Noticing Su Mai’s gaze, Fu Wenzhou and Duan Fangya also turned their eyes in that direction. The person Su Mai was looking at turned out to be Ruan Qiaoqiao.
Duan Fangya frowned slightly without thinking. “Ah Mai, why is Qiaoqiao here? Could it be… she followed us here?”
Su Mai calmly withdrew his gaze, speaking lightly. “Her village is right next door. People from several nearby brigades usually come to this mountain to hunt and gather wild vegetables.”
“Oh, so she’s here to dig wild vegetables. That must be hard work—I feel a bit sorry for her. How about… you go and explain things to her properly again?”
Hearing their conversation, Fu Wenzhou asked in a low, rich voice, tinged with cool detachment, “You know her?”
Su Mai did not respond. Instead, Duan Fangya said somewhat guiltily, “That’s Ah Mai’s ex-wife. She misunderstood my relationship with Ah Mai, so yesterday… she insisted on divorcing him.”
Fu Wenzhou’s handsome features, shaded by dappled sunlight through the trees, immediately sharpened. When he looked at Su Mai again, his gaze turned sharper as well.
“So this woman divorced you yesterday because of a misunderstanding, and today you’re already here together, acting like a couple in front of her ex-wife’s hometown? That misunderstanding… is quite interesting.”
Su Mai withdrew his gaze from Ruan Qiaoqiao and looked back at Fu Wenzhou. “Mr. Fu, if you don’t know the truth, you shouldn’t jump to conclusions.”
Fu Wenzhou let out a lazy, indifferent chuckle. “Just a remark. No need to get so worked up, Mr. Su.”
Su Mai’s eyes darkened. He was worked up? He was simply stating facts.
But Fu Wenzhou had no intention of continuing the conversation. He directly looked at Duan Fangya and said, “You’ve delivered what you came to deliver. Leave now. Tell your mother to return the remaining money as soon as possible.”
The topic was dragged back again. Duan Fangya felt irritated, but she couldn’t afford to offend Fu Wenzhou, nor did she want to give Ruan Qiaoqiao any chance to get close to Su Mai. She could only nod.
“Alright, Uncle. We’ll leave now. We’ll visit you and Aunt again when we have time. Ah Mai, Qiaoqiao is coming this way—should we go talk to her? If you lower your pride and apologize, and I explain things for you, she might agree to remarry you.”
Su Mai immediately withdrew his gaze.
They had finally divorced after so much struggle—why should he apologize and remarry for something he did not even do wrong, and return to that chaotic life again?
He turned and walked down the mountain path. “No need. Let’s go back.”
Ruan Qiaoqiao did not deliberately avoid them. She had done nothing wrong—why should she hide?
But when she followed the mountain path over, the group had already left, and there was no sign of them.
She walked up to Fu Wenzhou. Her fair, delicate face carried a smile.
“I want to talk to you. Do you have time?”
Fu Wenzhou noticed that nearby villagers working in groups were secretly glancing their way. Their looks at Ruan Qiaoqiao were mixed—astonishment, mockery, disdain, and even desire.
His expression darkened slightly. He set down the long saw in his hand and walked toward a small hillside nearby.
Ruan Qiaoqiao immediately followed.
Only when they reached a place completely out of sight of others did Fu Wenzhou stop and look at her silently.
She pointed down the mountain. “How do you know those two people?”
Fu Wenzhou replied calmly, “The woman is a distant relative of mine—she should call me uncle. As for the man… he’s your ex-husband, right?”
Ruan Qiaoqiao shrugged. “Seems like it. But I don’t really remember. We didn’t know each other for long, and I haven’t had time to tell you. I fell into the water two days ago, and when I woke up, I lost three years of memory—including my ex-husband.”
His sharply defined face was half-hidden in the shade of the trees. His peach-shaped eyes narrowed slightly, as if carrying some bewitching charm. His voice was relaxed and languid. “So there’s really such a thing? Then you don’t recognize your ex-husband anymore?”
“Funny enough,” she said, “I’m actually more unfamiliar with him than with you.”
At least with Fu Wenzhou, she had fragments of future dreams and even the memory of sharing a bed last night. But Su Mai…
That was just someone she had met three times, yet still couldn’t fully remember his face.
Fu Wenzhou, who had been in a slightly bad mood, suddenly felt much better.
“How did you end up coming up the mountain to find me?”
At this, Ruan Qiaoqiao looked slightly guilty. “I just found out that the reason Liu Laosi wanted to marry Liu Juxiang to you was because Liu Ercheng stole your money and couldn’t repay it.”
“And?”
“I want to go with you to get the money back. He stole it—that’s a crime.”
Fu Wenzhou replied lightly, “It was, originally. But you and I are already married now. With a marriage certificate, legally that money is considered bride price.”
Ruan Qiaoqiao felt a bit guilty. She truly hadn’t expected the Liu family to marry her off to him for that reason.
Thinking that she was now his nominal wife and had indirectly caused his money to be lost, she felt somewhat apologetic.
“I’m not on their side.”
“I know. You already said you dislike them.”
So Fu Wenzhou never associated her with the Liu family at all.
Then she definitely had to help him get the money back. The Liu family had no right to take his bride price.
Fu Wenzhou casually took a watch box from his pocket and handed it to her. “Duan Fangya brought this. Wear it.”
Ruan Qiaoqiao took it. “She gave this? You two barely have any connection, yet you’re still in frequent contact?”
“We didn’t have any contact before. She suddenly came today pretending to be kind. People like her family aren’t good—don’t bother with them.”
Ruan Qiaoqiao smiled faintly. “I didn’t see her whole family, but Duan Fangya really isn’t a good person.”
Fu Wenzhou’s brows tightened slightly. “Because she stole your man?”
“No. Su Mai is someone I discarded. She can pick him up if she wants—it has nothing to do with me. And now, he’s not my man. You are.”
Those words clearly pleased Fu Wenzhou. A faint smile appeared on his lips.
“Aren’t you afraid you’ll regret it when you recover your memories later?”
“If it was a happy memory, why would I forget it? Forgetting means it wasn’t important.”
Ruan Qiaoqiao had already opened the box. The watch inside was brand new and clearly expensive. She frowned slightly. Why would Duan Fangya give Fu Wenzhou such an expensive gift?
Seeing her staring at it, Fu Wenzhou added lazily, “Wear it. Don’t feel pressured just because it’s from her. Her family still owes me three hundred yuan. Even with the watch, they’re still short one hundred eighty.”
Ruan Qiaoqiao chuckled and put the watch on her wrist. “Why only one hundred eighty? Three hundred is three hundred. This was given voluntarily anyway. Besides, I heard she’s taken advantage of me quite a bit over the past three years. Wearing her hundred-twenty-yuan watch is already letting her off easy.”
She admired her wrist. Mm, not bad.
“I’ll head back first. I bought some meat—I’ll cook something nice for you tonight.”
“Alright.”
Ruan Qiaoqiao hummed a tune as she went down the mountain, only then remembering she had forgotten to mention the ginseng.
Tonight then.
She returned home, put down her bag, hung the ginseng to dry, organized her purchases, and went to the kitchen to cook dinner.
As dusk settled, while she was busy cooking, a man’s voice suddenly came from the doorway:
“Is Ruan Qiaoqiao at home? Come out—your Fu Wenzhou has been beaten.”