But the thought had barely crossed her mind when she immediately shook her head and rejected it herself.
She secretly glanced in the direction her son had disappeared and let out a helpless sigh.
With Huo Yunshen’s stubborn donkey temper—cold and hard, like a stone in a latrine—how could she let such a wonderful girl as Peiru jump into the fire pit that was their family? Wouldn’t that be ruining her?
Besides, Peiru was a city girl who ate commodity grain, while their family were rural folk who depended on the land for their livelihood. They were simply too mismatched in status. Their family could never hope to marry into hers.
Mu Xinyao silently extinguished that unrealistic fantasy in her heart, feeling nothing but pity.
Meanwhile, Lin Peiru, who was washing dishes and chatting happily with Huo Yunqiao, actually harbored a trace of indescribable disappointment deep down.
Huo Yunshen’s cold and decisive attitude just now had felt like a tiny needle stabbing into her heart.
He was practically a completely different person from the man in her previous life who had treasured her like she was the most precious thing in the world.
She couldn’t help overthinking.
Was she… wrong to come looking for him so early?
Should she have waited until that day, just like in her previous life, when she happened to encounter him getting into a fight and appearing at his most miserable moment, making him fall in love with her at first sight?
But the thought only flashed through her mind before she ruthlessly crushed it.
No! No matter what! Whatever happened, she had to prevent the tragedies of her previous life from happening again!
She had been given a second chance at life, not to repeat the past.
What’s more…
A sly glimmer flashed across Lin Peiru’s eyes.
So what if Huo Yunshen didn’t like her right now?
It didn’t matter.
She knew him far too well. She knew all his weaknesses and pressure points.
As long as she used a few little tricks, she had plenty of ways to hook this stubborn donkey and make him fall for her!
With that thought, the fighting spirit in Lin Peiru’s heart reignited. Even her dishwashing became noticeably more cheerful.
Soon, the dishes were washed. Lin Peiru dried her hands and was about to return to her room to put away her belongings and make the bed.
But the moment she stepped into the courtyard, she heard a series of clattering noises coming from the east room—in other words, her room.
Who could it be at this hour?
Lin Peiru had a vague feeling in her heart and hurried over.
She pushed open the half-closed door and, with the light spilling in from the main room, looked inside.
She froze.
In the dim room, a tall, straight figure stood with his back to her by the window.
It was Huo Yunshen.
He was holding an axe, carefully working on the old wooden window, striking it again and again.
The night breeze poured in through the gaps in the window, carrying a hint of coolness.
Huo Yunshen’s brows were tightly furrowed, yet the axe in his hand moved with steady precision. He carefully shaved down a small piece of wood, trying to fit it perfectly into the gap in the window frame.
This broken window had been damaged for a long time.
The east room had always been empty, so no one lived there, and he had never bothered to fix it.
After all, it wasn’t a big problem. It was just that whenever the wind blew at night, the window would rattle and moan, making a sound like a ghost wailing. It was rather creepy to listen to.
As a grown man, he naturally didn’t care.
But that delicate little city girl…
Huo Yunshen’s mind involuntarily conjured up Lin Peiru’s fair little face.
He was certain that if she heard this noise in the middle of the night, she would be so frightened that she would scream her head off.
And then she would wake the whole family.
That would be even more troublesome.
Yes, that was it. He wasn’t doing this especially for her. He simply didn’t want his family to lose sleep.
Huo Yunshen convinced himself of this in his heart, becoming even more focused on what he was doing.
He didn’t notice at all that a slender figure had appeared at the doorway.
Lin Peiru simply stood there quietly, motionless, watching him.
Moonlight flowed like water through the repaired window, softly illuminating the sharp, well-defined contours of his profile.
The cold, aloof hardness he usually carried, the kind that seemed to warn everyone to stay away, appeared to melt beneath the gentle moonlight, making him look much softer.
His eyelashes were long, casting a small shadow beneath his eyes. His nose was tall and straight, and his thin lips were tightly pressed together, revealing a stubborn seriousness.
Lin Peiru’s heart seemed to be gently struck by something, leaving it both achingly soft and tender.
At that moment, she felt that everything she had done since being reborn had been worth it.
This man…
Although this man wasn’t like the one in her previous life, who had fallen in love with her at first sight, and although he was currently wearing an unpleasant expression as if he hated her…
Even so, he still said no with his mouth while his actions honestly showed that he cared about her.
He would silently help her carry her heavy luggage.
He would come over without saying a word to repair this broken window that no one had bothered to fix.
This man’s kindness had never truly changed, from his youth to his later years.
He was simply much more tsundere now than the mature and steady man he would become later.
The corners of Lin Peiru’s lips curled upward, and the smile in her eyes nearly spilled over.
She didn’t make a sound, unwilling to disturb this rare moment of tranquility. She simply wanted to quietly look at him for a little longer.
“Click.”
A soft sound rang out.
Huo Yunshen hammered the final wooden wedge into place, then reached out and grabbed the window frame, giving it a hard shake.
The window didn’t budge.
There was no longer any of that annoying noise.
Satisfied, he let out a breath of relief, casually placed the axe on the windowsill, and prepared to leave.
But the moment he turned his head, he saw Lin Peiru standing in the doorway.
Their eyes met.
Huo Yunshen froze completely, as though he had been struck by a spell.
The next second, a wave of heat suddenly rushed straight to his head.
His firm, masculine face instantly turned bright red, even more vivid than the sunset.
He instinctively wanted to explain himself. His mouth opened and closed, but not a single word came out.
Seeing him looking so flustered, as if he had been caught red-handed, Lin Peiru could no longer hold back.
She burst out laughing.
Meeting his panicked gaze, she walked toward him step by step, the smile on her face as radiant as the spring sunshine of April.
“Yunshen,” she said in a soft, sweet voice, teasingly, “you’re so nice.”
Those three words were like a feather gently brushing against the very tip of Huo Yunshen’s heart, leaving it itchy and numb.
His already flushed face grew even redder, and his eyes darted away. He no longer dared to look into Lin Peiru’s bright, sparkling eyes.
“I…” His Adam’s apple bobbed as his voice came out dry and stiff, carrying a hint of barely perceptible nervousness.
“This window was broken. When the wind blows at night, it sounds like a ghost crying. It goes wooooo…”
“I…I was just afraid you’d be scared.”
Lin Peiru tilted her head, her long eyelashes fluttering twice like butterfly wings. Her face took on an expression of sudden realization.
“Ohhh—” She deliberately drew out the final sound. “So you were afraid I’d be scared.”
Although she was merely repeating his words, the mischievous teasing in her tone made Huo Yunshen feel as if his little secret had been stripped bare and exposed nakedly beneath the moonlight.
He became even more embarrassed and hurriedly added, “Don’t misunderstand!”
“I was afraid you’d get scared and start screaming in the middle of the night, waking my mom and everyone else up!”
As though worried that this explanation wasn’t convincing enough, he stiffly added another reason.
“And…and you pay two yuan a month for the room. I can’t exactly take your money and then treat you badly.”
After listening to him, Lin Peiru nodded solemnly, looking as though she were seriously analyzing every word he had said.
She stepped closer.
The distance between them became so small that they could almost feel each other’s breath.
“And then?” she asked softly, the smile in her eyes sparkling like crushed starlight. “What other reasons are there?”