It was that fellow, wasn't it?

After hearing Ruan Puchuan's description, Lu Mingyi and the other two searched their minds for someone who matched, but however hard they thought, no one came to mind.

Meng Zhixian propped up his head and thought for a long while. In the past, apart from a few young gentlemen whose family backgrounds were inferior to his, he had had no other acquaintances around him.

Those few might be doing farmwork in some godforsaken corner now, or serving as attendants in some wealthy household. If they really had a chance to come looking for him, it would only be to throw stones at him after he had fallen into a well.

He had certainly scolded them often enough before. Now that he had fallen on hard times, he would be moved enough if they simply refrained from throwing stones into his well.

Meng Zhixian cut off his thoughts and looked at Lu Mingyi and Lu Mingxi. "It must be someone you two know."

Lu Mingyi drew up a list in his mind and eliminated the names one by one.

When his mother was alive, she had supported many retainers and done many good deeds, establishing charitable estates in various places to take in homeless children and the relatives of her retainers.

People on his father's side had also once told him to stay with Mingxi and wait for someone to collect them.

Could the people Mother and Father left behind have come looking for us?

His gaze fell on his wife beside him. She looked tense and was staring off somewhere, seemingly troubled by something.

A bold thought surfaced in his mind.

Lu Mingyi ventured, "Have they come looking for you, Wife?"

Suddenly singled out, Su Yuhe waved her hands in a fluster. "Why would they be looking for me? Maybe they were simply asking."

Meng Zhixian blurted out, "How is that possible?"

Those words echoed everyone else's thoughts.

They had come in a carriage to inquire about the whereabouts of Lu Mingyi and the other two, and even summoned a fellow villager to learn more. Who would believe they were merely asking?

Lu Mingyi stood and gathered the bowls and chopsticks from the table. "There's no use overthinking it. We can think about it when they get here."

"Exactly, exactly. If they came to ask about the situation first, whoever is behind them can't be too bad, right?" Su Yuhe headed guiltily toward the study, leaving them with, "I'm going to copy books."

Lu Mingxi followed Lu Mingyi into the kitchen and murmured, "Could Father have come looking for us?"

"No."

His answer was decisive. Lu Mingxi looked at his elder brother in surprise and asked blankly, "Why?"

Lu Mingyi walked behind the stove and looked toward the kitchen doorway. Only after seeing that no one was there did he speak, his expression grave. "Don't bring this up again. Treat everything from before as something from a previous life. From now on, you and I are merely government slaves who were brought out to the countryside."

Lu Mingxi did not understand, but he obeyed.

He nodded hesitantly. "I understand."

Su Yuhe hid in the study and copied the book distractedly. Based on Ruan Puchuan's description, she had a likely candidate in mind.

But hadn't he returned to the imperial capital?

Surely he wasn't refusing to let me live my own life even after leaving?

At that thought, she understood. Given his possessiveness, he was quite capable of doing something like this.

If he finds out that my heart betrayed him barely half a month after he left, he'll probably have me chopped up and fed to the fish.

"No, no."

Li Yun happened to push the door open and enter. Hearing her mutter to herself as she shook her head, he asked in confusion, "No what?"

Su Yuhe looked up at him, froze for a moment, and took a deep breath. "I mean, it's not right that I keep making you do this and that lately. Why don't you head home first? I even copy more slowly with you here."

His expression stiffened. He could not believe those words had come out of her mouth. Had he somehow done something wrong by getting up early every day to come chop wood and cook?

"What does that have to do with me?"

"Because I keep thinking about you. All right, all right, go home and rest. You spent nearly half a month in the mountains, and now that you're back, you're still helping me with this and that. Just watching you makes me feel tired for you."

Li Yun's expression softened at her words. "That's just what I came to talk to you about. I'll be going into the mountains again in a couple of days. Help me look after my plot for a while. Watering it once every two or three days will be enough."

Su Yuhe waved a hand. "That's hardly anything. Go without worrying."

After much persuasion, she finally saw him off, then slumped over the desk to think about her next move.

That fellow had not even arrived yet, and she was already shaking like a sieve.

She spent two days on tenterhooks. Liu Xiaobo had already returned. Ordinarily, he was like a loudspeaker who could not keep a single thing to himself, yet he kept this matter tightly under wraps. Even Ruan Puchuan knew little about it.

Another four or five days passed without anything happening, and only then did Su Yuhe let her heart settle back into her belly.

Frightened by the person who might have been Xubai, she had been so anxious that she could not sleep well at night. Burning the midnight oil, she finished copying both books in just a few days and took them into town.

Shopkeeper Liu greeted her with a smile. "So quick this time?"

Su Yuhe forced a smile and handed over the books. "The thought of a bonus made me reluctant to sleep at night."

Shopkeeper Liu took the books, flipped through them briefly, and put them away. He fetched a money pouch from the counter and handed it to her. "The remaining payment for the two books comes to four taels, plus another three. Keep these seven taels safe."

She took the pouch, checked the amount, and carefully tucked it inside her robe. Shopkeeper Liu brought several stationery boxes out from beneath the counter. "How many will you take back this time?"

"I'll take all four together. It'll save me some ox-cart fare."

Shopkeeper Liu laughed heartily. "You earn quite a bit in a month, Lady Su. Do you still need to save those few copper coins?"