Now that there were no outsiders around, Yan Xue could indeed go inside and lie down for a while.
She just hadn’t expected Qi Fang to choose to clean up by himself and send her back to rest, especially since they’d agreed he could temporarily skip chores.
Yan Xue didn’t move immediately. Noticing this, Qi Fang set down the basin he’d just wiped dry. “Didn’t you drink?” His tone was still cool.
Yan Xue curved her eyes into a smile. “I’m fine. I measured it beforehand—I only drank because I knew they wouldn’t make me drink much before they arrived.”
She wasn’t reckless enough to challenge someone to a drinking contest without any confidence.
Back in her past life, women were far more vulnerable at drinking tables than they were now. Most avoided drinking altogether unless they could handle at least half a kilogram of liquor.
Qi Fang lowered his gaze and resumed cleaning. “You didn’t have to drink.”
Yan Xue raised an eyebrow imperceptibly. “What? Does letting your wife step up hurt your pride?”
It sounded like she was teasing him, but whether it was truly a joke—only she knew.
Qi Fang glanced at her again but said nothing. He stood and put the items away in the cupboard. “I just thought there were other ways to handle it.”
There were indeed other solutions, but she had never been the type to sit back and wait for others to fix things.
Yan Xue smiled brightly. “Wasn’t this the fastest? I didn’t know you’d already sent Chuncai’s brother to deal with it.”
Drinking the opponent under the table was indeed quicker and more efficient. As for her claim of ignorance…
He might believe she didn’t know the specifics of what he’d done, but he doubted she was unaware he had a plan.
Qi Fang studied her smiling face for a long moment before finally saying, “Go rest.”
By the time he finished cleaning, the sky had darkened completely. Qi Fang rolled down his sleeves and entered the inner room, where a petite figure lay curled on the kang, resting her head on one arm.
In the darkness, her face was indistinct, but her small frame could almost be mistaken for a child’s—hardly the image of someone who could outdrink a grown man with a decent alcohol tolerance.
Qi Fang paused briefly but didn’t turn on the light. Yan Xue, however, opened her eyes and turned toward him. “All done?” Her voice was still drowsy.
He gave a quiet “Mm.”
Yan Xue shifted, her voice clearer now. “How did Yu Yongzhi know we got married today? And that he could just show up like that?”
The question seemed casual, but it cut straight to the heart of the matter.
Qi Fang hadn’t made a spectacle of the wedding—only a handful of people had been invited. How had word spread so quickly?
Even if Yu Yongzhi had been watching for an opportunity to cause trouble, today was an odd choice. With so many people around, any scuffle would have ended badly for him.
Seeing she was awake, Qi Fang pulled the light cord. “When Liu Weiguo went to invite people, I had him ask where Yu Yongzhi had been drinking beforehand.”
Warm yellow light spilled across the room. Yan Xue instinctively closed her eyes, appreciating the cleverness of the question.
The point wasn’t whether Director Yu would reveal anything—it was about making him aware someone had egged his son on. In a small logging camp like this, secrets were hard to keep. If he didn’t talk, they’d find out another way.
Sure enough, when she asked, Director Yu told Liu Weiguo he didn’t know. But when Qi Fang relayed this, his expression showed no disappointment.
Yan Xue chuckled. “You and Chuncai’s brother must’ve talked a lot. Guess I’ll have to ask around tomorrow to find out where he was drinking.”
“No need,” Qi Fang said flatly. “Liu Weiguo can’t keep things to himself.”
Meaning Liu Weiguo would undoubtedly investigate, and once he knew, they would too. Having grown up in the logging camp, he was far more familiar with the locals than they were.
Yan Xue remembered how, when she’d first gone up the mountain to meet Qi Fang for their arranged marriage, news had spread everywhere the moment Liu Weiguo stepped out after fetching something.
She sighed. “You really know the people around you well.”
Know them well?
Qi Fang’s movements faltered almost imperceptibly before he resumed placing the tray of sunflower seeds from the desk into the kang cabinet to keep them dry. “I’m not that capable.”
It was hard to tell whether he was being modest or self-deprecating. The remark reminded Yan Xue of something from a few days prior.
Traditionally, weddings involved inviting relatives. Yan Xue’s family was far away, and the only relative nearby, Shan Qiufang, wasn’t close enough to ask to travel during the New Year. But Qi Fang had lived with his aunt’s family for years—it would’ve been proper to invite them.
Yet when she asked if he had any relatives to include, he’d coldly—almost harshly—said no.
At the time, Yan Xue wondered if there was bad blood between Qi Fang and his aunt’s family. His aunt was blood-related, but his uncle wasn’t.
Rumors said his aunt already had several children. Adding him to the household couldn’t have been easy.
Yan Xue wasn’t one to pry into painful subjects, and neither, it seemed, was Qi Fang. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have avoided asking about her family all this time.
She changed the subject. “By the way, do you know who does good carpentry work in the logging camp?”
Qi Fang didn’t ask why she wanted to know. “There’s a Master Jia. He makes all the furniture here.”
“Then after the New Year, I’ll have him make something.”
She thought of roller skates—and one other thing. The Liu family had helped them so much; she wanted to give them something in return.
Qi Fang gave an acknowledging “Mm.” “I’ll take you there after the holiday.” Silence fell again.
Though they were legally married, they were practically strangers. Their few meetings had revolved around wedding arrangements. Now that the ceremony was over, they had little to talk about.
That wasn’t a problem—Yan Xue wasn’t the type to feel awkward over silence. The real issue was tonight: their wedding night.
Sleeping with someone she barely knew wasn’t much different from a one-night stand. Even as someone from a modern era, Yan Xue wasn’t that open-minded. The thought alone made her uncomfortable.
Even if her “one-night stand” partner had an exceptional face, a well-proportioned figure, and lean muscles visible when he rolled up his sleeves…
Yan Xue rested her cheek on her arm again. The alcohol’s warmth lingered in her body, but sleep eluded her. She lay there with her eyes closed until past eight.
At the desk, Qi Fang finally stirred, closing the notebook he’d been scribbling in and locking it inside a small box. Then, after a slight hesitation, he called softly, “Yan Xue.”
She hesitated for only a second between pretending to be asleep and facing reality before choosing the latter. She answered and got up to wash.
When she returned, the bedding was already laid out. The warmer spot near the kang’s heat source was clearly meant for her. Without a word, Qi Fang went to the outer room.
By the time he came back, the logging camp had a power outage. All light vanished in an instant.
In the silence, someone’s breath hitched faintly. Then came the rustling of clothes being removed, and the quilt lifted as someone settled beside Yan Xue.
The faint scent of soap drifted through the air, and Yan Xue found herself idly thinking—at least this man had decent hygiene habits. If he didn’t wash his feet or bathe, even his godlike looks wouldn’t have made him bearable.
She closed her eyes and waited, but there was no movement from the other side of the bed.
It was like knowing the second shoe was about to drop, yet waiting endlessly for it to happen. Unable to resist, Yan Xue rolled over and opened her eyes to glance at the man beside her.
Qi Fang clearly wasn’t asleep either. He lay on his back with his eyes half-lidded, still wearing his shirt, though a few buttons at the collar were undone. One hand rested atop the quilt.
When he sensed her turning, he paused for a moment before tilting his head slightly to meet her gaze. In the darkness, his peach-blossom eyes were unreadable.
The two of them stared at each other across the silent night before, as if by unspoken agreement, they both looked away at the same time.
Yan Xue rolled over again, this time turning her back to Qi Fang. Though he remained lying flat, his hand instinctively tugged the quilt a little higher.
Was this man nervous? Clueless? Or just waiting for her to make the first move?
Yan Xue almost wanted to scoff.
What she didn’t know was that Qi Fang was also thinking about her—about her restless movements, about the questions she had asked after they’d gotten their marriage certificate earlier that day.
Yan Xue might seem talkative and sweet-mouthed, but she wasn’t the type to waste words on idle chatter.
She never pried into others’ business or casually passed judgment. So those two completely unrelated questions she’d asked earlier—they didn’t sound like her at all.
Had she finally realized they were married now and was belatedly feeling nervous?
Or was she starting to regret it…
Qi Fang couldn’t help but assume the worst, just as fate had pushed him toward worse and worse outcomes these past few years.
And the way she kept turning away—wasn’t that a sign of unease?
Afraid he might try something.
In the darkness, the silence stretched endlessly, mirroring the tangled thoughts of both of them—until a sudden burst of barking outside shattered the quiet, seemingly coming from the house behind theirs.
As if sharing the same thought, they both turned their heads, listening intently.
Many households in the forestry settlement kept dogs, so barking wasn’t unusual. But this was the mountains—people had to guard against thieves as well as wild animals. The agricultural team often dealt with beasts raiding their crops and livestock.
The barking didn’t stop. If anything, it grew more frantic, now mingled with faint human voices. Qi Fang reached for the folded sweater by the kang and said, “I’ll go check.”
“Mm.” Yan Xue sat up, clutching the quilt, and watched as the man swiftly pulled on his clothes and stepped down from the bed. She added, “Be careful.”
Qi Fang glanced at her as he shrugged on his coat. “Mm.” Then he opened the door and left.
Yan Xue didn’t stay idle either. She got up to check all the doors and windows, making sure they were locked. Just as she finished, Qi Fang returned. “It’s nothing. A couple on the back street were arguing.”
A couple arguing so loudly that the neighbor’s dog barked in the middle of the night—just how heated had it gotten?
Yan Xue sighed inwardly as Qi Fang latched the door behind him and tightened his coat before heading back to the inner room.
This time, undressing and climbing back onto the kang felt less awkward with the background noise of barking and shouting.
Not that there was any mood left for anything else—the couple’s argument dragged on, intermittent but persistent, refusing to die down.
Exhausted from the day and still feeling the effects of the half-jin of liquor she’d drunk, Yan Xue couldn’t suppress a yawn.
Qi Fang seemed to hesitate for a moment in the dark before speaking in a low, quiet voice. “Sleep.”
Someone—who knew which of them—let out a quiet breath of relief. The next time Yan Xue opened her eyes, it was already morning.
Liu Weiguo arrived a little past one in the afternoon, returning the basin his family had borrowed the day before. The moment he stepped inside, he waggled his eyebrows at Qi Fang. “Figured you two wouldn’t be up early, so I made sure to come at this hour. Pretty considerate, huh?”
He was in for disappointment—they hadn’t done anything at all last night.
Of course, Yan Xue wasn’t about to say that. She just smiled and took the basin from him, storing it in the cupboard.
Qi Fang showed no reaction either, his gaze briefly flickering to the object in Liu Weiguo’s arms.
Liu Weiguo immediately brought it forward. “My little mantel clock’s acting up again—keeps losing two minutes. Qi Fang, you gotta take a look.”
So that was why he was carrying it. Not that clocks were an auspicious gift to begin with, and this one was clearly secondhand.
After washing his hands, Qi Fang returned to find the clock already placed on the writing desk. He turned it around and deftly opened the wooden panel at the back. “Did you oil it on time?”
“I did,” Liu Weiguo said. “Not just oiled—I even dusted it like you told me. Still no good, so I brought it to you.”
Without another word, Qi Fang bent down to retrieve a tool kit from the cabinet beneath the desk.
His fingers were long and nimble, working with steady precision as he disassembled the clock, placing each tiny part on the table beside it.
Despite his unhurried movements, he worked quickly—so quickly that Liu Weiguo could barely follow, let alone dare to touch the scattered components for fear of losing one.
He ended up standing half a meter away, craning his neck to watch while asking, “You told me to ask Yu Yongzhi where he drank last time, right? Guess whose place it was?”
So he really had come to share the gossip. No wonder Qi Fang said he couldn’t keep anything to himself.
Yan Xue hadn’t known Qi Fang could fix things like this either. Curious, she settled on the edge of the kang to listen.
True to Qi Fang’s assessment, Liu Weiguo needed no prompting. At Qi Fang’s indifferent “Mm,” he immediately blurted out, “It was at his brother-in-law’s place.” No suspense whatsoever.
“The one surnamed Liang?” Yan Xue recalled that Brother Liang, who had escorted her up the mountain, was Director Yu’s son-in-law.
“You know him?” Liu Weiguo brightened at having an engaged listener and swiveled toward her. “Yeah, Liang Qimao—he’s Yu Yongzhi’s second brother-in-law. Yu Yongzhi has four brothers-in-law. His eldest sister married young, but the other three sisters all live nearby. That guy loves his liquor—goes drinking at their houses all the time. Especially his second sister—she spoils him rotten. Even after he started working, she still did his laundry for him.”
“How many sons does his family have?” Yan Xue asked.
“Just him. There was another one, but he died of smallpox as a kid. Otherwise, you think they’d dote on him like this?”
The only surviving son, with four older sisters—he’d grown up reaping all the benefits of his gender. It’d be a miracle if he hadn’t turned out spoiled…
Yan Xue feigned curiosity. “And his brothers-in-law don’t mind?”
“Of course they do! But they married his sisters, and his dad’s the director—they have to put up with it.”
Just as she’d guessed. Yu Yongzhi constantly drinking at his sisters’ homes must have grated on Liang Qimao, who already had some friction with Qi Fang. So he’d sent his brother-in-law over to stir trouble.
If things escalated, neither side would come out looking good—a perfect two-for-one deal.
“I remember the day you went up the mountain to find Qi Fang, he even tattled on you guys. Was that when you figured it out?”
Yan Xue was a far more attentive audience than Qi Fang. As Liu Weiguo chattered away, he gradually shifted from Qi Fang’s right side—farther from Yan Xue—to his left, edging closer to the kang.
As Qi Fang looked up, he saw the two of them—one tilting their head up, the other bending down—chatting animatedly like a pair of crickets. He tossed the screwdriver casually onto the table. "Found the issue."
Liu Weiguo immediately straightened up and leaned closer. "What's the problem?"
Qi Fang pinched a small gear between his fingers. "Severe wear and tear. The quality of this one isn't great—can't compare to Wang Bing's 'Starry Sky' model."
"So what do we do?" Liu Weiguo took the gear and examined it, completely at a loss.
Qi Fang had already started reassembling the other parts. "Go to the clock repair shop in town and see if they have a replacement. Buy one and swap it out."
"What if they don't? This thing's just a no-name antique."
"If they don't, come back and find me." Qi Fang paused mid-motion with the screwdriver before finally adding.
Liu Weiguo had no other options, so he cradled the small clock and took the faulty part with him. "Alright, I'll give it a shot. Thanks."
Yan Xue eyed Qi Fang's assortment of tools. "Didn't expect you to know how to fix clocks."
The comment made Qi Fang halt. He turned to look at her, his gaze lingering in a way that was hard to decipher.
Yan Xue blinked slowly, refraining from saying anything further.
Yet her expression clearly showed confusion. Their families had only lost contact a little over three years ago—how could she not know what he studied in college or what he’d loved since childhood?
Qi Fang lowered his eyes and put the tools back into the cabinet without another word.
The rest of the afternoon was spent chopping firewood, sweeping dust, and prepping ingredients for the next day’s New Year’s Eve feast. The man stayed busy—too busy to talk.
Yan Xue wasn’t oblivious to the atmosphere. She quickly wondered if her earlier remark had unintentionally struck a nerve. But no matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t pinpoint what might have upset him.
Moody and hard to read—is this guy a Scorpio or something?
She tried recalling his birthday. It did seem to fall around those dates. Not that it mattered whether he followed the lunar or solar calendar. His emotions were his own problem.
He was a grown man, perfectly capable of managing his own feelings without needing to be coddled.
By the time they finished the day’s work and settled in for the night, the warmer side of the heated kang bed was, as usual, reserved for Yan Xue. After washing up, Qi Fang lay down and closed his eyes without a word.
Does this mean we’re skipping tonight too?
Yan Xue watched him for a couple of seconds before rolling over and drifting off peacefully.
Much later, Qi Fang opened his eyes. The person beside him, turned away, was already breathing evenly in sleep.
He rubbed his throbbing temples and stared blankly at the ceiling, resigned to another sleepless night.
Meanwhile, Yan Xue slept soundly. When she woke, the space beside her was empty.
The man stood leaning against the desk, winding his watch. Just the sight of his long legs and handsome profile was enough to brighten the morning.
Too bad he looked exhausted, his eyelids heavy even as he watched her fold the quilt after waking.
Did he not sleep well?
Yan Xue buttoned her shirt, but given his inscrutable nature, she didn’t ask.
New Year’s Eve was packed with chores, starting with putting up couplets. Luckily, since they were renting, they only needed to decorate the main entrance.
The couplets had been prepared earlier, during their wedding, with help from the Liu family. Yan Xue pasted them up while Qi Fang applied the glue. Just as they finished, Aunt Guo from next door came out to hang hers.
Guo Chang'an had been hospitalized for half a month, leaving only Aunt Guo and her grandson at home while her eldest son, Guo Changping, and his wife stayed at the hospital. Seeing her struggle, Yan Xue offered to help. Though Qi Fang remained quiet, he followed without protest.
"Young folks work so much faster," Aunt Guo thanked them repeatedly. "I’ll be heading to the hospital soon. You two will manage on your own, right?"
"You’re not spending New Year’s at home?" Yan Xue asked.
"No, we’ll celebrate at the hospital. I’ve already made dumplings—just waiting to share them there."
It made sense. At least there, the family could be together. Here, it’d just be her and the little boy.
Noticing how Aunt Guo juggled her grandson and bags, Yan Xue carried some of the load and walked her out.
At the crossroads, they ran into another group—and a familiar face.
Brother Liang, who’d caused trouble for them just days before, was bundled in a thick scarf pulled up to his eyes. A taller child walked beside him, while his wife, Yu Cuiyun, carried a younger one a few steps ahead.
"Going home for the holiday?" Aunt Guo asked.
"Uh, yeah," Liang Qimao replied, instinctively tugging the scarf higher—especially when he spotted Yan Xue.
That caught Yan Xue’s attention. Last time they’d met, the weather was colder, yet he’d only worn a woven safety helmet. Why the scarf now? And why did it look like a woman’s?
Could he be hiding an injury?
She deliberately stared at his face. "Brother Liang, caught a cold?"
"Yeah, yeah. Don’t wanna spread it." His discomfort was obvious.
Afraid she’d press further, he quickened his pace. "We’ve got a train to catch. Gotta go." Never mind that Aunt Guo was taking the same one.
Now Yan Xue was even more suspicious. She glanced back toward the direction they’d come from.
That was the street behind their house. Had Brother Liang’s family been the ones arguing late last night?
Was it about Yu Yongzhi?
Meanwhile, Yu Cuiyun was grilling her husband. "Why’d you rush off like that? Afraid she’d notice? Since when do you know people like her? Where’d you meet?"
"The lumber camp’s huge. You know everyone?" Liang Qimao snapped.
Yu Cuiyun wasn’t letting it go. "Then how did you meet? If you can, why can’t I?"
Liang Qimao’s head throbbed. "Keep it down, will you? We yelled half the night—still not enough? How am I even gonna explain this face to my mom?"
"Tell her the truth! You egged Yongzhi on to stir trouble—you think you’re in the right?"
Yu Cuiyun fumed. "If not for my dad, you’d never have gotten that easy gig as a tractor driver instead of hauling logs. And how do you repay him? Using Yongzhi as your pawn! When I left home last night past nine, he still hadn’t recovered. No idea who got him that wasted—some real piece of work."
Liang Qimao also wondered who’d been ruthless enough to knock Yu Yongzhi out cold before he could even make a scene.
But he’d never admit it. "Since when did I use him? I just mentioned Qi Fang was getting married up the road, and off he went. How was I supposed to know he’d go that far?"
"You didn’t know he and Qi Fang had beef? Couldn’t you have stopped him?"
"Like he’d listen. And you were in the yard using the outhouse—you didn’t see him either!"
"Cut the excuses. You’ve always had it out for Yongzhi. This was no accident..."
The argument reignited as they walked, their children—one trudging silently, the other yawning—too wary to interrupt.
So which jerk got my uncle drunk? He's been making a racket since last night and it's driving me crazy.
Qi Fang: First day without meat [sad][sad][sad]
