“…Red Leaf.” Gu Xingchen was extremely embarrassed; as expected, she was being laughed at.
Looking at him like that, Wen Hongye finally couldn't help but laugh so hard she bent over backwards.
“Red Leaves…” Gu Xingchen pouted.
"Alright, alright, I won't laugh at you anymore, let's go." Wen Hongye took his arm and walked back with him.
They hadn't walked far when Gu Xingchen suddenly stopped and pointed to a pile of bamboo as thick as an arm, asking, "Hongye, could you help me chop a couple of bamboo stalks?"
"What are you going to do with the bamboo?" Wen Hongye asked, looking bewildered.
"I'll cut two logs and use them to weave things, like bamboo baskets and other things to sell. If things go well, I'll find some good wood and carve some puppets to sell at the market. I need to find more ways to make a living and earn more money to support my wife!" Gu Xingchen replied.
Wen Hongye smiled and said, "That's true. A wife isn't so easy to take care of. Although I'm not picky about food and clothing, I can't go hungry, can I? Okay, you stand over there, I'll chop two bamboo poles and carry them back."
Gu Xingchen quickly stepped aside, only to see Wen Hongye channel her inner strength and strike twice with her palms, causing two bamboo stalks to fall.
"This is much more powerful than a woodcutter's knife," Gu Xingchen exclaimed.
Wen Hongye raised an eyebrow: "If you dare to bully me, I'll let you know that I can be quite formidable when it comes to striking people."
Gu Xingchen smiled and waved her hand: "No, no, you can help me carry the medicine basket, I'll carry the bamboo."
"No need, I'll do it. I'm afraid you can't carry it," Wen Hongye said with a smile.
Chapter 7 Side Story: Starry Night (Part 7)
Upon hearing this, Gu Xingchen immediately said, "If you put it that way, then I have even more reason to carry the bamboo. I can't let you look down on me!"
"Are you sure? You're carrying this all the way back. I won't help you if you get tired along the way," Wen Hongye said, looking at him.
Gu Xingchen patted his shoulder: "Don't worry, no problem, I don't need your help!"
"Alright, then give me the medicine basket." Wen Hongye didn't try to take it from him, so she put down the bamboo and went over to carry the medicine basket on her back.
Gu Xingchen shouldered the bamboo and said, "Let's go!"
Back in the city, Gu Xingchen said breathlessly, "Let's take the bamboo home first, then we'll go sell the herbs we picked."
"Okay." Wen Hongye couldn't help but chuckle as she looked at how exhausted he was.
Seeing him like this, Gu Xingchen took a deep breath, straightened her back, and didn't want him to laugh at her.
"You really don't need my help?" Wen Hongye asked.
"No need, I can manage." Gu Xingchen was just a herbalist, and he knew that his physique was naturally not as strong as Wen Hongye's, who was a martial artist. But as the one who had to support his family, he naturally couldn't let the beautiful woman suffer.
Once home, Gu Xingchen finally breathed a sigh of relief. He tossed the bamboo into the yard, planning to tidy it up later when he got back: "Alright, let's go out and sell these herbs, then buy some good food. I'll cook a big meal tonight, so my Hongye can eat her fill!"
Wen Hongye looked at the silly-looking Gu Xingchen and reached out to wipe the sweat from his forehead: "Okay."
Afterwards, the two went out together again.
When they returned, Gu Xingchen was carrying a lot of groceries and chatting and laughing with Wen Hongye.
But as soon as I arrived at my doorstep, I saw a little girl sitting on the stone steps, her hands supporting her chin, as if she was waiting for someone.
Wen Hongye was taken aback, and asked softly, "Huang Huang?"
Gu Xingchen was also taken aback, then looked at Wen Hongye, and then at the young girl: "You know her?"
Wen Hongye nodded, and was about to speak when the little girl named Huang Huang called out happily, "Brother Hongye!"
Then, Huang Huang ran over and hugged Wen Hongye tightly, very excited: "Brother Hongye, you're back! I knew you would come back. I've been waiting for you for three years!"
Seeing this, Gu Xingchen felt a sudden tightness in her chest.
After glancing at it, he carried the groceries and went inside.
Wen Hongye pulled Huang Huang aside, watched Gu Xingchen's retreating figure as he entered the house, and said, "Huang Huang, let's go inside and talk about what's going on."
Huang Huang nodded: "Okay!"
After Wen Hongye led Huang Huang inside, she didn't see Gu Xingchen and guessed that he must have gone to the kitchen.
"Um, Huang Huang, you..." Before Wen Hongye could ask anything, a clicking sound came from the courtyard.
He turned and walked to the door, where he saw Gu Xingchen expressionlessly holding a knife, chopping bamboo branches again and again.
"Xingchen, what are you cutting bamboo for right now? Come and rest for a while. Let me introduce you, Huang Huang is..."
Before Wen Hongye could finish speaking, Gu Xingchen said without looking up, "No need, I'm not tired. You two chat. I'll go to the kitchen to cook after I've chopped all the bamboo branches."
Wen Hongye was taken aback when she saw Gu Xingchen, who seemed to be angry.
Seeing Wen Hongye talking to Gu Xingchen, Huang Huang walked over and stood beside Wen Hongye, watching Gu Xingchen in the courtyard with her.
Chapter 8 Extra: Starry Night (Part 8)
Huang Huang asked, "Brother Hongye, who is this? Is he your disciple?"
“He…” Wen Hongye was about to introduce Gu Xingchen to Huang Huang when she was interrupted again.
Gu Xingchen stopped, looked at the pretty young girl, and said, "I'm not his disciple, I am..."
As he spoke, he glanced at Wen Hongye again, then lowered his head and continued in an annoyed tone, "I am his sworn brother."
After saying that, he felt increasingly frustrated, so he threw down the wood-chopping knife and said, "I'm going to the kitchen to cook."
"Xing..." Wen Hongye wanted to call out to Gu Xingchen, but Gu Xingchen lowered his head and left without even glancing at her.
Huang Huang looked at Wen Hongye and asked, "Brother Hongye, your brother seems unhappy. Do you want to go and check on him? You don't need to worry about me. I'll wait here. I've been waiting for you for three years already, so what's a little longer?"
Wen Hongye glanced at Huang Huang and nodded, "Wait for me, I'll go check on him."
"Hmm." Huang Huang nodded slightly.
Then, Wen Hongye quickly went to the kitchen.
As soon as he entered the kitchen, he saw Gu Xingchen picking vegetables with an unhappy expression. However, she didn't look like she was picking vegetables at all; she was clearly tearing them apart. She ripped the vegetables off completely.
"Stars," Wen Hongye called out, then walked over.
When Gu Xingchen saw him coming, she grabbed the vegetables and turned around, her back to him.
Wen Hongye was slightly taken aback, then walked behind him and asked, "Xingchen, what's wrong? Why do you suddenly seem so unhappy? Did someone make you angry?"
"No," Gu Xingchen replied while plucking the vegetable leaves.
"You still say no? Your voice sounds muffled. What's wrong with you? You were fine when you came back. How did you suddenly become like this? Could it be... because of Huang Huang?" Wen Hongye asked.
Gu Xingchen did not answer, but instead lowered her head and continued to pluck the few remaining vegetable leaves.
Wen Hongye walked around to him, glanced at the vegetables in his hand, and said, "If you keep pulling them, there will only be roots left."
Gu Xingchen was taken aback. He glanced at the pitifully mangled vegetables in his hand, then put them down and grabbed another handful of vegetables from the side, continuing to pluck them.
Seeing this, Wen Hongye squatted down, then held Gu Xingchen's hand and looked up at him: "Xingchen!"
Gu Xingchen pouted, looked at Wen Hongye, and remained silent.
Seeing that he still wouldn't speak, Wen Hongye snorted, "You're not going to talk, are you? Fine, then don't talk to me anymore, since you don't want to talk to me anyway."
With that, Wen Hongye let go of his hand and prepared to stand up and leave.
Seeing this, Gu Xingchen immediately grabbed his hand and said, "No, that's not what I meant. I didn't mean to ignore you."
"Then what do you mean! What did you just say, that we're sworn brothers? Who said we're sworn brothers! Just tell me, do you not want me anymore?!" Wen Hongye said angrily.
Upon hearing this, Gu Xingchen was immediately shocked. He gripped Wen Hongye's hand tightly and said, "No, no, how could that be? How could I not want you? I want you, I want you for the rest of my life! I said that because I was afraid you... afraid you wouldn't be able to explain our relationship to that girl named Huang Huang. I didn't want to put you in a difficult position..."
Chapter 9 Extra: Starry Night (Part 9)
"Is that all?" Wen Hongye asked again.
Gu Xingchen pouted, then said aggrievedly, "No, there's more..."
"What else?" Wen Hongye asked, looking at him.
"She said she'd been waiting for you for three years, and the moment she saw you, she hugged you and was so intimate with you... how could I be happy?" Gu Xingchen looked at Wen Hongye and said, "She doesn't like you, she just wants to steal you away, does she?!"
Seeing that Gu Xingchen had finally spoken his mind, Wen Hongye laughed: "No, Huang Huang is my master's adopted daughter. My master saved her life back then, and she recognized my master as her godfather. But speaking of which, my master did have this plan back then, wanting Huang Huang to marry me, but I didn't agree."
Upon hearing this, Gu Xingchen immediately pouted again: "You still say you're not here to steal me away? We were already talking about marriage back then."
Looking at his sour, aggrieved, and somewhat sad expression, Wen Hongye said, "Look at you, you won't even let me finish what I'm saying. I was just about to introduce her to you, but you had to sulk and run away. Huang Huang is already married. I bet if we don't see her for three years, her child will be old enough to run around on the ground."
"Huh? She's already married?" Gu Xingchen's eyes widened.
“Yes, she’s married! Nobody’s going to take me away from you! Don’t worry!” Wen Hongye said loudly.
Gu Xingchen then chuckled and reached out to hug Wen Hongye, saying, "I was wrong, I was wrong, Hongye, calm down. Go and catch up with Huang Huang. I'll cook. We bought so many groceries, let's have Huang Huang stay for a meal."
Wen Hongye snorted irritably, then said, "No rush. She knows I'm here to coax you, so I'll just help you cook the meal. We can catch up slowly while we eat."
"Okay." Gu Xingchen was still grinning foolishly; the annoyance from before had long since vanished.
"Then get up. I'll pick the vegetables, and you go chop them," Wen Hongye said.
Gu Xingchen nodded: "Okay!"
Wen Hongye sat down on the small stool where Gu Xingchen had just been sitting, looked at the bare vegetable stalks in front of her, and said, "Look at what you've done to this good vegetable!"
Gu Xingchen scratched the back of his head and chuckled sheepishly.
After preparing the food, the two took it to the dining room.
"Hongye, go and call Huanghuang over," Gu Xingchen said.
"Okay." Wen Hongye set out the bowls and chopsticks and went to the front hall to call Huang Huang.
Huang Huang was incredibly patient; even after waiting alone in the front hall for so long, she didn't get impatient. When she saw Wen Hongye arrive, she quickly asked, "Brother Hongye, how are you? Is your brother alright?"
Wen Hongye smiled, then shook her head and said, "It's alright, you've calmed her down."
"You've appeased him? Then it seems he was really unhappy. But why? Did you make him angry?" Huang Huang asked, puzzled.
“It’s not me, it’s you.” Wen Hongye smiled again.
Huang Huang was even more confused. She pointed to herself and asked in bewilderment, "Me? How did I make him angry? I... I don't even know him..."
Wen Hongye's smile faded, and she adopted a serious expression, saying, "Huang Huang."