As he spoke, Lin's father secretly pinched He's mother's waist and whispered, "Hurry up and cry."
The pain made He's mother wince, and she finally understood what Lin's father was thinking. She immediately burst into tears: "Oh dear, my silly girl is so unreasonable! We arranged a good marriage for her, but she didn't want it and even ran away secretly. What if she gets carried away by the wolves in the mountains!"
The people gathered around the courtyard looked at each other in bewilderment. "Is this second daughter of the Lin family so irresponsible? Running away from her wedding?"
"Oh dear, no matter where this girl has run off to, there are wild beasts in these mountains. We have to find her quickly."
"Yes, yes, yes!"
...
The villagers' voices mingled together, and Lin's father, with his back to them, revealed a satisfied smile.
No matter how early Er Yatou ran away, she never left the mountain, so she probably couldn't have gone far. When they find her and she leaves, they'll hand her over to the Hu family to be tied up.
No matter how much Lin's father thought about it, he never expected that an outsider (Duan Heng) would run away with his daughter and even sneak into the city.
— — — — — — — — — — — —
While the people in Peach Blossom Village were still looking for Qingyin, Qingyin was squatting on a roadside, drooling as she watched the old man selling candied hawthorns across the street.
When Duan Heng arrived, he saw the person he was thinking about squatting alone in front of the candied hawthorn stall, staring intently at the big, red candied hawthorns. He could tell at a glance what she was thinking.
Duan Heng walked over helplessly and patted the village girl on the shoulder.
"ah!"
The girl's slightly frightened expression returned to calm when she turned her head and saw the familiar face: "Duan Heng, you're back."
Surprisingly, Duan Heng also felt a little guilty.
After all, he was the one who brought the village girl out, and she was also her savior. No matter what, leaving a girl who had never been out of the mountains alone waiting for him outside would easily scare her.
Duan Heng pursed his thin lips and walked up to the candied hawthorn stall. "Grandpa, I'd like a skewer of candied hawthorns."
The old man selling candied hawthorns was an elderly man with poor eyesight and gray hair. He smiled kindly and slowly took down two skewers of candied hawthorns: "Young man, is that your sister? The little girl is so well-behaved, sitting here waiting for you. She has brought me a lot of business. This other skewer is for you."
Duan Heng paused for a second. Although he had no memory of it, he inexplicably felt that this was the first time someone had been willing to give him something for free.
It felt unfamiliar, but not bad.
After taking the candied hawthorns, Duan Heng handed the money for both skewers to the old man and left silently.
Qingyin, who was hurriedly led away, shook her head and asked, "Duan Heng, why are you leaving in such a hurry?"
"Something's up."
"Oh." Qingyin munched on the candied hawthorn in her hand, revealing sweet dimples at the corners of her mouth.
The village girl, who had been quiet for a short while, always had a lot to say.
Sure enough, not long after, the girl's soft, sweet voice rang out again, "Duan Heng, where did you get the money? You didn't steal it, did you?"
Duan Heng glanced at the incredibly bold girl: "Take the money you made from selling it."
"Hmph, I don't believe it!" Qingyin glared at Duan Heng, who was talking nonsense, and stopped talking, focusing on eating her candied hawthorn.
She'll keep spending her money, and sooner or later she'll squander all of Duan Heng's money.
After finishing the candied hawthorn in her hand, Qingyin turned her attention to the untouched candied hawthorn in Duan Heng's hand.
"Duan Heng, don't you like candied hawthorns?"
Duan Heng raised an eyebrow, his well-defined hand holding a candied hawthorn stick, which he waved temptingly in front of a greedy girl. "How did you know I..."
The deliberately slowed-down ending melody descended gracefully just as the girl's eyes lit up.
"I can eat candied hawthorns!" the man said, slowly taking a bite of the candied hawthorns.
"Duan Heng!" Qingyin's face turned red.
"What's wrong?" the man said flippantly.
Furious, Qingyin turned her head away, ignoring the scoundrel who was deliberately trying to seduce her.
Duan Heng watched the huffing girl walk away, feeling both amused and helpless.
He genuinely wanted to see the girl get angry, but it wasn't that he was stingy for not giving her a string of candied hawthorns. It was just that he vaguely remembered that eating too much sweet stuff wasn't good for you. One string of candied hawthorns was enough for the little village girl; any more would be bad.
The man, who had finished his candied hawthorn in a few bites, suppressed his slight anxiety and followed after them.
"Alright, how about we go to a restaurant for dinner later? You can have whatever you want."
Upon hearing this, the girl's ears twitched.
Duan Heng concealed the amusement in his eyes, "The restaurant has all kinds of roast chicken, roast duck, braised pork, steamed fish, and various desserts... Are you sure you don't want to eat, Miss Lin Erhua?"
The girl ahead, who was sulking, couldn't walk any further.
Qingyin turned her head away haughtily, "Since you're so sincere and generous in inviting me to dinner, then I'll reluctantly accept."
Let's go.
Duan Heng chuckled lightly, "Not yet."
Qingyin looked at him in disbelief. "You're lying to me."
Duan Heng smiled helplessly: "Now, I would like to ask Miss Lin Erhua to come with me to the clothing store to buy a few clothes."
To be honest, he was already quite annoyed by the sight of the girl's clothes covered in patches.
"Really? Duan Heng, you're so kind!" The girl exclaimed with such joy that she practically uttered the name Duan Heng with honeyed sweetness.
Even though he was used to hearing the sweet voice of the village girl, Duan Heng couldn't help but be captivated by it.
"Alright, let's go, let's go, lest he get upset again later." The man muttered softly, his face flushed.
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