Big Brother Yu was, truly, quite heartbroken!

“So, Xuepiao, I… like you. Doesn’t that matter to you at all?” the heartbroken Big Brother Yu asked quietly.

She didn’t mind at all! What did that even mean?

“You liking me is your own business. Why would I need to mind it?” Leng Xuepiao blinked.

She withdrew her hand from Yu Jingfeng’s grasp and stood up.

“If there’s nothing else…”

“There is.” Yu Jingfeng got off the bed, lowering his eyes to gaze at the girl before him.

Leng Xuepiao raised her head, following Yu Jingfeng’s height.

“What is it?”

A flash of fear suddenly clouded her eyes.

Yu Jingfeng knew that look all too well.

He’d once said he’d never make her afraid again — yet here he was, still the one making her afraid.

Aching for her, Yu Jingfeng took Leng Xuepiao’s hand, his expression softening at once.

“Let’s sit and talk.”

Leng Xuepiao withdrew her hand again, turned, and sat down.

Yu Jingfeng sat down beside her.

He turned his head and gazed unblinkingly at the girl beside him, worried she might faint.

“Xuepiao, I’m sorry!” He’d spoken too harshly a moment ago.

Leng Xuepiao gave no response, as if Yu Jingfeng hadn’t spoken at all.

“Xuepiao, I’m sorry!” Yu Jingfeng said again.

Leng Xuepiao still stared into the distance, not saying a word, not moving at all.

Yu Jingfeng panicked. He stood up and knelt on one knee before Leng Xuepiao.

This way, she wouldn’t have to keep tilting her head up just to talk to him.

“Xuepiao.” Yu Jingfeng took her small hand resting beside her for the third time.

“I spoke too loudly just now — did I scare you?”

Leng Xuepiao met his gaze and nodded.

Yu Jingfeng hadn’t expected her to actually nod, and for a moment didn’t know what to say.

But he’d been wrong — of that there was no doubt.

“I’m sorry!” Yu Jingfeng wrapped her small hand in one of his, gently rubbing it.

“Xuepiao, from now on, let me take care of you, all right?”

“No.” Leng Xuepiao shook her head.

Yu Jingfeng felt struck yet again — she’d refused him. Why was this happening?

That single “no” hurt even more than the “whatever” from before.

“I can take care of myself.” Leng Xuepiao blinked and added.

And because of that line, a bit of light returned to Yu Jingfeng’s eyes.

So — she wasn’t disgusted by him, right?

“Xuepiao, what I mean is, I…” Yu Jingfeng drew a deep breath and slowly let it out before finishing what he meant to say.

“Will you marry me?”

“I swear it!” He raised three fingers.

“I’ll treat you well! Everything I have, I’ll give to you. I’ll work even harder, and give you a happy life.”

It had to be said — when it came to taking initiative, Big Brother Yu was far bolder than his lord.

Today was only the third day they’d known each other, and yet here he was proposing marriage.

“You… want to marry me?” Leng Xuepiao’s crescent brows furrowed slightly, as if she’d only just understood what Yu Jingfeng meant.

“Mm.” Yu Jingfeng nodded eagerly.

He’d forgotten all about the pain, reaching out with his other hand as well to take Leng Xuepiao’s remaining hand.

With both his large hands holding both her small ones, his expression turned solemn — more earnest than it had ever been.

“What do you say? Are you willing?” Yu Jingfeng asked gently.

Leng Xuepiao thought about it, then shook her head.

Yu Jingfeng… felt his whole world go dark, as if he’d plummeted straight into an abyss.

But he quickly, very quickly, accepted the answer and pulled himself back together.

“Can you tell me why you won’t?”

Leng Xuepiao thought about it, then shook her head again.

“I don’t like you.”

Yu Jingfeng: Dead on the spot.

“Do you… have someone you like?” Yu Jingfeng’s grip on her hand was firm, yet he still didn’t let go right away.

“No.” Leng Xuepiao shook her head.

Yu Jingfeng took a deep breath, still searching for a reason to keep going.

They hadn’t known each other long — it made sense that she hadn’t grown to like him yet.

But he truly did like her, and wanted to spend his whole life with her.

“If there’s no one else, why won’t you give me a chance? How do you know you won’t come to like me eventually?”

“I…” Leng Xuepiao frowned. “I don’t understand liking someone. So, I won’t end up liking anyone.”

For a man as hopelessly poor at reading emotions as Yu Jingfeng to be discussing love with someone whose emotional intelligence was essentially zero — it was, admittedly, a difficult task.

But he was a man through and through, and this was the first time he’d ever liked a girl — he certainly wasn’t going to give up easily.

“I like you, and you’ll come to like me soon enough — Miss Jiu’er and the prince are the same way.”

Yu Jingfeng held Leng Xuepiao’s two small hands and pressed a kiss to them.

“Once you like me, we can get married — there’s no rush.”

“I don’t understand liking someone.” Leng Xuepiao still looked utterly innocent about it.

As for Yu Jingfeng’s gesture, she hadn’t refused it either.

Yu Jingfeng held her hands in one of his and sat back down beside her.

“Once you like me, you’ll understand.”

“So what do you like about me?” Leng Xuepiao seemed determined to get to the bottom of it.

She looked up at Yu Jingfeng, her large, bright eyes blinking now and then, quite adorable.

“I like all of you.” Yu Jingfeng smiled faintly.

Even he didn’t quite understand it — he just liked her more, the more he looked at her.

“But I don’t like you.” Leng Xuepiao returned to the earlier subject.

Yu Jingfeng didn’t deny it; his heart took another blow.

Being told “I don’t like you” by the person he liked didn’t feel good at all.

“I already said, you’ll come to like me slowly.” He swallowed back the bitterness rising in him, his manner still just as gentle.

“What if I never do?” Leng Xuepiao blinked again.

Yu Jingfeng showed not the slightest trace of impatience; his expression even brightened a bit more.

“Then I’ll just keep liking you — I’ll like you until you like me back. And once you do like me, I’ll like you even more.”

Yu Jingfeng only now realized how easily the word “like” could slip out.

He might end up married sooner than his lord — he wondered whether the prince would get jealous and deliberately give him trouble over it.

Di Wu Ya: Yu Jingfeng, got too much time on your hands?

Yu Jingfeng: No, I’d just like to request some leave — to get married.

Di Wu Ya: …

Picturing his master rolling his eyes, the corner of Yu Jingfeng’s mouth lifted, and his mood improved even further.

“You look fierce. I might never like you, not in this whole life.”

The woman’s soft, gentle voice interrupted Yu Jingfeng’s pleasant daydream.

He looked at the girl beside him, blinking his deep-set eyes.

“Where do I look fierce, Xuepiao? I’ll change it.”

Leng Xuepiao studied the man’s eyes for a moment, and seemed to be a little less afraid.

“Your brows look fierce. Your eyes look fierce. Your nose and mouth are fierce too.”

Yu Jingfeng: Dead on the spot.

Why was it that his handsome, striking features looked, in her eyes, like nothing but fierceness?

Before Yu Jingfeng could start questioning his whole existence, Leng Xuepiao stood up and looked at him.

“Yu Jingfeng, are you saying you like me and want to marry me just because you don’t want to grind medicine anymore?”

“If that’s really what you think, you’re being far too naive!” Leng Xuepiao pointed at Yu Jingfeng’s face.

“The herbs have to be ground, all of them — otherwise I won’t forgive you!”