The door opened.

Seeing the first few, all of them were from the Yu family, shouting:

"Boss Jiang, you're so heartless! How could you let the authorities arrest Lao Si?"

"That's right! Boss Jiang, you and Yu Xi have been good brothers for many years, and his fourth uncle is also your fourth uncle! How can you be so heartless and ungrateful?"

"When he set fire to us, did he show any compassion or righteousness?" Ye Qingzhou asked.

Yu Yue squeezed to the front, and got angry as soon as she saw Ye Qingzhou: "Ye Qingzhou, what right do you have to be here? Brother Jiang is such a pure and abstinent man who doesn't get close to women, how could you be so shameless as to bewitch him?"

Uncle Yu Xi shouted, "You two come out here! Give us an explanation! Otherwise, we're not leaving!"

Uncle Yu Xi stood ramrod straight, his face long and drawn: "You, surnamed Jiang, tell the authorities to release my fourth brother!"

Fearing that he would get angry and reopen his wound, Ye Qingzhou stopped Jiang Jinghong, took two steps, and stepped out the door.

What's that smell? Did someone spill their kerosene lamp?

Just as he was about to slip and fall, Ye Qingzhou realized that the kerosene had been spilled in front of his own door.

Instinctively, she reached for the door frame behind her.

They didn't catch it.

The moment his bottom hit the ground, Ye Qingzhou seemed to hear the thud of his tailbone hitting the stone steps in front of the door.

Before two seconds had passed, someone came running over like the wind: "Qingzhou!"

After Jiang Jinghong fell and got up again, Pumpkin also stumbled over the gate, slipped, and fell as well. He got up and helped Ye Qingzhou up, asking, "Master! Are you alright?"

"Ha ha ha ha!"

"Hahaha! All three of them fell flat on their faces!"

The Yu family celebrated their victory with great joy and laughter.

"Why is she still so delicate? She just tripped and fell. It's not like she died!" Yu Yue sneered.

Pumpkin glared at her fiercely and shouted inside, "Seventh Brother! Seventh Brother! Call a doctor! Doctor Wang! Quick! Hurry!"

What a close call! What a close call! Thank God! I'll bear all the pain! I just hope nothing happens to her! Jiang Jinghong held Ye Qingzhou in her arms, tenderly and lovingly, like a mother hen protecting her newborn chicks.

"Don't be afraid! My stomach doesn't hurt much!" Ye Qingzhou nestled in his arms, forcing a smile to comfort him.

Seeing the slight furrow in her brow as she spoke, Jiang Jinghong understood. He angrily accused Yu Yue, his tone so fierce it seemed he wanted to bite her: "Are you crazy? She's pregnant! Two or three months along!"

"That's right! You'd better pray to Buddha for protection. If anything happens to the master, I will definitely not let you off the hook!" Pumpkin said angrily.

When the Yu family heard that they had caused trouble, they all went to see Yu Yue. It was her idea.

Yu Yue was still putting on airs: "So what if you're pregnant? I'm pregnant too! When I came here, I rode in your family's carriage and my butt hurt from all the jolting! Besides! Brother Jiang! Do you even know how much you care about my brother's wife? Is this appropriate?"

In the afternoon, at the county jail.

In prison, Yu Xi, with his unshaven beard and gaunt face, revealed a rare smile: "I never expected Jiang Jinghong to raise my son! He wants to be a living turtle! It's hilarious! Hahahaha!"

Yu Yue peeked at her brother's crazed appearance, then shrank back in fear and whispered, "Brother, Mother has spent all the money she borrowed from the clansmen."

Yu Xi's face was ashen, but her eyes sparkled: "Silly girl! Ye Qingzhou, your sister-in-law, is rich!"

Yu Yue still didn't understand.

Yu Xi reached out her dirty hand from a gap in the cell and shoved at Yu Yue: "Come on, I'll teach you. Ye Qingzhou, I have a million ways to get her."