I thought she was pretty, so I took her home. Don't let her petite figure fool you; she looks delicate and boneless, but she's actually quite heavy to hold.

After she woke up, she insisted on being my servant, but I felt it was really unnecessary. My family doesn't farm, so we don't need oxen. In the end, I couldn't persuade her otherwise, so I took her in as a maid.

When I was at home, I did have maids to serve me, but after running away from home for several years, I had long since learned to support myself and no one served me.

When I first started learning to be self-reliant, I found it very novel and wanted to try everything. However, after doing the same things repeatedly, it became boring. After having Xiao Qing, I did have a comfortable period of time.

Back then, Xiao Qing wasn't like she is now, so unpredictable. She was my sweet little angel back then, always willing to do anything for me.

In the morning, someone prepares breakfast for you before you leave home, and someone helps you change clothes and comb your hair. When you come back in the evening, there's dinner, hot water for a shower, and you don't even have to do laundry. It's like a one-stop service. You can just relax and lie down comfortably when you get home. If you get bored, you can find some people to play dice, tease birds, walk the dog, pick flowers, or have some kind of fight. There's plenty of fun to be had.

In his spare time, he would take a bunch of his cronies to the county to listen to opera, to the teahouse to listen to storytelling, and to the Red Mansion to watch song and dance performances. When he got tired, he would go home and be waited on by others. He lived a very comfortable life.

It gives people a sense of peace and tranquility, and a stable reality.

Our relationship was so good that it was like Xiao Qing was my adopted wife. I was responsible for earning money to support the family, and she was responsible for being beautiful and taking care of my life.

Unfortunately, my good fortune didn't last long. Everything changed after I brought Ji Ruchen, whom I had found by the roadside, home.

I don't know why this woman, who was always gentle and kind, seemed to have become a different person. She became much more sharp-tongued and cynical, and she stopped being diligent in her work. She always had a long face and was thinking about how to kick my husband, Ji Ruchen, out of the house. Of course, I refused. He was the perfect husband that God had specially sent to me.

We had a huge fight about this, which ended with Xiaoqing running away from home.

About a month or two later, she came back. Her personality had become much gloomy. She no longer smiled and was no longer hostile to Ji Ruchen. Instead, she was very attentive. Later, Ji Ruchen took us back to the capital and settled us in Liangrenju. He also sent several maids to me.

My relationship with Xiaoqing gradually faded, and we were no longer as close as before, but at least we could still get along peacefully.

It wasn't until she used some means to get Ji Ruchen to transfer her to his side to serve me that I became enemies with her.

But the more I disliked her, the more she would come over to me looking for a beating or scolding, as if she were punishing me in her own way.

But whenever someone else tries to bully me, she jumps out to stand up for me, keep an eye on me, and protect me.

I don't know what her psychology was, I still can't figure it out, I just feel that her personality is a bit unpredictable.

But at the time, I didn't care. No matter how unpredictable she was, I had my own ways of dealing with her, which is why we've stayed together until now. I never thought about kicking her out.

But now I dare not interfere. In this world, the strong rule, and whoever has the strongest fist gets to do what they say. Right now, my fists are clearly no match for theirs, so it's better to keep a low profile.

After I finished thinking about these things, Xiao Qing had already fallen asleep, her eyes half-closed, small and curled up in a ball, just like when I first met her.