The night deepened, and the autumn wind began to blow, sending a shiver through Shen Xuan.
"It's getting cold, let's go back."
Lu Yu naturally took Shen Xuan's hand. Seeing him nod slightly, she led him onto the path home.
They walked very close, the cool autumn breeze pressing them together. The warmth in their palms served as a bridge connecting their hearts.
The bright moonlight cast an even glow upon them. If it were accompanied by myriad stars, it would surely have been a breathtakingly beautiful scene.
"It's a shame there are clouds in the sky, otherwise you could see the stars. They're very beautiful."
"Yes, they are indeed very beautiful."
After hearing Shen Xuan's words, Lu Yu realized how foolish she had sounded.
He had lived here for sixteen years; he must have seen them countless times.
Lu Yu's guess was correct. Shen Xuan, with nothing else to do at home, would stand by his window every night, gazing at the night sky.
He had heard from his maternal grandfather that departed loved ones turned into stars in the sky, watching over them. Thus, he looked up at the stars every night, whispering his thoughts, hoping his father could hear his longing for him.
"Mid-Autumn Festival is just a few days away. Let's visit my maternal grandparents on Mid-Autumn Festival."
Shen Xuan blinked, then turned his head, meeting Lu Yu's smiling eyes. He lowered his gaze slightly, concealing the unconcealable smile within his eyes, but his relaxed expression and upturned lips betrayed him.
"It's been a few days since I last checked on my maternal grandfather. Mid-Autumn is a time for family reunion, let's go together."
Shen Xuan's eyes welled up, and he could only manage to utter a "Good."
As they walked further away, the moonlight stretched their shadows ever longer.
Upon returning home, Afu was tidying the things Shen Xuan had brought back. Seeing Lu Yu, he was startled and quickly tucked the papers he was holding under the quilt.
Lu Yu saw Afu hastily hiding something and assumed it was a private item of a young man, so she pretended not to notice.
Before going to sleep, Lu Yu looked up and leaned close to Shen Xuan's ear, whispering, "What? Don't you like my voice?"
The warm breath Lu Yu exhaled as she spoke filled Shen Xuan's ear, and a wave of warmth instantly swept through his entire body.
His ear felt ticklish, and his whole body felt as if it had received an electric shock, tingly and numb. He wanted to pull away, but his entire body seemed incapable of movement, except for his heart still beating. His eyes stared straight ahead, and his mind refused to function.
Sensing Shen Xuan's sudden stiffening, Lu Yu realized what she had done but had no intention of letting him off the hook. She reached out and poked his chubby cheek. It felt good, soft and smooth, his skin was truly lovely.
She poked him again, "Speak up!" she demanded, feigning a fierce expression.
Shen Xuan was momentarily stunned, then suddenly understood. She was comparing herself to the group of children they had encountered that afternoon.
Not wanting to answer her childish question, he subtly shifted his body away.
Lu Yu noticed and pressed closer, cornering him against the wall.
Seeing that she wouldn't let him go unless he answered, he had no choice but to concede.
"It's nice, my wife's voice is also nice," a soft, almost inaudible voice finally emerged from Shen Xuan after a long pause.
As Shen Xuan tried to move further towards the wall, Lu Yu reached out, wrapped her arms around his waist, and pulled him towards her.
His back pressed against her warm body, a blush crept onto Shen Xuan's fair face.
"Alright, if you move any further, you'll be pressed against the wall. Let's sleep."
Shen Xuan nodded slightly, shifting uncomfortably in her embrace to find a comfortable spot before falling asleep peacefully.
He slept soundly that night, waking up at dawn. It was the first time he had slept in. By the time he woke, Lu Yu had already left for work.
Outside, he saw Afu looking at him with a knowing gaze, making Shen Xuan wish he could grab him and give him a good scolding. What was going on in that boy's head all day?
But to actually do so would be to draw undue attention to himself, so he could only pretend not to have noticed anything and continue as usual.
In truth, he had nothing to do here every day, and there was little housework. Afu always rushed to finish it first.
"Knock, knock." A knock came from outside. It was his neighbor, Li Fulang, who had come to chat with Shen Xuan.
For the past two days, Li Fulang had been making time to accompany Shen Xuan, fearing he wouldn't get used to the new village.
Shen Xuan welcomed Li Fulang into the house and took out a piece of cloth from the cabinet, sitting beside him.
Yesterday, Li Fulang had told him that he would be embroidering handkerchiefs with him today.
"A handkerchief can be sold for five to ten copper coins. From now on, I'll come during the day to embroider handkerchiefs with you, and I'll have company. I also want to learn the patterns embroidered by the young gentlemen in town from you."
Shen Xuan tugged at the corner of his mouth, too embarrassed to admit that he actually didn't know any of the patterns the young gentlemen in town embroidered, and that he wasn't even very good at the most basic embroidery.
"Brother-in-law, I'll draw some patterns for you." Shen Xuan had become familiar with him over the past two days and now called him brother-in-law. Calling him Li Fulang felt too distant. It was Lu Yu who had later told him to call him brother-in-law.
Lu Yu said that Sister Li was equivalent to her older sister, so it was fine for him to call Li Fulang brother-in-law.
"Patterns? You can draw too!" Li Fulang was shocked by this news, his expression one of disbelief as he couldn't take his eyes off Shen Xuan.
Could it be that young men in town were now allowed to learn knowledge beyond embroidery?
Sensing Li Fulang's shocked gaze, Shen Xuan pursed his lips uncomfortably.
"I've brought a few patterns from home. You don't need to draw, let's embroider according to these first."
Shen Xuan nodded and accepted them.
Lu Yu's reputation grew with each passing day, and many people from town came to seek her out.
When the news reached the Shen mansion, Shen Jia was furious, his eyes filled with resentment. Why! Why did Shen Xuan have such good luck? Lu Yu had been a good-for-nothing scoundrel before, and now she had changed so much.
If she had already had such a reputation back then, he definitely wouldn't have schemed against Shen Xuan, letting him get such a great deal for free. What bad luck.
Zhao Liu, on the other hand, was very calm. "Do you want to marry her again now?"
"Of course not! How could I possibly fancy her." Shen Jia looked at Zhao Liu's calm demeanor and slumped onto a chair in frustration. "I'm just angry that he has such good luck and can live a good life."
"No matter how good his life is, can it compare to yours? Just relax. In the future, Father will definitely arrange for you to marry a better wife."
Although Zhao Liu's expression didn't reveal much, she had a plan in mind. She figured Zhao Ran must be getting impatient too.
The number of people visiting the Zhao family's medical clinic plummeted, leaving it deserted. Zhao Ran stared ahead hatefully, lost in thought. She had never imagined that after the Lu family couple died years ago, their daughter would later block her source of income.
"They should all die!" Zhao Ran roared in her heart, her facial expression contorted. The young apprentice, seeing this, quickly retreated, knowing she was angry again because of the newly opened medical clinic.