Chapter 28

28.

Although Cheng Lingjun seemed to be about to confide in her, Guan Yue wasn't in a hurry to find out. As always, she escorted the father and son home from a distance before returning to her own home.

Cheng Lingjun should be taking care of Li Guang and cooking right now, but unfortunately her cooking skills are really too low, otherwise she could have cooked first.

"What a pity," Guan Yue lamented her cooking skills as she fed and watered her chicks. The vegetables she planted had begun to grow, and although they weren't fully mature yet, they were still edible. She picked the tips or the fully formed leaves. With Cheng Lingjun's guidance and the vegetables being easy to grow and hardy, Guan Yue was able to taste her own vegetables after just over ten days. She could also save some for her chicks.

In addition, there were grasshoppers and earthworms she found in the field, which served as an extra meal for the chickens.

Guan Yue dislikes unpleasant smells in the house and often cleans the chicken coop. She can also collect chicken droppings to use as fertilizer for her vegetable garden, killing two birds with one stone.

She plans to wait until her vegetables are fully ripe, then pick them and give them to Cheng Lingjun and the village chief, so she can plant more.

The process of planting and harvesting vegetables with one's own hands is truly captivating. Guan Yue had never done this kind of farm work before and never found it enjoyable, but now she is immersed in it and feels happy and proud of it.

Seeing the brown patches of land covered by patches of green, a sense of accomplishment welled up inside me.

She's a real genius at farming.

Guan Yue sighed.

Knock knock knock.

Someone knocked on her door. Guan Yue went to look and saw that it was Cheng Lingjun.

Guan Yue opened the door for him and said with a smile, "You finally have some free time?"

“Yes,” Cheng Lingjun said. Now, he walked into Guan Yue’s house as naturally as if he were visiting a friend or relative. He first looked at the chickens Guan Yue was raising before walking to the tree. There was an old table under the tree, which Guan Yue had moved out herself. The yard had been cleared of weeds, and although she didn’t plan to do any further tidying, setting up some tables and chairs made it look less empty. Also, since Guan Yue lived alone, it was always inconvenient for her to invite Cheng Lingjun into the house, so she specially placed a table there.

Guan Yue brought out the kettle and poured a cup for Cheng Lingjun. They sat under the tree in the shade, with the faint crowing of roosters in the air, which was quite pleasant.

The chickens that Guan Yue raised ate their fill and then went to sleep. It was already afternoon, and there were hardly any people around in the village. It seemed as if only the two of them were sitting quietly facing each other in the world.

The weather was getting cooler, but there was no need to add clothes yet. Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, and there was a faint fragrance of grass and wood in the air.

Cheng Lingjun looked at Guan Yue, who was carefully wrapping red string around the kettle lid and handle. The string had actually broken long ago, but Guan Yue had untied it, tied it back together, and wrapped it back around.

She was very serious about this, her eyes fixed on the rope and the pot. Everything in her room was dilapidated and she didn't have the money to replace it with new ones, but under her care, it seemed less broken and messy. He knew she was busy every day, but he had never seen her impatient or angry. Well, she had been, but only when she fought with Jinlan that day.

Cheng Lingjun's lips curled into a slight smile. Guan Yue happened to look up and asked curiously, "What are you laughing at?"

"It's nothing." Cheng Lingjun took a sip of water, which was as clear and sweet as the water he drank every day—it was water drawn from the same well.

Guan Yue smiled back when she saw him smile, "You seem to be in a better mood."

Cheng Lingjun was taken aback for a moment before realizing that she was referring to his earlier worries, and said with some amusement, "I wasn't... no, I guess it's all over now."

Guan Yue said, "If you have anything to say, you can tell me. But I'm not good at giving advice. If you just see me as a friend you can confide in, then feel free to speak."

Cheng Lingjun put the cup back on the table, the bottom of the cup making a slight sound as it hit the table, like ripples rising in his heart.

“Actually, it’s not a big deal,” Cheng Lingjun said. “I didn’t mean to hide it from you, but I’m just too ashamed to talk about it.”

Cheng Lingjun told Guan Yue about his own uninteresting and uneventful life.

He had a mother and father, and two older sisters. His mother passed the imperial examination at a young age, becoming a scholar, but was frustrated with her future. After getting married, she pinned her hopes on her two daughters, hoping her third son would marry early and become a good wife and mother. Unfortunately, her two daughters were not as talented as she had imagined. They were slow-witted. The eldest daughter was slightly worse, passing the preliminary examination at nearly thirty and earning a living by writing and teaching with her mother. The second daughter was even worse, unable to read many books and could only do odd jobs to make ends meet. The family lived a very frugal life.

When he came of age, a matchmaker arranged for him to marry Li Guifang, the young master of Yongfu Grain Store. Despite his family's objections, Li Guifang married him. Naturally, he asked for nothing in return, and a generous dowry was brought to his door. His mother, father, and sister were all overjoyed. A year later, he gave birth to Li Guang. Because Li Guang was a boy, the Li family wanted him to have another child. But giving birth to a girl was not so easy. For the next three years, his uncooperative belly showed no signs of pregnancy. The Li family then wanted Li Guifang to take a concubine. He thought that he and his wife had a deep affection for each other, but it was just wishful thinking on his part. Li Guifang had already found a young man outside. It wasn't until the man came to his door pregnant that he realized what had happened.

He couldn't remember how many arguments and how many bitter tears had been shed. Only after drinking the sterilization soup did he take down the divorce papers and leave the Li family with Li Guang. He originally wanted to return to the Cheng family, but how could he step into the scholarly home of the Cheng family with such a disgraceful affair? He was forced to ask to go back and beg for the Li family's forgiveness. Even if Li Guifang had wronged him, he wanted to reconcile with Li Guifang and happily accept the new person.

Cheng Lingjun couldn't swallow this insult. He pretended to agree, but in reality, he packed his clothes and ran away with Li Guang. The Li family thought he had returned to the Cheng family, and the Cheng family thought he had returned to the Li family. Neither family asked about it, and neither family looked for him. He pawned his valuables and left Guping Town lightly.

After leaving Guping Town, he arrived at Dahuai Village. Today, he returned to Guping Town and ran into his father. From his father's words, he learned that the Cheng family knew he had not returned to the Li family, and the Li family probably also knew that he was missing. However, even if they knew, what difference would it make? Perhaps to them, the name Cheng Lingjun was already a name not worth mentioning, and Cheng Lingjun did not want to have anything to do with them anymore. From now on, they would be strangers.

Cheng Lingjun poured out his entire past, only to find that it was just a few words, a few sentences. Now, as he spoke of it, it felt like he was talking about someone else's experience. To him, it was as if it were a lifetime ago. His life was long, yet it felt short.

He snapped out of his daze and realized that Guan Yue seemed to have remained silent the whole time.

Could it be that she found his actions too unacceptable? Because she was talking about her own affairs, Cheng Lingjun kept her eyes down and didn't dare to look at the listener's expression. Now that she had finished speaking, especially since she couldn't hear the other party make any sound, she was even more uneasy.

“You…” Cheng Lingjun looked up and realized that Guan Yue was still in a daze.

She stared straight ahead, clearly still absorbed in what Cheng Lingjun had said. But were his words really that hard to understand?

After Cheng Lingjun waited for Guan Yue to come to her senses, Guan Yue's first words after regaining consciousness were: "Why did you drink that soup? Did the Li family want to harm you?"

ah?

Cheng Lingjun was a little confused, but still answered honestly, "No, I drank it myself."

Guan Yue's eyes widened. "Why did you drink it?"

"Drinking this will allow me to get rid of the Li family and leave that place sooner."

"Are you... are you stupid?!" Guan Yue stood up abruptly.

“It was pretty stupid,” Cheng Lingjun said with a self-deprecating laugh. “If I wasn’t stupid, why would I have divorced the young master of Yongfu Grain Store? If I wasn’t stupid, why would I be raising a child alone…”

At this point, a faint sense of loss rose in Cheng Lingjun's heart. Yes, women always care about this kind of thing—no, everyone cares. He didn't dare tell his parents about it; he knew that if he did, he would be met with thunderous wrath. His mother, father, and sister would never forgive him. But he still told Guan Yue, perhaps to relax, perhaps to see her reaction, perhaps…

"That's not what I meant!" Guan Yue was practically going crazy. "I meant that taking the medicine was too impulsive! What if something happened?"

As a woman from modern times, Guan Yue felt that Cheng Lingjun's actions were too irresponsible. She had heard that ancient sterilization medicines were particularly potent, and modern contraception requires careful selection. Directly terminating pregnancy must be very harmful to the body.

Guan Yue grabbed Cheng Lingjun's arm, "Come on, let's go see a doctor... doctor."

Cheng Lingjun was almost knocked over by her strength, but she pulled him up. He quickly stopped her, saying, "You've been drinking for a long time, it's okay, really okay!"

“How could he be alright? What if there are any aftereffects?” Guan Yue still wanted to take him to see a doctor.

Cheng Lingjun said, "No, no... Alright, alright, I'll go tomorrow, I'll go tomorrow, no, I'll go today, I'll go at dusk... The First Madam hasn't gotten up yet..."

Cheng Lingjun talked until his throat was dry before he finally persuaded Guan Yue to come back.

He wiped the sweat from his brow. Guan Yue was too anxious. If he didn't speak up quickly, Guan Yue would probably drag him to see a doctor.

Turning around, Cheng Lingjun saw Guan Yue still frowning at him and said with a wry smile, "Let's do it later, there's no rush."

Guan Yue asked, "Isn't there any other way?"

"What?"

Guan Yue remained standing, her brows furrowed as she looked down at Cheng Lingjun with a peculiar sense of oppression. "If you want a divorce, can't you leave using other methods?"

Cheng Lingjun sighed, "Yes, but... in the end, it was still too impulsive."

The Li family wanted him to have a daughter, but he couldn't. His marriage seemed to be ruined by the word "birth." Cheng Lingjun couldn't explain his feelings when he took the medicine, but it must have been a very resolute choice made when he had no other options. But if you ask him if he regrets it? He doesn't.

He can still remember the exhilarating feeling he had when he told the Li family after taking the medicine. It was the pleasure of revenge, a desire to completely sever the last possible connection between him and Li Guifang, even if it meant using such a self-destructive method.