When Lu Yanzhao returned to the room, Gu Nanjiao was already asleep, her body turned inwards, her back to him.

Right now, he can't sleep either, so he plans to study.

Can……

I can't read a single word.

He thought Gu Nanjiao was a little fox, skilled at bewitching his heart. He was sure she had some kind of magic to keep him in the same room and bed, even if they didn't say a word to each other, she could still disturb his heart.

As night deepened, Lu Yanzhao put down the book in his hand and slowly sat down beside her.

Gu Nanjiao had a nightmare. In her dream, she was a hungry little fox, searching for food in a vast, barren forest. She couldn't find any prey. She planned to set a trap and wait for her prey to come to her, but instead, she fell into a trap set by her enemy. Below the trap was a large gray wolf, its jaws wide open, waiting for her.

Gu Nanjiao was both shocked and furious, and roared, "I'm a fox, do you dare to eat me?"

Lu Yanzhao was about to reach out and pinch her cheek when the woman beneath him suddenly threw a hook punch.

Lu Yanzhao...

The next morning, Gu Nanjiao indeed felt that the pain in her chest had lessened considerably, but strangely, her hand was a little sore.

After Gu Nanjiao got up, she saw Lu Yanzhao fetching water in the yard to prepare for washing up. Lu's mother and younger sister woke up one after another, and they were all in a rare good mood.

Lu's mother asked with concern, "How did you sleep last night? Does your wound hurt?"

"Mom, it's alright now. It doesn't hurt as much this morning," Gu Nanjiao said, turning around once.

Lu Xiaomei covered her mouth and chuckled: "It seems my brother's technique for applying medicine is indeed quite good!"

Gu Nanjiao gave an awkward smile: "The medicine your brother bought is good, it works well!"

Lu Yanzhao wiped the water off his face, accidentally touching the bruises on his face and hissed.

The three of them turned to look at each other and saw the bruises on Lu Yanzhao's face. Gu Nanjiao asked in surprise, "You were beaten up?"

When Lu's mother heard that her son had been beaten, she looked at Gu Nanjiao suspiciously.

Gu Nanjiao waved her hands repeatedly: "I went to bed early yesterday and don't know what happened, but I definitely didn't hit him!"

Lu Yanzhao put down the towel in his hand and said irritably, "I accidentally bumped into the door yesterday."

When Lu's mother heard that her son had bumped his head, she breathed a sigh of relief. She had thought the two of them had been fighting fiercely last night! It turned out she had been overthinking it.

Lu Yanzhao's appearance that morning truly pleased Gu Nanjiao. In a great mood, she made scallion pancakes, pan-fried steamed buns, and egg drop soup for breakfast.

After they finished eating, Gu Nanjiao urged Lu Yanzhao to hurry back to the academy.

"My injury is much better now, so please don't ask for leave anymore. Your studies are the priority, and you can't afford to be delayed."

Lu Yanzhao nodded and hummed in agreement, but Gu Nanjiao was anxious seeing his nonchalant expression.

Like an old mother, she earnestly advised, "It wasn't easy for me to raise you, and I also had to run a stall and do business. It was so hard. Your task now is to study hard and not run home all the time. The autumn exams are coming soon, and you can't let your studies be neglected!"

Lu Yanzhao felt inexplicably irritated and said in a deep voice, "Are you done talking?"

She kept urging him to rush to the academy, but she really didn't want to be alone in a room with him?

Gu Nanjiao obediently shut her mouth. This kid was probably going through a rebellious phase; the more you talked to him, the more rebellious he became. She'd only said a few words to encourage him to study, and he'd already gotten annoyed. What if he developed a dislike for school because of this? Then all of Lu's mother's hard work would be wasted, and the Lu family's hopes would be dashed…

Thinking of this, Gu Nanjiao felt guilty and said to Lu Yanzhao, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that about you! I won't say it again."

Lu Yanzhao was taken aback by the sudden apology. He softened his tone and said, "It was my fault for not controlling my emotions."

Gu Nanjiao breathed a sigh of relief: "Let's hurry back to the academy, or the teacher will get angry."

"Okay!" Lu Yanzhao replied casually, but seeing Gu Nanjiao's relieved expression, his irritation intensified.

...

At Lu Lao Er's house, Lu Yanping lay on the bed groaning, refusing to eat or drink, looking utterly heartbroken.

Two days ago, that bitch Yang Meiqin turned the tables on him and beat him up. He's still in pain, and his mother is forcing him to marry Huang Qingqing.

Huang Qingqing stood outside the courtyard for a long time, and only after being encouraged by Li Shi did she step up to Lu Yanping's door, knock on the door, and say in a trembling voice, "Yanping, are you there? I've come to see you."

Hearing Huang Qingqing's voice, Lu Yanping felt a wave of disgust. Why was she here again?

Are you here to see him make a fool of himself? She's been pestering him every day, but he doesn't want to marry this old and ugly woman.

Thinking of this, Lu Yanping simply stopped talking and lay on the bed pretending to be dead.

Huang Qingqing waited for a long time, but no one responded. She glanced at Li Shi with some unease.

Li smiled and said, "Qingqing, Yanping might still be sleeping. I'll come and wake him."

After knocking on the door, Li called out, "Yanping, Qingqing is here to see you. Get up quickly."

"Yan Ping..."

Annoyed by Li's nagging, Lu Yanping's face turned ashen. He pushed open the door and shouted angrily, "What's going on? When will this end? You can't even let me sleep peacefully!"

Li immediately smiled and said, "Qingqing came all this way to see you, Yanping. You can't keep her waiting forever."

After hearing Li's words, Huang Qingqing looked up at Lu Yanping, her cheeks slightly flushed.

"Yanping, I heard from your aunt that you were injured. Are you alright?"

Looking at the shy and embarrassed Huang Qingqing in front of him, Lu Yanping felt as if he were seeing a sow posing in front of him, which made him feel nauseous and his anger flared up even more.

Why did that bitch Yang Meiqin dump him so easily? He didn't even mind that she was dirty, and he even said he wanted to marry her. How could she be so heartless? And Lu Yanzhao, why did he marry a wife who is both beautiful and good at making money? They are both daughters of scholars, but he is the one who is clinging to this ugly hag.

Lu Yanping angrily shoved Huang Qingqing: "You ugly hag, stay away from me!"

Huang Qingqing was stunned by the scolding. When she came to her senses, her eyes instantly reddened: "Yanping, I was worried about you, how could you..."

"I need your concern?" Lu Yanping felt more and more disgusted by Huang Qingqing and sneered, "Don't think I don't know what you're up to. Do you think you're good enough for me just because you're Master Huang's daughter?"

Huang Qingqing...

"Look at your pig-like face, and you're even older than me. You're disgusting."

Li panicked, glanced at Huang Qingqing, and hurriedly comforted her, "Qingqing, don't take it to heart. He might not be fully awake and is talking nonsense. Please don't take it to heart." After saying that, she turned around, grabbed Lu Yanping's ear, and pulled him off the stage.

He yelled angrily, "You brat, you've gone too far! Apologize to Qingqing right now!"

Lu Yanping, his neck stiff and his ears red from being twisted, still stubbornly insisted, "I'd rather die than do it!"

Huang Qingqing's face turned pale, and after a long while, she ran out crying.

...

Lu Yanzhao returned to the academy, while his mother and younger sister went to set up a stall. Due to her injury, Lu's mother asked Gu Nanjiao to stay home to recuperate.

In fact, Gu Nanjiao felt that her injury was not serious, but she couldn't go against Lu's mother's wishes and insisted that she stay at home to recuperate.

Since she couldn't stay idle anyway, she decided to go and check on how her kudzu root was growing.

Gu Nanjiao was kicking at the dirt under her feet with her head down when she was knocked to the ground by a yellow figure.