He chanted Ji Lianzhi's name a hundred times in his heart, but to no avail.

She didn't dare open her eyes to look at Ye Lingyu, afraid that her emotions would overflow.

She hadn't done anything today, yet Ye Lingyu was already avoiding her. This made her hesitant to do anything more, afraid of accidentally scaring him away.

Hide them away. Keep these shameful thoughts hidden in your heart, so she won't find out.

Ye Lingyu did not respond to Cheng Qingyan's words.

How did she answer? Did she say yes?

Cheng Qingyan is also a woman. What if one day she meets someone she likes? Would she leave him without hesitation?

Ultimately, her marriage to Cheng Qingyan was also a marriage to the Cheng Qingyan of the past.

The Cheng Qingyan before me was like a god; he was no longer the same person as before.

Time will tell. Whether she will meet someone she loves or leave Cheng Qingyan, Cheng Qingyan will know many years later.

Before Cheng Qingyan changed and made no attempt to hide anything from him, no one noticed anything amiss.

Recently, Cheng Qingyan's probing of her has left her somewhat at a loss for how to respond.

She still harbored some fantasies, wondering why Cheng Qingyan wasn't a man.

In this way, she wouldn't have to carry the burden of having her identity exposed at any time, nor would she have to bear the oppressive feeling of going against the world's norms.

If that were the case, she thought she would be very happy with Cheng Qingyan.

From the moment Cheng Qingyan took that step back in the living room, Ye Lingyu knew that Cheng Qingyan had changed.

She used to be eager to make eye contact or have physical contact with me, but now she avoids me like the plague.

For some reason, she felt a little sad and bittersweet.

Perhaps because chopping wood was too physically demanding, Cheng Qingyan fell asleep without realizing it.

When she woke up, she found Ye Lingyu still sitting at the table opposite her.

"I'll go outside and see if the rain has stopped."

Ye Lingyu got up and followed her, wanting to go out and have a look with her.

"Wait here for me, I'll be right back."

The rain outside has stopped, but the path down the mountain is a bit slippery.

Cheng Qingyan did not return as promised. She only returned to her spatial dimension after descending the mountain and brought Ye Lingyu out.

Ye Lingyu realized that they had reached the bottom of the mountain. She understood that Cheng Qingyan had walked the muddy and slippery mountain path for her.

The two remained silent all the way home.

Meng Chuying had been waiting at home, eagerly anticipating their return. When she saw them come back empty-handed, she quickly went to greet them.

"Sister Ye, you didn't get wet in the rain, did you? It started raining not long after you left. I wanted to bring you raincoats, but I couldn't find any."

Ye Lingyu forced a smile at her: "I'm fine. It's getting late, I'll go cook dinner."

Cheng Qingyan did not follow, but went back to her room.

She feels uncomfortable whenever she sees Ye Lingyu talking to Meng Chuying.

She couldn't help but think that in the future, Ye Lingyu would have children with someone else, children that had nothing to do with her.

This realization caused her to barely eat any food that evening.

I was really heartbroken. I was so sad that I couldn't even eat. Seeing Ye Lingyu and Meng Chuying made me feel like my heart was being stabbed with needles.

Finally, as dawn broke, Cheng Qingyan put all the firewood into the kitchen and filled the rice jar.

I put out a basket of eggs, braved the morning chill, and left home.

Last night, after taking Meng Chuying home, on the way back, she said she was going to see Doctor Ruan today because she had some medicinal herbs to give her.

He stood outside Ye Lingyu's room for a while, but ultimately did not go in.

Hearing the door close, Ye Lingyu got out of bed.

Does Cheng Qingyan not want to see me now? He didn't even say goodbye before leaving.

She followed Cheng Qingyan from a distance until she was sure that Cheng Qingyan had really gone to find Doctor Ruan and went to Shuanghe Village, then she turned back.

Cheng Qingyan never told her he liked her, and she didn't dare to expect anything from him. She just lamented that Cheng Qingyan wasn't a man.

These words might have hurt Cheng Qingyan.

Since the land was cultivated, Cheng Qingyan had tacitly accepted all of his subtle probing questions.

Yesterday was the first time I tried to avoid her advances; I still can't get over the fact that she's a woman.

When she returned from following Cheng Qingyan to Shuanghe Village, Ye Lingyu was momentarily stunned.

Is there something wrong with her today? She actually followed Cheng Qingyan and then turned back on her own.

Why follow him? Is it because you're afraid Cheng Qingyan will never return?

I rushed as fast as I could, making it back before noon.

When she returned, Meng Chuying was already waiting for her at the door.

When asked where she had been, she made up the excuse that she had gone to carry the firewood she had chopped the day before.

She wasn't sure if it was because she hadn't lied that her heart was pounding. Or perhaps it was because she was thinking about how she had followed Cheng Qingyan all this way and couldn't let anyone know. In any case, her heart was truly tormented today.

When I cooked rice at noon, the bottom of the pot burned, and when I stir-fried vegetables, I added salt twice.

After Cheng Qingyan left, she was absent-minded and couldn't concentrate on anything, always making mistakes.

Meng Chuying thought she had encountered something bad on the mountain today, and asked her if she wanted to see a shaman.

Cheng Qingyan stayed at Ruan Banxia's house and didn't come back for a single day.

In the evening, someone came from Shuanghe Village, saying that she was relaying a message from Cheng Qingyan: she would not be back from Dr. Ruan's house for two days, and that Ye Lingyu should not worry.

Don't worry about anything. When Ye Lingyu heard the message, she wanted to go and bring Cheng Qingyan back from Ruan Banxia's house immediately.

But she held back; she and Cheng Qingyan were only a sham couple. She had no reason, nor the right, to interfere with Cheng Qingyan's freedom.

But the person who always sweetly called her "wife" suddenly disappeared, and she felt a little sad.

Cheng Qingyan was also upset and stayed at Ruan Banxia's house, refusing to come back no matter what.

Ruan Banxia was shrewd and resourceful. That evening, Shen Ziyu cooked two dishes, and she and Cheng Qingyan began to drink and chat happily.

Cheng Qingyan has a very high alcohol tolerance.

Of the three people, Ruan Banxia was the first to pass out from drinking.

In her drunken stupor, she was still asking Cheng Qingyan why he had suddenly come alone and where her wife was.

Cheng Qingyan looked at the burning charcoal stove and poked at the embers: "You know my identity, why rub salt into my wounds?"

Ruan Banxia leaned against Shen Ziyu, her eyes half-closed, and smiled nonchalantly: "Hey, I don't think it's a big deal. If you like someone, just go for it. If you don't, your wife will become someone else's wife, isn't that normal?"

Cheng Qingyan picked up the wine jar and took a big gulp: "She thinks I'm not a man. Yesterday she even avoided my touch. Why should I make things difficult for myself?"