As soon as Liu said that, the workshop stopped talking about "eloping" altogether; such a joke was no longer acceptable.

Moreover, Liu is old and an elder in the village, so everyone gives her face.

Soon everyone started talking about the upcoming busy farming season, which was harvesting rice in half a month.

There was a drought for a period of time this year, and the villagers carried water every day to save their crops. It was really tough. Fortunately, the rice has dried up and is ready to be harvested once it is fully ripe.

Five days have passed, and Li Laoshi has been like an ant on a hot pan these past few days.

He confessed his feelings, but still hasn't received a response from Sister Qin.

And what did Sister Qin think when Lianhua's family said those things about "eloping"?

No, we still need to ask Sister Qin about this!

As night fell, the night school started, and seven or eight children gathered under the shade of the canopy to learn new characters. Seeing that Sister Qin had not come to listen to the lecture, Li Laoshi used the excuse of needing to urinate to go to the latrine next door, and then sneaked along the wall to the edge of the field.

First, I went to check near the Qin family's house and saw Xu Genqing washing diapers in the yard...

That means Qin Shi isn't home!

Li Laoshi shrank back and went to the mosquito coil workshop, where he indeed saw Qin working.

He remained calm and collected, first pretending to inspect the mosquito coil trays made by each company, which was within his job scope as the administrative director.

After dawdling for a while, he finally walked over to Qin Shi.

At this moment, Qin was making mosquito coils with Da Xiang and Xiao Xiang. When she saw Li Laoshi coming over, Qin unconsciously sat up straight.

She immediately panicked!

Before, I only felt annoyed and hated Li Laoshi, and I would beat and scold him as I pleased, naturally. But gradually I found him interesting, and I would want to laugh whenever I saw him.

But from that day on, Li honestly said... he actually said he liked me...

Whenever Qin thought of what Li Laoshi had said, she felt a surge of heat run through her body and goosebumps rose all over her skin.

However, the thought of having to "do that" with a man if she got married, which would be as painful as childbirth, made Qin shake her head repeatedly.

She's been hesitant for the past few days.

If Li Laoshi promises to just have meals and shoulder massages together as he says, I'll agree.

Li Laoshi counted the mosquito coil trays that Qin had placed on the bamboo basket beside her, and said with a grin, "Sister-in-law Qin was able to finish two baskets today. A nimble person is different; her movements are getting more and more nimble!"

Upon hearing this praise, Qin felt her body burning hot and her face flushed.

The lark, which had been eloquent and joking just moments before, now seemed to have bitten its tongue, its lips moving but unable to utter a coherent sentence.

Fortunately, someone nearby answered for her: "Aunt Qin has been here for quite a while. She'll be going back after she finishes making this bucket of water."

That's Wang Xiaoju, who manages the timer.

Qin finally spoke, mimicking a parrot, "I'm going back soon!"

Li Laoshi said "Oh" and then leaned over to look at the water in the bucket.

There was only a thin layer of water in the bucket, and the water was flowing along the side of the bucket. In less than fifteen minutes, Sister Qin's station would need to be taken over by the next shift.

Li Laoshi remained in the workshop, and the water finally stopped dripping as Qin Shi sat there restlessly.

The Lin family members from the next shift were already waiting beside her, urging, "Aunt Qin, you can't stay for another round! This time is ours."

While Qin clumsily handed over the mosquito coil trays she had made to Wang Xiaoju for counting, Li Laoshi had already left without anyone noticing.

After counting the children, Wang Xiaoju glanced at Da Xiang and Xiao Xiang beside her and said meaningfully, "Aunt Qin, these two kids have been working all day, and Sister Tan is thinking about them! We'll go to your house a little later today, and I'll take them over to talk to their mother."

From the time they arrived at Xujia Village, the two children did not stay with Tan at night. They only met and exchanged a few words with each other each day, since they were always under the watchful eyes of others.

Da Xiang and Xiao Xiang now live in the Qin family's house. Lianhua is in confinement, and sometimes having more children in the family helps with errands and chores.

Qin forced a smile and said awkwardly, "Alright, take them to see their mother! I'll go first and then go back to pick them up when it's time to sleep."

Wang Xiaoju nodded and ignored her, then filled a bucket with water for the next person in the Lin family's household and began a new round of work.

Leaving the mosquito coil workshop, Qin walked home along the ridge under the starlight.

The summer night breeze was cool, making the corn stalks, as tall as a person, rustle in the field, and also bringing joy to Qin Shi.

Two days have passed since the "third-day washing ceremony," and today Lianhua said that her mother is stupid and must have been instigated by someone to cause trouble in the Xu family. She will not let the bad guys succeed...

The persuasion of her aunts paid off, and Lianhua stopped being angry with her family.

You can only have relatives visit you if you live a good life yourself, including your parents, siblings and so on.

Qin was no longer angry with Lianhua's family. As long as Lianhua was sensible, that was good. She couldn't let outsiders laugh at her. She would treat Lianhua even better in the future. The family lived in harmony, which made Xu Dongjuan furious.

As Qin was deep in thought, a person suddenly emerged from the ground beside her.

"Ah..." Qin was startled and opened her mouth to shout.

Li Laoshi lowered his voice and hurriedly said, "Sister-in-law Qin, it's me! Don't shout!"

"Ah...oh!" Qin's "ah" was barely out of her mouth before it dropped in pitch: "You...you already left, didn't you?"

Li Laoshi looked around; it was too close to the workshop to talk properly.

He grabbed Qin's arm: "Come on, let's go talk over there!"

Qin felt numb all over and involuntarily followed Li Laoshi around several plots of land to the riverbank.

"What...what do you want to do?" Qin stopped and quickly took a few steps back.

Although there are rumors circulating in the village about this lone man and woman...

Li Laoshi rubbed his hands together: "Sister-in-law Qin, have you thought about that matter?"

I, Li, keep my word. Like I said before, as long as you're willing to be with me, I will definitely treat you well!

"I'll fan you in the summer and warm your feet in the winter!"

I swear to God!

As Li Laoshi continued speaking, Qin's eyes gradually filled with tears.

These were sweet words she had never heard in her entire life. Although they were incredibly embarrassing, they were so comforting to hear!

She had heard other women in the village say that even a thousand layers of blankets are not as good as skin to skin; after a long day of hard work, all she wanted was a moment of comfort.

She echoed, saying that she didn't really understand what it meant.

But just hearing these words made her feel like she'd be willing to die from exhaustion.

"Honestly, I promise you!"

Qin finally spoke, her whole body flushed with shame, and she turned her face away, not daring to look at anyone.

Li Laoshi jumped for joy, chuckling in a low voice, "Sister Qin, you can't go back on your word! The Earth God and Earth Goddess can hear you."

"I won't go back on my word!" Qin agreed, her face contorted with embarrassment.

Li Laoshi stretched out his hand and walked over: "Come on, let's pinky swear! A pinky promise, a hundred years without breaking it!"

By the river, two people whose combined age was over sixty years old were acting like children, hooking their little fingers together and shaking them!