Lin Xiaoxiao glared at Zhou Huai'an. "Hurry up, or it's going to swell!"

Zhou Huai'an had no choice but to reach out and hold her wrist, gently kneading her palm with his other hand. His eyes were lowered, his expression focused.

Standing face-to-face like this, as soon as Lin Xiaoxiao looked up, she could clearly see Zhou Huai'an's thick eyelashes and the faint blush on the tips of his ears. She couldn't help but curve her eyes into a smile—Were men all this innocent these days? Or was it just Zhou Huai'an? she wondered. He probably hasn't even held a woman's hand before.

It was true that Zhou Huai'an had never carefully held a girl's hand like this before. Her hand was soft and fine, feeling as if it might melt away in his palm. If not for his darker complexion, his face would likely be visibly flushed red by now.

After a few moments, Lin Xiaoxiao felt his technique was actually quite good; her wrist really hurt less. She decided to let him off the hook. "Alright, it doesn't hurt now. Didn't expect you'd be so good at this."

Zhou Huai'an released her hand, his palm still feeling unusually warm. He silently clasped his hands behind his back and followed Lin Xiaoxiao home.

When they arrived, Zhou Changyuan and Zhou Changan, who had been out working in the fields, were back, squatting in the courtyard and talking. Niu Chunying and Chen Qiaolan were also there, discussing Luo Caixia's suicide attempt.

Zhou Changan was unusually quiet, mainly because he was scared inside—Luo Caixia actually tried to kill herself? And now she's been saved... Would she spill everything about their affair? He squatted on the ground, his heart feeling as if it were being scratched by claws.

Seeing Zhou Huai'an and Lin Xiaoxiao enter the yard, Niu Chunying was the first to approach them. "How is she? Is Caixia better? It wasn't convenient for all of us to go see."

Lin Xiaoxiao nodded. "Yeah, she's fine now."

Niu Chunying breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good, that's good. That girl... what could be so unbearable that she had to drink pesticide?"

Chen Qiaolan chimed in from the side, "What's so unbearable? Look at what she herself did! The whole village was deceived by her. We all thought she and Second Brother had been in a relationship!"

Zhou Changan's face darkened as he scolded, "Shut your mouth! Do you have to show off how clever you are?"

Chen Qiaolan, emboldened by the presence of others and knowing Zhou Changan wouldn't hit her in front of everyone, retorted defiantly, "I didn't say anything false! Why are you so protective of her?"

Zhou Changan shot to his feet. "Keep babbling nonsense, and I'll slap you silly!"

Zhou Changyuan quickly stood up too. "Third Brother, stop causing trouble!"

Niu Chunying, seeing the topic was getting too heated, hurriedly tried to diffuse the situation.

"Alright, alright, I've already made dinner. Everyone, go wash up and let's eat."

Lin Xiaoxiao watched Zhou Huai'an calmly go to wash his hands and followed him. She asked quietly, "Are we having dinner with them?"

Zhou Huai'an seemed a little puzzled. "Why not? The money I've sent home over the years is more than enough to cover a few meals for the two of us."

Lin Xiaoxiao thought it made perfect sense—it seems this wooden man isn't just about taking losses. She then felt perfectly justified washing her hands and following Zhou Huai'an inside for dinner.

It was the lean time of year when the old harvest was gone and the new one wasn't in yet, and the family had no wheat flour.

Niu Chunying had shredded potatoes into strips, dipped them in water, rolled them in cornmeal, steamed them, and finally mashed some garlic into a paste, mixing it with vinegar for flavor. A plate of shredded pickles accompanied the meal.

It was Lin Xiaoxiao's first time eating this kind of food. Though there was no oil, it tasted surprisingly good.

Except for Zhou Xiaoli, the whole family sat around the large kang table in the kitchen, eating in silence. The only sound was the clinking of chopsticks against bowls.

Lin Xiaoxiao sat next to Zhou Huai'an, with Niu Chunying on her other side.

Sensing the overly quiet atmosphere, Niu Chunying picked up some pickle shreds and put them in Lin Xiaoxiao's bowl. "There's no meat at home. Tomorrow I'll have Jianhua and the others go up the mountain to catch some wild rabbits. Now that the weather's warmer, the rabbits are out."

Lin Xiaoxiao felt a bit embarrassed. "There's no need, this is just fine."

Niu Chunying shook her head. "Fine what? I know you city folks eat wheat flour every day. You must be unused to this."

It was a pity she wasn't in charge of the household, otherwise she would have managed to get some wheat flour.

Wang Fenglan, listening to Niu Chunying while pushing her food around, snorted coldly but said nothing.

Zhou Mancang, not ready to let it go, shot a glance at Wang Fenglan and said with an ingratiating smile, "Right, your eldest sister-in-law is correct! Tomorrow, let Jianhua and the others try to catch some rabbits. If they can't, we'll buy some meat and trade for some flour. Huai'an and his wife rarely come back; we must have dumplings at least once!"

The two children immediately started shouting, "We're having dumplings! We're having dumplings!"

Wang Fenglan glared at the children but didn't dare object, lowering her head to eat in silence.

Lin Xiaoxiao noticed Zhou Huai'an kept eating without changing his expression and felt a touch of admiration: This man's composure is really something.

After dinner, everyone returned to their own rooms, leaving Niu Chunying alone in the kitchen to wash the dishes and clean the pots. Lin Xiaoxiao thought about it—returning to the room to stare at Zhou Huai'an seemed boring. Staying to help Niu Chunying with the dishes and listening to her gossip sounded much more interesting.

Niu Chunying refused to let Lin Xiaoxiao help. "No need, I can handle this little bit of work alone. You sit and rest."

Lin Xiaoxiao helped clear the bowls and chopsticks from the table anyway. "It's fine, I've got nothing else to do."

Niu Chunying stopped insisting and chatted happily about this and that with Lin Xiaoxiao.

Suddenly, she changed the subject. "When the village was spreading rumors about Caixia and Huai'an being together, I was puzzled. When I married into this family, Huai'an was just fourteen. He was quiet, didn't talk much, and liked to read books in his free time. Even when he left to join the army, I never saw him get particularly close to Caixia."

She said this to set Lin Xiaoxiao's mind at ease.

But Lin Xiaoxiao was more curious about what kind of life Zhou Huai'an had led in the Zhou family all those years. "You married quite early. What was Zhou Huai'an like when you arrived?"

Niu Chunying, straightforward and simple, said what she knew. "When I got here, Huai'an was

already quite tall, but thin as a rail. Those were the hardest years; the whole country was facing famine. Even our village saw many people starve to death. But our family managed alright, all thanks to Huai'an's cleverness—he always managed to find something to eat in the mountains."

"Just think, back then, even tree bark had been stripped and eaten. Anything edible in the mountains or waters had been scavenged by people. Yet Huai'an always found a way to bring something back."

Niu Chunying felt grateful to Zhou Huai'an, especially because when she was pregnant, he had returned from the mountains and secretly slipped her a roasted wild rabbit.

Lin Xiaoxiao had only read about that period in history books; she never imagined Zhou Huai'an had lived through it so palpably.

Thinking back to those years, Niu Chunying had many emotions. "I remember one time, some villagers noticed Huai'an always brought back food and got malicious ideas. A few young men ambushed him on the road, demanding he hand over what was in his pockets. You wouldn't believe it—Huai'an had just turned fourteen, skinny as a bean sprout, but he beat five or six guys in their twenties half to death."

"After that, no one dared provoke Huai'an anymore. Even the third brother got beaten by Huai'an once."

Then, afraid Lin Xiaoxiao might think Zhou Huai'an was too violent, she quickly added, "But Huai'an has the kindest heart. There were some elderly folks in the village who couldn't find food, and if Huai'an had any, he would share with them."

Lin Xiaoxiao listened, her blood feeling hot with excitement, as if she could see that fourteen-year-old boy standing alone against the crowd like a lone wolf.

She suddenly wanted to hug him.