Hearing the commotion, Ruan Qiaoqiao quickly stepped out of the half-open kitchen and ran toward the uncle who came to report the news.
“Uncle, what do you mean? Who hit Fu Wenzhou? Why would they hit him?”
“Just now, your second brother from Qianliuhang Village came by the work site. After he left, a few men from our village started talking nonsense to Xiao Fu. They mocked him for not being a real man, saying he married a beautiful divorced woman like you but could only look and not touch. They also said a bunch of filthy things about you. Eventually, the two sides started fighting.”
Ruan Qiaoqiao immediately grew angry.
Liu Ercheng again!
That disgusting troublemaker went around stirring up trouble every single day. Just wait—once she had time, she was definitely going to teach him a harsh lesson.
But right now, she needed to find Fu Wenzhou first. With his bad class background, he would definitely suffer a disadvantage.
She followed the uncle toward the mountain, but before they had gone far, she saw Fu Wenzhou walking back calmly as if nothing had happened, carrying the saw he had been using earlier.
Ruan Qiaoqiao hurried over and looked him over anxiously.
“Fu Wenzhou, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”
Fu Wenzhou glanced at her, then shifted his gaze to Liu Bangguo in confusion.
Liu Bangguo explained, “Weren’t you surrounded by Liu Tong and the others just now? I figured with your background, you might get bullied, so I went to get your wife.”
Fu Wenzhou nodded calmly. “Thank you, Uncle Liu.”
“Oh, what’s there to thank me for? Last time when I was hunting in the mountains, if it weren’t for you, I’d have lost my life. So? Are you alright?”
Fu Wenzhou looked at Ruan Qiaoqiao, who was anxiously examining him from head to toe, genuinely worried. For some reason, the sight made him feel unexpectedly comfortable.
“I… can barely walk.”
Barely walk?
That serious?
Ruan Qiaoqiao immediately rolled up her sleeves, furious. “Tell me who hit you. I’m going to settle the score with them!”
Fu Wenzhou definitely did not want her seeing what those men currently looked like. Wouldn’t that expose everything?
He pressed a hand to his stomach and frowned. “No need. Help me home first so I can rest.”
Thinking he was really in pain, Ruan Qiaoqiao immediately stepped forward to support his arm.
The moment their skin touched, the warmth instantly spread through Fu Wenzhou’s arm. His body stiffened briefly before he quickly regained composure and handed the saw to Liu Bangguo.
“Uncle Liu, since I’m injured, please help return this to the production team and ask for a day off for me. In this condition, I won’t be able to work tomorrow.”
“Alright, alright. Hurry home and rest.”
Uncle Liu took the saw and watched as Ruan Qiaoqiao supported Fu Wenzhou all the way home.
After helping him back inside, she made him sit on the bed and reached out to check his pulse.
Fu Wenzhou remained calm. “I’m fine. Just got bumped around a little.”
His pulse was perfectly normal—healthy, in fact.
She withdrew her hand, still puffed up with anger. “Even if you’re fine, this can’t just be forgotten! They only bully you because of your background. The more you tolerate them, the more shameless they become. Leave this to me. My background is clean—I’ll handle it.”
She stood up as she spoke. “Come on, let’s eat first.”
Tomorrow, those troublemakers had better watch themselves.
Ruan Qiaoqiao returned to the kitchen, plated the dishes, and carried them to the table. Then she went outside to call An’an and Kangkang, who had been digging wild vegetables nearby.
When the children returned, she poured water for them to wash their hands.
Although An’an still ignored her most of the time, he was very hygienic and brought Kangkang along to wash properly.
The moment they entered and saw the dish and soup on the table, both children’s eyes lit up.
The braised pork and shepherd’s purse egg-drop soup looked delicious.
Ruan Qiaoqiao served each child a bowl of soup, and they immediately began eating with big mouthfuls of steamed buns.
Especially Kangkang.
After tasting his stepmother’s noodles that morning, he felt this was the best food he had eaten in the entire year since being sent here.
Although his older brother kept saying stepmothers were terrible, and that theirs was the younger sister of a thief and therefore especially bad, Kangkang felt that since the stepmother arrived, he could finally eat tasty food.
Actually… it wasn’t so bad.
Watching the children finally eat heartily again, Fu Wenzhou realized they hadn’t disliked the food because they were unfamiliar with the environment.
They simply thought his cooking was terrible but hadn’t dared say it.
His gaze landed once more on Ruan Qiaoqiao, who was helping Kangkang pick up pieces of meat.
Having Ruan Qiaoqiao in the house really was necessary.
After dinner, Fu Wenzhou took the two children to the river as usual for a bath, then sent them back to their room to rest.
When he came out of the children’s room, he saw Ruan Qiaoqiao waiting for him.
His tone remained calm. “What now? Going to ask where I’m sleeping again? Still not used to living with me?”
“No. I have something good to show you.”
She went outside and brought in a round bamboo tray woven with reed stalks. On top of it lay two mountain ginseng roots.
“Look what I found while searching for you in the mountains today.”
Fu Wenzhou looked at them with mild surprise. “Wild mountain ginseng.”
“Yep. Lucky, right? I’ve already decided—the larger one stays at home. I’ll process it myself, slice it up, and slowly use it to help Kangkang recover his health. As for the smaller one, I’ll sell it at a pharmacy in town. Even a ten-year-old ginseng is worth quite a bit.”
“Sell it?”
“Mm. Right now, everyone outside knows the Liu family stole your money. With your class status, your labor doesn’t even count toward work points. Everyone knows you barely earn anything each year.
“And I’m not from Houlian Village, so I can’t earn work points here either. On the surface, we can only pretend to stay poor. But once we have income everyone knows about, we can openly raise the children and live properly.”
Holding the tray, Ruan Qiaoqiao tilted her head up while speaking to him.
They were standing very close.
Close enough that Fu Wenzhou could clearly see the light in her smiling eyes beneath her curled lashes.
That light was like stars scattered across a river—bright and dazzling—making even his heartbeat quicken happily.
Ruan Qiaoqiao noticed the intensity in his gaze and suddenly realized how close they were.
She immediately turned sideways and placed the tray onto a stool near the north wall.
“These things can’t be stored too long. I’ll sell them tomorrow.”
“You can decide these things yourself.”
“Mm.”
“Then wash up and rest early. I need to go out for a while.”
Ruan Qiaoqiao looked puzzled. “Go out? It’s already so late. Where are you going?”
Fu Wenzhou looked at her. His handsome face showed no emotion.
“I have something to take care of. You don’t need to worry about it. Go to sleep.”
After speaking, he turned and left the thatched house, disappearing into the vast night.
Watching his slender yet noble-looking figure fade into the darkness, Ruan Qiaoqiao sighed inwardly.
Powerful figures truly were mysterious and unfathomable…