It was already dark. The ox cart swayed slowly along the road, and leaning against Yan Zihao’s shoulder, Lu Qingran almost fell asleep.
By the end of the Xu hour (around 9 p.m.), the ox cart finally stopped at the entrance of Lu Family Village.
Looking around, the entire village was almost pitch black.
The road was lit only by moonlight.
Carrying a basket on his back, Yan Zihao followed behind Lu Qingran at a slow pace.
At the Yan household, Yan Father and Yan Mother had not yet gone to sleep. They were sitting in the courtyard waiting. Hearing faint voices outside the gate, Yan Mother quickly got up to open it.
“Dalang, is that you?” she asked.
“Yes, Mother,” Yan Zihao replied.
After entering the courtyard and closing the gate, Yan Mother asked anxiously, “Dalang, why are you back so late? I couldn’t ask earlier this afternoon—what happened? Why did you go to town again?”
Yan Zihao glanced at Lu Qingran. Seeing that she didn’t respond, he said, “Mother, Ranran found a ginseng root in the mountains today. We went to town to sell it.”
“Ginseng?” Yan Mother exclaimed in surprise. Yan Father immediately looked toward Lu Qingran.
“Mm, about twenty years old. Doctor Li from Jishitang gave us 25 taels of silver,” Yan Zihao said.
“Twenty-five taels? That much?” Yan Mother cried out. Fortunately, their house stood alone—nearest neighbors were over 200 meters away.
“Yes. But I gave the money to Ranran. This is the thirty jin of coarse rice and one jin of meat we bought,” he added.
“Well, the ginseng was found by Ranran, so of course the money belongs to her,” Yan Mother said straightforwardly. “Alright, you two haven’t eaten yet, have you? There are pancakes and some porridge left in the kitchen. Eat and rest early.”
“Got it. Father, Mother, you should rest early too,” Yan Zihao replied.
Before heading back to the room, Yan Mother held Lu Qingran’s hand and said, “You’re a blessed child. Dalang is fortunate.”
“Mother, my husband is also very good,” Lu Qingran replied.
Dinner was simple—sweet potato coarse rice porridge with rough corn flatbread.
Lu Qingran ate a little, then returned to the room. Before Yan Zihao came back, she quickly entered her space, hurriedly ate a red bean bun, brushed her teeth, washed her face, and rushed out again.
Not long after, Yan Zihao returned, carrying a bucket of warm water in one hand and a foot-washing basin in the other.
“You walked a lot today—soak your feet,” he said.
“Thank you,” she replied.
After washing up, Lu Qingran lay back on the bed. Just as she was about to sleep, she suddenly remembered waking up in his arms that morning. She quickly sat up, placed her pillow between them, and lay down again.
When Yan Zihao returned after pouring out the water and sat on the bed, he saw the pillow between them. His expression darkened.
“Ranran?” he called.
She hadn’t fallen asleep yet and opened her eyes. “Hm? What’s wrong?”
“This pillow…?”
“Oh! I was afraid I might roll over and hug you again in the middle of the night, so I put it here as a barrier,” she said matter-of-factly, unaware of his expression in the dark.
Hearing this, Yan Zihao fell silent for a long time. In the darkness, his face looked quite unpleasant. After a while, he said in a low voice:
“Ranran, we’re husband and wife. You hugging me, or me hugging you—that’s normal. What you’re doing now… it’s not that you’re afraid of hugging me, but that you’re afraid I’ll hug you. Is that right?”
“Huh? No! I just didn’t want to disturb your sleep,” she quickly explained.
“I don’t mind. And you didn’t disturb me,” he said.
Lu Qingran had never been in a relationship, but she had seen plenty—college roommates and coworkers, couples always being affectionate, holding hands, constantly close.
And now, she and this man were legally husband and wife.
Last night should have been their wedding night, but because she felt awkward as a modern person, he had respected her feelings and held back. To him, her hugging him was completely natural.
She sat up, moved the pillow back, and said, “Alright, I didn’t mean it that way. But if I kick or hit you in my sleep, don’t blame me.”
Hearing this, Yan Zihao’s lips curved into a smile in the dark. He lifted the blanket, lay down, and before she could react, pulled her straight into his arms.
“We’ll only consummate the marriage when you’re ready,” he said in a low, slightly domineering tone. “But you can’t refuse other things. And… I like it when you call me ‘husband.’”
Lu Qingran thought it through—so long as he didn’t have other women, she would likely spend her life with him. Whether sooner or later, being close didn’t matter. Besides, he was handsome and completely to her liking—she wasn’t at a loss.
Thinking this, she no longer resisted. She found a comfortable position in his arms, hugged him, and closed her eyes.
Yan Zihao noticed her response, his eyes filled with warmth.
They both slept well.
The next morning, as expected, Lu Qingran woke up in his arms again. Looking at his sculpted, handsome face, she smiled and greeted him:
“Morning.”
“Morning,” he replied.
That day, Lu Qingran didn’t go to the fields. Instead, while Yan Zihao was out, she shut the door and entered her space to look for the money pouch she had stored there.
According to her guess, it should be in her duplex apartment on the seventh floor.
She took the elevator up. As soon as she opened the door, she saw the pouch sitting on the shoe cabinet. Opening it, she found one ten-tael silver ingot, two five-tael ingots, and four one-tael pieces.
After thinking for a moment, she took two of the small silver pieces and tucked them into her clothes.
After washing up, she went to the food court on the sixth floor. She cooked herself a small bowl of tomato and egg noodles, then went to grab some meat buns.
But when she opened the steamer, her hand froze.
“Why is it full? Didn’t I eat some the day before yesterday?” she muttered.
She immediately rushed to the pharmacy on the basement level.
In the drawer where the ginseng had been, she had taken one yesterday out of five—but now, there were still five, unchanged.
She confirmed it—her space had an automatic replenishment function. Anything she used or took would be restored after 24 hours.
Amazing. Truly amazing.
Even if she stayed home her whole life, she would never lack food or clothing.
Across from the pharmacy was a large supermarket. Some items would be hard to explain, but candy should be fine. Remembering that Yan Silang and Yan Zimeng liked sweets, she went to the candy section, grabbed a handful of fruit candies, removed the wrappers, wrapped them in paper, and returned to the food court.
After eating a small bowl of noodles and one bun, Lu Qingran took the small bundle of candy and exited her space.