Chapter 3
Sending her back to her maternal home would be like sending her back to eat dirt...
The divorce papers he had prepared couldn't be given out at all. Qi Yun sat straight in his chair, watching Ye Jiao stuff the pastries from the plate into her mouth bit by bit.
The Nuptial Wine beside them remained untouched, and the peanuts and longans in the box were arranged neatly.
Ye Jiao completely didn't understand these customs, while Qi Yun seemed to have accidentally forgotten, just watching Ye Jiao, his eyes gradually warming.
The woman in wedding dress ate very contentedly. When only two pieces remained on the plate, she patted her hands and leaned back in the chair, her face showing complete satisfaction.
Probably because she had been buried in the dirt for too long in her previous life, Ye Jiao was always easily satisfied.
She couldn't help but look at Qi Yun: "I'm full. What should we do next?"
Hearing this, Qi Yun's pale face showed a relatively gentle smile. He reached out and pointed to the bed: "You go sleep."
Who knew that the next second, Qi Yun saw Ye Jiao's sparkling eyes.
The little ginseng spirit cheered in her heart. Being able to sleep on a bed, how wonderful! She had long been fed up with being buried in the dirt!
Marriage was wonderful!
Qi Yun was somewhat puzzled by Ye Jiao's joy, finally attributing it to her having a hard life at the Ye family, not even having a soft bed.
Come to think of it, what good could come from a family that would sell her for two silver ingots?
This was originally Qi Yun's bedroom, and the bed was his bed. But Qi Yun knew he was diseased, so he had long ago instructed servants to set up a soft couch in the outer room.
His original plan was for him to sleep on the bed and her on the couch, but now it was reversed.
Qi Yun blew out the candle, coughed twice softly, took off his bright red wedding clothes, and wrapped himself tightly in the blanket.
Ye Jiao lay on the bed, tossing and turning, too excited to fall asleep until very late.
This made her sleep until the sun was high the next day.
Already weak in body, often not getting enough food, plus the wedding process being particularly complex, she was inevitably somewhat fatigued. This sleep not only restored her spirit, but more importantly gave the little ginseng spirit a chance to rest properly and completely merge the original memories with herself.
She was somewhat grateful. Fortunately she had absorbed the memories, otherwise she wouldn't understand many things.
But what surprised Ye Jiao was that she was already awake, yet Qi Yun was still sleeping.
Getting out of bed, Ye Jiao walked to the couch where Qi Yun was sleeping and squatted down, propping her chin in her hands as she looked at this man.
Even asleep, Qi Yun's face remained pale, somewhat thin, clearly showing congenital deficiency.
But Ye Jiao knew she had married him.
What marriage meant, yesterday's Ye Jiao didn't know, but after a night of memory integration, the current Ye Jiao understood that marriage meant a man and woman bound together, sharing honor and disgrace from now on.
Regarding marrying Qi Yun, Ye Jiao was very satisfied.
In her memories, Second Sister-in-law Ye always liked to give Ye Jiao leftover food, and only a little bit, claiming that girls couldn't eat too much, but actually giving all the good food to her son behind the scenes.
The little ginseng spirit who had finally become human naturally preferred to stay with Qi Yun. As long as she could eat two bites of yesterday's pastries every day, it would be good. She didn't want to go back to the Ye family to compete with children for food.
It's just that Qi Yun's health wasn't good. How to keep this man who was willing to feed her water alive, Ye Jiao felt she needed to think of more methods.
Just then, Qi Yun's eyelashes trembled slightly, then slowly opened.
Seeing the bright sunlight outside, Qi Yun was somewhat surprised.
His health was poor, he often had nightmares at night, slept lightly, and would wake at the slightest sound.
But yesterday he had slept remarkably well, comfortably sleeping until the sun was high, which was a first in recent years.
Qi Yun couldn't help but want to see if the bride on the bed was up yet. As a result, when he turned his head, he saw Ye Jiao squatting by the bed.
Seeing him wake up, Ye Jiao gave him a brilliant smile, but Qi Yun's ears suddenly turned red.
The woman was only wearing a breast band and long pants. The thin straps crossed behind her neck, revealing snow-white shoulders and arms. Even with just a hurried glance, Qi Yun could see the woman's slender neck and delicate collarbone.
For an ordinary married couple, such attire would be nothing.
But for Qi Yun, the stimulation was a bit much.
He immediately turned away, facing the wall, and said: "Go put your clothes on properly."
This voice was somewhat harsh. Even though yesterday he had repeatedly told himself not to treat this pitiful little girl with his usual bad temper, in his urgency this sentence came out stiff. As soon as he said it, Qi Yun regretted it.
But Ye Jiao didn't mind much. She was somewhat curious and reached out to push Qi Yun: "Why are you talking to the wall?"
After a while, she heard Qi Yun's voice, much softer than before: "I'm talking to you. Go put your clothes on properly."
Ye Jiao looked at the wall again, confirming there really was no one there, then obediently got up, took the clothes the wedding woman had placed by the cabinet yesterday and put them on, then styled her hair into a married woman's hairstyle according to the memories.
She failed twice, succeeded on the third try. The little ginseng spirit silently praised herself for being skillful.
But these rustling sounds made Qi Yun's ears start burning again.
When the sounds stopped, Qi Yun slowly emerged from the blanket, trying to maintain a normal expression as he looked up, immediately seeing Ye Jiao sitting at the table preparing to continue eating yesterday's leftover pastries.
Qi Yun quickly said: "Don't eat those, otherwise you won't be able to eat lunch later."
Hearing this, Ye Jiao immediately knew lunch was more delicious than these pastries. She immediately abandoned the little pastries she had just treasured and happily urged Qi Yun to go eat lunch.
Qi Yun was rendered speechless by her antics, quickly dressed himself, then took Ye Jiao to rinse and wash up before they both left the room.
As soon as they stepped out, Ye Jiao saw two people run away like rabbits.
She turned her head and asked: "Who were they?"
Qi Yun glanced over: "Those are Tie Zi and Little Su, children of my family's tenant farmers who usually help out here."
Ye Jiao couldn't help but laugh: "Why did they run?"
Qi Yun lowered his eyes slightly, his voice calm: "In this household, everyone runs when they see me."
Because Qi Yun was often plagued by illness, his temperament was somewhat cold, plus his perpetually pale face and gloomy eyes, everyone in this household except his mother Liu Shi either feared him or found him disagreeable. Qi Yun had long grown accustomed to this.
But hearing this, Ye Jiao tilted her head and thought for a long while. When they passed through the small garden, she quickened her pace by two steps, no longer following behind Qi Yun but walking beside him.
Just as Qi Yun was wondering about this, he felt a soft hand forcibly stuff itself into his palm.
Warm, soft, smooth like the finest silk.
Qi Yun's steps paused. He looked down at their clasped hands, then slowly moved his gaze to Ye Jiao's face.
He wanted to ask what she was doing, but facing Ye Jiao's smiling expression, he couldn't ask anything.
Qi Yun pressed his pale lips together, suddenly realizing that he was married, and holding his wife's hand was perfectly natural.
Besides, the Ye family had treated her poorly, sold her, didn't let her sleep on a bed and made her eat dirt. She couldn't go back anyway, so he should treat her well now.
This is my wife, my wife, my wife...
After this mental preparation, Qi Yun carefully held the soft hand tighter and resumed walking.
But Qi Yun didn't notice that whereas he usually became breathless after walking just a few steps, today he walked leisurely all the way to the main hall. Although his face remained pale, he no longer broke out in cold sweats.
Ye Jiao was satisfied, swinging their clasped hands.
This person was weak in constitution. She temporarily didn't know what medicine was like in this world, but fortunately the ginseng spirit's essence naturally had nourishing effects. She'd use herself to supplement him first.
Treating illness starts with holding hands.