Once the money was in his hands, An Zhanjin had only one thought in his mind: to head straight to the town.
This time, he could gamble and play cards without any reservations. As for his home, he didn’t want to stay there for even a moment longer. With two months left before the school term started, he figured he could always come back before then.
An Zhanjin grabbed a fertilizer sack, stuffed everything that Xu Xiuwen had brought into it, and left the house in a hurry.
Liu Ruo had long suspected that An Zhanjin had a woman outside, but she didn’t care at all. In fact, she felt life was much more comfortable without him at home. She was more than happy for him to leave.
After An Zhanjin left, Liu Ruo looked at Xu Xiuwen with an apologetic expression.
“He asked you for so much money, and it’s me who owes you an apology.”
“Aunt Liu, please don’t say that. Shishi is far more important to me than money.”
“But...”
“It’s alright, Aunt Liu. Please don’t feel burdened by it.”
Liu Ruo nodded and didn’t say anything more.
After a few moments of silence, Liu Ruo suddenly asked, “I heard from Shishi that you’re leaving today?”
“Yes, I’ll be heading out shortly.”
“Stay for lunch before you go. I’ll cook something nice for you.”
“Alright.” Xu Xiuwen smiled and agreed wholeheartedly.
Liu Ruo quickly left to buy some meat for the meal.
After Liu Ruo left, An Shishi lowered her head and said softly, “I’m sorry, hubby.”
“Why are you apologizing?”
“My dad... I really didn’t know he would do that. Please believe me, okay?”
Xu Xiuwen chuckled, “Of course I believe you.”
Hearing this, An Shishi breathed a sigh of relief. She then clung to his arm and said, “It’s just so unfair of him to ask you for so much money. You really shouldn’t have agreed.”
“That wouldn’t do. If I didn’t agree, what if he refused to let me marry you?”
An Shishi felt both sweet and touched in her heart. She rested her face on Xu Xiuwen’s shoulder and asked, “Hubby, do you really want to marry me?”
“Of course.”
“But...”
Xu Xiuwen knew what she was about to say. He gently patted her head and said, “I’ve told you before, you’re just as important to me as anyone else. Whatever Cheng Lu has, you won’t lack a thing.”
“Hubby~”
An Shishi looked up, her eyes shimmering with emotion, almost overflowing with tears.
Without hesitation, Xu Xiuwen lowered his head and kissed her lips.
At noon, Liu Ruo prepared a lavish meal. At the dining table, An Shishi kept serving Xu Xiuwen food, her eyes full of affection.
Liu Ruo also seemed very pleased with Xu Xiuwen.
The only one who seemed indifferent was An Shuishui. She kept her head down, said nothing, quickly ate a few bites of food, and returned to her room.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.
After lunch, Xu Xiuwen felt it was about time to leave. Before departing, however.
Liu Ruo suggested that Xu Xiuwen take two hens back with him.
Xu Xiuwen had brought so many things when he came, yet he was leaving with only two chickens. An Shishi was worried that he might mind. She didn’t feel relieved until she saw Xu Xiuwen agree with a broad smile.
Then, An Shishi realized that her younger sister hadn’t come out to see Xu Xiuwen off. A question flashed through her mind.
“Hubby, wait a moment before you leave. I’ll go talk to Shui Shui. This girl is something else. You’re leaving, and she doesn’t even bother to come out and see you off.”
“It’s fine.”
“No, I must talk to her.”
Seeing An Shishi so insistent, Xu Xiuwen could only stand there as she went back into the house to call An Shuishui.
Honestly, he did feel a bit disappointed that Shuishui hadn’t come to see him off. Before leaving, he wanted to take another look at his beautiful sister-in-law.
Soon, An Shishi came out of the house.
Xu Xiuwen glanced behind her but didn’t see An Shuishui.
He felt a bit let down but didn’t show it. Instead, he smiled and asked deliberately, “Is Shuishui refusing to come out to see me off? Is she upset about last night?”
An Shishi looked puzzled. “I don’t know what’s up with her. She seems upset, but when I ask her, she won’t say anything.”
“Maybe I was a bit too much last night.”
An Shishi huffed, “If she didn’t agree, that’d be one thing. But she agreed, so I don’t know what she’s sulking about.”
“Forget it. She’s still young, and it’s my fault to begin with.”
“Hubby~ If she doesn’t want to come out, why don’t you go in and talk to her? Maybe she’ll open up if you ask her.”
Seeing An Shishi’s suggestion, Xu Xiuwen had an excuse to take another look at An Shuishui. He readily agreed.
While Liu Ruo went to catch the hens, Xu Xiuwen knocked on the sisters’ room door.
There was no response from inside.
After waiting a few seconds, Xu Xiuwen took the initiative to push the door open and walk in.
An Shishi didn’t follow him; instead, she went to the backyard to help her mother catch the chickens.
Inside the room, Xu Xiuwen saw An Shuishui sitting by the bed. As soon as she saw him enter, she immediately turned around, facing the other direction.
If Xu Xiuwen couldn’t tell she was upset by now, he would be clueless.
He chuckled as he walked over. “Shuishui, I’m leaving.”
An Shuishui ignored him.
Xu Xiuwen repeated himself.
This time, An Shuishui huffed, “You can leave if you want. Why tell me?”
“What’s wrong? Who made you upset?”
“I’m not upset!”
“Sure you’re not. Your lips are pouting so high they could reach the ceiling.”
Xu Xiuwen walked over and sat beside her, taking her small hand in his.
An Shuishui naturally resisted, but after a bit of persistence, her attitude softened.
Xu Xiuwen placed her hand in his palm and gently stroked it.
“Can you tell me why you’re upset?”
Feeling his gentle touch, An Shuishui’s mood improved a little, but she was still a bit mad.
After all, she was young and couldn’t hide her feelings. She couldn’t help but complain, “You already have my sister, so why are you bullying me too?”
“It’s my fault. I’m too greedy. But whenever I see you, Shuishui, I feel genuine affection and can’t help but feel happy. I can’t control myself. If you truly don’t like me, I won’t touch you again, okay?”
Hearing Xu Xiuwen say he genuinely liked her made An Shuishui feel sweet and shy, but it didn’t completely dispel the lingering resentment in her heart.
She let out a cold snort and said, “I don’t believe you. You say nice things, but they’re all lies. You’re just taking advantage of me because I’m young and easy to fool.”
The little girl lowered her gaze, her fair cheeks tinged with a shy blush, two rosy clouds blooming on her face.
She couldn’t have looked more endearing.
Xu Xiuwen couldn’t hold back any longer. He reached out and pulled her into his arms.
“Now can you feel how sincere I am?”
An Shuishui’s head rested against Xu Xiuwen’s chest.
Through the thin fabric of his T-shirt, she could clearly hear his heartbeat—steady and strong.
It made her want to believe he wasn’t lying.
After hesitating for a few seconds, she asked softly, “Then why don’t you want me anymore?”
“Huh? Where did that come from?”
“I overheard what you said to my dad. You’re giving him a bride price of 100,000 yuan, aren’t you?”
An Shishi had suddenly burst out back then, so it was obvious she’d been hiding in the backyard eavesdropping. It wasn’t surprising that An Shuishui had overheard too.
“Mm.”
“Then why didn’t you tell my dad about us?”
“Us? What us?” Xu Xiuwen had a vague idea of why An Shuishui was upset, but he deliberately pretended not to understand.
Hearing this, An Shuishui grew anxious.
“You... you did those things to me last night, and now you’re trying to back out? How could you?”
An Shuishui started struggling in his arms, wanting nothing more than to get away from this liar.
Last night, she’d agreed to her sister and mother’s suggestion—to become his woman. That’s why she had reluctantly climbed into his bed.
What Xu Xiuwen had done to her later, even though she was still young, she understood wasn’t something relatives would do. Those were things only a husband and wife should do.
Now, after everything he’d done, he was acting like nothing had happened. Of course, she felt hurt.
Seeing the grievance on her face, Xu Xiuwen quickly comforted her.
It took him quite a while to coax her back into a better mood.
Suppressing a smile, he said, “I never intended to back out. Don’t worry, Shuishui. I like you very much. As long as you don’t regret it, I’ll always treat you well.”
An Shuishui blushed and wriggled shyly.
Xu Xiuwen continued, “I think I’ve figured out why you’re upset. Is it because I only mentioned giving your dad 100,000 yuan as a bride price but didn’t say anything about your bride price? So you thought I didn’t want you anymore?”
“Mm...” An Shuishui admitted sheepishly.
“Heh... Shuishui, you’re so adorable. Think about it—if I’d said right then that I was giving your bride price too, wouldn’t your dad have thrown me out?”
An Shuishui thought for a moment and realized he had a point.
“Shuishui, it’s not that I’m unwilling to spend the money. To marry both of you, I wouldn’t blink at paying 100,000 yuan each—or even 500,000 yuan each. I just wanted to wait for the right moment to bring it up.”
An Shuishui realized she might have misunderstood him.
Lowering her head in embarrassment, she murmured, “I’m sorry... I misunderstood...”
Xu Xiuwen patted her head and chuckled. “No need to apologize. I always thought it was one-sided on my part. Now I know you like me too, and that makes me happy.”
“B-brother-in-law, stop saying such things...” An Shuishui stammered, utterly flustered.
“Hehe, before I leave, let me steal a kiss.”
“No! Sister and Mom are still outside...” An Shuishui tried to refuse.
But her expression, shy yet joyful, gave off a feeling of reluctant acceptance, almost as if she was inviting him to push further.
Xu Xiuwen knew that in moments like this, a man shouldn’t be too timid. He needed to act decisively, like a real man. Women loved that.
He gently pinched An Shuishui’s chin, tilting her face upward.
Then, under her slightly flustered and shy gaze, he leaned in and kissed her without hesitation.
The kiss lasted for quite some time before Xu Xiuwen finally released her, thoroughly satisfied.
“Alright, I really have to go now,” he said.
An Shuishui’s cheeks were flushed red, her breathing uneven. She looked up at Xu Xiuwen with dreamy, dazed eyes.
Xu Xiuwen let go of her, stood up, and left the room.
Outside, Liu Ruo and An Shishi had just finished packing the two hens into a fertilizer bag.
Xu Xiuwen stepped forward, took the bag from them, and carried it to the trunk of his car.
After placing the bag in the trunk and closing it, he turned around to see Liu Ruo and An Shishi standing behind him, watching him silently.
An Shuishui had also come out of the house and stood behind the other two.
Smiling, Xu Xiuwen said, “Aunt Liu, Shishi, Shuishui, I’m off now. I’ll come pick you up when the semester starts.”
After getting in the car, Xu Xiuwen saw the three women still standing there, watching him leave.
He rolled down the window, stuck his head out, and waved at them.
The three of them waved back.
Then Xu Xiuwen rolled up the window and drove away from Liu Family Village, heading back to Jinling.
After a grueling 20-hour drive, Xu Xiuwen finally arrived in Jinling at 11 a.m. the next day.
Exhausted, he drove back to Jiangning Huayuan, parked his car, and went upstairs to sleep.
When he woke up, it was already past 6 p.m.
Feeling a bit hungry, Xu Xiuwen went to the kitchen to prepare something to eat.
Since he was alone, he didn’t feel like cooking. He settled for a simple bowl of instant noodles.
As he ate the noodles, he suddenly chuckled.
He often scolded Ning Wanqiu for eating instant noodles all the time. Yet here he was, relying on instant noodles for dinner.
In that moment, he realized just how similar they were—like mother and son in both habits and preferences.
After finishing his dinner, Xu Xiuwen’s eyes fell on the fertilizer bag on the balcony.
The two hens inside were still untouched.
Being alone, he didn’t feel like cooking them. Plus, he wouldn’t be able to finish them all in one go. Storing leftovers in the fridge would just be wasteful.
After thinking for a moment, Xu Xiuwen decided to give the hens away.
He took out his phone, found a contact, and made a call.
“Hello? Is this Sister Mu? Are you off work yet?”
On the other end of the line, Mu Zhilan had just finished work and was surprised to receive a call from Xu Xiuwen. She answered immediately.
“Boss Xu, I just got off work.”
“Well, here’s the thing. I’ve got two fresh hens from the countryside, and I don’t feel like dealing with them…”
Mu Zhilan initially thought Xu Xiuwen didn’t want to handle the chickens himself and was asking her to come over and help.
Although she felt it might be inappropriate to visit a man’s home late at night, she reconsidered when she remembered that Xu Xiuwen was about the same age as her son. Letting go of her hesitation, she replied, “Alright, Boss Xu, I’ll come over now and help you take care of the chickens.”
There was a brief silence on the line before a burst of laughter rang out.
Mu Zhilan, thinking she had said something wrong, grew anxious. But then Xu Xiuwen’s cheerful voice came through.
“Hehe, Sister Mu, you misunderstood. I’m not asking you to come over and help me kill the chickens. I just think it’d be wasteful for me to eat them alone. Why don’t you take them instead? Tomorrow, you can make some chicken soup for Li Haimei. She works hard and could use something nutritious to keep her strength up.”
Only then did Mu Zhilan understand his intent.
She hesitated for a moment before responding, “Boss Xu, Director Li has told me before that we shouldn’t accept gifts from anyone.”
“Hehe, don’t worry. She won’t say anything about this.”
If it were anyone else trying to use her as a middleman to give gifts—even something as simple as a couple of chickens—she wouldn’t dare accept.
But since it was Xu Xiuwen, and considering his good relationship with Li Haimei as well as the fact that he tutored Li Ke, Mu Zhilan wavered for a bit before finally agreeing.