Lin Qinghe hesitated for a long time, dawdling, and walked to You Rong's door, peeking inside.
You Rong glanced at her, said nothing, took off his outer coat, folded it, and placed it on the wooden chair in front of the bed.
Seeing this, Lin Qinghe was unsure.
What was You Rong's intention?
Did he mean for her to come in and sleep with him?
Lin Qinghe gritted her teeth, mustered her courage, walked in, and sat down by the bed. Seeing that You Rong didn't tell her to leave, her heart finally settled.
It seemed You Rong was all talk and soft-hearted, unable to bear seeing her sleep on straw in the kitchen, so he let her in.
Lin Qinghe blinked nervously, met You Rong's dark eyes, swallowed, and stammered, "Well... shall we blow out the oil lamp and go to bed early?"
You Rong still said nothing, but turned and went to extinguish the oil lamp.
Lin Qinghe lay on the bed, trying to keep her body as close to the innermost side as possible, leaving the largest space for You Rong.
In the dim light, she heard You Rong's footsteps drawing closer. He walked to the bedside, bent down, his breath getting closer and closer...
Lin Qinghe felt inexplicably nervous.
The next moment, You Rong took a quilt and left again.
Lin Qinghe was stunned.
You Rong... wasn't planning to share the bed with her?
Lin Qinghe heard You Rong push together the two long benches in the room and then lie down.
Lin Qinghe turned her head. Moonlight shone through the broken wooden window, allowing her to see You Rong curled up on the long bench. Her brow immediately furrowed.
Lin Qinghe pushed herself up and called out, "You Rong? You Rong... aren't you going to sleep on the bed?"
You Rong pursed his lips and said indifferently, "My intention has not changed. I don't want you to stay. You should leave quickly tomorrow."
"..." Lin Qinghe.
Alright, she had mistakenly thought You Rong had changed his mind somewhat. It turned out she had overthought it.
You Rong was merely acting from a gentleman's perspective, not wanting a woman to sleep on straw in the kitchen. It had nothing to do with changing his mind.
Lin Qinghe pondered for a moment, got off the bed, walked to You Rong's side, and said, "Well... you sleep on the bed. You are tall, and it must be uncomfortable to be cramped on the long bench. You have to work tomorrow and need to rest well. If you don't want to share the bed with me, I'll sleep here."
You Rong said in a deep voice, "...No need."
"No! Hurry and go sleep on the bed, otherwise I won't be at ease, and I'd rather sleep on the straw in the kitchen."
In the dimness, Lin Qinghe vaguely saw You Rong frown, unsure if he was annoyed by her trouble or for some other reason.
You Rong said, "No need. I have thick skin and flesh. I can sleep anywhere. When I hunt in the mountains, I can sleep in any cave."
"But..."
You Rong interrupted Lin Qinghe, "It's late. Sleep!"
Lin Qinghe remained still, staring at You Rong in the dimness, pondering something. Feeling that someone was waiting beside him, and that You Rong couldn't sleep either, he was about to ask Lin Qinghe to go back to sleep when she quickly ran back to the bed.
Lin Qinghe placed the two pillows in the middle and then said to You Rong, "I've thought of a good method. We can place pillows in the middle to separate us. I won't touch you, and you won't touch me, so it won't be awkward." Lin Qinghe softened her voice, "Let's sleep on the bed together, alright? Otherwise... I won't have peace of mind and truly won't be able to sleep well."
You Rong did not answer. Lin Qinghe was not discouraged and continued to beg in a soft voice, "You Rong, please? We'll sleep on the bed together, it's fine..."
Perhaps You Rong was annoyed by Lin Qinghe's persistence and didn't want to listen to her nagging anymore. He rolled over, sat up, and came back with the quilt.
Seeing this, Lin Qinghe quickly lay down on the innermost side of the bed. You Rong walked to the bedside, also lay down, but silently turned his back to her and closed his eyes to sleep.
Lin Qinghe had achieved her goal. In the dim light, the corners of her mouth couldn't help but curve upwards slightly.
The room was quiet. After a while, Lin Qinghe heard a faint snore from You Rong beside her.
You Rong had done strenuous physical labor all day, so it was natural for him to be very tired and fall asleep as soon as he lay down.
Lin Qinghe had also worked hard all day and was now tired. Before closing her eyes, Lin Qinghe secretly decided that she must wake up early tomorrow to prepare breakfast for You Rong, to do what a good wife and mother should do, and to change his opinion of her.
The night passed quietly.
As the first rooster crowed outside, and the sky was still dimly lit, Lin Qinghe's eyelashes fluttered twice, and she opened her eyes, waking up.
She still felt very sleepy and tired. Remembering her determination the night before to be a good wife and mother to You Rong, she sighed inwardly and could only get up.
Lin Qinghe got up quietly, intending to get off the bed by stepping over You Rong.
Unexpectedly, as soon as she moved, You Rong woke up and said in a deep voice, "What are you doing?!"
Lin Qinghe was startled. Her hand slipped, and she fell directly onto You Rong. Meeting his deep, dark eyes, she quickly sat up in fright and explained in a flustered manner, "I... I just wanted to get up and make breakfast for you!"
Hearing this, You Rong looked at Lin Qinghe with a strange expression.
The last time she had returned and stayed for two days, she had slept until noon every day. Today, she was saying she wanted to get up and make breakfast for him before dawn. This behavior seemed unusual no matter how you looked at it.
Lin Qinghe didn't know what You Rong was thinking. She pointed to his strong, long legs and whispered, "Well... since you're awake, can you move aside? Let me get down..."
You Rong collected his thoughts, sat up, and Lin Qinghe was able to get out of bed.
She straightened her clothes and said to the still-sitting You Rong, "It's still early. It's not time for you to go to work yet. You can sleep for a while longer. I'll call you when breakfast is ready. Oh, right... you don't need to worry about mother's medicine. I saw you decocting her medicine yesterday and remembered it all. I'll decoct mother's medicine as well."
After speaking, Lin Qinghe went to the kitchen to make breakfast without waiting for You Rong's reply.
A moment after Lin Qinghe left, You Rong walked to the wooden window and saw the figure busy in the kitchen. His eyes were dark and unreadable.
Lin Qinghe arrived at the kitchen and searched everywhere. She found nothing but sweet potatoes and a bunch of wilted wild vegetables. There were no other usable ingredients.
Lin Qinghe's cooking skills were good, but even the most skillful cook cannot make a meal out of nothing. With such limited ingredients, she couldn't make much.
Lin Qinghe thought for a moment, steamed the sweet potatoes, let them cool, mashed them into a paste, formed small flattened patties, and pan-fried them in an iron pan, making sweet potato cakes. They tasted better than just boiling the sweet potatoes.
Lin Qinghe also cooked a sweet potato soup with the sweet potatoes, which was suitable for breakfast along with the sweet potato cakes.
When breakfast was ready, Lin Qinghe went to check the medicine being decocted for You Rong's mother. She poured out the decocted medicine, and it could be given to You Rong's mother after cooling.
In the meantime, Lin Qinghe felt she needed to find a way to get some food back. Eating only sweet potatoes all day was not nutritious and would certainly be bad for You Rong's mother.
To get food, she needed money. Asking You Rong was impossible, and she was penniless...
As Lin Qinghe worried, she raised her hand to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear and accidentally brushed against her earring.
Lin Qinghe jolted, quickly took off the earring.
It was a pair of pure silver earrings.
Lin Qinghe's eyes lit up. She thought: If I pawn these, they should be worth some money!