Su Xiaoqi's heart skipped a beat, and she instinctively moved forward, crouching to trip his legs.
But the silhouette was extremely agile, as if intimately familiar with her movements.
Before she could even finish crouching, let alone attempt the trip,
He sidestepped and lunged, wrapping his arms around her waist.
Su Xiaoqi was tenacious. Even when held, she wasn't afraid, her fingers reaching for the Yanggu acupoint on his wrist to pinch.
But he sensed it and dodged in advance.
She finally realized.
The only person who knew her so well could only be that scoundrel Shen Yun.
"It's me." Shen Yun also spoke at the opportune moment.
Su Xiaoqi let out a hum and glared at him fiercely in the darkness, saying irritably,
"You, you, I knew it was you. But why are you out here scaring people in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?"
Hearing Su Xiaoqi's words, which clearly lacked her usual accent, Shen Yun tightened his embrace, pulling her closer.
"I couldn't sleep. Are you too, my wife?"
"Pfft, I, I'm not sleepy at all. I got up because, because I wanted to see the night view. Look at the moon..."
Su Xiaoqi said, raising her hand to point.
Alas, it was a dark and windy night. The moon, that old fellow, had long since hidden away for some carefree enjoyment.
Shen Yun cupped her fingers and placed them back down.
He leaned close to her ear and gently blew a breath, making Su Xiaoqi's body go soft, almost collapsing into his arms.
Embarrassed, she quickly touched her reddening cheeks and tried to step back.
But Shen Yun's hands were already on her waist.
As she retreated, she was pulled back into his embrace.
He pulled her hands to his lips and gently blew warm air on them:
"Only you have cold hands and feet even in the heat when you sleep.
You can't sleep unless you stick your legs into my warm embrace."
Though his words sounded like a complaint, Su Xiaoqi heard an exceptional sweetness in them.
It was as if such matters didn't trouble Shen Yun at all, but rather brought him joy.
"Since you know, why did you abandon me to sleep with your little uncle..."
Su Xiaoqi herself didn't realize how easily her thoughts had been steered by Shen Yun.
She had said what he wanted to hear.
Shen Yun's dark eyes deepened as he held Su Xiaoqi tighter.
He had wanted to test her habit, which he had indulged for so long.
How his wife would fare without him.
Knowing she couldn't do without him, he felt reassured.
He lifted her into his arms, took off his outer robe, and wrapped it around her, as usual tucking her hands inside his clothes to keep them warm against his chest.
With his other hand, he cradled her feet, resting them on his thighs, gently patting her back to soothe her to sleep.
He was indeed trying to lull her to sleep.
Lying in his embrace, Su Xiaoqi's eyes, brighter than the most brilliant stars in the sky, watched him.
She thought such an awkward position would only keep her awake.
It would be a miracle if she could sleep.
But it was indeed a miracle.
In less than the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, Su Xiaoqi's breathing became steady in Shen Yun's arms.
She had fallen asleep.
Shen Yun curved his lips into a smile, and as he had done so many times before, he pressed a kiss to her lips. He held her for a while longer before taking her into the room.
He placed her on the edge of the bed and covered her with a thin quilt.
It was already the third watch, and it was time for him to sleep too.
The next morning, Su Xiaoqi woke up to find herself in bed.
She rubbed her head, trying to recall what had happened the previous night.
Had she not suffered from insomnia last night? Had she not gone out? Had she not encountered Shen Yun?
Or perhaps she had been sleepwalking?
It wasn't until breakfast, when she saw Shen Yun's concerned yet ambiguous gaze, that she finally understood.
Damn it, everything from last night was real.
She intercepted Shen Yun outside the courtyard and leaned in close, demanding, "Why did you come out last night?"
"To coax you to sleep." Shen Yun looked at her with an exceptionally sincere expression and told her word by word.
Su Xiaoqi stared at him for a long time.
Her gaze shifted from surprised and uncertain, to hesitant, and finally to disbelieving:
"I won't fall for your trick!"
At the same time, she kept thinking, "No way, no way. Is Shen Yun really so good that he stays up all night just to coax me to sleep?
Yuck, that's impossible. This doesn't sound like the style of the powerful official Shen Yun."
Shen Yun felt a bit wronged. He touched his nose, wishing he could bite Su Xiaoqi's mouth and tell her.
Don't speak ill of me in your heart, I can hear it all.
Unfortunately, Su Xiaoqi couldn't hear his thoughts.
So Su Xiaoqi proceeded to curse Shen Yun thoroughly in her mind, from the inside out.
She finally let him off the hook when Zhao Laoshi arrived with the mule cart.
Su Xiaoqi was busy taking Zhao Laoshi to the village head's courtyard to pack buckwheat.
After the first time they packed two thousand catties,
From then on, Shen Xiaomei went to Chen Jinji to make pastries and transported them out every day.
Currently, only five thousand catties remained here.
Zhao Laoshi's cart could only carry a thousand catties at a time, requiring five trips to finish.
However, they hadn't counted.
Su Xiaoqi secretly put three thousand catties into her space.
Then she instructed Zhao Laoshi to have him and his two friends make one trip, and it would be done.
As soon as the buckwheat was loaded, the village head's courtyard became empty.
"Ah, it's all gone now." Zhao Baoren, having tidied his clothes, returned from outside.
Seeing Su Xiaoqi waiting for him, he greeted her.
Su Xiaoqi responded, saying the buckwheat had already been transported to the city to be sold.
"This stuff can actually sell for money?" Zhao Baoren's small eyes darted around shrewdly.
He looked at Su Xiaoqi with great excitement, making no attempt to hide his interest in money.
Su Xiaoqi nodded, saying her maternal relatives used it to make tea.
She had sold it all to them.
"How much did you sell it for per catty?" Zhao Baoren pressed Su Xiaoqi, asking.
Su Xiaoqi smiled and said, "Five wen. What's wrong, Uncle Ren? Ah, I have to say, I sold it too cheap.
Think about it, I spent nearly three wen to acquire them. Then there's the cost of drying them at Uncle Ren's place every day.
And then there's the money for the cart to transport them.
Alas, though they say tens of thousands of catties were collected, I only earned my labor."
Su Xiaoqi, being very astute, started lamenting her poverty before Zhao Baoren could even do the math.
Zhao Baoren's reaction wasn't quick; he counted on his fingers for a long time but couldn't figure it out.
He thought Su Xiaoqi's reasoning made sense.
"Also, if it weren't for my maternal relatives doing me a favor, they wouldn't have been willing to accept that stuff."
Su Xiaoqi didn't hesitate to spin a tale.
Shen Yun, standing beside her, couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.
His little wife's storytelling ability was improving.
If he hadn't personally witnessed her selling buckwheat tea, he would probably have believed her words, just like Zhao Baoren.
"The buckwheat has been piled in Uncle Ren's courtyard for so long, I feel quite embarrassed. How about I give you a hundred wen?" Su Xiaoqi, eager to get to the city, didn't waste time haggling with Zhao Baoren.
She paid the money promptly and clearly.
Then she followed Shen Yun home.
Yesterday, Shen Yun had asked for leave from Teacher Gu.
Because it was Shen Yun's maternal uncle, and a student from the county school, who had gotten into trouble, Teacher Gu had kindly granted him three days off.
He was told to stay at home and properly guide Zhao Liushun.
But unexpectedly, Zhao Liushun had come to his senses so quickly.
He was currently following the mule cart to the city along with Zhao Ye and Shen Xiaomei.
Su Xiaoqi and Shen Yun walked side by side on the bluestone path,
Discussing the buckwheat tea.
"Aren't you afraid he'll find out you sold it for thirty wen per catty?" Shen Yun teased Su Xiaoqi.
Su Xiaoqi blinked, thinking to herself, "My 'supermarket' still sells it for fifty wen, and even seventy wen per catty."
Shen Yun listened, looking at her fingers, his eyelids twitching.
Truly remarkable. Acquired for two or three wen, plus transportation costs, plus processing fees, it would cost at most ten wen per catty.
And she, on the other hand, dared to ask for five to seven times the price.
"Anyway, the buckwheat they harvest looks different from the shelled and processed buckwheat tea.
They won't think of that for a while.
But even if they did, what of it? They don't have the techniques to process buckwheat.
Nor can they sell it at a high price."
Su Xiaoqi said nonchalantly.
She told Shen Yun that this was just temporary.
"Let me tell you, I don't plan to hog all the profits..."
The busy farming season was approaching.
After this batch, she had new plans for this buckwheat.
Then she would definitely lead the villagers who were willing to join her to make money and reach the pinnacle of their lives.
Shen Yun listened to Su Xiaoqi's grand pronouncements and couldn't help but smile.
It wasn't a mocking smile, but one of relief.
He knew she was still the same person who was intent on making money.
But she wasn't a stingy person whose eyes were only on gold and silver.
She had a broader perspective and was willing to help those in need within her capabilities.
"By the way, I heard that Sister Xiaomei's brother-in-law's family in Yujiang Village, near the southern side of Yuanbao Mountain, also has a lot of buckwheat.
Why don't we find someone to spread the news that we're collecting buckwheat?"
Su Xiaoqi wanted to help Zhao Xiaomei earn some small money.
This would also make her life at the Yu family easier.
So as to avoid following the old path from the novel.
Thinking of this, Su Xiaoqi's brow furrowed slightly.
Alas, she had saved Zhao Xiaomei, changed her fate, and also altered the trajectory of the plot in the novel.
She wondered if this would have any negative impact on her.