Qi Fang was beginning to suspect that Yan Xue might not even wait for his day off before leaving on her own.
Given this young lady’s habit of showing up unannounced, it wouldn’t be surprising if she did something like that.
He walked back down the hallway with its green-painted baseboards to the front desk and asked the dozing attendant, "Has the guest in Room 103 left?"
"You mean that pretty young lady?" The forestry guesthouse had few visitors, so the attendant immediately knew who he meant. "No, she went out this morning."
She hadn’t left?
But it was already nearing noon, and she had gone out in the morning—where could she have gone in this unfamiliar place?
Just as he was about to ask, the attendant, as if anticipating his question, added, "She went to Liu Daniu’s house. Told me to tell anyone who asked."
So she had even predicted that he would come looking for her today and left instructions.
Qi Fang couldn’t quite figure out what Yan Xue was up to. If she knew he was coming, why wasn’t she at the guesthouse? Had she gotten so bored that she went to Captain Liu’s place to pass the time?
He had asked Aunt Liu to keep an eye on her, but given the differences in their backgrounds and education levels, Yan Xue didn’t seem like the type who could easily get along with the Liu family.
As soon as he stepped out of the guesthouse, he ran into Liu Weiguo, who was carrying a towel and soap.
Liu Weiguo spotted him and said, "Your little sister’s at my place. Chuncai said I looked scruffy and kicked me out to take a bath and get a haircut."
So she really was at the Lius’ house. Qi Fang couldn’t help asking, "Is she doing alright?"
"More than alright. The way Chuncai’s acting, she’s closer to her than she is to me. Don’t worry about a thing."
At the time, Qi Fang thought Liu Weiguo might be exaggerating to reassure him. But when he arrived at the Liu household, he saw that not only was Liu Chuncai there, but all the younger Liu kids were gathered in the main room, crowded around Yan Xue as she...
Qi Fang’s usually half-lidded peach-blossom eyes widened in surprise. He took a closer look and confirmed that Yan Xue was indeed roasting pinecones in the bottom of the large earthen stove.
The girl he remembered, always dressed in a floral dress and little leather shoes, immaculate from head to toe, was now crouched in front of the stove without a care for the dirt. She expertly flipped the pinecones with an unburned stick of firewood, pulling them out as soon as they were done. Her movements were practiced and effortless, clearly not her first time doing this.
The three younger kids around her had grown accustomed to being fed, too. As soon as a pinecone rolled out, they pounced on it, smashing it open—well, more like cracking it—to dig out the pine nuts inside.
Liu Weibin, the youngest of the Liu siblings, couldn’t wait and immediately popped one into his mouth, crunching down despite the heat. "Yan Xue-jie, you roast these just right. So fragrant."
"Slow down, or you’ll loosen another tooth and start wailing again," Liu Chuncai scolded her brother. She picked a large pine nut from her own pile, cracked the shell with her teeth, and handed the kernel to Yan Xue. "Here, Yan Xue-jie, you have some too."
The flickering firelight from the stove cast a warm glow on Yan Xue’s face, her eyes bright and lively. Her cheeks were flushed with health, and she looked completely at ease—far from suffering or impatient, as if she had settled in perfectly.
"Ah, Xiao Qi, you’re here. I figured you’d come," Liu Daniu’s wife greeted him as she stepped out from the inner room.
Qi Fang snapped out of his thoughts. "Aunt Liu," he acknowledged politely before turning to Yan Xue. "I came to pick her up."
"Why the hurry? I’ve kneaded dough for dumplings—stay for lunch."
Liu Daniu’s wife was insistent, and the younger kids all looked expectantly at Yan Xue.
But Yan Xue set down the firewood stick and stood up. "Next time. We haven’t seen each other in days—just that one time when I first arrived."
She went to wash her hands at the basin, then laughed when she noticed the kids still watching her. "We’ve been at this all morning. Isn’t that enough for you?"
"Who ever complains about having too much?" Liu Chuncai pouted.
The expression made Yan Xue chuckle. She pinched the girl’s nose playfully. "At least let me take a break." Then she went inside to fetch her scarf and gloves.
Liu Chuncai seemed to finally notice Qi Fang standing at the door. "Oh, Qi Fang-ge, you’re back too?"
For some reason, Qi Fang was reminded of Liu Weiguo’s earlier comment: "She’s closer to her than she is to me."
Kids were simple—whoever played with them, they grew attached to. Soon after, Yan Xue bundled up and stepped out, but Liu Daniu’s wife hurried after them. "Wait, I just remembered something."
She went to the storeroom and hauled out two bulging sacks. "These two bags of pine nuts are Xiao Yan’s. You can take them back to sell yourselves, or if you’d rather, we can sell them for you when we go to town."
"These are for me?" Yan Xue couldn’t hide her surprise.
She had gone up the mountain out of curiosity, to see if she could handle the work. It had never crossed her mind that she’d get a share.
After all, Grandpa Liu had been the one to shake the pinecones from the trees. She and Liu Chuncai had only gathered them from the thick snow and taken turns dragging the sled back.
But Liu Daniu’s wife clearly had no intention of letting Yan Xue’s efforts go unrewarded. "You put in the work, and you’ve been helping shell them these past few days. Grandpa Liu and I talked it over—two sacks is only fair."
The Liu family was being incredibly generous. She and Liu Chuncai had made two trips, collecting over three thousand pinecones in total. At most, the yield would be five or six hundred pounds of pine nuts—meaning these two sacks alone weighed over a hundred pounds.
Seeing no way to refuse, Yan Xue glanced at Qi Fang. "Then could you keep them here for now, Auntie? I’ll come back for them once I decide."
"Sure, I’ll mark them for you. Don’t forget to pick them up later."
Finally, they managed to leave. Qi Fang kept his hands in his coat pockets as he glanced down at the young woman beside him. "You went up the mountain?"
Fresh from the warmth indoors, Yan Xue hadn’t pulled her scarf up all the way, leaving her small, pale nose exposed. "I went with Grandpa Liu and Chuncai. She was the one who took me—told me all sorts of things and even got me cotton boots, felt socks, and leg wraps."
She didn’t hold back in praising the Lius to Qi Fang, but while the family was undoubtedly warm and welcoming, their kindness went beyond mere hospitality.
Qi Fang’s gaze lingered on her smiling eyes. "You and Chuncai get along well."
"Maybe it’s the bond from helping her sell things," Yan Xue mused, her grin widening as she recalled the girl’s initial displeasure at meeting her.
The winter sun was out today, its light gentle but casting delicate shadows beneath her thick, fan-like lashes. Finally feeling the chill, she tugged her scarf up, tucking her entire face into its warmth. Far from looking out of place, she seemed even more at ease than when they’d first met.
So much for his assumptions about her being unable to endure hardship or struggling to fit in. Not only had she adapted effortlessly, but she’d even earned her first income since arriving in the forestry district.
Qi Fang glanced away, then back, still at a loss for words.
Fortunately, they soon reached a fork in the road—one path leading to the guesthouse, the other to the canteen. He looked up. "Let’s eat first."
The return of the large team noticeably improved the canteen’s meals by more than a notch—even the daily cabbage and potato stew now had visible chunks of meat in it.
After finishing their meal, the two returned to the guesthouse. The moment Qi Fang stepped into the room, the attendant who had been craning her neck to watch from behind followed them in and opened the small window on the door. "This can’t be closed or covered," she said sternly.
Clearly, this was to prevent the two from doing anything untoward inside—and this was just during the day. At night, they’d likely check Qi Fang’s introduction letter and shoo him out.
Back then, they really were strict about relations between men and women…
In her past life, when Yan Xue had been poor, she’d stayed in all kinds of lodgings—falling asleep to the sounds of passionate encounters was nothing new. So she remained unfazed, though Qi Fang gave her a sidelong glance.
Pretending not to notice, Yan Xue picked up the freshly refilled thermos and rinsed a cup. "Want some hot water?"
"Sure." Qi Fang took off his hat, revealing his neatly trimmed short hair, and sat on the opposite edge of the kang.
With his hair cut short, the sharpness of his features became even more pronounced—high brows, deep-set eyes, a straight nose, and thin lips. But without the softening effect of longer hair, the coldness in his expression grew more pronounced, even carrying a hint of disinterest that dulled the natural charm of his peach-blossom eyes.
His index finger traced the rim of the cup as he spoke in an equally detached tone. "Right now, I work as a sawyer’s assistant in the logging team. My monthly wage is 42 yuan and 70 fen, with an additional 15 jin of grain ration subsidy."
The grain subsidy was given on top of the standard 27 jin monthly ration, with amounts varying based on labor intensity. Fifteen jin meant heavy physical work.
His gaze settled on Yan Xue’s face. "Besides that, the unit also allocates a cart of firewood every year."
This was one of the perks of working for the forestry bureau—compared to rural areas or even other local enterprises, the benefits were undeniably good. No wonder they were jokingly called "Big-Headed Foresters."
But compared to Yanjing, the work was hard, the pay wasn’t particularly high, and it certainly wasn’t a prestigious job. The Yan family had already weathered the turmoil unscathed—there was no real need for her to tie herself to him and endure what would surely be a bleak future. Unless there was some hidden reason…
Qi Fang wasn’t keen on digging into it. Since she wanted to stay, he wouldn’t stop her. He might as well lay all his cards on the table.
And Yan Xue, true to form, wasn’t the delicate girl he remembered. She didn’t even frown at his words, instead falling into thought before saying, "Then you’ll need to give me 25 yuan a month for living expenses. I don’t have a job right now."
"Fine," Qi Fang agreed readily. "I’ll give you 30."
Seemed he was rather generous—no wonder he’d sent a hundred yuan as betrothal money before even meeting her.
Yan Xue considered this a decent start and brought up another condition she’d been mulling over. "Since I’m unemployed now, I’ll handle all the housework. You don’t have to lift a finger at home. But if I find a job or another source of income and can contribute equally to household expenses, I expect chores to be split fifty-fifty."
That sounded fitting for someone with her educated background—though it was hard to imagine what kind of job she could land here.
Qi Fang mused idly, but Yan Xue shot him a glance, half-joking but entirely serious. "You’re not going to forbid me from working, are you?"
"No. That’s your business." Qi Fang had never cared much about other people’s affairs. "Anything else?"
There was still the matter of Jigang, far away beyond the pass—but now wasn’t the time.
Yan Xue lowered her eyes briefly, then smiled. "That’s all for now, but I reserve the right to add more later."
That made Qi Fang pause, his gaze lingering on her face—as if studying her, or perhaps not at all. "Then do it soon. After the New Year, I’ll be heading back up the mountain. I won’t come down till the snow melts in March or April."
"Perfect timing to clear things up with Chun Cai, so she stops pushing her brother on me," Yan Xue said with a laugh.
Qi Fang might be cold, but he was far more accommodating than she’d expected. He agreed to every condition she raised without making any demands of his own.
But what she’d meant as a joke suddenly made the indifferent man stiffen. "You mean Liu Weiguo?"
Only then did Qi Fang remember—back when people assumed Yan Xue was his younger sister, he’d vaguely gone along with it. And when Liu Weiguo had asked if she was seeing anyone, he’d absentmindedly said no…
Before he could dwell on it, hurried footsteps echoed down the hallway.
Moments later, Liu Chun Cai’s excited face appeared at the door’s small window. "Yan Xue-jie, I brought my brother! Let’s go ice fishing!"
