The young couple was held up by the neighbors for quite a while. Xu Qingzhou was casual in front of family, but outside, he had to maintain his military image. He simply listened with a smile in his eyes, not taking a stance.
Fang Yao, still unfamiliar with them, didn’t engage no matter what they said, following Xu Qingzhou’s example by smiling without speaking.
This made the neighbors lose interest, and they finally let them go.
Watching the couple walk away side by side, one of the women smacked her lips.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Qingzhou and Fang Yao are actually well-matched. Between the two of them, they’ve got eight hundred tricks up their sleeves!”
“I saw everything when the Xu Family’s yard was in chaos the day before yesterday. Qingzhou’s wife is no pushover either—she gave Xu Manjiang a black eye so bad he hasn’t dared show his face outside since!”
“Goodness, she’s that fierce?”
“It’s good Qingzhou found a tough wife! Wang Hua has suffered plenty of humiliation from Wang Cuilian over the years in the Xu Family. Now with a wife like that, Wang Cuilian won’t get away with her nonsense anymore!”
“Things are going to get lively in the old Xu Family from now on!”
Fang Yao was already far away and couldn’t hear what they were saying, but she knew they’d definitely gossip about her and Xu Qingzhou.
Old Mrs. Xu said no one laughed at them, but in reality, the laughter just wasn’t out in the open. Compared to the drama in Wang Cuilian’s household, their quietness wasn’t worth watching.
Fang Yao had long been mentally prepared and didn’t care about any of it. Now that she’d gotten the compensation, as long as she and Xu Qingzhou lived well, those gossiping mouths would naturally be shut.
She was just a bit surprised—did Xu Manjiang really get up in the middle of the night to attend to Li Xuemiao?
Well, it made sense. She’d sacrificed the child to catch the wolf, willingly offering the bride price to cover Xu Manjiang’s debts, which was like giving him a wife for free. A masterful way to win people over.
The neighbors talked about Wang Cuilian’s noise, but that was just a drizzle. In her past life, when Fang Yao upset her, Wang Cuilian would slap her outright. Li Xuemiao’s father was the village secretary of the neighboring village, and marrying Xu Manjiang was already a step down for her. On top of that, Wang Cuilian had shortchanged Li Xuemiao on the bride price. In front of the Li Family, Wang Cuilian wouldn’t be able to hold her head high for the rest of her life!
“What are you thinking about? Watch where you’re going!”
Xu Qingzhou reached out and pulled her back. Only then did Fang Yao realize she’d been lost in thought and was about to walk into the doorframe.
Turning her head, she unsurprisingly met Xu Qingzhou’s chilly gaze. She gave an awkward smile. “Nothing, just thinking what those neighbors said earlier was pretty accurate.”
“Oh? Agreeing that marrying me is a blessing? Not bothered by Xu Manjiang attending to his wife in the middle of the night?” The man’s sharp gaze shot straight at her face, dangerously intense.
Fang Yao’s face tightened, her temper instantly flaring.
“Enough! You’ve been talking nonsense since last night. I’ve already married you—what does Xu Manjiang have to do with me? Even if I dated him for six months, I hardly saw him. With his despicable behavior, he’s not worth my concern! If you want to live well with me, talk to me properly. Keep bringing up this useless stuff, and don’t think I won’t dare turn against you!”
After spitting out those venomous words, Fang Yao pushed him aside and strode straight through the gate, heading back to the room and slamming the door shut with a loud bang.
Wang Hua, who had come out to greet them, was left stunned, her heart skipping a beat. The young couple had been fine when they left—why were they at odds now?
“Qingzhou!” Wang Hua ran out, her face full of worry.
But there was her son, who had just been given the cold shoulder, still standing at the door with his bicycle, grinning foolishly!
"What's going on? What did you do to make Fang Yao angry? Did you not buy enough stuff?"
Xu Qingzhou let out a low chuckle from his chest, lying through his teeth with his eyes wide open: "No, she complained I bought too much. She's being stingy, even worrying about money when it comes to her own family."
To Wang Hua, these words didn't make Fang Yao seem unreasonable at all; instead, she felt that Fang Yao was prioritizing their own small family.
As a mother-in-law, she naturally had to side with her daughter-in-law, scolding him with exasperation: "And you still have the nerve to laugh! Your wife is reluctant to spend money precisely because you don't earn enough! From now on, you need to work harder and bring home more money. Then she won't have to pinch pennies like this!"
"Yes, yes, you're right, Mom. I'll definitely work harder in the future."
In the evening, the flickering candlelight illuminated the warm little room. After stoking the stove with firewood, Fang Yao sat at the head of the bed with knitting needles and yarn, practicing her stitch patterns.
Xu Qingzhou came over from Wang Hua's room, thinking that after half a day, her anger should have subsided. With a smile in his eyes, he strode over on his long legs.
But before his backside could even touch the bed, Fang Yao gathered her needles and yarn and scooted inward, putting as much distance between them as if she wanted to stay eighty zhang away, unwilling to have anything to do with him.
The smile on Xu Qingzhou's lips froze for two seconds before curving into an even deeper arc.
"Still mad, wife?"
"Go brush your teeth, your breath stinks!" Fang Yao retorted without even looking up.
Xu Qingzhou's smile finally faltered. He sulked for two seconds before getting up and heading out.
Not long after, he returned and approached her again, sitting on the edge of the bed and blowing into his palm, sniffing carefully.
"It definitely doesn't smell this time. I don't smoke anyway, so it's not as bad as you make it out to be!" Xu Qingzhou shot her a resentful glance.
Fang Yao kept her head down, focused on her practice, unwilling to engage.
After waiting for a long time without a response, Xu Qingzhou simply grabbed her hand, leaned in sideways, and brought his face close to hers.
"If you don't believe me, take a sniff."
"Ugh, I don't want to sniff. Even if I did, it would still stink. Your words stink!" Fang Yao impatiently shook off his hand.
Only then did Xu Qingzhou realize she was implying something about him. His handsome face darkened as he stared at her gloomily, his temper starting to flare.
But he hadn't forgotten what he promised on their wedding day. Knowing her temper, he decided not to argue with the little girl.
"I apologize for what I said. Forgive me this once. I promise I'll never bring it up again."
Fang Yao heard him with her ears, but her mind was elsewhere. Her fingers fiddled with the loops on the needle. His interruption had made her miss a stitch, so she immediately unraveled it to start over.
"Fang Yao, I'm apologizing to you. Can you at least give me some response?"
Watching as Fang Yao unraveled the yarn, risking dropping stitches if she wasn't careful, Xu Qingzhou waited a while longer, but she still ignored him. He finally grabbed her hand.
All the patterns Fang Yao had been working on were thrown into disarray. In a fit of frustration, she shoved his hand away and yelled, "Respond, respond, respond to your big head! Can't you see I'm busy?!"
Yelling was one thing, but when Fang Yao saw where her hand had accidentally struck his chin, she froze in shock.
As for Xu Qingzhou, his expression turned from stunned to something darker. His deep eyes slowly simmered with sparks, like embers that refused to die out. He narrowed them slightly, his voice dropping to an unsettling low.
"Feeling feisty with me, huh?"
With that, Xu Qingzhou grabbed the back of her neck, pulling her face close to his. Their noses were almost touching, so close that if he opened his mouth a little wider, he could have swallowed her nose.
"Think my breath stinks? I'll make you smell it good and proper, get a real good whiff!"
The warm breath carried the clean scent of toothpaste, actually not unpleasant at all. Fang Yao simply couldn't bear being so close to him, her heart fluttering uncontrollably as she dodged left and right, her cheeks burning with a fierce blush.