Yun Wunian has started to speak now, although he can't utter a single word all day, but it's better than nothing.
Jiang Fei, true to his word, sent him to the academy the day after he made the request.
Thanks to Aunt Li, the neighbors all heard that Yun Wunian was her childhood sweetheart, and people kept glancing at the two of them on their way to the school.
It has always been the parents or sisters who take their children to the school. But now this woman surnamed Jiang is leading her young husband to the school. It's simply... indecent!
Jiang Fei remained calm and composed, not caring at all about the gazes of those people. Yun Wunian was initially very uncomfortable, but seeing Jiang Fei's composed demeanor, her face gradually calmed down as well.
The school was located in a bamboo house not far from the foot of the mountain. Most of the students were children from the surrounding families. The teacher was a well-known old scholar with a goatee. He spoke in classical Chinese, but he was a reasonable person. Although he hesitated when he saw the birthmark on Yun Wunian's face, he smiled and nodded when he saw the silver that Jiang Fei took out and accepted it.
"Little Wunian, study hard here with the teacher." Jiang Fei looked down at Yun Wunian and pinched his cheek. "I'll wait for you to come back and take care of me."
After saying that, he turned and left without stopping.
Yun Wunian glanced at her retreating figure and entered the school.
He will study hard, and not only will he study hard, but he will also strive to make something of himself.
In contrast to his lofty ambitions, Jiang Fei returned to his residence and lazily lay on a rocking chair under an elm tree, holding grapes chilled from an ancient well, and began reading a storybook.
When she got tired of reading, she would put the storybook aside and take a nap with her eyes half-closed.
The early summer breeze carried a cool breeze, and Jiang Fei actually fell into a deep sleep accompanied by the sound of the wind.
When Yun Wunian returned from the academy, he saw her sleeping peacefully, leaning against a rocking chair.
She seemed different today than usual. In the past, she acted freely and unrestrainedly, but today, leaning there, she seemed... like the fairy he had heard the storyteller mention outside the restaurant.
But she's not a fairy; fairies wouldn't do what she did, finding a "childhood sweetheart." She would.
The fairy won't get hurt, but she will.
She had a deep scar on her shoulder.
Thinking of that night, Yun Wunian's face immediately flushed, and she quickly turned and walked into the room.
Hearing footsteps, Jiang Fei opened her eyes: "Xiao Wunian is back?"
Yun Wunian paused, gave a hasty reply, then quickened his pace, put down the book basket, washed his hands, and walked into the woodshed with his head down. But he paused, stunned, when he lifted the lid of the pot on the stove.
It's empty, just like when he left this morning.
He turned to look at Jiang Fei in the courtyard.
Jiang Fei stood up in confusion, leaning against the doorway of the woodshed. "What's wrong?"
Yun Wunian pursed his lips: "You didn't eat lunch?" His childish voice still carried the hoarseness and awkwardness of someone speaking for the first time.
Jiang Fei replied matter-of-factly, "Nobody does it."
Yun Wunian frowned, his dark, round eyes filled with disapproval, yet a strange sense of being needed welled up inside him.
Without saying anything more, he skillfully sat down in front of the stove and started a fire.
Jiang Fei was still leaning against the door of the woodshed. After a while, the sound of sparks crackling came from the stove, along with the soft sounds of rinsing rice and burning firewood. Smoke was rising from the chimney on the roof.
A small figure dressed in blue was standing on a stool, carefully rinsing rice.
After finishing his dinner that evening, Yun Wunian read through most of the poetry book that his teacher had given him before falling into a deep sleep.
The consequence of today's events is that every morning, Yun Wunian will prepare Jiang Fei's lunch as well before going to the academy.
Jiang Fei enjoyed the care of the child with a clear conscience, spending her days at home eating, drinking, and having fun.
I'm afraid it won't be long before she becomes lazy and spoiled by a half-grown child.
Thinking this, Jiang Fei casually put a pastry into her mouth.
It was dusk when footsteps sounded outside the house.
It must be Yun Wunian who has returned.
Jiang Fei looked up and saw a small figure appear at the door, but the figure just lowered its head and didn't say a word. It put the book basket into the room and went to the woodshed.
Jiang Fei squinted at him.
The little thing rarely speaks, but today it was unusually silent.
Even during dinner, he would simply hold his bowl with his head down, and after finishing, he would return to his room. "Wait." Jiang Fei slowly interrupted Yun Wunian, got up, walked around to him, and lazily lifted his chin. Sure enough, she saw that his fair face was swollen and red, with some dark circles under his eyes, and a bloodstain on the birthmark on his left cheek.
Jiang Fei raised an eyebrow: "Little Wunian is not learning good things, fighting with others?"
Yun Wunian's eyes narrowed, as if afraid she would no longer let him go to the academy. He opened his mouth, but only managed to squeeze out a single word: "No..."
"So you were beaten up?" Jiang Fei asked again.
Yun Wunian pursed his lips and lowered his head, remaining silent.
Jiang Fei frowned. After all, kneading and shaping that little face had been her recent hobby, and now it had been beaten up like this.
She reached out, wanting to pinch his little face, but didn't know where to start. Finally, she took out a bottle of medicine from her sleeve: "You are not allowed to read for the next few nights. Take this medicine for three days, and your face will be healed."
Yun Wunian glanced at her, then at her hand. She had just... tried to pinch him, hadn't she?
He took the medicine bottle, turned around, and went back into his room.
That night, he indeed did not read by candlelight again.
The next day, Jiang Fei stayed in the courtyard as usual, but as dusk approached, she slowly walked towards the school.
Before they even reached the school, they saw three or four children surrounding Yun Wunian, making faces and laughing at him. The chubby boy in the lead was particularly arrogant.
"Are you in such a hurry to go back because you need to cook for your wife?"
"No, he's the one who was bought and raised as a child!"
"Children's foster husband, child's foster husband..."
Trapped in the middle, Yun Wunian's face was cold. Her small hands, gripping the straps of the book basket tightly, turned white from the force, but as if afraid of causing trouble, she pursed her lips and walked silently toward the courtyard.
The chubby boy, however, went too far and tried to shove him.
Jiang Fei narrowed her eyes. She had thought that Yun Wunian was beaten because of the birthmark on her face, but she never expected it was because of her "childhood sweetheart".
After a moment of contemplation, Jiang Fei slowly stepped forward and stood in front of the children.
Those people also saw her and stopped in their tracks.
Jiang Fei smiled and said, "What are you talking about?"
Being children, they stopped talking after seeing Jiang Fei, and after a moment of silence, they dispersed.
Jiang Fei glanced at Yun Wunian, then turned and walked towards the courtyard, with Yun Wunian quietly following behind her.
Only after returning to the courtyard did Jiang Fei casually turn his head and ask, "Why didn't you object?"
Yun Wunian glanced at her, tightened his grip on the book basket, and said nothing.
Jiang Fei waited for a while but didn't get a response from him. She shrugged indifferently and went back to her room.
“I was originally your childhood sweetheart,” Yun Wunian’s voice suddenly came, then added after thinking for a moment, “before I surpassed you.”
Jiang Fei paused, turned to look at him, and after a while said, half-jokingly, "So unwilling to be my childhood sweetheart?"
Yun Wunian fell silent once again and plunged into the woodshed.
Jiang Fei glanced at his retreating figure, smiled, and turned to walk away.
They didn't return until it got dark.
After serving the food, Yun Wunian waited by the table while flipping through a book. He had already surpassed the school's progress by quite a bit, as the teacher had given him many profound historical texts.
Just then, several heart-wrenching cries came from the doorway.
Yun Wunian looked up and saw Jiang Fei carrying a chubby little child like a chick as he walked in. It was the same child who had bullied him before, and he was crying and wailing with snot and tears streaming down his face.
"Here, beat him back." Jiang Fei put the child in front of Yun Wunian.
Yun Wunian was taken aback.
Jiang Fei smiled and said, "Just beat up the wounds on your face."
Yun Wunian finally realized what was happening, her face showing a hint of astonishment. She was... standing up for him?
From childhood to adulthood, he has endured too many cold stares and physical abuse from others, and the injuries on his face now are nothing compared to what he used to suffer.
In the end, Yun Wunian shook his head.
"Not going to fight?" Jiang Fei raised an eyebrow.
Yun Wunian nodded, his eyes sparkling as he looked at Jiang Fei.
“Alright,” Jiang Fei released the child’s collar, looked at the child who was pale with fright, and pinched his chubby cheek. “You’re lucky today.”
The child felt a sharp pain in his cheek and was too frightened to utter a sound.
Jiang Fei withdrew her hand, but couldn't resist reaching out to pinch the child's chubby cheek again.
The child became even more frightened.
Yun Wunian frowned and glanced at her hand that was pinching someone else's cheek. He remembered that she used to like pinching his cheek, just like she was pinching someone else's cheek now.
A sudden, unsettling feeling of being "replaceable at any moment" welled up inside me.
Jiang Fei grabbed the child by the collar, recited an incantation in his mind, and then leaped onto the wall to send the child back.
Yun Wunian stared blankly at her graceful figure.
Jiang Fei returned quickly, and as soon as she entered the room, she pinched Yun Wunian's uninjured right cheek: "Little Wunian's face is still easier to pinch."
Yun Wunian came back to his senses, feeling slightly relieved. However, thinking of the figure that flew away when she left, his thoughts became somewhat chaotic. He hurriedly lowered his head and sat back down at the dining table.
The next day, when Yun Wunian went to the school again, the people who had bullied him avoided him from a distance, especially the chubby little boy, who was bruised and swollen. It was said that he had been thrown off the wall the day before.
Yun Wunian lowered his head and couldn't help but smile.
Jiang Fei was actually very good to him...
But then he frowned. He had seen yesterday that Jiang Fei knew martial arts, and his skill level was quite high.
If he wants to surpass her, studying alone is not enough.
Besides... he didn't want to be the one being protected.
house.
Jiang Fei heard the system's voice.
After Yun Wunian's favorability rating increased by 15, it slowly dropped back by 5, and has now reached 20.
Children's minds are so complicated.
Jiang Fei hummed softly, turned over, and continued to doze off leisurely.
At dusk, when Yun Wunian returned, he did not put down his book basket and go to the woodshed as usual, but simply stood in front of Jiang Fei.
"What's up?" Jiang Fei glanced at him.
Yun Wunian made a huge decision before whispering, "Yesterday, I saw you fly onto the wall."
"Hmm?" Jiang Fei raised an eyebrow slightly, then slowly stood up and smiled, "Because your wife is a fairy."
Yun Wunian paused. He had always known that she was capricious and loved to talk nonsense, and now he had gotten used to it. He simply looked up at her and said after a long while, "I want to practice martial arts."
"Hmm?" Jiang Fei became interested and looked at him. "Why?"
Because I don't want to be protected by her, and also because... I want to surpass her.
Jiang Fei already understood. She stood up, bent down, and leaned close to him: "Little Wunian, do you really want to surpass me as soon as possible?"
Yun Wunian pursed his lips and remained silent.
Jiang Fei smiled, grasped his wrist, checked his pulse, and then frowned slightly.
Yun Wunian looked up at her, puzzled.
Jiang Fei released Yun Wunian's hand, her expression slightly surprised.
Perhaps because of the tribulation he had undergone, Yun Wunian's dantian was sealed.
Yun Wunian noticed Jiang Fei's silence and looked somewhat uneasy.
Jiang Fei laughed: "One must have the aptitude to practice martial arts. Your aptitude is too poor, and your dantian is sealed. Originally, you would never have been able to practice martial arts in this lifetime."
Yun Wunian was taken aback, his eyes gradually dimming.
"However," Jiang Fei's tone rose slightly, "do you really want to learn martial arts?"
Yun Wunian suddenly looked at her, then strained to lift his head.
Jiang Fei released his wrist, lifted his chin with one hand, and slowly brought it close to his eyes: "As you wish."
Yun Wunian's eyes lit up instantly.
...
The academy was a place where students learned new things every day and reviewed old ones every day. Yun Wunian's progress was much faster than that of the teacher. Therefore, after he was supposed to start learning martial arts, Yun Wunian would return to his residence in the afternoon to practice martial arts with Jiang Fei.
Jiang Fei initially only asked him to practice horse stance for half an hour and regulate his breathing for an hour each day. As if to prove himself, Yun Wunian would practice twice as much almost every day.
Even so, apart from his body becoming a bit more slender, his progress in martial arts was very minor.
Jiang Fei looked at Yun Wunian, who was still standing silently in the scorching afternoon sun, his face flushed red from the sun, his lips pursed and stubbornly motionless.
He is persistent, but his dantian is sealed by nature, so how can it be broken easily?
Unless you use the Fairy Grass.
The Immortal Spirit Herb is located in Youfang Town. Many people in the human realm don't even know where Youfang Town is. It seems she'll have to make a trip there to improve her reputation.
At noon that day, Jiang Fei lay leisurely in the shade of the elm tree as usual, waiting for Yun Wunian to return to practice martial arts.
I waited for a while, but he didn't appear. In the past, he would have returned long ago.
Did they give up in the face of difficulty?
Jiang Fei smiled and shook his head. If he really gave up so easily, he wouldn't have practiced until his hands and feet trembled every day recently.
Standing up, Jiang Fei slowly walked out the door, just in time to buy some pastries and storybooks for the journey.
However, as soon as Jiang Fei walked onto the official road not far from the market, he saw a group of people gathered in front of a notice at the gate of a fairly respectable mansion. Outside the crowd, Yun Wunian was standing there, looking somewhat lost and dejected.
"Have you heard? After the governor of Jiangnan found his daughter, he personally funded the renovation of the dilapidated temple in the east of the city."
"Is that the biological daughter who stayed in the dilapidated temple?"
"That's right. I've also heard that the prefect's daughter and the young master of the Zhennan General's family were betrothed since childhood. However, the prefect's daughter went missing, and the marriage fell through. Now that the prefect's daughter has been found, the young master is still unmarried. The betrothal may be reaffirmed someday."
"..."
Listening to what those people were saying, Jiang Fei understood that it was because Xiao Qingmei was betrothed to someone else.
Seemingly sensing that someone was watching him, Yun Wunian turned his head and immediately met Jiang Fei's gaze.
She still stood there in a light white dress, her eyebrows and eyes beautiful, and a gentle breeze blew by, causing the white dress to flutter slightly.
Yun Wunian was stunned.
Jiang Fei, however, had already calmly withdrawn his gaze and turned to walk towards the market.
Yun Wunian paused slightly. Was she angry with him?
After all, in the eyes of those who know them, he is still the "childhood sweetheart" she brought back.
Yun Wunian returned to the residence with a heavy heart. As expected, Jiang Fei was not there. After waiting for a while, Yun Wunian stood up in the courtyard and practiced standing meditation by himself.
About half an hour later, Jiang Fei slowly walked back from outside carrying an oil paper package and several storybooks. When he saw Yun Wunian practicing martial arts, he only glanced at him and said, "I won't teach him today."
After saying that, he walked into the house.
Yun Wunian paused, stood up, his legs trembling slightly from standing for so long. He turned to look at the woman's back as she walked into the house, and blurted out, "Are you angry?"
Jiang Fei stopped in her tracks, turned her head, and raised her eyebrows: "Why am I angry?"
Yun Wunian fell silent.
Upon hearing about Yan'er's arranged marriage, he felt more powerless and helpless about himself. No matter how hard he tried, he could never overcome his birth.
And then there's that feeling of familiarity yet strangeness towards Yan'er, as if they've met before. Unable to find an answer, this question lingers in their minds, difficult to shake off.
A faint fragrance suddenly wafted around me.
When Yun Wunian came to his senses, Jiang Fei was leaning slightly closer to him, and he could even feel her breath.
Startled, Yun Wunian's breathing became erratic, and his ears burned.
Jiang Fei laughed: "So you care about your Yan'er that much?"
Yun Wunian was slightly taken aback.
Whether it was his imagination or not, what Jiang Fei said just now didn't sound like "Yan'er," but rather like... Yan'er?
Jiang Fei straightened up, pinched his cheek without any real intention, and said half-jokingly, "Little Wunian is so heartless." After saying that, she turned around and went back to the inner chamber.
As Yun Wunian watched her retreating figure, he unconsciously reached out and touched the cheek that she had pinched.
She should be... not angry anymore, right?
However, the next day...
Yun Wunian got up and, as usual, went to the woodshed to prepare breakfast and lunch for Jiang Fei before heading to the school.
Just before leaving, he glanced inexplicably at Jiang Fei's door, a sense of foreboding creeping into his heart.
Yun Wunian took two steps toward the door; the room was eerily quiet.
He knocked gently on the door, but there was still no response.
Yun Wunian panicked and hurriedly pushed open the door. The room was already empty. The pastries and storybooks she had bought yesterday were also gone, along with several of her clothes.
She's gone?
She doesn't want him anymore?
Just like that Taoist priest back then.
Or... she decided to abandon him, her so-called "childhood sweetheart," and go to find her true love.
He thought he shouldn't still be thinking about Yan'er when he was still her "childhood sweetheart".
But even though Yan'er is gone, he can still pull himself together. Why is it that now he doesn't know what to do and is filled with confusion?
It's as if... he's no longer needed.
Yun Wunian sat blankly by the wooden stool at the door, the boy's figure carrying a hint of loneliness.
Out of the corner of his eye, Yun Wunian noticed a brand-new package on the octagonal table and stood up.
The package contained a book, a piece of paper, and a money pouch.
There were two hundred taels of silver left in the money bag.
The paper read: Practice martial arts diligently.
...
On the carriage heading to Youfang Town.
Jiang Fei leaned against the soft cushions, ate some snacks, and flipped through a storybook, completely at ease.
The system's voice came through:
Yun Wunian's favorability rating: 35.
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