Li Yingtang nodded with complete sincerity.
“Really.”
“What does the man look like?”
“I’ve never seen him.” Li Yingtang replied, “Aunt Liu said he’s handsome, tall, and well-built, but he never went to school.”
“He’s uneducated, yet he got a government job? Must’ve gotten in through connections. My brother-in-law graduated from middle school and still wasn’t assigned a job.”
“Who knows?” Li Yingtang pretended not to understand before changing the subject. “Can Cheng Fang walk now?”
“She still can’t.” Wu Hong sighed. “Who knows what she’ll do in the future? Even that old bachelor took one look at her and said he didn’t want her anymore.”
Li Yingtang inwardly thought, Serves her right.
After chatting with everyone for a while and collecting plenty of village gossip, she returned to the health station to continue knitting her scarf.
After an entire day…
She had only managed to knit a piece the length of one finger.
Forget it.
She might as well stop knitting.
With the time she spent on this, she’d be better off browsing the flea market. If she found even one valuable antique and sold it, she could buy an entire basket of scarves.
She tossed the unfinished scarf and knitting needles back into the sewing basket.
The basket slid across the table and fell to the floor.
Just as she bent down to pick it up, Qin Xian got there first.
His clear voice sounded beside her.
“Who upset you this time?”
Resting her chin on one hand, Li Yingtang simply admired him.
Good heavens.
Standing against the light…
That figure.
Those long legs.
Absolutely perfect.
Too bad she could only look.
Not touch.
What a tragedy.
“You.”
“Because you refused to live with me. It’s so cold at night that I can’t sleep. Every evening I start worrying as soon as it gets dark.”
“Where are you cold?”
Qin Xian didn’t believe her.
Her bedding was brand new, and she’d even placed a hot-water bottle in bed.
One morning, he’d accidentally glimpsed her sleeping through a gap in the curtains.
Both of her arms had been sticking out from under the blanket, obviously because she was too warm.
“Everywhere.” Li Yingtang sighed dramatically before collapsing onto the bed.
“I’m such a young, unmarried woman, and even throwing myself at someone doesn’t work. I’m such a failure.”
“I might as well die.”
Qin Xian: “…”
She’s making trouble again?
A “young unmarried woman?”
More like a dramatic one.
After waiting a long time without hearing a response, Li Yingtang looked up.
To her surprise…
Qin Xian was knitting the scarf.
The knitting needles danced effortlessly through his fingers, moving as though they had minds of their own. The scarf took shape at an astonishing speed.
Her frustration immediately disappeared.
“Is there anything you can’t do?” she asked curiously.
“Who taught you?”
“My great-aunt.”
“Did she also teach you medicine?”
“A little of it. Most of what I know I learned on my own.”
Li Yingtang looked genuinely impressed.
“Your great-aunt was amazing. How old would she be now? Did she have children?”
“She would be sixty if she were still alive.”
“She never married.”
“When she was young, she damaged her health while testing medicines she had developed herself.”
Li Yingtang immediately became nervous.
“She tested them on herself?”
“She volunteered.”
Li Yingtang looked at him seriously.
“If you ever invent medicine in the future, don’t test it on yourself.”
“Nothing is more precious than your own body.”
“My mom always said, ‘It’s better to live badly than die well.’ Sometimes, if necessary, it’s okay to do things that benefit yourself—even if someone else loses out.”
Qin Xian smiled.
He had certainly experienced her philosophy firsthand.
After giving up on knitting, Li Yingtang bought some expensive cigarettes the next day and took them to the renovation workers in the city.
The house looked much the same as when she had left, except the moldy, peeling walls had finally been scraped clean.
The elderly woman next door complained,
“The workers you hired spend all day knocking down one wall or another instead of doing real work. You should scold them—or just fire them.”
Li Yingtang smiled.
“If you don’t trust someone, don’t hire them. If you hire them, then trust them.”
“Maybe it’s just too cold to work efficiently.”
“I’m not in a hurry.”
Afterward, she rode to the flea market.
After making an entire round without finding anything worthwhile, she simply went shopping instead.
By the time she left the department store, both arms were full of shopping bags.
On the way back, she stopped at a teahouse.
Ordering a pot of tea, she leisurely enjoyed herself.
Just as she set down her teacup, someone sat opposite her.
It was He Fanzhi.
His expression was as gloomy as ever.
“Why did you run away that day?”
“And now…”
Li Yingtang met his gaze without backing down.
“And now what?”
“You’re not anyone important to me.”
“What right do you have to question me?”
He Fanzhi’s face darkened.
“Grandfather was about to reveal where the key was hidden.”
“You interrupted him.”
“Now he’s taken that secret to the grave.”
“Are you satisfied?”
He was visibly furious.
His already somber features became even colder.
Li Yingtang disliked the way he stared at her.
Avoiding his eyes, she replied,
“What interruption?”
“I was worried he’d leave behind unfinished regrets, so I urged him a little.”
“How was I supposed to know he’d suddenly wake up?”
“I had nightmares for two straight nights afterward.”
“I haven’t even asked your family to compensate me for emotional distress.”
“Now disappear from my sight.”
“If you keep annoying me, don’t blame me if I hit you.”
He Fanzhi narrowed his eyes and laughed mockingly.
“Hit me?”
“Go ahead.”
“I won’t satisfy you.”
Li Yingtang calmly picked up her teacup.
Suddenly, He Fanzhi snatched it away.
She grabbed it back.
The tea splashed all over her.
Her sweater was soaked.
Her temper exploded.
She slapped him across the face.
Then she lifted the teapot lid and dumped the remaining tea—leaves and all—over him.
“You lunatic!”
“Can’t even drink tea in peace!”
Picking up her coat and shopping bags, she stormed out.
The commotion attracted everyone’s attention.
He Fanzhi stood there in stunned silence.
By the time he came back to his senses, Li Yingtang had already left.
A waitress, noticing from his appearance that he wasn’t an ordinary customer, hurried over with a handkerchief.
“Sir, are you alright?”
“The private room is warm. You can dry your clothes inside…”
Still fuming, Li Yingtang rode her bicycle back to the countryside.
Only after a long ride did she finally calm down.
Near the village entrance, she saw Liu Lirong walking in the same direction.
Pretending not to notice her, she rode past.
“Wait!”
Liu Lirong’s eyes were red.
“The powder you gave me only lasted a little while.”
“And the lipstick disappeared after one meal.”
“But the makeup you wear lasts all day.”
“You did it on purpose.”
“You didn’t want my matchmaking to succeed!”
Li Yingtang instantly exploded again.
The anger she had just managed to suppress flared right back up.
“Do you have any common sense at all?”
“What powder or lipstick lasts all day?”
“You knew it would wear off, yet you still went out to eat.”
“Would you have died if you skipped one meal?”
“The powder on your face rubbed all over your sleeves. Didn’t you notice?”
“And you accuse me of sabotaging you?”
“Who do you think you are?”
“If your matchmaking failed, maybe you should look at yourself first.”
“Did you try to make conversation?”
“Did you try to make him happy?”
You wanted his money.
He wanted your looks.
Once your appearance was gone, of course he wasn’t willing to spend money anymore.
Fair enough.
You can’t have everything.
Life doesn’t work that way.
After saying her piece, Li Yingtang pedaled away.
When she returned to the health station, a new tea table stood outside.
“Oh!”
“This tea table is beautiful.”
“The carved toad on top is especially nice.”
“Who gave it to us?”
Qin Xian walked out.
“The village carpenter brought it over while delivering some wooden boxes.”
“He asked whether I wanted it.”
“You mentioned before that you like drinking tea.”
“I thought this table would suit you, so I kept it.”
Li Yingtang was pleasantly surprised.
She hadn’t expected him to be so thoughtful.
“What did you buy?”
Qin Xian took the shopping bags from her.
“A scarf, a sweater, and trousers for you.”
“They’re all the same color.”
“When the weather gets warmer, we’ll wear them together.”
“The moment people see us dressed alike, they’ll know we’re a couple.”
Her smile carried a trace of smug pride.
Qin Xian looked at the clothes.
“Are you sure people won’t think we’re brother and sister?”
“That would be even more exciting.”
Qin Xian: “…”