"What's wrong?" Xu Yan didn't understand Chen Lihua's expression.

"No, it's nothing," Chen Lihua glanced at her, then at Xie Zhuo.

Then he turned around and continued walking home.

But along the way, he kept secretly observing the two of them out of the corner of his eye. In the end, he didn't know if he had figured anything out or not, but Xu Cangsong complained about him first.

"Is your eye feeling uncomfortable today?"

Chen Lihua glared at him, indicating that there was nothing wrong with her eyes.

When the family arrived home, it was just past 9:05. Xu Yan finished washing up and went back to her room to lie down. She hadn't slept last night and was definitely feeling a bit tired today.

Xie Zhuo washed up, changed his clothes, and went out with Xu's parents and two little kids.

When they returned, it was already noon. Xu Yan was already up and making her mung bean porridge in the kitchen, but...

"Oh dear, is there a fire somewhere?" Chen Lihua was startled by the thick smoke in the yard as soon as she entered.

"Let's go to the kitchen," Xu Cangsong said, the second to enter. He quickly went to the water tank to scoop water, intending to go to the kitchen to put out the fire.

"Weren't the sparks from this morning extinguished?" Chen Lihua asked anxiously, and started looking for things to go and put out the fire.

Xie Zhuo was walking behind with Da Bao and Xiao Bao when he heard the noise. He had just stepped into the house when he saw a scene that was even more "shocking" than the last time.

Xu Yan's face was covered in soot, his head and face were soaked, and his clothes were dirty and dripping wet.

Xie Zhuo looked at her, then at Chen Lihua and Xu Cangsong, and didn't know how to start the conversation.

"You silly child," Chen Lihua broke the silence first, "instead of sleeping properly, you came to the kitchen to play with fire?"

"It's not lit yet," Xu Yan said.

"How can thick smoke billow out even when it's not lit?" Xu Cangsong said. "I've never seen a kitchen with smoke billowing out like that in my entire life."

“Exactly,” Chen Lihua said, “Your father and I have seen rural people cook before, but we’ve never seen anything like you.”

Xu Yan paused, her hand that was about to wipe her face. "So now you two have seen them."

Chen Lihua: "..."

That being said, Chen Lihua now believes that Xie Zhuo's decision not to let Xu Yan into the kitchen is truly very reasonable.

After a minor incident, Xie Zhuo was still in charge of cooking lunch, but Chen Lihua also helped out. After lunch, the adults and children all went to rest.

Xie Zhuo entered the room and closed the door. He saw Xu Yan sitting next to the small bookshelf he had made, reading a book. He walked over and sat down next to her.

“I plan to go to the city to check out the situation,” Xie Zhuo said.

"Go now?" Xu Yan put down the book in her hand.

“I’ve been thinking about this for the past couple of days,” Xie Zhuo frowned slightly. “Waiting like this isn’t a solution. It’s too passive. Besides, Lao He doesn’t know where I live, so he doesn’t know where to send messages.”

“But,” Xu Yan was still a little worried.

“It’s okay, I’ll be very careful,” Xie Zhuo said, looking at her.

Actually, Qingshan Brigade is very close to the city. If something really happened, it would have happened long ago. Besides, Xie Zhuo went to the city to buy meat yesterday, and nothing happened.

“Then you must be extra careful,” Xu Yan said. “If anything goes wrong with Lao He, come back immediately, and then…”

"Hmm?" Xie Zhuo's gaze did not move.

“Then…we’ll elope as a family,” Xu Yan said.

Xie Zhuo paused for a moment, then burst into laughter.

Xu Yan almost laughed as she spoke. She had almost forgotten that in this era where it was difficult to move around without a letter of introduction, one couldn't even leave if one wanted to.

However, that smile completely broke the slightly oppressive atmosphere from before.

"This is the first time I've heard of a whole family eloping together," Xie Zhuo said, still laughing.

“What else?” Xu Yan said, “flee with the whole family?”

Whether it was eloping or fleeing, hearing her include her whole family in the equation, Xie Zhuo suddenly felt a pang of indescribable tenderness in her heart.

Every time he felt that he already liked Xu Yan very much and had been good enough to her, Xu Yan would do this.

It made him feel like it wasn't enough.

I really wish I could give her everything I have.

"What kind of look is that?" Xu Yan felt a little embarrassed by Xie Zhuo's stare and touched her face. "Is my face not clean?"

She went into the kitchen alone twice, and both times she ended up with a face covered in soot. The bottom of the pot was so black and hard to clean that she scrubbed it for ages before she felt she had cleaned it enough.

I don't know if I can see clearly at such a close distance.

“Yes,” Xie Zhuo nodded.

"Huh? Where?" Xu Yan frowned. "Mom said it's clean. I'll go check."

As she spoke, she was about to walk towards the mirror, but after only two steps, Xie Zhuo grabbed her arm and pulled her directly into his arms.

The man's body temperature was very high, and his warm breath felt a little hot when it touched the face.

Xu Yan felt that her face had turned red quickly, probably due to the influence of that breathing.

"What are you doing?" She shoved Xie Zhuo.

Xie Zhuo didn't let up, looking down at her, his long black eyelashes partially obscuring his pupils, making it impossible to see the emotions in his eyes.

“Hey, I’ve noticed you’re getting bolder and bolder, Xie Bao,” Xu Yan said. “The other day, I could get my ears red for ages just from a little accidental bump, and now…”

The rest of the sentence was still not fully uttered.

Just as she uttered "Thank you, my darling," Xie Zhuo pressed his lips against hers, giving her only a few seconds to finish speaking.

After listening to half a sentence and realizing it wasn't what he wanted to hear, he simply shut up.

It's said that men are naturally gifted in this area and can master the techniques in just two or three tries.

Xu Yan felt that Xie Zhuo was most likely one of the best among them, excelling in all aspects.

They are as close as lips and teeth.

She felt like a small animal sinking to the bottom of the water, only able to rely on the occasional kindness of the other person to give her a few breaths.

Her mouth was half-open, and she struggled anxiously for a while without being able to catch her next breath.

Xie Zhuo loosened his grip on her slightly.

He whispered something in her ear.

Even though he had already reached the surface, Xu Yan felt as if he had sunk back to the bottom of the water because of his words. He was so breathless that his eyes turned red and he forgot to open his mouth to breathe.

It wasn't until Xie Zhuo kissed the small mole on the side of her nose that she suddenly came to her senses and began to gasp for breath.

Xie Zhuo left the house twenty minutes later. This time he didn't bring anything with him and just rode off on his bicycle.

Xu Yan sat on the chair for most of the day, still feeling a bit suffocated. Her lips were also a little swollen and red, and her heart was beating so fast it felt like it would burst out of her mouth if she opened it.

She raised her hand and pressed it to her chest before picking up the book on the table and continuing to read.

that is……

No matter what I watch, all I can think about is Xie Zhuo's hoarse voice saying, "You are our family's most precious treasure, baby..."