Gu Nanjiao turned her head and saw Lu Yanzhao standing straight behind her, his tall figure bearing a faint sarcasm on his handsome face.

Gu Nanjiao was very surprised.

Why is Lu Yanzhao here? The academy shouldn't be on holiday yet.

Li pouted and whispered, "You can't even say you're a kept man, and you're saying I'm being sour."

Lu Yanzhao's face darkened, and a hint of disgust flashed in his eyes as he looked at Li Shi. Li Shi was immediately frightened into silence.

Gu Nanjiao quickly stepped forward and said, "Lu Yanzhao, don't take what she said to heart."

Throughout history, being a kept man has always been a humiliating and shameful thing for a man. Did Lu Yanzhao hear what Li said just now? It is said that scholars are inherently proud, and for a scholar, this is a great disgrace. Will he be affected by this?

“Of course, but…” Lu Yanzhao gave Gu Nanjiao a deep look and laughed, “I’m just lucky to be able to live off my wife.”

He kept referring to his wife as "my wife" without any hesitation.

The villagers laughed and teased, "Yanzhao, you truly deserve to be a scholar who passed the imperial examination. You have such a broad mind. We all envy you for marrying such a virtuous, beautiful, and capable wife. When you pass the imperial examination, you must not let her down."

"If I pass the imperial examination one day, I will not fail you! All of you here are my witnesses." After Lu Yanzhao finished speaking, he stared intently at Gu Nanjiao with tender eyes.

Gu Nanjiao's heart skipped a beat. Feeling uncomfortable under his gaze, she tugged at Lu Yanzhao's sleeve and whispered, "You're overacting!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Yanzhao's breath hitched, and then he laughed in exasperation.

She actually thought he was acting?

He didn't care what she thought it was; he was too lazy to explain.

Gu Nanjiao asked, "Why are you back? The academy isn't on holiday, is it?"

Lu Yanzhao said calmly, "I was afraid you wouldn't be able to handle it, so I took leave."

"Oh!" Gu Nanjiao didn't ask any more questions and turned to instruct Lu Yanzhao to help with the work.

Li left at some unknown time, and the villagers ate and drank well and continued working.

The house is almost finished; once the roof beams are in place, we can move in.

In ancient rural areas, houses didn't need painting or decoration; they were ready to live in as soon as they were built.

After the house was built, the carpenter at the village entrance brought over the finished bed and cabinet and asked Lu Yanzhao, "Tell me which room the bed and cabinet will be in, and I'll install them for you."

"good!"

Gu Nanjiao came over upon hearing the noise and saw three beds, one large and two small. She didn't pay much attention to it. Lu's mother and Lu Xiaomei slept in one bed, so it was naturally a bit bigger. As for the two smaller beds, she could sleep comfortably, but Lu Yanzhao's height made it a bit of a stretch for him to sleep in the smaller beds.

"Isn't this bed a bit small? Can you sleep in it?" Gu Nanjiao turned to look at Lu Yanzhao and couldn't help but ask.

Lu Yanzhao glanced at the large bed with a half-smile: "It's not small, you can sleep comfortably."

Gu Nanjiao nodded and said that if they could sleep together, that would be fine, but the thought of Lu Yanzhao, who was so big, being squeezed into a small bed made her want to laugh for some reason.

The carpenter installed the bed and cabinets and then went home.

Thinking that there were some things she hadn't bought, Gu Nanjiao went to the town.

Having not visited her father for a long time, Gu Nanjiao bought some things and some vegetables and went to Dumb Alley.

I knocked on the door, but no one was home.

Gu Nanjiao reached into her pocket, pulled out a key, and opened the door.

Gu Xiucai gave Gu Nanjiao a key. Although she had gotten married, her father said that this place would always be her home.

The small courtyard that came into view was neat and tidy, unlike the mess it used to be.

Did his father clean this up himself? Gu Nanjiao didn't believe it.

Gu Nanjiao waited for a long time, but Gu Xiucai didn't return. Since there were no cell phones in ancient times, she could only wait helplessly.

I don't know where her father went. His own daughter finally came to visit, but he didn't even get to see her once.

Left with no other choice, Gu Nanjiao left the groceries, shoes, socks, and other items she had bought, along with a note, and went home.

Meanwhile, inside the Jiaoniang Pavilion, Scholar Gu was sweating profusely as he carried bolts of cloth, occasionally flashing a silly grin at Lü Siniang behind the counter.

"You must be tired, take a rest!" Lü Siniang stepped forward and handed over a handkerchief, speaking softly.

Gu Xiucai took the handkerchief, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and said, "This little bit of work won't tire me out. I'm not some weak scholar who can't even kill a chicken."

After saying that, Scholar Gu continued to move the next bolt of cloth.

Lu Siniang smiled, turned around, poured a cup of tea, and handed it to Gu Xiucai: "Stop and have a cup of tea. You still have to tutor your studies later."

Gu Xiucai stopped and reached out to take the tea from Lü Siniang's hand. He accidentally touched her soft fingertips, and it felt as if a pebble had fallen into his heart, causing ripples to spread.

He turned and sat down, not daring to look at the woman in front of him.

Lu Siniang sat down next to him and quietly waited for him to finish his tea.

"I……"

"you……"

They both spoke at the same time, but then stopped simultaneously, gazing at each other with deep affection, their silence speaking volumes.

"You go first..."

"You go first..."

The two spoke at the same time, and then both froze.

Gu Xiucai cleared his throat, thinking that as a man, he should be the one to speak up on many things.

"Fourth Sister, you know how I feel, but I also know that I am not good enough for you right now. You are a strong woman, and I am just a poor scholar. But don't worry, I will take the imperial examination again in the future. After I pass the examination, I will ask a matchmaker to go to your house to propose marriage, okay?"

"How could I not know your feelings!" Lu Siniang blushed slightly and turned her head away shyly.

This bookworm, who would ever start by talking about marriage face-to-face?

But that's fine too. She's not a young unmarried girl anymore; she's middle-aged, so there's no need for her to be shy.

"You don't want to?" Gu Xiucai suddenly became anxious. He had finally met someone who suited his taste, and he was at a loss for what to do.

"Fool, how could I not want to!" Seeing that he was getting anxious, Lü Siniang blushed and scolded him coquettishly.

"But..." As if thinking of something, Lü Siniang frowned.

Gu Xiucai, in a hurry, asked, "But what?"

"I have no objections to the article; he likes you very much. It's just that I don't know if your daughter can accept me!" Lu Siniang's brows furrowed slightly, making her look quite endearing.

"No, she's already married and can't interfere in my affairs anymore. Besides, she hopes I can find someone who cares for me." Gu Xiucai couldn't help but gently pull her into his arms to comfort her.

Now that the two have reached the point of expressing their feelings and discussing marriage, whatever he does is not considered out of line.

Lu Siniang felt a sweet warmth in her heart and smiled shyly: "What a fool!"

Gu Xiucai said softly, "Don't call me a fool, call me Qingyan!"

"Qing Yan..."

...

When Gu Nanjiao arrived home, it was still dark.

The thought of moving into a new house filled Gu Nanjiao with joy.

The house was built with bricks on the ground floor and adobe bricks on the upper floor, making it one of the best houses in the village. There were four rooms in total, plus a kitchen. Two of the larger rooms were for Lu Yanzhao and his mother, one was a main room for receiving guests, and the smaller room was probably for Gu Nanjiao.

Gu Nanjiao arrived at the door of the small room with great interest, thinking about moving her things in later. She couldn't contain her excitement.

"Sister-in-law, you're back!" Lu Xiaomei ran over enthusiastically and grabbed Gu Nanjiao's hand.

Gu Nanjiao smiled and asked, "Why are you so happy?"

"I have my own room now, I'm a big kid now, of course I'm happy!"

"Oh? Which one is your room?" Hearing Lu Xiaomei's words, Gu Nanjiao had a vague sense of unease.

Lu Xiaomei grabbed Gu Nanjiao's hand and pointed to the small room in front of them, saying, "This is my room. My brother said I can't sleep with Mother anymore; I'm a big girl now. Look, all my things are in there!"

Gu Nanjiao...

In the room, Lu Yanzhao glanced at the newly made large bed and smiled with satisfaction.

It's big enough that you can roll around on it without any problem.

"Bang—" The door was flung open with force.

Outside the door, Gu Nanjiao was looking at Lu Yanzhao with a pitiful expression.