Without saying a word, Hu Mingmei placed her cold palm on Bai Nuo's injured area and pressed gently. "Does it hurt like this?"

Bai Nuo gasped and said repeatedly, "It hurts...don't touch me!" The old woman was really angry. If Hu Mingmei hadn't come, she probably would have been beaten to death by the old woman.

"Okay, I won't touch you!" Hu Mingmei quickly withdrew her hand and gently comforted her, "Just bear with it, it'll be over soon!"

Bai Nuo nodded, resting her chin on her hand. "Who told you these things? How did even my grandma know? Did someone do it on purpose?" Otherwise, my grandma rarely leaves the house, and even when she does, she only strolls around the village. How could she possibly know these things?

She and Hu Mingmei didn't do *that* in the street!

How could it have traveled so far?

"Let me check!" Hu Mingmei said calmly.

"Second Master..." As the two were talking inside, Lu Ying's voice rang out from outside the door. Bai Nuo climbed off Hu Mingmei's lap and lay down on the other side. Hu Mingmei stood up, walked to the door, and opened it. Lu Ying stood in the center of the doorway, head bowed, and said in a deep voice, "Donglai has brought the medicine back!"

As he spoke, he handed Hu Mingmei a small jar of medicine.

Hu Mingmei brought the medicine over, and Lu Ying said in a low voice, "Second Master, we have to leave here tonight. As for the old lady..." Lu Ying stopped there and looked at Hu Mingmei in silence, but Hu Mingmei understood.

The old lady disagreed with Hu Mingmei staying overnight.

Hu Mingmei nodded, took the ointment, and closed the door.

Back at Bai Nuo's bedside, Hu Mingmei opened the ointment, rubbed it in his palm to warm it up, and then said to Bai Nuo, "I'll apply the ointment for you, just bear with it!"

Bai Nuo nodded. She had no energy left and didn't want to talk.

Hu Mingmei then applied the ointment to Bai Nuo's injured area. Upon touching it, Bai Nuo gasped in shock, but Hu Mingmei heartlessly ignored her and continued applying the ointment until it was fully spread before letting go.

Bai Nuo was in so much pain that tears welled up in her eyes as she looked at Hu Mingmei with teary eyes.

Hu Mingmei sat down, picked up Bai Nuo, and kissed her affectionately several times before saying, "It's all my fault. Why don't you hit me a couple of times? That way it won't hurt so much!"

As if she had been waiting for Hu Mingmei to say those words, Bai Nuo bit down on Hu Mingmei's chin, draped her arms around his neck, and stared at him expectantly. Hu Mingmei let her bite him without complaining of the pain.

Bai Nuo was a little embarrassed to bite him, so she asked, "Are you serious?"

Hu Mingmei raised an eyebrow at her.

"It was you who told my grandma!" Bai Nuo was too embarrassed to look at him, glancing elsewhere before trying to appear calm as she looked at Hu Mingmei. "About our marriage? And also, are you really willing to live here?"

Bai Nuo's heart was suddenly filled with anticipation.

"It's just a temporary measure!" A hint of a smile flashed in Hu Mingmei's eyes. "I still have to go back to the capital!"

Bai Nuo immediately became anxious, "Then what did you just say!"

"I said I was going back to the capital, I didn't say I wouldn't take you with me!" Hu Mingmei patted Bai Nuo's head and said with a smile, "Since you've married me, naturally you'll go wherever I go. So, are you going to marry me or not?"

Hearing Hu Mingmei say this, Bai Nuo immediately felt very uneasy. "But my grandma and the others are still here..." Having gotten used to life here, Bai Nuo suddenly didn't want to go anywhere else. When faced with new problems, she felt uneasy and didn't want to face them.

She didn't want to marry far away because she couldn't bear to leave her grandmother and the others, but she also couldn't bear to leave Hu Mingmei.

“You can bring them all over!” Hu Mingmei said. “We can buy a house in the capital, or you can just live at my place. I can afford to support you!”

The storm has passed, and the sun is out!

"I have to go back!" Hu Mingmei lingered with Bai Nuo for a long time until it was completely dark outside. Only after Lu Ying's urging voice rang out from outside the door did Hu Mingmei reluctantly let go of Bai Nuo.

Bai Nuo nodded, holding onto Hu Mingmei's hand without letting go.

"Apply the ointment again before you go to bed, and it will be almost healed by tomorrow!" Hu Mingmei instructed.

"What kind of ointment is so effective?" Seeing how effective Hu Mingmei's words were, Bai Nuo couldn't help but take another look.

"I've been sickly since I was a child, and this is what the doctor prescribed for me. I always carry it with me."

"Second Master, the Old Madam is here!" Seeing that Hu Mingmei hadn't come out yet, Lu Ying's voice rang out again from outside the door.

Bai Nuo had no choice but to let go of Hu Mingmei's hand.

"Good girl!" Hu Mingmei stood up, straightened his clothes, and kissed Bai Nuo. "I'll pick you up from the shop tomorrow morning!"

After Hu Mingmei came out, Xia Donglai also emerged from the darkness. As Hu Mingmei walked, he said softly, "Go and find out where the rumors came from. Also, find a good matchmaker here. I need to propose marriage as soon as possible!"

Xia Donglai nodded, and Hu Mingmei then got into the carriage. The three of them, master and servant, quickly drove away under the cover of night.

**

The night was cool and still, with a bright moon hanging high and countless stars twinkling. In the most central and bustling part of the town stood a huge mansion. Inside, lanterns hung high, illuminating the entire mansion as brightly as day.

"How is it? How is it?" As soon as Xiangming entered Zhang Jingwen's room, Zhang Jingwen rushed up to ask, "How did things go?" Her father had kept her at home all day, preventing her from going out.

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