Having successfully driven away the guest at last, both Aunt Fan and Liu Yuexia were overjoyed. Before this joy could last long, however, it was vetoed outright by Liu Shiting, who said with a solemn expression, “No! You’re a young girl with no family or reliance here, and your face is still injured. Where can you go after leaving this place? Don’t make a wrong decision out of a moment’s impulse!”
Ye Qisheng glanced at him, her expression calm. “I didn’t want to leave either, but if this place won’t keep me, somewhere else will! Your mother and sister dislike me so much, so I can’t stay here and continue being a nuisance, lest you get caught in the middle and put in a tough spot.”
Liu Shiting also knew the problem lay with his mother and sister. Feeling a trace of guilt well up in his heart, he softened his tone and said apologetically, “I’m sorry. I know my mother and Yuexia were rude, and I will definitely give them a proper talking to later. You should stay with peace of mind, at least until your injuries are healed.”
“No need.” Ye Qisheng shook her head, her tone firm. “What your mother and sister said is true. We are neither kin nor friends, and you have no obligation to help me. If I shamelessly stay any longer, it would make me look entirely impolite. Let us part ways here!”
Without waiting for Liu Shiting’s reaction, she turned around and walked out of the room without looking back.
Liu Shiting’s expression tightened, and he instinctively wanted to chase after her. Seeing this, Aunt Fan and Liu Yuexia hastily grabbed him from both sides, desperately holding him back to stop him from following.
“Brother, ignore her! She’s just an outsider anyway, so just let her go!”
“That’s right! Shiting, since things have come to this, even if she stays, she won’t feel comfortable in our home. It’s better to just let her leave!”
Liu Shiting forcefully shook off their hands and said in a deep voice, “You two are entirely unreasonable! Just last night I told you to treat her well, yet not only did you fail to take my words to heart, but you even pushed her away even more aggressively. How am I supposed to answer to Physician Xu later?!”
“Mother, don’t forget that your rheumatism was cured by Physician Xu! If it flares up again someday, don’t ask me to go beg him for help—I don’t have the face for it!”
Aunt Fan’s expression froze, though she remained stubborn: “If I don’t beg, then I don’t beg! When the time comes, I’d rather suffer to death than put you in a tough spot!”
Seeing that her mind was set and she couldn’t tolerate Ye Qisheng no matter what, Liu Shiting let out a deep sigh. Saying nothing more, he strode out on his long legs to chase after her.
Aunt Fan and Liu Yuexia ran out and shouted after him several times, but failed to bring him back, stamping their feet in anger from behind.
Zhou Fenling enjoyed a free show, feeling exceptionally pleased and refreshed inside. However, she didn’t show it on her face, feigning concern as she said, “Mother, Sister-in-law, Eldest Brother seems really angry this time. He won’t grow distant from us over Miss Ye, will he?”
Aunt Fan was in the heat of her anger and snapped back without thinking, “Shut your mouth! Nobody will think you’re mute if you don’t talk!”
Zhou Fenling twitched her lips, lowered her head, and ducked behind her husband.
Liu Chengzhi’s attention was entirely on his elder brother at the moment, so he didn’t notice their conversation.
Withdrawing his gaze from Liu Shiting, he turned to Aunt Fan and sighed, “Mother, you two really went too far! Whatever it was, couldn’t you talk it over properly instead of making such a tense scene? What was the need?”
Before Aunt Fan could speak, Liu Yuexia was the first to shout back in dissatisfaction, “Second Brother, are you blaming us for this?! Didn’t we do this for everyone’s sake?! The family’s rations are already running low, so why should we share them with an outsider?!”
Aunt Fan added, “That’s right. Your elder brother even said last night that he would share his own portion of rations with that Miss Ye. Doing this for a day or two, or two or three days, is fine, but what if Miss Ye delays leaving for a long time? Are we supposed to keep feeding her forever?! It’s better to take this chance to throw her out—maybe someone else in the village is willing to take her in!”
Unable to win an argument against them, Liu Chengzhi let out another deep sigh and turned toward the kitchen.
Seeing this, Zhou Fenling rushed after him in quick, small steps, fearing she would incur her mother-in-law’s wrath if she lagged behind.
Meanwhile, on the other end, Ye Qisheng had already walked out of the Liu family’s courtyard gate. She walked rapidly, covering a long distance in just a short moment.
Liu Shiting shouted after her several times from behind, but failed to stop her footsteps. He had no choice but to speed up his pace, running ahead to block Ye Qisheng’s path.
Ye Qisheng finally stopped, looking up at him with a calm expression. “Brother Liu, I know what you want to say, but save your breath. I won’t go back to your home.”
Now that things had reached a deadlock, Liu Shiting knew it was impossible to have her stay at his house. A flash of guilt crossed his eyes as he spoke gently, “I understand what you mean, but a girl like you wandering outside is no solution either. You still need a place to stay.”
These words held truth. Ye Qisheng remained silent for a moment before asking, “Are there a few vacant houses at the end of the village? If no one lives there, could I borrow one to stay in for a while?”
Yesterday, when she went out to wander and familiarize herself with the new environment, she noticed a few scattered houses near the riverbank at the end of the village, some even with small courtyards.
They were quite desolate, with weeds growing in front of the doors, so she guessed they were abandoned old houses. Perhaps she could pick one as a temporary shelter.
Liu Shiting had also entertained this thought. Those vacant houses were left behind by solitary elderly villagers. Because the location was somewhat remote, even when brothers in the village divided their households, none thought of moving over there, so the houses gradually fell idle.
To prepare her mentally, he intentionally gave her a word of caution, “There are, but because no one has lived in those houses for years, weeds have grown inside. Cleaning them up will likely take some effort.”
Ye Qisheng let out a breath of relief and said, “It doesn’t matter, as long as it shields me from the wind and rain.”
Liu Shiting hummed in agreement. Seeing that her clothes were soaking wet, with water even dripping down from her cuffs, he asked her to wait for a moment. He turned around, ran back home to grab a set of dry clothes, and quickly ran back to hand them to her, saying apologetically, “I’m sorry, Yuexia is far too sensible. Please don’t hold it against her.”
Ye Qisheng took the clothes, nodded gently, and said nothing about it.
For Liu Shiting’s sake, she wouldn’t do anything to Liu Yuexia right now.
However, she would never forget the water splashed on her today.
If Liu Yuexia dared to act maliciously again in the future, she wouldn’t show face to anyone, and would tear her apart until she was utterly battered and half-dead!
It was inconvenient to change clothes here, and she certainly couldn’t go back to the Liu house to change. She simply threw the outer garment on, loosely tying the belt to cover up the wet spots.
This was certainly uncomfortable, but given the limited conditions right now, she had no other choice.
Although it was still early in the day, villagers were already coming out to move around. If they saw her disheveled state, gossip would inevitably spread.
She herself didn’t care, but Liu Shiting had helped her a lot after all. Since the two were moving together now, she definitely had to mind her appearance to avoid damaging his reputation.
Chatting as they walked, the two followed the small path toward the vacant houses at the end of the village.
As they were about to reach their destination, Ye Qisheng’s heart skipped a beat—that feeling of being watched returned once more.
Instinctively turning her head to look, she saw a tall and thin figure hiding behind a tree not far away. The moment the person saw her looking over, they darted back out of sight with a “swish.”
Ye Qisheng was somewhat speechlessly amused.
Having been fed fruit by this person yesterday, she knew the other party meant no harm, so she didn’t feel afraid—just somewhat baffled.
If they wanted to get to know her, they could simply step out openly, greet each other, and introduce themselves to make an acquaintance.
Playing hide-and-seek to maintain mystery like this—she truly didn’t know what kind of game they were playing.