The upward curve of Jiang Jinxi’s lips remained constant. Already a beautiful person, the crescent-like shape of his red lips added a touch of playfulness and charm.
Standing behind him, Song Bo rubbed the base of his thumb with his other hand. Since Jiang Jinxi was in a good mood, now seemed like a good time to ask why he had been angry before.
“Has someone provoked you these past few days?” Song Bo asked.
Jiang Jinxi answered instantly, “No.”
Song Bo naturally did not believe this. The speed of the response suggested a fair amount of guilt.
“If not, then why have you been sulking?” Song Bo pulled over a chair and sat down, looking Jiang Jinxi straight in the eye.
Perhaps because Song Bo’s gaze was so sincere, Jiang Jinxi’s lips twitched. His bottled-up grievances reached a peak at that moment. He toyed with the cuff of his new clothes and lowered his gaze, avoiding Song Bo’s eyes. “It was you.”
Song Bo was stunned. He racked his brain trying to remember what he had done over the last few days, but he could not figure out which action had offended Jiang Jinxi.
“That day, you told me to stay away from Song Shenwen. It sounded as if I were intentionally leading him on,” Jiang Jinxi finally revealed the true reason for his anger. Three days ago, when they left Song Chazai’s house, Song Bo’s words combined with his tone made it seem as though he were accusing Jiang Jinxi of deliberately seducing Song Shenwen. It was incredibly upsetting to hear. As a noble young master from the capital, he had never suffered such an indignity.
Song Bo recalled what he had said that day. He turned the words over in his mind, and after a few repetitions, he did indeed detect a bit of that flavor. He said, “I just said it casually.”
“But I did not hear it casually.” Jiang Jinxi stubbornly shifted his eyes to meet Song Bo’s. “I do not know why you always speak with thorns in your words when talking to me. You are clearly not like that with Eldest Aunt.”
A week is neither long nor short, but it was enough for Jiang Jinxi to gain a general understanding of Song Bo. This man was polite to others but acted like a cactus toward him, full of prickles.
Song Bo fell silent, his mind racing for a reasonable explanation.
Seeing Song Bo lower his head like a timid quail, Jiang Jinxi bit his lip. He picked up a pastry from the table and ate it. The pastry dissolved in his mouth with a faint fragrance. After swallowing, he said, “I will forgive you this time.”
“I am sorry,” Song Bo said.
These three words were entirely inconsistent with the original host’s “scumbag” persona. However, since Song Bo had made a mistake, he felt he had to apologize. Ultimately, it was his attempt to mimic the original host’s tone that had hurt Jiang Jinxi’s pride.
Jiang Jinxi paused his movements. “What did you say?”
A real man stands by his actions. Song Bo looked at Jiang Jinxi with bright, steady eyes and raised his voice slightly. “I am sorry.”
The tips of Jiang Jinxi’s ears turned red. He took tiny bites of the pastry to hide his awkwardness. “I said I forgive you. Let us turn the page on this matter.”
Now that they had cleared the air, the moon hung high in the sky. Jiang Jinxi let out a yawn, feeling quite weary.
Seeing Jiang Jinxi struggling to stay awake at the table just to finish the pastries, Song Bo said, “If you cannot finish them, do not force yourself.”
“They will go bad,” Jiang Jinxi replied. These pastries could not be kept for long, and it would be a waste not to eat them.
“They can last for three days.” Song Bo tied up the paper bag, re-wrapped the pastries, and took them to the kitchen.
Now that autumn had arrived and the temperature had dropped, the shelf life of food had extended slightly.
By the time Song Bo returned to the bedroom, Jiang Jinxi had already climbed into bed and was lying obediently on the inner side.
Song Bo was also exhausted. After extinguishing the candle, he quickly tucked himself into the quilt and closed his eyes, turning toward the door. The wind howled outside, causing the tree branches to rustle. A draft blew through the window into the room; it was much colder today than yesterday. In his dazed state, Song Bo thought that during his next two days off, he must repair the window.
“Thank you. I really like the new clothes.”
Suddenly, a sentence as light as a feather tickled Song Bo’s heart. He curled his lips into a smile, thinking that while Jiang Jinxi was sensitive, he was also very easy to coax. Like a little cat, he was quite cute.
The next day, Song Bo woke up on time. Jiang Jinxi was facing the wall, clutching the quilt and sleeping soundly. Song Bo rose quietly and tucked the quilt tightly around Jiang Jinxi before leaving the house for work.
Jiang Jinxi went to Song Chazai’s house every day, so there was no need to worry about his meals.
Stepping out of the courtyard gate, Song Bo saw that the small wooden basket from yesterday was still sitting there. This was normal; after all, he had returned very late last night. Even if the person who left it realized they had the wrong house, they would have to wait until daylight to take it away.
When Jiang Jinxi woke up, the sun was slanting across the sky. The new bedding was so warm that his laziness kicked in, making him reluctant to get up. Wrapped in the quilt, Jiang Jinxi rolled to the left, then back to the right toward the edge of the bed. After a long stretch, he finally climbed out from under the covers.
As soon as he stepped out of the room, a gust of autumn wind mixed with cold air hit his face. Jiang Jinxi shivered and pulled his collar tighter before ducking into the kitchen to boil water for washing his face.
Back in the capital, he only had to call out upon waking, and a maid would bring hot water into the room. Now that he had been framed and sent to this wilderness, he had to boil the water himself if he did not want the cold water to chap his skin.
Fortunately, he had learned how to start a fire from Song Chazai. Having boiled water himself for the past two days, he was gradually becoming familiar with the process.
Compared to other households, he was already quite fortunate. He did not have to carry the water himself; Song Bo checked the water level in the kitchen vat every day. Whenever the fresh water was nearly gone, Song Bo would go to the Tianxi River to fetch more.
After washing his face with a mixture of hot and cold water, Jiang Jinxi picked up his medical books to head to Song Chazai’s house. After spending a few days with her, he found Traditional Chinese Medicine very interesting. In the capital, he never interacted with doctors unless he was ill. Now, standing by Song Chazai’s side, his clothes were often scented with herbs.
Just as he was about to leave, Jiang Jinxi saw a woman acting suspiciously at the gate, peeking into their courtyard.
Could it be someone sent by those who harmed him to check on his situation?
However, the woman’s attempt to hide was clumsy. Half of her body was exposed from behind the tree trunk; she did not look like one of “their” henchmen.
Jiang Jinxi took a few steps and reached the woman. He asked, “Why do you keep peering into my house?”
The newcomer had skin as white as snow and thick, dark hair tied up in a high ponytail. Beneath graceful willow-leaf eyebrows were a pair of round, crescent eyes. Her light brown pupils were staring at him. The woman raised her hands to cover her mouth, clearly dazed by the beauty of the person in front of her. She stammered, “Huh?”
Jiang Jinxi asked again patiently, “Why do you keep peering into my house?”
The woman finally snapped out of it and asked, “Is this your home?”
Jiang Jinxi did not answer directly but said, “Is there something you need?”
“Is this not Song Bo’s house? Could I have asked for the wrong place?” The woman toyed with her hair in confusion. Yesterday, she had asked many people, and they all said this was Song Bo’s house.
“This is Song Bo’s house,” Jiang Jinxi replied.
“Then you are?” The woman’s eyes flicked upward. She had seen Song Bo before; at best, he was a rustic man with a slightly better-than-average temperament. But the person standing before her had truly refined grace and exceptional looks. Even ordinary plain clothes had a unique charm when worn by him. She had lived in this village for sixteen years and had never heard her father mention such a beautiful person.
Jiang Jinxi replied, “I am Song Bo’s husband.”
The woman’s eyes widened. Did Song Bo save someone’s life in a previous existence? How else could he marry such a beautiful husband?
Seeing the woman just staring at him, Jiang Jinxi waved his hand in front of her. “You still have not told me why you were looking inside.”
“My name is Song Lingling,” she introduced herself first. Realizing that lurking by a tree outside a gate was behavior usually associated with thieves, she added an explanation, “I am not a thief.”
“I know you are not a thief,” Jiang Jinxi said.
“Are you really Song Bo’s husband?” Song Lingling stared at Jiang Jinxi’s face with her large eyes. After thinking for a moment, she still found it hard to believe.
“Truly,” Jiang Jinxi answered.
Since the person in front of her really was Song Bo’s husband, it was only right to tell him the whole story.
Song Lingling swallowed the hard-to-believe fact and explained, “I came to apologize to Song Bo.”
This left Jiang Jinxi puzzled. During his few days in the village, he had heard quite a bit about Song Bo. He was a famous gambling scumbag in the village. If not for that, those people would not have sold Jiang Jinxi to him.
Now, someone had actually come to apologize to Song Bo. It would be more believable if Song Bo were the one needing to apologize to someone else.
One look at Jiang Jinxi’s expression told Song Lingling that he did not believe her. To convince him, she recounted the incident of the cart wheel getting stuck in the mud in great detail.
Song Bo helped the driver pull the wheel out of the mud? He actually had such capability.
During their time together, Jiang Jinxi knew that Song Bo was not as terrifying as the rumors suggested. On the contrary, while he could be sharp-tongued, everything he did was for Jiang Jinxi’s benefit. Therefore, hearing that Song Bo had done a good deed did not surprise him. However, pulling a wheel out of the mud using only a tree branch required a certain level of quick-wittedness.
“So, can you accept these things on his behalf? Otherwise, my conscience will not be at peace.” Since that day, Song Lingling had been tormented by guilt. That was why she had gathered the courage to bring gifts to Song Bo’s house. By the time she reached the door, her courage had deflated like a leaking balloon. That was why she had left the wooden basket at the gate, waiting for Song Bo to take it inside. Even if he did not know who sent it, her guilt would dissipate as long as he used the items.
She had not expected that after an entire night, the basket would still be in its original spot when she came to check.
Jiang Jinxi shook his head and declined the request. He said, “You should tell him in person.”
An apology should be made directly to the person involved. If he acted as a messenger, the meaning might not only get lost but the sincerity of the apology would be greatly diminished.
“He returns in the evening. You can come back at the hour of Xu (around 8:00 PM),” Jiang Jinxi said.
Perhaps because Jiang Jinxi was too beautiful, Song Lingling was dazed into speaking her true feelings. “I am a bit afraid.” After all, she was just a woman, and facing the village’s famous ruffian still made her feel timid.
Jiang Jinxi laughed. He understood the feeling; he had been terrified on his first day too. But within a week, Song Bo had bought him candy, given him allowance, and even bought him new clothes. He truly could not feel afraid anymore. He said, “There is no need to be afraid. He is actually a good person.”