Nearly five months into their marriage, Yan Xue had always assumed Qi Fang was the reserved type.
The most intimate moment they’d shared so far had been when he started with a tentative brush against her cheek, slowly working his way to her lips.
Even just moments ago, though he’d wrapped an arm around her waist beneath the quilt, his hand had remained perfectly well-behaved—no wandering, no teasing.
Yet now, right now, he went straight for the main event.
When his lips met hers, Yan Xue’s mind was still hazy, completely unprepared. The next second, her lower lip was gently sucked between his.
Her eyes flew wide. The hand she’d meant to push him away with instead fisted in his shirt.
Soon, the soft suction turned into a slow, deliberate grind. As if unsatisfied, the man pinched her chin with his fingers. “Open.”
His warm breath tangled with hers, those peach-blossom eyes gazing down at her intently.
Still dazed, Yan Xue obeyed without thinking—only realizing her mistake when his tongue slipped past her lips.
This shameless man! Yan Jigang was right beside them!
She thumped his shoulder in protest, but a large hand caught hers, interlacing their fingers and pinning them against the pillow.
The kiss deepened.
The crisp freshness of toothpaste dissolved into scorching heat, spreading like an electric current from their joined lips.
Yan Xue could hear her own ragged breathing, the runaway pounding of her heart, even the dampness gathering in her palm where his hand held hers.
It took her a while to reclaim control—finally biting down on his tongue.
He withdrew slightly, only for his heated breath to ghost over her ear. “Jigang’s still here.”
“You knew that all along!” she hissed, this time genuinely kicking him.
Unfazed, he only pulled her closer. “If you don’t mind waking him, feel free to make more noise.”
Before she could retort, his teeth grazed her earlobe. “How long have you been dissatisfied with me?”
So this was payback. Yan Xue’s entire side tingled from his breath. “I already explained!”
He clearly didn’t believe her—or chose not to. His mouth sealed over hers again, only releasing her swollen lips after a long moment. “The truth.”
“Are you part dog?” She glared. “You’re doing this on purpose!”
His peach-blossom eyes turned innocent. “You asked the doctor if I had… deficiencies.”
The words were a whisper, his gaze dropping pointedly to her mouth as if ready to resume at any moment.
The lingering buzz from earlier made her skin prickle wherever his eyes lingered.
She pinched his waist. “Stop messing around.” Just as she tried to shove him, her leg brushed against something unmistakable.
Both froze.
Even if she’d never experienced it firsthand, Yan Xue knew exactly what it was.
At that exact second, Yan Jigang rolled over in his sleep.
The couple stiffened—one wondering if it was dark enough to hide anything, the other scrambling for an excuse.
Luckily, the boy only mumbled, “Brother-in-law, I won’t tell Sis…”
Surprisingly fluent for sleep-talk, devoid of his usual daytime stammer.
Once his breathing evened out, Yan Xue turned back to Qi Fang, eyebrow arched as she pinched him again. “How many days’ self-reflection are we looking at this time?”
Qi Fang paused. “You’ll find out tomorrow.” Can we skip the self-reflection this once?
Yan Xue scoffed and shoved him away.
This time, he didn’t resist, lying back and tugging the quilt lower to loosen his collar.
The exertion had left him slightly sweaty, unaware of Yan Xue’s gaze tracking his movements.
Still overheated, Qi Fang got up and poured himself cold water, sipping slowly to calm down.
He wasn’t that unrestrained—doing anything more with Yan Jigang present was out of the question.
He’d only meant to take advantage of her inability to struggle, settling the score from her hospital inquiry earlier that day. Yet somehow, the kiss had spiraled beyond his control.
Yan Xue hadn’t expected a simple kiss to affect him so intensely either.
But given his… enthusiasm, and how unignorable it had felt pressed against her, the doctor wasn’t wrong—his vitality was clearly more than sufficient.
The thought left her throat dry. She reached out. “Give me some too.”
Her slender arm gleamed pale in the darkness, arresting Qi Fang’s attention before he forced his eyes away.
Swallowing hard, he brought the enamel cup to her lips.
After a few sips, she nudged it back. He recapped it and set it aside.
By the time they settled again, the feverish tension had mostly faded. Just as Qi Fang closed his eyes, Yan Xue’s hand darted out.
Her fingers went straight for his shirt, popping open the top button—
Qi Fang instantly clutched his collar. “Jigang’s still here.”
The sheer virtue in his tone was laughable, as if he hadn’t been the one attacking her mouth earlier.
When she didn’t respond, he pulled her close, lips brushing her ear. “Wait till he leaves.”
The words were low, rough at the edges in a way that curled her toes.
This time, Yan Xue genuinely rolled her eyes. “What are you imagining? I just wanted to check if you really have a mole on your collarbone.”
If he got to kiss her, surely she could look at him?
He went still, then after a long moment, undid another button himself. “There is one.”
Yan Xue immediately flipped over, eagerly leaning in. “So I did see it right.”
Her small hands pried his collar wider, like some rogue preparing to force herself on him.
Pinned beneath her, Qi Fang found the whole scene absurd. The room was too dark—she had to press closer, her breath making his muscles tense. “Where is it?”
After a silent pause, he pointed to a spot near his left clavicle. “Here.”
Still struggling to see, Yan Xue could barely make out the sharp contrast of his pale skin and the shadowed dip of his collarbone.
As she inched nearer, his arm hooked around her waist, yanking her flush against him. “Are you trying to provoke me?”
All traces of his usual coolness were gone, his grip tight enough to bruise.
In the end, Yan Xue never located the mole. But the next day, she did uncover the other half of the secret between Qi Fang and Yan Jigang.
Qi Fang spent the day at the repair shop crafting a miniature wooden pistol for the boy.
Though the tin plating was thin and it couldn’t actually load bullets, it had a functional safety switch identical to a real firearm.
Yan Jigang cradled it like treasure, stroking the surface over and over, grinning like a fool.
“So this is what you sold me out for?” Yan Xue stood nearby with a bowl of medicine. “Come here. Drink this first.”
The boy’s face fell, but he carefully set the gun down and obeyed.
After slipping a piece of candy into his mouth, Yan Xue picked up another bowl and headed for Qi Fang.
“Time for your medicine, Dalang.”
Qi Fang clearly didn't understand the inside joke, frowning as he looked at her. "I'm the second child in my family."
"It's fine. In our home, you're the boss." Yan Xue smiled brightly as she handed him the medicine. "Drink up."
The bitter aroma of the herbal brew wafted toward him as she moved, deepening the crease between Qi Fang's brows.
When he didn’t take it, Yan Xue asked, "What’s wrong? You’re not scared of medicine like Jigang, are you?"
"No." Qi Fang finally accepted it, tilting his head back and downing it in one go.
After handing the empty bowl back to Yan Xue, he gulped down half a jug of water, then another half…
Watching him expressionlessly chug water, Yan Xue couldn’t help but laugh. "You say you’re not afraid of medicine, but anyone would think you didn’t eat enough for dinner."
The man’s peach-blossom eyes flickered, resting quietly on her. "True."
His words were ambiguous—whether he meant he was indeed afraid of medicine or indeed hadn’t eaten enough was unclear.
Yan Xue assumed it was the former. After all, he hadn’t held back at dinner, and with all that medicine and water in his stomach now, she worried he might overstuff himself.
Just as she was about to take the bowl downstairs, Qi Fang suddenly leaned in.
Before she could react, his lips brushed against hers in a fleeting kiss, startling her into glancing nervously toward the door.
"It’s fine. Grandma’s across the way, and Jigang’s in the yard." His voice was calm, clearly having scoped out the situation beforehand.
When Yan Xue glared at him, he simply asked, "Was it bitter?"
After drinking so much water, how could he still taste the bitterness? But this man’s boldness lately was truly something else…
Yan Xue’s gaze drifted to his collar, considering whether to take advantage of daylight for another peek, when a voice called from outside: "Sister Yan Xue, I came to play with your brother~"
It was Liu Weibin, the youngest son of the Liu family. He wrinkled his nose as he stepped in. "Wow, it reeks of herbal medicine in here."
Yan Xue shelved her earlier thought for the moment, heading out to wash the bowl while asking Liu Weibin, "Where are Chunni and Chuncai?"
Liu Weibin’s eyes were already glued to the toy gun. "Big Sis is at school—no break. Second Sis is doing homework at home."
The forest farm only had an elementary school. For middle school, kids had to go to Chengshui Town, which was too far for daily commutes, so they boarded there, coming home just once a week.
Yan Xue hadn’t seen Liu Chuncai in a while. "When’s your next break?"
"Eighth of next month." Unable to contain his curiosity any longer, Liu Weibin sidled up to Yan Jigang. "Who made this gun? It looks so real!"
Even though his own family had real firearms, he was too young to be allowed near them.
Startled by the sudden closeness, Yan Jigang tensed up, but after a glance at his sister nearby, he steadied himself. "My… brother-in-law."
He spoke slowly, but Liu Weibin had already heard about this "little brother" (as he insisted on calling him) being shy and speaking a different dialect, so he didn’t find it odd. "Your brother-in-law’s amazing! Everyone else here carves wooden toys, but none look as real as this."
Praise for his brother-in-law made Yan Jigang even happier than if it had been for himself. His eyes crinkled. "Thank you."
Those two words came out smoothly—short and sweet, and he was genuinely pleased.
"Can I play with it?" Liu Weibin barely finished asking before Yan Jigang generously handed it over. "Here."
Soon, Yan Xue overheard Liu Weibin’s next exclamation: "Your brother-in-law’s the best. I wish I had one too."
She couldn’t help laughing. "Your sisters are way too young for you to be wanting a brother-in-law."
The kid’s logic was something else. Most people would whine for the toy itself, but he went straight to wishing for a brother-in-law.
Liu Weibin chuckled sheepishly before asking Yan Jigang, "Got anything else fun?"
Yan Jigang nodded eagerly, leading him to the room he shared with Grandma, then proudly presenting his pencil case, writing workbook, arithmetic exercises…
Liu Weibin’s eager expression froze. "That’s it?"
Yan Jigang shook his head but struggled to explain, so he wrote in the workbook instead: "I also have a new dictionary. Sister bought it for me."
Liu Weibin stared at the words, blinked, then asked in utter confusion, "What’s this say?"
Yan Jigang was stunned. Wasn’t he in school? He’d be in second grade this fall…
Apparently, human joys and sorrows didn’t align. Yan Jigang, deprived of formal education, treasured every chance to learn, while Liu Weibin would’ve traded places with him in a heartbeat for endless vacations.
But gossip was a universal language. The next day, when Yan Xue reported to the women’s team for the second round of sapling cultivation, she overheard chatter about Captain Lin’s absence.
Though team captains were only semi-full-time, and Captain Lin had been reassigned to the women’s team due to health issues (often taking sick leave), he usually showed up for the first three days of any task.
Not only was he missing, but Cheng Yuzhen hadn’t been seen in ages—her last notable appearance tied to the "borrowing a seed" scandal.
Hard work demanded distractions, so clusters of women traded theories. Yan Xue listened without joining in.
At lunch, Lang Yue'e finally pulled her aside, whispering, "This involves you a bit, so I’ll tell you—just keep it to yourself. Captain Lin’s filing for divorce."
Yan Xue wasn’t entirely surprised.
Whether the "borrowing a seed" rumor was true or not, its timing had always seemed like deflection.
Cheng Yuzhen had gone out of her way to smear Yu Cuiyun, even stealing her spot on the women’s team and pinning the blame on her—hardly the behavior of someone merely "borrowing" a favor from Liang Qimao.
And while Captain Lin had often appeared indulgent toward Cheng Yuzhen, easily swayed by her coaxing, he wasn’t a fool. When Yan Xue had confronted him before, he’d grasped her hints instantly and acted. Later, during the formal job assignment controversy, he’d distanced himself entirely.
Now, with Cheng Yuzhen caught red-handed cuckolding him and then trying to pin the scandal on him, staying silent would’ve made people wonder if she had dirt on him.
After all, Liang Qimao had at least pretended remorse for his infidelity, while Cheng Yuzhen had only doubled down on blame-shifting.
Sure enough, while Yu Cuiyun’s side had made the most noise, it amounted to little. Captain Lin, meanwhile, had quietly moved straight to divorce.
Yan Xue later learned that Captain Lin’s absence that day was due to his father-in-law’s visit—likely to dissuade him from divorcing Cheng Yuzhen.
But the Lin family had no child to use as leverage. In the end, Cheng Yuzhen left, ostensibly to care for an ailing mother or brother (reports varied). When Captain Lin eventually returned to work, he gave nothing away, his demeanor betraying no trace of the upheaval.
That Lang Yue'e knew at all was probably because marriage and divorce paperwork at the farm went through Secretary Lang’s office.
"Sometimes I think losing the child might have been a blessing in disguise. Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t have been able to divorce Kang Peisheng—he might’ve ended up hitting the child too," Lang Yue'e later remarked to Yan Xue with a sigh. "There’s a family behind his house—the husband’s a soldier, and the wife had an affair, even bore another man’s son. Yet they still didn’t divorce."
"Isn’t undermining a military marriage illegal?" Yan Xue was surprised.
"It is. The man she had the affair with was sentenced to a year and a half. But her father went to persuade her husband, asking him to keep her for the child’s sake and not divorce her. He promised to take care of everything at home whenever the husband was away."
Such were the times—sometimes it wasn’t just women who were swept up in these circumstances, but men too.
"So it’s better to have fewer children," Yan Xue mused, once again feeling the importance of family planning.
If it weren’t for having too many children, who would willingly endure such humiliation and stay in a marriage where they’d been cuckolded?
Just as they were talking about children, Lang Yue'e reminded her, "You should be careful too. Don’t end up pregnant without realizing it and still come to work with the family team. If something happens, you’ll regret it too late."
But Yan Xue wasn’t worried. The safest contraceptive in the world was doing nothing at all.
Though Qi Fang had become more proactive lately—unlike the early days when he’d bundle up tightly just to sleep—their circumstances still didn’t allow for it.
Still, she thanked Lang Yue'e for the concern. Glancing at the sky, she remarked, "Doesn’t it feel like the rain’s getting heavier?"
By July, rainfall in the forest region had noticeably increased, especially thunderstorms. If it rained one afternoon, it would likely continue for the next three days. Because of this, the young forest cultivation team often had to carry rain gear. The sky had looked ominous when they left in the morning, but no one expected the downpour to worsen.
Lang Yue'e paused, her vision obscured by the rain. "It’s really coming down. Doesn’t look like it’ll stop anytime soon."
Thunderstorms were annoying, but they usually passed quickly once the clouds moved on. This time, however, the gloom seemed endless.
Sure enough, before long, Captain Lin came to announce, "Everyone, hurry up. Finish this row, then we’ll call it a day. We’ll see about tomorrow."
The saplings were planted in wide, long rows, each taking half a day to tend. The family team workers, scattered along the rows, quickened their pace and finished within half an hour, gathering their tools to leave.
Captain Lin inspected their work—after all, if the young forest cultivation’s success rate fell below 90%, their wages would be docked.
But the rain didn’t stop the next day. It let up briefly in the afternoon before resuming at night, growing heavier.
This time, they couldn’t skip work. Unlike mature trees, young saplings lacked deep, widespread roots to anchor the soil. Heavy rain could easily wash away the topsoil, exposing roots or even uprooting the trees entirely, so they had to reinforce the soil promptly.
The team worked in the downpour, raincoats doing little to keep them dry. By the time they descended the mountain, they were soaked—whether from rain or sweat, no one could tell.
Seeing the water pooling at their feet, Yan Xue frowned and said to Lang Yue'e, "Sister Yue'e, remind Secretary Lang when you get back—see if the machinery can be moved to higher ground. If this rain keeps up, the land won’t hold. There could be a flash flood."
This wasn’t an exaggeration. The forestation efforts had only begun in recent years. Before that, logging had stripped the mountains bare, leaving only young trees.
In light rainfall, it wasn’t an issue. But heavy rain meant the saplings couldn’t retain water or soil, making floods and mudslides a real danger.
Lang Yue'e nodded gravely, but before she could respond, a mocking voice cut in, "Some people just love to worry. Outsiders acting like they know better than locals."
It was Li Shuwu’s wife.
Her sharp tongue had earned her a beating from Jin Baozhi once, but she hadn’t learned her lesson and still couldn’t resist making snide remarks.
Yan Xue ignored her. "Then don’t listen. Flash floods won’t wash away ‘experienced locals’ like you anyway."
Lang Yue'e shot her a look. "Xiao Yan means well."
By the time they returned, Second Old Lady had prepared dinner and ginger tea for Yan Xue and Qi Fang, who’d worked all day in the rain.
After changing out of their wet clothes, drinking the tea, and eating, they finally warmed up. But outside, the rain continued, now accompanied by thunder.
At the first flash of lightning, Yan Jigang buried himself in his sister’s arms, clinging tightly to her waist.
Yan Xue covered his ears, but before she could speak, a second lightning bolt split the sky, followed by a deafening thunderclap.
Her words were drowned out. Only later did she realize someone had also covered her ears—Qi Fang.
Second Old Lady, seasoned by life, frowned. "Doesn’t this sound like millstone thunder?"
Millstone thunder referred to thick storm clouds circling endlessly instead of passing like ordinary thunderstorms. It often brought torrential rain in a short span.
Yan Xue immediately locked eyes with Qi Fang.
Without hesitation, he said, "Better safe than sorry. Gather the important things first."
Yan Xue handed Yan Jigang to Second Old Lady and started packing.
Money, ration tickets, household registrations—all went into Qi Fang’s small case. The rest, too bulky to carry, was placed as high as possible in the house.
No sooner had they finished than water began seeping into the house. A knock came at the door. "The rain’s too heavy—Secretary Lang’s worried about flooding. Everyone’s to evacuate to the clearing on the back mountain."
The messenger didn’t wait for a reply. "Hurry! The broadcast’s down—I’ve got more houses to warn."
Yan Xue and Qi Fang didn’t delay. Throwing on thick coats, Qi Fang carried Second Old Lady on his back while Yan Xue hoisted Yan Jigang, and they dashed into the storm.
Outside, the rain felt like the sky had ruptured, the drops striking their skin with stinging force.
Qi Fang led the way calmly. "This side." He kept a steady distance of three or four meters from Yan Xue, ready to turn back at the slightest issue.
Thanks to their preparedness, they were among the first to reach the clearing.
Lang Yue'e’s eldest brother was directing the setup of makeshift shelters. Seeing them, he blinked in surprise. "You’re fast."
"We were ready," Yan Xue said, settling Yan Jigang under the first completed shelter. "Stay here with Grandma and Brother-in-law. I’ll be back soon."
As she turned to leave, she saw Qi Fang had already deposited Second Old Lady and was sprinting back into the rain.
Spotting her, he called out sharply, "Go back. I’ll handle the mushroom spores."
"It's not about the bacterial culture," Yan Xue replied without breaking her stride. "Sister Baozhi didn't come to work today. I'm afraid she and her husband might not even be home."
