As Xiaoyue peeled the ramie bark, she glanced at the east courtyard. Finally, everything was ready, and Ge Sanlin left. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Xiaoyue quickly went to the east courtyard and found Old Xiao, who was digging the well.

Old Xiao was a thin, small man, with his two sons beside him, one named Xiao Jing and the other Xiao He. The two sons helped Old Xiao sit down on a rock that had been pushed aside.

Old Xiao's face was dark and oily, covered with crisscrossing lines. His youngest son handed him a pipe, and Old Xiao took a puff, exhaled two smoke rings, and glanced at Xiaoyue.

Xiaoyue stood in front of Old Xiao. Old Xiao counted on his fingers for a moment, then lowered his head and pondered: "October 22nd, that's the day I'll bring people to dig a well for you."

Although Xiaoyue didn't know what Old Xiao was talking about, she quickly replied with a "okay." There were still three days left, and the water in the tank was enough for three days of food and drink.

Xiaoyue paid Old Xiao a deposit of one tael of silver. Old Xiao got up and slowly followed Xiaoyue into the courtyard. After inspecting the place with some knocking and banging, he finally decided to place the well near the stove in the shack.

After deciding on the location for drilling the well, he told Xiaoyue, "Hurry up and get this place ready. I'll start drilling as soon as I arrive. We can't afford to be late."

Xiaoyue quickly agreed, then saw Old Xiao off at the gate before returning to the kitchen to mix wheat flour and corn flour together and set it aside to rise.

Then, after peeling the remaining ramie, he carried his basket up the mountain again.

After peeling all the ramie on the mountain, Xiaoyue carried one basket back on her back, and carried the rest back in three trips using a carrying pole.

October 22nd arrived quickly, and the well-drilling team came early. Old Xiao didn't say anything and went straight to the stove in the shack, where Xiaoyue had already tidied up.

The well was finished before noon. After cleaning up, Xiaoyue gave Old Xiao a tael of silver. Old Xiao didn't eat; he took the silver, led a group of people, and left with their tools.

The ramie could finally be shredded into thread. Xiaoyue cleaned the large basket, shredded the ramie into shuttles, and put them in the large basket. Finally, she finished shredding everything and moved it into the west room.

Xiaoyue searched for all the green beans and cucumbers again and hung the extras out to dry.

Two months passed in the blink of an eye. When the first snow fell, the sky was filled with large snowflakes. Xiaoyue didn't go out. She heated the kang (a heated brick bed) and wove cloth in the house.

Just then, Liang Qi rushed out of Xiaoyue's house, soaked to the bone, his already thin frame reduced to skin and bones. As soon as he entered, he pulled Xiaoyue into his arms.

Xiaoyue hadn't heard from Liang Qi for several months. She pushed Liang Qi away and looked at his bloodshot eyes, red nose, and irregular stubble.

Xiaoyue led Liang Qi to the east room, helped him sit on the kang (a heated brick bed), poured him a cup of hot water, and then sat down opposite him at the kang table. Raising her eyebrows, she asked, "Is there anything I can help with? If there's anything I can do to help, just say so."

Liang Qi held the warm cup, his smile was weathered, but his eyes shone with a sun-like light. "I've resolved everything. I have no more worries. Do you remember what I said? I would wait for you for the rest of my life, always waiting for you. Thank you for not getting engaged."

Xiaoyue was furious. What she had overheard at the door that day was still vivid in her mind. If Liang Qi was that kind of person, then she had even less reason to marry him.

Xiaoyue glared at Liang Qi with hostility, her fingers stroking the small kang table as she quietly waited for Liang Qi to give her an explanation. After all, Liang Qi should have explained things to Xiaoyue when she first learned about the matter, instead of waiting so long before finally thinking of doing so.

Liang Qi straightened his clothes, which hadn't been washed for days, took a sip of hot water, and gave Xiaoyue a look that seemed to dispel the clouds and reveal the sun, saying, "That fat aunt's husband that day was a minor official."

No one in our village knew that my father was a deserter. But that day, the yamen runner got drunk and mentioned the deserter to Aunt Fatty. Aunt Fatty then used my father's deserter status to blackmail him into agreeing to the marriage she was going to arrange for me.

That woman wasn't very bright. Her parents would definitely be more than willing to let me meet them, but I wasn't. The fat auntie pulled my dad aside and told him that he was a deserter.

My dad had no choice but to pretend to agree. You know I care about you, but when Aunt Pang came back a second time, my dad didn't say a word, and I knew something was wrong.

Xiaoyue poured him another cup of water, and Liang Qi continued, "This time, we really owe a lot to Young Master Yun."

"Yun Xingfei?"

"Yes, it was him. Aunt Pang threatened my father by saying that he was a deserter. After my father sent them away, he made me leave home and go to Shiwei. It wasn't until I pressed him repeatedly that he finally found out."

My dad said he wasn't afraid of his secret being discovered; he figured he'd come back sooner or later, and that day would come anyway. But he was afraid my identity would be found out, because then even he couldn't protect me.

I've been thinking about this at home for a few days and decided I still need to find the root of the problem. So you haven't seen me for about two months now, right? Do you miss me?

Xiaoyue leaned on the table, turned her head and looked up at him: "I didn't expect that since you've been snatched away by someone else, why should I bother with that? Besides, I still have a lot of work to do. Four geese, three of them are male, and I want to sell three or two of them."

Six ducks, three of them male, and I still need to sell two more. I'm hesitant about selling the two roosters. The loom has started weaving cloth, and I need to sell that too. With so much work, how can I have time to think about you?

Listening to Xiaoyue's rambling, Liang Qi thought it was so real and down-to-earth, so he continued along Xiaoyue's lines: "Next year, we'll use artificial incubators to hatch chicks, ducklings, and goslings. We'll raise lots of chickens, ducks, and geese, and we can sell a batch of live ones for winter."

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