Chapter 5 Not Cunning Enough

He was worried about her!

This realization made Qin Xiaoruo's already good mood even more delightful. From the moment she woke up in this era, the man had been giving her the cold shoulder and occasionally prodding her with words. She had thought that he resented her staying at the Fu Family's home, but now it seemed that she might have misjudged him.

Feeling happy, Qin Xiaoruo began humming a tune. The man walking in front of her turned around, giving her a peculiar look that held a hint of inquiry, which stopped Qin Xiaoruo in her tracks.

All right, her schemes weren't deep enough, and she had let her guard down again.

Seeing the once spirited young girl revert to a dull and timid demeanor in the blink of an eye, Fu Hanwen felt a pang of loss that even he didn't realize.

He had known since he was little that Qin Xiaoruo would someday be his wife, and he had a responsibility toward her, but his knowledge of her was limited to five years ago. Back then, she had been this reserved to the point of seeming simple-minded. Over the past five years, he'd barely stayed home for a few days each year and had hardly spoken to her. He learned from conversations between his mother and villagers that she'd become even more diligent and capable, yet her nature remained the same.

However, after spending a few days together, he felt that the girl's personality didn't quite match what his mother and the villagers had described.

Lost in thought, Fu Hanwen and Qin Xiaoruo returned to the Fu Family's home.

Upon seeing Qin Xiaoruo, Fu Jingwen couldn't help but speak in irritation, "You're grown up and still need someone to look for you when you go up the mountain to gather herbs? Have you no shame?"

Going up the mountain to gather herbs without telling anyone, and not a word around lunchtime, they had to search the entire village. Fortunately, someone had seen her go up the mountain; otherwise, they would have been looking around the village for who knows how long.

Qin Xiaoruo, seeing the young girl who was three years her junior standing in the courtyard puffing her cheeks and glaring at her, found it amusing. Noticing Fu Hanwen had gone into the kitchen with the wild vegetables, she leaned in and whispered in the young girl's ear, instantly setting off Fu Jing.

"Shameless, who's worried about you?" Fu Jing's face turned red as she jumped up, and the next second, noticing a hole in the dress Qin Xiaoruo was wearing, she became even more furious, "How did you tear my dress?"

Fu Jing was infuriated. That dress was the best one she had, and her mother had insisted on lending it to Qin Xiaoruo. It was one thing to lend it, but to think that the girl didn't treasure it enough to keep it intact for even one wear!

Qin Xiaoruo nearly forgot about that mishap, chuckling awkwardly while backing into the house, "It caught on something by accident. I'll go inside and mend it for you right now."

In her previous life, Qin Xiaoruo knew only how to do patchwork on people, but she had the memories of the original owner of this body, who was quite skilled with needle and thread.

Fu Hanwen coming out of the kitchen saw his sister's eyes red with anger and couldn't help but step forward and stroke her head, "If it's torn, it's torn. Let's go work in the fields, and after we're done, Big Brother will buy you a new one in town."

"Big Brother, do you mean it?" Fu Jing looked up at her big brother with eyes full of hope. She couldn't remember the last time she had worn completely new clothes, as even the dress she'd lent to Qin Xiaoruo had been altered from the new clothes her second sister-in-law wore when she married into the Fu Family a few years ago.

Fu Hanwen's expression softened, "Really."

Her big brother was always a man of his word, and Fu Jing's tears turned into laughter in an instant.

As the footsteps of the siblings faded away, Qin Xiaoruo peeked out from inside the house.

The Fu Family wasn't large, but it wasn't small either. In addition to a mother and a younger sister, Fu Hanwen had two younger brothers. The second brother had been conscripted years ago and had died on the battlefield, leaving behind his wife, Lady Shao, and their posthumous child, Changer, who was now four years old. Laosan was studying in the city and only returned home once a month.