Chapter 13: Announcement

The same scene appeared again. Yan Jiyue tightly clenched his hand, imagining that what he was gripping was not an umbrella, but Xie Yi’s pair of eyes that seduced women. He just wanted to squeeze them hard and crush them.

But after all, having stumbled once in his previous life, even though Yan Jiyue hated him in his heart, he dared not and could not openly curse back anymore.

He forcibly swallowed the anger in his chest and smiled very cordially: “So your name is Xie Yi? Judging by your eyes, are you of foreign descent?”

How strange, this wretched husband. He thought he would rush up and hit him disregarding decorum like last time.

Could it be that he went back and was taught a lesson, and changed for the better?

Xie Yi’s deep green eyes lowered, flashing a barely noticeable hint of disdain. Even if he changed for the better, so what?

A leopard can’t change its spots. The arrogance deeply ingrained in his bones can’t be changed overnight, even if you use a bone scraper, you can’t scrape it clean. He may be able to pretend for a while, but not forever.

Last night, Su Mu had explained to him in detail the importance of the imperial examinations. This Yan Jiyue, afraid that Su Mu was going to take the imperial examinations and would have limitless prospects in the future, probably regretted the divorce and wanted to use this method to make Su Mu change her mind.

How ridiculous!

He wouldn’t stand by and watch his benefactor get entangled with this shrewish and poisonous husband again. Su Mu deserved to have the best man in the world.

“In response to gege, my father is from Guzang,” Xie Yi lightly brushed past Su Mu’s fluttering clothes, imitating the customs of the Central Plains, and curtsied slightly.

His plain clothes were simple and elegant, though not as gorgeous as Yan Jiyue’s attire, but they were fresh and natural. In the hazy rain, they even seemed to have a tendency to surpass Yan Jiyue.

“Since we’ve already greeted each other, we’ll take our leave now,” Su Mu said, looking at the surrounding students’ furtive glances.

“Wife-” Yan Jiyue pulled at Su Mu’s sleeve.

Su Mu turned sideways, her eyes slightly cold.

Yan Jiyue immediately corrected himself: “Su Mu, I want to talk to you for a moment.”

Su Mu looked at Yan Ruyu who was walking quickly towards them, and smiled: “You’d better think about how to deal with Yan Ruyu now. Now that everyone knows we’re divorced, Yan Ruyu and her father will be the first to make a move.”

“You, Yan Jiyue, how dare you deceive me!” Yan Ruyu rushed over angrily.

Su Mu slowly left with Xie Yi. She had already divorced, left the center of the whirlpool, so naturally Yan Ruyu wouldn’t come to trouble her.

This feeling of being out of the affair was really good.

“Deceive you?” Yan Jiyue watched Su Mu leave, no longer pretending to be pure and kind.

Yan Ruyu angrily said: “You and Su Mu divorced long ago, didn’t you? If Su Mu hadn’t told me today, how long were you planning to hide it from us?”

Yan Jiyue sneered: “You never asked me whether Su Mu and I were divorced, so I had no need to tell you.”

“You—” Yan Ruyu pointed at Yan Jiyue’s nose: “Stop pretending to be some young master here. Without Su Mu, what are you? What right do two men have to occupy the Yan family’s property? Just you wait!”

What is he without Su Mu?

Yan Jiyue laughed bitterly in his heart. Yes, in his previous life, the Yan family’s property was almost emptied by the collateral branches, and it was Su Mu who filled it back through business.

At that time, the family’s economy was extremely tight due to the collateral branches’ extravagance, and his relationship with Su Mu was still bad. But even in the days when the whole family was pinching pennies, Su Mu never let him suffer in terms of food, clothing, shelter, and transportation.

It was then that he was first touched by Su Mu’s silent care.

But he understood too late, woke up too late. By the time he finally understood his own feelings, Xie Yi was already by Su Mu’s side.

He was jealous, he envied, in order to win back Su Mu, he acted like a madman, but still couldn’t get Su Mu back, instead pushing her further and further away.

Finally, Heaven took pity on him, he thought he could start over with Su Mu, make up for the mistakes he had made before, but he didn’t expect that Su Mu was no longer the Su Mu of the past.

Why? Where exactly did it go wrong? Why was Su Mu different from the previous life? Why did Xie Yi appear ahead of time?

Yan Jiyue held his head in pain.

“Young master? The young miss is hurrying back to the manor, shouldn’t we go back too? This servant is afraid, afraid that the master can’t hold off those wolves and tigers alone,” Xiao Ping said softly and timidly beside him.

Yan Jiyue put down his hands, his eyes bloodshot, cold as frost: “Let’s go back!”

“Yes.” Xiao Ping supported Yan Jiyue’s hand and helped him onto the carriage.

As soon as the carriage started moving, Xiao Ping looked at the umbrella tightly gripped in Yan Jiyue’s hand, water constantly dripping from the umbrella ribs, wetting his clothes.

Xiao Ping stepped forward, wanting to take the umbrella from his hand.

“Don’t touch it!” Yan Jiyue frowned, holding the umbrella tightly to his chest.

Xiao Ping didn’t understand in his heart, it’s just an ordinary umbrella, why is the young master protecting it like his eyeball… Oh, he remembered, this umbrella seemed to be given to him by the young mistress.

Sigh—

If he had known this would happen, why did he do it in the first place? Back then, how accommodating was the young mistress to the young master, but the young master didn’t appreciate it. Instead, he indulged us servants to constantly ‘knock’ the young mistress.

It’s normal for the young mistress to not be able to bear the humiliation and ask for a divorce. Even a woman with the best temper can’t be humiliated like that.

Now that they’re divorced, he regrets it, seeing that the family property is about to be snatched away. Coming to beg the young mistress with a flattering face, what kind of thing is this!

Xiao Ping respectfully retreated, but secretly calculated for himself in his heart.

If the master can’t find the eldest young miss, the Yan manor will sooner or later fall into chaos. There are quite a few precious gold and silver jewelry in the young master’s room. At that time, he could steal some out to pawn during the chaos, and no one would find out. It’s like securing a way out for himself.

“You—” Yan Jiyue opened his mouth with a gloomy face.

Xiao Ping’s heart trembled in fear: “Young, young master, do you have any instructions?”

Yan Jiyue raised his head, his dripping hair tips exuding a chilling cold: “Go to the streets and ask around, where did Su Mu buy that slut from.”

“Slut?” Xiao Ping was stunned for a moment.

Yan Jiyue gritted his silver teeth: “Xie, Yi.”

“Customer, come take a look, these are the newly released candies. Malt candy, peony honey pastry, lychee paste, and fruit general, there are many types, customer, please take a look.” At the candy stall, the small vendor enthusiastically introduced to Su Mu.

“Do you have honey seed candy?”

“Yes, how much do you want, customer?” The small vendor took out honey seed candy already packaged in oil bags from a small box.

“I’ll take them all.” When Xie Yi goes back this time, they might never see each other again in this life, so naturally, buy as much as possible.

“All of them? Alright!” The small vendor happily gave all the large packages of honey seed candy to Su Mu.

“Also some peony honey pastry, lychee paste, and snow flower crisp.” The small vendor’s smile blossomed, not expecting to meet such a big customer on the first day of business.

Su Mu couldn’t even hold all the large piles of candies and honey pastries, only with Xie Yi’s help could they carry them all.

“Sister Mu, it’s too much, don’t buy anymore.” Seeing Su Mu paying readily, Xie Yi tried to stop her.

Su Mu handed the money to the small vendor, her eyes naturally carrying a smile: “Although these things seem a lot right now, if spread over several months, it’s not that much. The climate in the Western Regions is dry, as long as they are properly stored, things like honey seed candy might not spoil even after half a year.”

Feeling the heavy weight in his arms, Xie Yi’s heart was equally heavy.

He wanted to grab Su Mu’s clothes and shout at her, don’t buy for him, don’t spend money on him, he’s not worth it, not worth it!

Back then at the door of Teacher Li’s house, when he was abused by the teacher’s husband, he cried to Su Mu, not for anything else, just to seduce her, to seek her sympathy.

Later, when he was taken home by Su Mu, his subservience and humility were also fake.

When he was choked by Yan Jiyue, his face scratched, he deliberately didn’t resist, to make her pity and feel guilty, to find a chance to escape back to the desert.

This fool, yet she… didn’t even need him to use any tricks or schemes.

Xie Yi felt a lump in his throat, fool, fool.

At night, Su Mu was reviewing her books in the room, while Xie Yi was cooking in the kitchen.

Su Mu wanted to help with the fire, but Xie Yi wouldn’t allow it no matter what.

Just as two dishes were served on the table, there was a sudden knock on the door.

Su Mu went to open it.

“Su girl, I heard you divorced the Yan family’s eldest young master?” Uncle Yang walked in fanning himself, followed by a young man.

Uncle Yang was Su Mu’s landlord, a widower with a son and a daughter. The young man behind him was his son, Lin Xiaoxing.

She had just transmigrated here and rented a room from him. He was also the only person who didn’t hold prejudice against Su Mu because of her status as a married-in son-in-law.

“Uncle Yang, please sit. You already know?”

Uncle Yang sat down with a smile, while Xiaoxing stood properly behind Uncle Yang, always keeping his head down.

“Not just me, now the whole city knows. You should have seen how lively the Yan family manor was tonight. Many of Yan family’s rural elders and relatives came, probably discussing how to divide the property,” Uncle Yang said.

Su Mu lowered her eyes and smiled as she poured tea for him. Indeed, telling Yan Ruyu was equivalent to buying a hot search.

“But I say, child, this divorce was the right choice. I told you long ago not to wade into the Yan family’s muddy waters. There are many ways to repay kindness, no need to use this self-damaging method, making the whole city mock you.” Uncle Yang had seen through Su Mu’s reason for marrying into the family at a glance.

“I was young then, only thinking that one should be grateful and repay kindness. Now that I think about it, I was inconsiderate,” Su Mu sat next to him, holding the teacup, lightly brushing away the tea foam with the lid.

“No matter what, now that you’re divorced, it can be said you’ve escaped from suffering. Yan Jiyue is not a kind master. In the future when looking for a husband, you must find one who is gentle, understanding, and lovable,” Uncle Yang glanced slightly behind him: “My Xiaoxing heard you were divorced and was happy for you too. He even specially brought a gift for you.” Lin Xiaoxing lowered his head, blushing: “Sister Su, this is the snow foam plum wine I made, please… try it.”

“Thank you.”

“No, Sister Su, no need to be polite.” Lin Xiaoxing didn’t dare to even look at Su Mu, quickly hiding behind Uncle Yang.

Lin Xiaoxing used to be like this too, hiding whenever he saw her. Was she that scary?

Su Mu lowered her eyes and smiled.

Lin Xiaoxing blushed even more, like he was on fire.

“Sister Mu.” Xie Yi came in with freshly cooked stir-fried cabbage, just in time to meet eyes with the red-faced Lin Xiaoxing.

In just an instant, Xie Yi quickly sized up Lin Xiaoxing from head to toe, and keenly perceived the shyness in Lin Xiaoxing’s eyes.

Men facing men, their gazes were like invisible blade edges, able to distinguish friend from foe in an instant, penetrating the other’s thoughts.

“Who is this?” Uncle Yang looked at Xie Yi’s appearance, secretly shocked.

“This is Xie Yi,” Su Mu introduced.

“Is this the new person you’ve taken a liking to? Or a servant you bought?” Yang Shu exclaimed in surprise, while Lin Xiaoxing behind him clutched his handkerchief tightly.

Su Mu explained: “Neither. He’ll be returning to the Great Desert in a few days.” Yang Shu and Lin Xiaoxing both let out a sigh of relief simultaneously.

“Sister Mu, who are they?”

Finally, after seeing off Yang Shu, Xie Yi casually opened his mouth at the dining table.

“Oh, them? They’re my landlord and his son,” Su Mu said, while also inevitably explaining the meaning of landlord.

Xie Yi hadn’t expected that even this shabby little house didn’t belong to Su Mu herself.

He secretly clenched his chopsticks. His days in the Great Desert were quite well-off, and women often eagerly sent him gifts. The women pursuing him were either the daughters of the town’s wealthiest or the most valiant warriors.

He couldn’t even be bothered to look at those from humble families. After all, which man would willingly go through hardships? He certainly didn’t have a penchant for poverty.

But he hadn’t expected that Su Mu’s own life was so frugal, yet she still spent 20 taels of silver to redeem him, almost emptying her savings to give him money for travel expenses, and even used what little money she had left to buy him candy.

Xie Yi felt both moved and bitter.

Silly woman.

“Why did you stop eating? Are you full?” Su Mu looked at Xie Yi lowering his head, biting the tip of his chopsticks, looking as if he had lost his appetite.

“…Mm.”

“Then let’s stop eating. It just so happens that Xiaoxing made some snow foam plum wine.”

Lin Xiaoxing. Xie Yi put down his chopsticks, inexplicably feeling alert. His appearance was just average, extremely plain, with no beauty to speak of. A man standing next to Su Mu, not even as good-looking as her, a woman.

How could someone like this dare to have designs on Su Mu?

“His skill is unparalleled. I see the amount is just right for one bowl each. You should try it too.” Su Mu picked up the food box that Lin Xiaoxing had brought, preparing to get bowls from the kitchen to share.

Is his skill really that good?

Xie Yi shifted his gaze to the snow foam plum wine. The fragrance wafted through the air; just the smell was enticing. The delicacies of the Central Plains were indeed as his mother said, pleasing to the eye, nose, and palate.

His mother had also taught him a saying: to capture a woman’s heart, you must first capture her stomach. That’s why many men in the Central Plains honed their culinary skills, all to capture the heart of their beloved.

Xie Yi propped his chin up and took out the snow foam plum wine to examine it. Two -like flowers floated on the crystal-clear liquid.

Capture the heart of the beloved?

Xie Yi playfully extended his finger into the wine, his slender jade-like finger stirring in the wine, as if congealed snow and jade cream, light and airy to the touch, seemingly smooth yet refreshing.

Su Mu had just brought a bowl out from the kitchen. As soon as her foot crossed the threshold, she heard the sound of porcelain shattering.

The snow foam plum wine spilled all over the floor. Xie Yi anxiously knelt on the ground, his expression timid, his dark green eyes looking as if they were about to shatter: “I’m sorry, Sister Mu. I just wanted to help you take it out, but the bowl was too slippery.”