Seeing she was no longer upset, Qi Heng slowly moved closer to her and cautiously asked, "Nian Nian, when I came to see you today, there was a woman in the house who said she would marry in your place. Did you know about this?"
"I knew," Jiang Nian replied casually. "You're supposed to marry a daughter of the Jiang Family, and she counts as one. The Crown Prince only wants to see you marry a peasant girl—he couldn't care less which peasant girl it is."
Qi Heng was stunned, feeling an indescribable bitterness in his heart. After a long pause, he asked helplessly, "Nian Nian, am I really that unworthy?"
Jiang Nian looked at him. "As long as it's a daughter of the Jiang Family marrying you, what does it matter who it is?"
Qi Heng closed his eyes briefly, his expression slightly annoyed. "The woman I marry will be my lifelong partner. How could I be fine with anyone? I only want you."
"Why does it have to be me?" Jiang Nian asked.
"I don't know. The moment I saw you, I knew it was you," Qi Heng said quietly, his gaze fixed on her, his eyes sparkling like scattered starlight, radiant and vivid.
"Nian Nian, do you really not want to marry me?" Qi Heng lowered his head, his fingers subtly hooking onto hers as he asked plaintively.
Jiang Nian bit her red lip, a flicker of doubt in her eyes. "Qi Heng, you…"
She suspected he might have been reborn as well. Otherwise, how could she explain his increasingly peculiar behavior?
In their previous life, when they had first married, they were quite distant from each other. At night, they were passionately entangled, but during the day, they treated each other with formal respect. Qi Heng never showed any intimacy toward her outside the bedroom, acting as rigid as an old man, which made her hesitant to flirt with him casually.
Later, as they grew more familiar with each other, Qi Heng became increasingly relaxed around her. Whenever they argued and he found himself at a loss for words, he would rest his head on her shoulder and complain pitifully that she no longer cared for or liked him.
Outside the cave, the rain had stopped. Qi Heng accompanied Jiang Nian and Jiang Sui back home. When Grandpa Jiang saw Second Young Master Qi, he frowned slightly. Country folk were always reluctant to deal with government officials.
"What's going on with you two? How could you let Second Young Master Qi escort you back?"
"Grandpa," Qi Heng interceded. "Don't blame them. I insisted on seeing Nian Nian home."
"Get inside, both of you," Grandpa Jiang scolded his granddaughters lightly. Jiang Nian and Jiang Sui headed back to their rooms, one after the other.
Grandpa Jiang politely cupped his hands. "Second Young Master, please have a seat. There's something I need to discuss with you."
"Perfect timing. I also have something to say," Qi Heng replied, sitting in a chair, his expression cool and refined.
Grandpa Jiang cleared his throat and began, "Second Young Master, I have another granddaughter who is exceptionally beautiful…"
"Grandpa," Qi Heng interrupted before he could finish, "the only one I will marry is Jiang Nian. It can only be her. I will not accept a substitute."
Grandpa Jiang's expression darkened. "My granddaughter does not wish to marry you, Second Young Master. Are you planning to force her?"
"That is between her and me," Qi Heng said, his gaze drifting toward Jiang Nian's room. A faint bitterness spread in his heart.
He always felt that Jiang Nian was his wife, as if they had known each other for a long time, been separated for ages, and finally reunited—only for her not to recognize him.
Qi Heng couldn't explain where this bitterness came from. It was faint, tugging at him again and again, both painful and itching.
Grandpa Jiang sighed.
"Enough, I won't interfere in you youngsters' affairs. Second Young Master, your family is noble and prestigious, while our Nian Nian is merely a farmer's daughter. Her talents and family background cannot compare to the noble ladies you've known before. But she is a unique treasure in our Jiang Family. If someday your feelings for her fade, I ask you to let her return home out of respect for our family having saved your father's life."
"Grandfather, you agree?" Qi Heng's eyes instantly lit up, his joy overflowing.
"You rascal, you change your address quite quickly!" Grandpa Jiang laughed helplessly. "This girl of ours is stubborn. She won't agree so easily. Whether you succeed depends entirely on your own efforts. I won't help you."
"Thank you, Grandfather." As long as the Jiang family didn't obstruct him, that was already the greatest help.
In the east chamber, Jiang Nian sat on the couch, holding a wooden carved rabbit in her hands, staring blankly. Jiang Xiaomai exchanged a meaningful glance with Jiang Sui.
"What's wrong with her today?"
"I don't know." Jiang Sui pointed at the wooden rabbit. "That was given by Second Young Master Qi. It seems he carved it himself. Ever since Nian Nian saw this rabbit, she's been feeling down."
Jiang Xiaomai raised her eyebrows and whispered in Jiang Sui's ear: "She must have developed feelings for Second Young Master Qi."
"Really?" Jiang Sui looked at Jiang Nian's reddened eyes and shook her head. "I think she looks quite sad."
"That's true." Jiang Xiaomai held her flushed cheeks, imagining how she would feel when falling for her future husband – happy and sweet, not tearful.
"Did that Second Young Master Qi bully her?"
"No." Jiang Sui shared today's events with surprise. "Second Young Master Qi was particularly gentle with her. Whatever Nian Nian said, he agreed without any objection."
As the two whispered together, the door slammed open. Qin Yulan rushed in with reddened eyes, glaring fiercely at Jiang Nian.
Jiang Xiaomai and Jiang Sui stepped between them. Qin Yulan demanded sharply:
"Jiang Nian, didn't you say you didn't want to marry into Qi Manor? Why are you leading Second Young Master Qi on now?"
Earlier, her grandfather had called her over and said the Qi Family wouldn't accept her as a substitute bride – they only recognized Jiang Nian. He told her to pack her things and prepared to send her away.
Qin Yulan was mortified beyond measure. She had completely lost face. She had always been arrogant before the Jiang family, looking down on country folk. If not for wanting to climb up to the Qi Family, she would never have come to live in this dirty, messy place where everything was inconvenient.
Jiang Nian put down the wooden rabbit and looked coldly at Qin Yulan.
"You failed to climb the social ladder, so you blame me. Why don't you blame yourself for not being born from an official's wife?"
"You!" Qin Yulan turned and stormed out, but returned after a while to tear down the pink bed curtains, then ran out clutching them.
"She's finally gone." Jiang Sui breathed a sigh of relief. "I'll ask Sixth Uncle to remove her bed. It's an eyesore."
Jiang Sui opened the windows. "Our room reeks of cheap makeup. It's awful."
The Jiang girls never used makeup. In the past, they could barely afford food, let alone such extravagant things. Now that the Jiang family had money, it was all spent on buying grain, building houses, and daily necessities. With so many people in the family, they couldn't afford to spend recklessly.
At dinner, Qi Heng stayed to eat with the Jiang family. Grandpa Jiang had him sit at his table, while Jiang Lao Da and Jiang Laoer squeezed in to eat with the children, sending Jiang Lao San to bond with his future son-in-law.
Jiang Lao San: "…" For the first time in his life, he found a meal in his own home hard to swallow.
It wasn't that the food was unpalatable—the Jiang Family had brought out fine wine and dishes to entertain Qi Heng, serving a feast even more sumptuous than their New Year's celebrations.
Rarely did the Jiang family eat so lavishly. Everyone kept their heads down, devouring meat, too preoccupied to speak. Grandpa Jiang accompanied Qi Heng, drinking and eating with him.
"Our rural area has little to offer for hospitality, just some game from the mountains. Please don't mind it, Second Young Master."
"Not at all." Qi Heng raised his wine cup to toast him, then glanced toward Jiang Nian's table. While everyone else was eating, she was peeling shrimp for her sister.
"Here, open up." Jiang Nian peeled a shrimp and fed it into Jiang Sui's mouth. Every time Jiang Nian saw Jiang Sui's frail body, her heart ached, and she always wanted to feed her something.
Jiang Sui ate some chicken and took a bite of the shrimp, utterly content. "Nian Nian, if Second Young Master Qi stayed to eat with us every day, we could have feasts like this every day."
"You think too ideally." Jiang Nian peeled another shrimp and put it in her own mouth.
Jiang Lao San had been eating with his head down the whole time when Grandpa Jiang kicked him under the table. Jiang Lao San looked up at his father, who shot him a meaningful glance. Setting down his chopsticks, Jiang Lao San addressed Qi Heng.
"Second Young Master, try this fish soup. The fish was caught by Nian Nian from the river, freshly slaughtered—the meat is very tender."
"…Alright." Qi Heng hesitated for a moment before reaching out with his chopsticks.
"No!" Hearing her father urge Qi Heng to eat the fish, Jiang Nian quickly stood up to stop him. "He can't eat fish."
In her previous life, she had cooked fish soup for Qi Heng. After drinking it, he broke out in red rashes all over his body, breathed rapidly, and had to rest in bed for two days to fully recover. From then on, fish never appeared in the kitchen again.
If Qi Heng had any mishap from eating fish here, the Jiang Family would also get into trouble.
Qi Heng looked at her with a faint smile, turning slightly to ask, "Nian Nian, how did you know I can't eat fish?"
Jiang Nian stammered, "I heard Prefect Qi mention it. Last time I cooked fish, Prefect Qi said it was delicious, but unfortunately, his son breaks out in rashes as soon as he eats it."
"So that's how it is." Qi Heng's smile remained faint. "I thought you had asked around about me."