Early the next morning, Gu Qingqing finished a steamed bun and a bowl of porridge for breakfast. After tidying up, she packed her bamboo basket, filled a bamboo tube with water, and tied it to the side.
“Lin Heng, I’m going into the woods to dig up some bamboo shoots. You stay home, all right? I’ll be back soon!”
With that, she headed for the door.
Lin Heng hurried after her, carrying a bamboo hat. Through gestures, he indicated that he wanted to go with her.
“No need. It’s only a few bamboo shoots—we don’t both have to go. Go eat your breakfast. It’s still warm in the pot. I’ll be back as soon as I’m done.”
Unable to persuade her otherwise, Lin Heng helped her put on the bamboo hat before seeing her out.
Gu Qingqing looked back at the man standing in the doorway, grinned mischievously, darted over, kissed him on the cheek, then ran off.
Lin Heng stood frozen, touching the spot she had kissed.
This woman was becoming bolder by the day!
Back in the courtyard, he took the firewood he’d chopped the previous day, split it into smaller pieces with an axe, and neatly stacked it in rows.
“Qingqing! Is Qingqing home? Anyone there?”
Hearing someone calling outside, Lin Heng walked over and opened the courtyard gate.
The visitor was a sturdy man in his forties, his skin tanned from years of farm work. He spoke slowly and carried himself with calm authority.
Lin Heng guessed this must be Uncle Liu, the village head of Peach Blossom Village.
He invited him into the courtyard, seated him at the stone table beneath the tree, poured him a cup of tea, and gestured for him to drink.
The village head didn’t stand on ceremony. He picked up the cup and emptied three cups in succession before explaining his purpose.
“So you’re Qingqing’s husband. I’m the village head of Peach Blossom Village. Qingqing asked me to handle some paperwork for you two, and it’s all been taken care of. Here are your house deed, land deed, household registration, and even your marriage certificate. I had everything processed together so you wouldn’t have to make another trip yourselves.”
Lin Heng rose and bowed respectfully.
“No need to be so polite. We’re fellow villagers now. If you ever need anything, just come by my house. As long as your auntie and I can help, we certainly won’t refuse.”
Lin Heng nodded.
“Well then, my errand’s finished. I’ll be heading home.”
Lin Heng escorted the village head to the gate before returning to the courtyard.
He picked up the marriage certificate from the table and unfolded it.
It listed the names Lin Heng and Gu Qingqing, their birth dates, the matchmaker, witnesses, and all the formal details.
His wife—Gu Qingqing.
His fingers gently traced those three characters, and an unconscious smile spread across his face.
If Gu Qingqing had seen that expression, her jaw probably would have dropped in shock.
He looked through the house deed and land deed as well. Everything seemed to be in order.
At the very bottom lay another document.
A bond of servitude?
Gu Qingqing’s indenture papers?
Curiosity burning, he opened it.
Capital City—Mo Family.
Maidservant to Mo Xiang…
So that’s it, Gu Qingqing…
No wonder she’d seemed vaguely familiar the first time he’d seen her.
They had met before.
At the flower-viewing banquet held at the capital estate.
She had been the maid standing guard by the pavilion beside the lake… then outside the rear guest room.
The very maid who had helped her mistress drug the Heir and climb into his bed.
Just like her mistress.
Using despicable tricks to get into a man’s bed.
The more Lin Heng thought about it, the angrier he became.
Just then, the courtyard gate opened.
Gu Qingqing was back.
She shut the gate behind her and immediately noticed Lin Heng sitting there with a stormy expression.
Completely baffled, she wondered who had offended this block of ice. The murderous look on his face sent an involuntary shiver through her.
“I’m back.”
She emptied the bamboo shoots from her basket onto the ground, poured some water outside the kitchen to wash her hands, then walked toward him.
“What’s wrong? Who made you so angry, Husband?”
With a loud slap, Lin Heng threw the document against her.
He glared at her furiously, as if demanding,
You tell me!
Gu Qingqing picked up the indenture papers and glanced over them.
Ah…
So he’d found out about her past.
“Will you let me explain?”
Lin Heng deliberately looked away, though his expression clearly said he was waiting for her to continue.
“I shouldn’t have hidden my identity from you… but you never asked.”
I’m mute! Lin Heng raged inwardly.
Mute! How was I supposed to ask, you awful woman?
“My young lady was born to a concubine. She fell in love with the Heir at first sight, but because of the difference in their status, marrying him was nearly impossible. That’s why she resorted to drugging him and giving herself to him. It was her only chance.”
Hmph.
Scheming woman.
“I was only a servant, while she was my mistress. I couldn’t refuse her orders. If I had, the lightest punishment would’ve been a beating. The worst would’ve been being sold off. And what good endings are there for servant girls who are sold? Most end up as concubines—or worse, in brothels.”
Seeing the young woman’s eyes gradually redden, Lin Heng couldn’t help softening a little.
Yet when he remembered how he’d nearly been beaten to death because of her, anger and resentment welled up again.
“I did everything I could to please my young lady. After helping her get engaged to the Heir, I finally earned my freedom and was allowed to leave that capital full of schemes and trouble. All I wanted was to stop living as someone else’s servant, where my life and death depended on a single word from my master.”
As he listened to her explanation, the knot in Lin Heng’s heart loosened ever so slightly.
“I know it was because of me that you were punished and almost beaten to death. Thankfully, Heaven gave me the chance to make amends by letting me find you outside the capital. That’s how I was able to save you… to repay what I owed you.”
Repay?
Was that all her gentle care these past days had been?
Repayment?
She had slept with him, and now she thought a simple repayment settled everything?
What exactly did she take him for?
Watching his expression darken further, Gu Qingqing panicked.
What’s wrong? Why is he getting even angrier?
“I’d hoped that once your injuries healed, and once we’d finished making this little courtyard into a real home, we could live together peacefully from then on… and have a son and a daughter. Just a simple, ordinary life.”
She reached out and held his hand. The calluses on his palm felt rough against her skin.
Lin Heng stared into her eyes, as though trying to look straight into her heart.
He was afraid.
Afraid she was deceiving him.
Afraid she was merely saying what he wanted to hear.
That fear was worse than being beaten to death.
“If you don’t want to stay… I won’t force you. Once you’re fully recovered… you can leave.”
A single tear landed on the back of Lin Heng’s hand.
It burned like a brand against his heart.
You won’t even try to coax me? You’re already telling me to leave?
Bad woman.
Gu Qingqing stood and walked toward the house.
“Think it over yourself. We both need some time to calm down and think.”
Then she suddenly turned around and walked back.
Lin Heng immediately straightened in his seat, preparing to face her.
Instead, she simply gathered up the house deed and land deed from the table, tucked them under her arm, and walked into the house.
Leaving Lin Heng sitting there alone, staring blankly after her.
By noon, Lin Heng got up, lit the kitchen stove, cooked a pot of rice, then prepared a simple egg soup and a dish of cold cucumber salad.
He carried the dishes to the table beneath the eaves and knocked on Gu Qingqing’s door to call her to eat.
There was no answer.
He returned to the table and slowly ate by himself.
After washing his own bowl and chopsticks, he covered the remaining food in the pot to keep it warm before returning to his room.
Lying on the bed, his thoughts were in complete disarray.
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t sort them out.
What was happening to him?
Why had things turned out like this?