When they got home, the stars were already rising.

Ah Huang was waiting anxiously in the yard. He had sharp ears. He heard the carriage from a long distance away and rushed over to grab the fence door and barked. He didn't calm down until Bao Ning opened the curtain and called him.

It was Zhang Heyu, the third brother-in-law, who sent them back. Behind them followed the soldiers under Qiu Mingshan. Perhaps they had been ordered not to get too close and followed from a distance just to protect their safety.

"Call--" Zhang Heyu shouted, and the carriage stopped steadily.

Pei Yuan woke up, rubbed his forehead against the soft fabric on Bao Ning's belly, and asked in a low voice: "Are we there yet?"

He was really weak, and had closed his eyes all the way. At first, he could still lean on the back of the chair, but later he couldn't stand it anymore, so he lay on his side, resting his head on Bao Ning's thigh, and fell asleep all the way.

Bao Ning was afraid that he would fall, so he protected the back of his head with one hand and held his shoulders with the other. He said "um" and asked him softly: "Are you hungry?"

Pei Yuan frowned: "I don't want to eat lotus cake, it will choke my throat."

Just now on the way, Bao Ning fed him some water and half a snack, Pei Yuan swallowed it with difficulty, and almost vomited it out during the bumpy ride.

Bao Ning rubbed his eyebrows distressedly: "I'm here, I won't let you eat those, you can eat whatever you want, I'll cook it for you."

Pei Yuan said: "I want to eat braised bones."

Bao Ning shook his head: "You are sick, you can't eat such greasy things."

Pei Yuan slightly raised his upper body, met her eyes, and said with some displeasure: "You said, make me whatever I want to eat."

Bao Ning laughed out loud, and felt that Pei Yuan was unexpectedly cute like this, and the temper was like a child.

Bao Ning coaxed him: "Be good, eat something light at night, and tomorrow, I will obey you no matter what you say."

Pei Yuan was silent.

Bao Ning knew that he agreed to this, and stroked his chin: "Okay, we are home, sit up, let's get off the car."

...

Zhang Heyu was shocked when he heard all this outside the car.

He still remembered the look of the Fourth Prince dragging a knife with murderous intent, which was completely different from the present. He was surprised that Baoning had such magic power. Just a few words could make his anger melt away and become as obedient as a dog.

Baoning opened the door and helped Pei Yuan down. Zhang Heyu wanted to lend a hand, but Baoning shook his head gently to refuse.

Pei Yuan was unwilling to be touched by outsiders.

It was only today that she discovered that he had such a quirk.

Zhang Heyu retracted his hand, pointed to another carriage following, and said kindly: "Baoning, your third sister brought you some things, clothes, food, and some medicine. I'll ask someone to move them to the yard for you."

Baoning turned around to thank him.

Zhang Heyu smiled innocently. Compared with Pei Yuan, he was a very ordinary man, not very handsome, but not ugly either, with a muscular body and bright eyes. Bao Ning liked this third brother-in-law very much. He was silent and gentle, and treated her third sister very well. It was a blessing to have such a marriage.

The two chatted politely in the yard for a few sentences, and after only two sentences, Pei Yuan pulled her sleeve.

His tone was very impatient: "Can't go home?"

Bao Ning smiled apologetically at Zhang Heyu, and patted Pei Yuan's back soothingly, "I'll go in right away. Are you cold? Let's go into the house first, you lie down for a while, I'll go and see my third brother-in-law off."

Pei Yuan said coldly: "I'm about to die, you don't care about me, and you're talking nonsense here."

Bao Ning was shocked: "What are you talking about?"

This man is crazy again. He will be friendly with you for only a short while, and then he will turn against you. He doesn't care whether you like what he says or not, as long as he feels comfortable.

"It's okay, no need to send me off, I know the way." Zhang Heyu waved his hand and looked back, "The things in the car have been almost unloaded, I won't keep you, you guys go in quickly, I'll take everyone away now. If you have time in the future, come and visit often, your third sister misses you very much."

Zhang Heyu looked a little embarrassed: "You also know that your third sister and I don't agree with my father-in-law's marriage, and things have been very tense over the years..."

Baoning nodded: "Okay..."

Pei Yuan frowned and interrupted: "Is it over yet?"

Seeing this, Zhang Heyu stopped talking, said goodbye to the two of them briefly, turned around and walked out.

Bao Ning looked at Pei Yuan's expressionless face, and felt so angry that her heart ached. She wanted to pinch his arm, but then she remembered that he had just vomited blood and was weak, so she couldn't bear to do it. She silently helped him into the door.

"Okay, are you happy now?" Bao Ning asked Pei Yuan to sit on the edge of the kang, and turned to light a fire. The rumbling sound of the carriage faded away. She looked through the door and closed it.

Ah Huang squeezed in through the crack of the door and jumped next to Pei Yuan.

Pei Yuan frowned and pushed it away. Ah Huang groaned in grievance and lay down in a corner.

Bao Ning stuffed a handful of dry grass into the stove, lit the fire, and looked back at Pei Yuan: "Why don't you take off your clothes?"

She straightened up and went to move the bathtub: "Eat first or take a bath? Or eat, I haven't eaten properly all day, I'm so hungry, is there anything you want to eat?"

Pei Yuan supported the edge of the kang with both hands, his eyelids drooped slightly, and he didn't answer or move.

Bao Ning sighed, wiped her hands with a dry cloth, sat next to him, ruffled his hair, and whispered: "What are you angry about again?"

Pei Yuan finally spoke, his voice hoarse: "I didn't sleep, didn't drink water, didn't eat, and I vomited blood because I was looking for you all night, but you didn't care about me, just chatting with wild men, you don't know..."

Pei Yuan wanted to say, you don't know how to feel sorry for me. But she didn't say it. It was too effeminate.

Bao Ning was angry and distressed: "What kind of wild man, what did you say? Why didn't I care about you? You can be angry, but you can't say all the angry words."

Pei Yuan was silent for a long time, and then sneered.

Bao Ning thought, if Pei Yuan was not sick this time, she would not forgive him for a few days just because of his words, but now, seeing his pale face, she couldn't just leave him alone.

"Okay, it's my fault. I shouldn't have let you stand outside in the wind. I apologize to you, okay?" Bao Ning patiently coaxed him, "I won't do this next time."

Pei Yuan said: "There won't be a next time."

Bao Ning comforted herself, he was a patient, why would she be angry with a patient, it was unnecessary.

She nodded: "Okay, there won't be a next time. No matter what happens in the future, I will take care of you first."

Pei Yuan's expression eased a little.

Bao Ning said, "Take off your clothes first, lie down and rest for a while, then eat, then take a bath and have a good sleep, okay?"

Pei Yuan said, "I feel uncomfortable and can't take off my clothes."

Bao Ning said helplessly, "Stretch out your arms."

Pei Yuan stretched out his arms obediently, letting Bao Ning help him untie his belt, take off his outer and middle clothes, leaving only a layer of underwear.

"Sweat sticks to me, it's uncomfortable."

Bao Ning pursed her lips, and took off his underwear again, revealing his tan chest.

"Is it better now?"

Pei Yuan said "hmm", looked at her, and suddenly smiled.

Bao Ning saw his look, like a child who finally got candy. She was still angry, but now she felt much better. She pinched his earlobe and said, "What's wrong with you? Can you check your age before you get angry? If it gets out, you will be embarrassed."

Pei Yuan suddenly grabbed her wrist, pulled her over, and held her fingertips tightly. He sucked them with his lips and tongue while looking up at her.

Bao Ning's heart trembled at the wet touch on her fingers, and she felt a tingling sensation from her spine up, as if it exploded.

Pei Yuan mumbled, "If you don't tell others, who will know."

"You are so annoying..." Bao Ning retracted her hand, put it behind her back, and her face gradually turned red.

She wiped her finger on Pei Yuan's arm, turned and walked away: "I'm going to cook."

Pei Yuan's eyes followed her back, watching her wash the vegetables and put them in the pot, wash the rice and cook, and then mix the rice bran and go out to feed the chickens. Pei Yuan closed his eyes until her skirt flashed and disappeared from his sight.

In fact, just now in the yard, when he said that to Zhang Heyu, he felt that Bao Ning was angry. He felt a little regretful and flustered, but reason still succumbed to emotion and continued to speak without thinking.

He felt that he was not valued enough by Bao Ning. Maybe it was a lot, but it was still not enough. If Bao Ning had a hundred candies in his hand, gave him ninety-nine, but had one left to give to outsiders, he would feel that it was not enough.

In other words, if Bao Ning has candy, all of it, not a single one less, should be given to him.

Pei Yuan knew that he was biased, but he couldn't control it. He might behave well at ordinary times, but once he met Bao Ning, he wanted to possess all of her thoughts.

Pei Yuan knew very well that he was forcing this transaction.

He could give everything to Bao Ning. He was like a wolf, always on guard, but willing to show her his softest and most vulnerable parts. He gave Bao Ning all his trust and hoped to be treated equally. He was sensitive and selfish. As long as he felt her goodness and showed it to others, he would be jealous to the point of going crazy.

But he was also a person who wanted to save face. He didn't say anything, hoping that she could understand and comprehend it.

...

For dinner, they had braised lion's head and winter melon slices and vermicelli soup. Bao Ning didn't say a few words the whole time, and the atmosphere was silent.

Pei Yuan glanced at her secretly, but he couldn't put aside his pride to speak first. He quickly ate two bowls of rice and finished the meal.

After eating, Pei Yuan regained a lot of strength, and his complexion looked much better. Bao Ning filled the bathtub with water, took out some clothes, and left after giving a few instructions.

Pei Yuan looked at the bathtub filled with hot steam, and frowned a little disappointedly. He thought Bao Ning would stay with him, and even if it was bad, she should rub his back.

But she just went out like that.

Bao Ning sat outside the house holding Ah Huang, looking up at the stars. She wanted to teach Pei Yuan a lesson. He was really too much at that time.

Baoning didn't dare to ask for too much. Perhaps it was the inferiority complex that had been hidden deep in her heart. She had always been weak in front of Pei Yuan. This might be related to her background. Her aunt was weak in front of her father. Imperceptibly, she became like this.

Even now, it was obviously his fault. She wanted to express her unhappiness, but she had to be careful and try not to leave any traces.

Pei Yuan told her that day that he wanted to be an ordinary couple with her. Baoning thought, when an ordinary couple has a quarrel, the husband always comes to coax his wife, right?

But he didn't. Not even a soft word.

Baoning just wanted Pei Yuan to coax her.

The sound of water in the room stopped. Baoning sorted out her thoughts, patted the dirt on her skirt, turned and went into the house. Pei Yuan had already lay down with his back to her.

The quilt was pulled up to the elbow, revealing a shoulder blade with strong and smooth lines. Baoning stared at it for a long time. Pei Yuan might have felt her gaze, but he didn't react.

Baoning quickly cleaned up the room, washed up, and lay down beside him.

No words were spoken that night.

The next morning, Baoning got up early and went to see the jar of leeches. She put a lot of snails in the jar before leaving, and she didn't worry about it being hungry. She glanced at it before going to bed last night and saw that the leech's belly had grown to a certain extent, as if it was about to be burst. She had been thinking about it, so she went to see it when she woke up.

After opening the lid, Baoning was surprised to receive the first good news in such a long time.

The author has something to say: Brother Pei's mental illness has been diagnosed and he is being treated.