Lin Xihe immediately gritted her teeth: "You insisted on asking, and even after I told you, you didn't believe me. Fine, you don't believe me, but you're still upset about it."
She thought to herself, "They're so difficult to deal with, so hard to please."
“I despise being deceived by others,” Ji Zhuo said in a deep voice.
"Hmph, who would like to be lied to?" Lin Xihe retorted, not to be outdone.
As soon as they finished speaking, the atmosphere between the two became tense again, and they looked like they were about to start arguing again.
Looking at Lin Xihe, who was determined not to utter a single word of complaint, Ji Zhuo's desire to speak gradually dissipated. He found arguing with her pointless and turned to carry a stool to the courtyard.
Today, when Ji Zhuo hugged Lin Xihe, he clearly realized that his wounds still needed some time to be carefully cared for.
Staying at an inn might reveal our whereabouts, so this sparsely populated village is much better. Besides, Lin Xihe isn't always so annoying.
The following day, Lin Xihe noticed that her ankle injury had improved significantly. She tried walking a few steps and felt fine.
In the afternoon, she was enjoying the sun in the courtyard when a knocking sound suddenly came from outside the door.
At that time, Ji Zhuo was inside the house.
Lin Xihe peeked through the crack in the door and saw that the person who came in was Ye Yunfan.
"Miss Lin, I've come to see how your foot injury is healing." Ye Yunfan stood outside the door, and when he saw Lin Xihe, he spoke politely. He was carrying two bags of fruit, but the expression on his face was no longer as cheerful and happy as when he was with her in the past.
"Why are you here?" Lin Xihe opened the door, tilted her head slightly to look at the person outside, and said softly, "I'm much better today."
"May I go in?" Ye Yunfan asked softly.
It turned out that the burly village woman had knocked out a tooth after being thrown to the ground yesterday. When she got home, she kept saying that she wanted to go to the city to find a doctor for treatment, and kept complaining that she was in unbearable pain all over her body.
She arrived at the Lin family clinic, still cursing and muttering under her breath.
They went so far as to embellish the story, spreading rumors that Lin Xihe was keeping a man in her home. They also slandered Lin Xihe in front of the old doctor, using extremely offensive language and accusing her of having affairs and behaving improperly in the village.
Ye Yunfan would not easily believe these rumors, but the Ye family had lived in Xinghua Village for generations and valued their family reputation highly.
If Lin Xihe's reputation is damaged too severely, he will definitely not agree to his son marrying her.
That's why Ye Yunfan was forced to come and find out.
"You're going to my house?"
"But it's inconvenient?" Ye Yunfan asked cautiously.
Lin Xihe immediately realized that given yesterday's situation, many people in the village probably already knew that she had a man in her family, and it would be difficult to hide this matter. The most urgent thing now was to find a reasonable identity for Ji Zhuo.
Left with no other choice, Lin Xihe could only force herself to remain calm: "Of course, my brother happens to be home. He was attacked by bandits on his way back from out of town and was unfortunately injured. He is currently recuperating at home."
After saying that, she stepped aside to make way for Ye Yunfan to enter.
"Is your brother inside?" Ye Yunfan asked.
Lin Xihe deliberately raised her voice so that Ji Zhuo inside the room could understand her intention: "That's right, he is my half-brother. He arrived here a few days ago."
Upon hearing this explanation, Ye Yunfan's worry slowly dissipated, and he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Seeing Lin Xihe's honesty towards him, and knowing that the man in her home was only her elder brother, it was understandable that she was staying there due to her injuries, and he felt even more relieved.
"Since you were injured, why didn't you call me to come and help treat you?" Ye Yunfan asked again.
"Because...because I don't have much money left." Lin Xihe lowered her head, looking embarrassed, and stammered in response.
"Why should we discuss money between us? Don't keep your brother waiting." Ye Yunfan spoke affectionately, casually calling him "brother," his intimacy seeming natural and without any artificiality.
As the two stepped into the house, Lin Xihe saw that Ji Zhuo's face was so gloomy that it seemed like water could drip from it. She quickly put her hands together behind Ye Yunfan and made a gesture of begging for mercy towards Ji Zhuo.
Ji Zhuo, however, remained cold and unresponsive to her pleas.
After Ye Yunfan entered the room, he saw Ji Zhuo sitting by the bed that was temporarily pieced together from a stool and a door panel. He immediately bowed and greeted him, "Brother Lin."
Ji Zhuo seemed not to hear, continuing to wipe the sword in his hand, ignoring Ye Yunfan's salute.
Seeing this, Ye Yunfan awkwardly withdrew his bowing posture, feeling somewhat uncomfortable.
At the same time, seeing for the first time how shabby and simple Lin Xihe's living environment was, he couldn't help but feel a pang of pity.
Thinking back to when Lin Xihe first arrived in Xinghua Village, Ye Yunfan had asked her why she had come here alone.
At that time, Lin Xihe was in despair. When faced with people who genuinely cared about her, she only revealed that her family had suffered a sudden misfortune and that she and her brother, whose fate was unknown, were left to depend on each other.
Now, this fabricated story has somehow managed to fit perfectly with the current situation, finally giving my father a plausible explanation.
Seeing that Ji Zhuo remained silent, Lin Xihe hurriedly introduced, "Brother Zhuo, this is Doctor Ye from our village. He came to visit me today."
“Brother Lin, I have some medical knowledge. If you don’t mind, I can take a look at your injuries,” Ye Yunfan said sincerely.
Ji Zhuo then calmly replied, "No need, it's just a superficial injury."
Seeing that Ji Zhuo was unappreciative, Lin Xihe quickly tried to salvage the situation: "My brother has always been like this; he barely speaks to me. It's cold inside, let's go outside."
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