Chen Shuyi quickly walked into the kitchen, put the freshly boiled autumn pear paste into a ceramic jar and handed it to Chu Yi.

"Autumn pear paste can reduce internal heat and relieve cough. You can just dissolve a spoonful in water and drink it."

"Thank you for the fish."

Seeing his tall figure standing there in a daze, Shen Shuyi chuckled, "Don't refuse. My parents will be home soon. They are very welcoming. Do you plan to stay for dinner?"

"Thank you." Chu Yi took the jar and turned away.

Because he took it too hastily, the dry and warm big hand accidentally touched Shen Shuyi's fingers.

The man's ears suddenly felt hot and he couldn't help but quicken his pace as he left.

[Host, Chu Yi looks like he wants to draw a clear line between himself and you. ]

Shen Shuyi went to process the fish, thinking about whether to have fried or steamed fish for lunch. "Chu Yi is not an ordinary village man. He has been taught by the eunuch Gao Qian in the palace. Naturally, he will not be unable to walk when he sees a beautiful woman."

Gao Qian is a young man from an aristocratic family who is both talented in literature and martial arts. He and Chu Yi's mother, Concubine Xie Chun, were childhood sweethearts. Later, Xie Chun was forced to enter the palace to choose a concubine. Gao Qian's family was implicated in a major corruption case in the court and was forced to enter the palace. He gradually approached Concubine Chun and became a palace maid. Concubine Chun was killed during childbirth. Gao Qian was afraid that her only child would also be killed, so he fled the palace with the newborn Chu Yi. They eventually settled in Lihua Village. In order not to attract too much attention, the "father and son" worked as hunters at the foot of Lihua Mountain.

Gao Qian taught Chu Yi the skills to survive, and he followed Xie Chun when Chu Yi became an adult. From then on, Chu Yi lived alone at the foot of the mountain. He seldom interacted with the villagers in these years, so it was normal for Shen Shuyi to divorce and return to Qingcheng Village.

"He doesn't want to accept my kindness and wants to repay my favor. How can this be possible? I have been deliberately creating opportunities for him to get to know me."

Chu Yi didn't think so. He left the Shen family as soon as he left.

He can't get too close to the girl to avoid gossip.

He has been used to being alone for so many years, so it doesn't matter if he has a bad reputation. He doesn't want to get married anyway, but he can't ruin Miss Shen's reputation.

His father once taught him that men and women should not touch each other, and can only be close to each other if they are in love.

Chu Yi held a can of still hot autumn pear paste in his hand, and a hint of guilt flashed through his mind.

It was almost noon in Lihua Village. Smoke was rising from each house. Men were walking home barefoot, carrying hoes on their shoulders. Farm women were coming back from the river with vegetables washed in bamboo baskets. Children were running and playing in the distance.

Several people saw Chu Yi walking in the village from afar, and they were very curious. Normally, this tall and rough man would not enter the village. He would either live in two shabby and leaky houses at the foot of the back mountain, or go hunting in the mountains. The fields belonging to his family were also at the foot of the mountain.

Did he take the wrong road today?

A few gossipers looked at Chu Yi's tall back and muttered.

"He is tall, but unfortunately useless."

"He's already 25, but no one has come to propose marriage to him. He has only two shabby houses and a little land. If he marries someone, he will be left starving. Is it so easy to hunt prey in the mountains? He's so poor that he has to eat dirt."

"You can't have children yet. Even if you're a widow, you have to think about it. You can't follow him up the mountain to dig wild vegetables every day, right?"

"There is no elder in the family. If she gets married, there will be no one to help her, not to mention her parents' family. Which family would be willing to marry their daughter to them?"

Chu Yi had sharp ears and had heard a lot of these words, but he didn't take them to heart until he heard Miss Shen's name, and he subconsciously slowed down his pace.

"What a sin! I heard that Shen Shuyi, the eldest daughter of Shen Dalang's family, was divorced and sent home. How can this big family live with only a few acres of thin land? This family has one more mouth to feed."

"Well, it's a divorce. I heard that she refused to let her husband take a concubine. It's almost done. She gave up being a good scholar's wife and ran back home to eat leftovers."

"She's been married before, and she's this old. In a few years, even an old widower won't be able to marry her."

"She looked extremely pale the day she came back, but in just a few days she looks a lot whiter. It's so strange..."

Chu Yi didn't listen anymore. He quickened his pace and went back home. He just felt that the autumn pear paste in his hand was inexplicably hotter, and even his heartbeat was a little unusual.

…

In the next few days, Shen Shuyi prepared the mountain products that she wanted to sell in the town. She said goodbye to her parents and set off with her package on her back.

Before leaving home, Zhuang Mei watched her daughter's dull and sallow skin turn fair and translucent, and even her fingers became white and tender. Even though she was wearing coarse linen clothes from the countryside, it was difficult to conceal her beauty.

Especially that black and smooth hair, which makes her look so fresh and pretty.

Whenever she went out, everyone she met would say that she had gone back to her parents' home and that her parents spoiled her too much and never let her do farm work.

Only Shen Shuyi knew this, that the beauty pills were effective, and even her family thought it was a great blessing from the Bodhisattva.

As soon as I went out, my neighbor Aunt Liu came over with her daughter.

"Shuyi, are you going to the town? Let's go together."

"Sister Shuyi, I'm going to buy some things too." Liu Axing stepped forward enthusiastically.

Seeing the smiles on their faces, Shen Shuyi did not refuse, and the two of them went to the village head to wait for the mule cart going to the county town.

Arriving at the entrance of the village, Shen Shuyi saw the tall man standing under the shade of a tree.

Isn’t this Chu Yi whom I haven’t seen for a while?

Before she could say anything, Liu Axing beside her spoke shyly.

"Chu, Brother Chu, are you going to the county town too?"

Chu Yi just nodded, and his eyes paused when they fell on Shen Shuyi.

The girl opposite, Shen, had a fair and pink face, her hair tied behind her head with a wooden hairpin, and a pair of deep and beautiful watery eyes. She didn't look like a country girl at all, and was even prettier than the girls in the city.

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