Qiao Zhao was both angry and annoyed as she chided: “Shao Mingyuan, can’t you be serious?”

Shao Mingyuan looked completely earnest: “I’ve always been very serious.”

“Binglu, see the guest out!” Qiao Zhao couldn’t stand it anymore and called out.

The door opened, and Binglu quickly walked in, her face stern: “General Shao, please.”

Shao Mingyuan showed not the slightest embarrassment at being thrown out. He rose leisurely and smiled gently at Qiao Zhao: “Zhaozhao, I’ll go out first, then. See you later.”

Binglu escorted Shao Mingyuan out, then returned and closed the door before moving close to Qiao Zhao.

Qiao Zhao glanced at her.

Binglu giggled: “Miss, after we return to the capital, should we call General Shao ‘young master’?”

“Don’t talk nonsense!” Qiao Zhao’s face darkened.

Binglu wasn’t afraid at all and stuck out her tongue: “This servant isn’t talking nonsense. Haven’t you noticed, Miss? You’re very different from General Shao.”

Qiao Zhao was slightly stunned.

Different? There were too many entanglements between her and him, so naturally she was different with him than with others, but that didn’t represent anything.

“There’s nothing different. Don’t say such things in the future.”

Binglu blinked: “But Miss, you blush and get shy in front of General Shao—you never do that with anyone else.”

Qiao Zhao raised her hand to rub her cheeks, which felt slightly warm.

Was she blushing from shyness? She was angry. She had no way to deal with that thick-skinned fellow anymore.

As the sky gradually darkened, because the house was small, everyone gathered in the courtyard to eat.

The weeds in the corner had been cleared away, leaving a space with only a loquat tree standing gracefully like a canopy. Oil lamps and candles bought from the villagers were scattered around, their flickering light mingling with the stars above, creating quite an atmosphere.

Yang Houcheng ate a piece of cold beef and sighed: “Too bad we have meat but no wine.”

Chi Can glanced at him: “Did you think we came on an autumn outing?”

Shao Mingyuan watched the two bicker and shook his head with a smile, then turned to look at Qiao Zhao.

“No appetite?”

Qiao Zhao came back to herself and wiped the corner of her mouth: “I’m already full.”

Shao Mingyuan put down his chopsticks: “Then let’s go for a walk.”

“Alright.”

Shao Mingyuan stood up: “Shixi, Chongshan, take your time eating. I’ll accompany Zhaozhao for a walk.”

Chi Can’s chopsticks paused, but he didn’t lift his eyelids, saying coolly: “Go early and return early—this place is haunted.”

Yang Houcheng patted his chest: “No problem. If you’re scared, you still have me.”

Chi Can lifted his foot under the dining table and kicked Yang Houcheng hard.

“Ouch! Kicking people without warning?” Yang Houcheng bent over, holding his shin, and wailed.

Walking out the gate, Shao Mingyuan smiled: “Those two are still the same as always.”

Qiao Zhao was silent for a moment, then said softly: “It’s good that it hasn’t affected your relationships.”

Shao Mingyuan was stunned, then shook his head with firm resolve: “It won’t.”

Zhaozhao didn’t like Shixi, which gave him the opportunity to pursue her with unwavering determination. If they had been mutually in love, he could only have silently blessed them.

“You’ve been to Baiyun Village before, haven’t you?” Shao Mingyuan suddenly asked.

Qiao Zhao’s steps faltered slightly as she nodded: “Naturally, I’ve been here many times.”

She seemed to guess what Shao Mingyuan wanted to ask and gazed at the village shrouded in night, murmuring: “I’ve seen the Tofu Beauty. I was still young then and accidentally saw her chasing a grown man with a cleaver. Her son was crying loudly at the door while the villagers pointed and whispered, all watching the spectacle. Later, several women blocked her door, wanting to drive the Tofu Beauty out of the village. Only my grandfather’s intervention calmed things down.”

At this point, Qiao Zhao sighed softly: “The man the Tofu Beauty was chasing was a lazy troublemaker everyone in the village found annoying, but after watching this spectacle, the villagers all sided with the layabout and looked down on the Tofu Beauty with contempt. At the time, I thought it was extremely strange.”

She raised her head, looking up into his eyes that sparkled like stars, and asked softly: “What does General Shao think?”

The man so close to her lowered his head to meet the gaze of the young lady looking up at him, saying gently: “I also think it was extremely strange.”

Qiao Zhao continued walking forward. Perhaps it was the hazy, ethereal night atmosphere of the mountain village that made her voice softer than usual: “I asked grandfather about it then. Can you guess what he said?”

Shao Mingyuan simply watched her intently.

He knew that at this moment, the young lady before him just needed a quiet listener.

In this place closest to her family, her heart held too many things.

Fortunately, he could be by her side.

“Grandfather said that people in this world are far harsher toward women than men, especially toward women who have lost their men. So if you want to live comfortably in the future, you must strive to obtain things that can’t be lost.”

“Like wisdom and medical skills?”

Qiao Zhao curved her lips slightly: “Yes, like wisdom and medical skills.”

She suddenly lowered her eyelids and sighed softly: “But sadly, despite grandfather’s extraordinary wisdom, he didn’t foresee that his family would suffer such a calamity.”

Under the bright moon in the quiet night, with the cover of darkness, a tear quietly fell from the corner of her eye.

That tear silently struck Shao Mingyuan’s heart, causing sharp pangs of pain.

Suddenly seized by an impulse, he reached out to lift the young lady’s smooth, fair chin and lowered his head to press his lips to hers.

The sudden kiss made Qiao Zhao’s watery eyes widen abruptly as she stared up at the man in bewilderment.

Miss Qiao hadn’t realized what this person was doing.

The young lady’s stillness seemed like acquiescence, instantly arousing the man’s instincts.

With one hand supporting the back of her head and the other around her waist, his tongue rudely yet skillfully pushed into her mouth, deepening what had begun as a comforting, butterfly-light kiss.

Qiao Zhao’s mind went completely blank except for one thought: What the hell is this scoundrel doing?

Shao Mingyuan held the young lady’s waist tightly. He had planned to stop at a taste, but her sweetness far exceeded his expectations—a beauty that even iron willpower couldn’t resist. Moved by passion, his voice grew hoarse and low in the night: “Zhaozhao—”

The call of “Zhaozhao” suddenly snapped Qiao Zhao back to her senses. She raised both hands and pushed hard.

Shao Mingyuan’s eyes cleared as he released her.

“Are you insane?” The swelling heat on her lips made Qiao Zhao’s questioning sound weak.

The man opposite stared at her with burning eyes without speaking.

Qiao Zhao trembled with anger and kicked his shin, saying resentfully: “Do you know what you’re doing?”

This time, the man opposite honestly answered: “I know—kissing you.”

Qiao Zhao kicked him again: “Shameless!”

Shao Mingyuan quietly turned sideways, concealing his body’s reaction.

He seemed to be a bit shameless indeed. Half a month ago, he never would have imagined he’d do such a thing.

But why did this feeling have to be so damnably wonderful?

Seeing his shameless attitude like a dead pig unafraid of boiling water, Qiao Zhao quietly took a breath and lifted her foot to leave.

Shao Mingyuan grabbed her back.

“You—”

Shao Mingyuan covered her lips with his hand and said in a low voice: “Keep it down—someone’s coming from over there.”