Su Xiaoqi's body suddenly felt empty, and she instinctively clutched Zhao Ye's sleeve, leaning forward and bumping her nose against his strong chest, the pain bringing tears to her eyes.
Zhao Ye became flustered. He had only heard her say that he had a chance to speak and wanted to ask what to do.
Approaching her, he saw her sitting there, sunlight illuminating her from the side, her fair face as if gilded.
She was so beautiful.
He couldn't help but lean in to get a closer look.
Who knew he would startle her, causing her to fall.
He wanted to apologize, to say sorry, but the words wouldn't come out.
Flustered, he didn't know where to put his limbs.
Su Xiaoqi steadied herself, withdrew from his embrace, and sat back to her left, widening the distance between them.
"Uh, thanks, I, I was just careless."
Zhao Ye had leaned in too close, but he hadn't actually done anything. It was she who wasn't used to anyone other than Shen Yun getting too close, and she had been startled.
Su Xiaoqi tidied her clothes and prepared to get up when she heard a clear voice behind her: "Niangzi..."
Shen Yun had arrived.
Su Xiaoqi's heart fluttered nervously, and she instinctively glanced at the distance between her and Zhao Ye.
Fortunately, it was a safe enough distance.
She quickly calmed her inner turmoil, casually smoothed the stray hairs from her forehead, and stood up, leaning on the embankment.
But the soil here was soft, and she tried twice without success.
Zhao Ye couldn't help but reach out a hand.
At the same time, Shen Yun had already arrived. Without a second thought, he flicked Zhao Ye's hand away, bent down, supported Su Xiaoqi's slender waist, and lifted her into a half-embrace.
Su Xiaoqi's heart pounded wildly, and she weakly called out, "Xianggong."
Her voice was clear and pleasant, soft and sweet, tender and melodic. Shen Yun's originally dark expression softened slightly.
Su Xiaoqi initially thought Shen Yun hadn't seen what had just happened.
But when she saw his face darken, she knew he had seen it.
He had seen more than she imagined.
She had no ulterior motives and nothing to feel guilty about.
It was just an accident!
But she didn't dare to anger Shen Yun, so she could only try to appease him.
She didn't want him to dwell on this, to remember it, and secretly harbor resentment.
"Xianggong, you're back," Su Xiaoqi said tenderly.
If she set her mind to pleasing someone, she would surely succeed.
Her appearance was already lovely, not to mention her soft, clingy voice that, with its myriad inflections, tugged at Shen Yun's heart.
"Niangzi," he said, holding Su Xiaoqi tighter, the darkness on his face gradually fading.
He thought to himself, but his expression remained tight. He wanted to see how she would appease him.
"Xianggong, you're about to go for the provincial examination. How about I make you some of that instant noodles you ate last time?
You can have a hot meal inside the examination hall, and Mother won't have to worry too much."
"Good," Shen Yun said, a slight smile playing on his lips. He loved seeing Su Xiaoqi acting so willingly yet unwillingly to appease him.
It revealed her charm as a woman to the fullest, making one's heart flutter.
He lowered his head and, in front of Zhao Ye, gently kissed her forehead.
The young man before him was mute, orphaned, and without foundation.
Yet, for some reason, Shen Yun always felt an ineffable aura about him.
Therefore, he had never underestimated him.
He was proud, but never conceited.
He respected everyone who saw him as an opponent.
Watching Shen Yun support Su Xiaoqi as she left, Zhao Ye tightly gripped his collar, his pupils constricting, his dark eyes becoming even darker.
As if he had eyes in the back of his head, Shen Yun took two steps and suddenly turned, catching the emotions in Zhao Ye's eyes that he hadn't managed to conceal.
Zhao Ye was startled and suddenly felt a bit lost.
This person was too calculating!
Three days later, Shen Yun returned to the village early from the city, bringing with him the first newly manufactured rice thresher.
It was said that the skilled craftsmen at the shop had worked overtime to rush its production according to his specifications.
The cost alone was one string of copper coins per machine.
Su Xiaoqi looked at the rice thresher parked in the yard, absolutely thrilled.
It looked so much like the ones she had seen in modern times.
Its structure was simple.
It was a large wooden box with an iron roller fitted perfectly on top.
The roller was connected to a wooden slat underfoot by a special belt.
Stepping on the wooden slat made the roller turn.
However, no matter how familiar the design was, Su Xiaoqi felt a bit rusty with the actual operation.
Modern agriculture had incorporated many scientific advancements, and rice threshing had long been mechanized, or at least powered by engines.
To test its functionality, Su Xiaoqi grabbed a handful of the rice harvested and stored at home, then shakily stepped onto the rice thresher and began to pedal.
Then, with both hands, she carefully fed the rice stalks into the thresher, afraid of losing her grip and getting her hand caught inside.
She was indeed rusty.
Ever since Su Xiaoqi stepped onto the rice thresher, Shen Yun had been watching her intently.
He was afraid she might be in danger.
But seeing her transition from initial surprise to tentative attempts, and after threshing a few handfuls, she gradually found her rhythm.
A large bunch of rice ears, after just one rotation of the roller, had all fallen off.
Shen Yun understood.
He looked at Su Xiaoqi with great joy.
This thing called a rice thresher was incredibly useful.
Once Su Xiaoqi found her rhythm, she threshed all the rice stalks that Zhao Ye had moved, having had her fill.
Unfortunately, their household had Zhao Ye, the formidable one.
In less than two days, he had finished harvesting all the rice in the Shen family's fields and spent another day threshing it.
Now it was all drying in the courtyard of the new house.
Su Xiaoqi sighed, rushing as she was, she still couldn't keep up with their own work.
Otherwise, she would have moved it over long ago.
Seeing her disappointment, Shen Yun suggested taking it to their maternal uncle's family first.
When he had visited earlier, they still had half their fields to harvest, let alone thresh.
The rice thresher was destined to cause a stir in the fields.
When the villagers saw it once in Zhao Dashan's fields and knew who had brought it out, they immediately approached the Shen family.
Su Xiaoqi wasn't in the mood to deal with them, so she let Shen Yun handle it.
When he returned, Shen Yun told Su Xiaoqi that he had promised to lend them the rice thresher.
Of course, it wasn't free; they would charge ten copper coins per household.
"Hey, it's okay if we don't charge," Su Xiaoqi said, recalling her feelings when she first conceived the idea of drawing the rice thresher's design.
At that time, she wasn't doing it for money; she just wanted to help them.
Hearing Su Xiaoqi say this, Shen Yun looked at her with some surprise.
Seeing her genuine sincerity, he finally understood that despite her initial fondness for wealth, she also had money she didn't want to earn.
He went out again and, on behalf of Su Xiaoqi, agreed to lend it to them for free.
Thus, what should have been a two-week continuous effort of double-cropping was completed by the end of June, after a period of busyness.
All the farmland in Zhao Family Village had been harvested, and the grain had been dried under the scorching sun and stored in the family granaries.
The rice thresher had fulfilled its mission, and Su Xiaoqi put it away in the storage room of the new house.
Looking at the freshly wiped rice thresher, Su Xiaoqi thought that its reputation must have spread by now.
Those who were interested would likely come knocking soon.