Because of the self-created name Xu Yan, Xie Zhuo barely spoke the rest of the way.

After returning home, I took the two kids to wash their hands, and then washed myself before changing into clean but still very worn clothes to go out.

Xu Yan secretly observed him for a while, but didn't notice any emotion in him.

Seeing him go into the house to get something, she followed him in.

As soon as she entered the door, Xie Zhuo, who was standing to the side waiting for her, suddenly pulled her to the side.

Xu Yan was startled.

She almost cried out, then met Xie Zhuo's lowered, dark eyes.

They were so close that it seemed they could hear each other's heartbeats if they focused even slightly.

But Xu Yan's attention was now entirely focused on Xie Zhuo's face.

Good-looking people can make people weak in the knees no matter which angle you look at them from.

This was the first time she had ever been so close to a man, and it wasn't the kind of closeness she'd gotten before when one of them was drunk and confused, nor was it a deliberate closeness she'd gotten to tease him. It was Xie Zhuo who initiated it, and their bodies were pressed together.

She blinked slowly.

Just as she lifted her long, thick, dark eyelashes, she heard the person opposite her speak.

His voice was a little hoarse. "Say it again."

It looks like he just brushed his teeth?

You can smell a faint mint scent when he speaks.

Xu Yan was somewhat dazed, unable to concentrate, her mind filled with all sorts of inexplicable thoughts.

“Say the way you were addressed before again,” Xie Zhuo said, looking at her.

"Thank you, baby?" Xu Yan finally realized what was going on and spoke instinctively, lowering her voice to match his.

Almost the instant she finished speaking, Xie Zhuo pressed close to her.

His warm breath swept across her face, then landed precisely on the corner of her lips, and then, slightly to the side, gently sucked on her lower lip.

The cicadas chirped incessantly, but it couldn't compare to the sound of two people's heartbeats.

Before going any further, Xu Yan heard Xie Zhuo whisper something against the corner of her lips.

“Punishment,” he said.

If Xu Yan had been even slightly more resistant to beautiful women, she would have at least offered a few words of defense, saying that this was entrapment!

I tricked her into repeating it, she did, and then I kissed her.

He almost suffocated.

The idea she had been daydreaming about last time has actually come true this time.

All I can say is that this person has a very flexible tongue.

Since yesterday, my courage has grown exponentially!

How dare they pull her along in broad daylight...

When the two separated, Xu Yan's face was hot and burning. As she walked out, she met the worried gazes of Da Bao and Xiao Bao, who had just changed into clean clothes.

"Third Aunt, are you suffering from heatstroke?" Da Bao asked.

Xu Yan picked up the washbasin somewhat awkwardly and scooped some water from the water tank. "No, Third Aunt is just too hot."

As he spoke, he splashed some cold water on his face, trying to cool himself down quickly.

Xie Zhuo stayed in the house for a long time without coming out. Xu Yan was worried that the two little ones would get hungry if they fished for too long, so she took them to the kitchen to get some biscuits. After waiting for a while, she heard Xie Zhuo go to the room where she had taken a shower last night.

When Xie Zhuo went out, he changed his clothes again, and Xu Yan glanced at him a few times.

Da Bao and Xiao Bao were already used to their third uncle's habit of taking baths and changing clothes, and they didn't think there was anything wrong with him taking two baths in a row.

As long as Uncle San doesn't throw the two of them into a basin of water and rub them twice, it'll be fine.

When they reached the riverbank, Xu Yan realized that he had been worrying for nothing.

Judging by Xie Zhuo's fishing speed, it's like if you put a pot of oil next to him, he would have already caught the fish before the oil even got hot.

Da Bao and Xiao Bao stood on the shore with their little buckets, their faces beaming with joy.

"Third Uncle is amazing!"

Wow, another fish!

"Fish!"

"I want to eat grilled fish! Delicious grilled fish!"

"Third Uncle is the best!"

Amidst the constant praise from the two little brats, Xie Zhuo caught a small half-bucket of fish about the length of his palm.

Then I sat under the shade of a tree and taught two loud and boisterous kids how to fish.

Xu Yan sat to the side, watching them fool around with a smile. Then, she turned her gaze and saw Han Xiaoyu digging up tree roots not far away.

Han Xiaoyu came alone, with a basket beside him. He kept digging at the roots of the big willow tree where Xu Yan and the others had dug for earthworms that morning.

The deeper you dig, the more uncertain you feel.

I'm panicking.

That's impossible. He remembered that Sun Jiarou found that small box in this very spot. Why can't she find it now?

He was anxious, and he worked quickly.

Just as someone went to wash clothes there, they saw that he had already dug several large holes around the willow tree with a shovel.

"What a terrible thing to do! Why did you dig up that tree! It's a hundred-year-old tree!"

Country folks have loud voices; a shout from them can seem to summon the entire brigade. Han Xiaoyu was startled and, without noticing, his subordinate cut his own hand with a shovel.

A large amount of blood gushed out of the wound.

The aunt wanted to run over and yell at him, but she shut up when she saw the blood on his hands.

Fearing that this Han educated youth would try to extort money from her, she shouted a few more times, "You hurt yourself, it has nothing to do with me. You educated youths are all shirking your duties and not working. What are you doing here digging up tree trunks in our Qingshan Brigade? Let me tell you, this tree is at least a hundred years old..."

The woman kept nagging and rambling on, but Han Xiaoyu didn't listen to a word she said.

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