Chapter 1: The Night of the Bridal Chamber (New Book...)

  The night falls slowly, the crescent moon has passed over the willow branches, the autumn wind whispers, and a few nightingales' melancholic cries rise up like thoughts of spring.

  Ya Niang Chun Xiang and Wu Jia's coachman were arranged by Guo Lao Dian to stay overnight at the neighboring households.

  Wu Xiuxiu and Guo Ye were pushed into another thatched cottage by Guo Liu and Guo Xiaoman, then Guo Xiaoman, with a mischievous grin on her face, slammed the door shut.

  Guo Yehuan looked around Xiao Man's room, this small house was originally the residence of his predecessor Guo Ye, later he married into the Wu family and gave it to his younger sister Xiao Man.

  Although possessed by a spirit, there was still a hint of familiarity in his mind.

  In the empty room with nothing but a bed, only the bare walls and the dry smell of hay remained.

  Taking a closer look at the bedding, it seems that Father hasn't been cheated. Judging from the color of the quilt and mattress, they should be newly bought today. Could it be that Father was called out by Mother and little sister earlier because he couldn't buy quilts? It seems that there are still shops selling quilts and mattresses in this village.

  Cough!

  Kuai Ye plopped his butt down onto the wooden bed frame, producing a creaking sound as the wood planks collided.

  He patted the brand new quilt and mattress, and said to Wu Xiuxiu who was standing stiffly in the room, "Hehe, indeed they are all newly bought, clean and tidy. You can sleep with a peace of mind."

  At the mention of the two words "sleep together", Wu Xiuxiu's body trembled inexplicably, biting her lip and speechless, stubbornly shaking her head.

  Guo Ye looked at Wu Xiuxiu and saw that she no longer had the same momentum as before in the Wu family, but instead was somewhat nervous and anxious, understanding what was worrying her.

  Looking at her today, being considerate of the overall situation, Guo Ye said, "Don't worry, you sleep on the bed tonight, and I'll go out later to spread some dry grass on the ground, it's just for one night. Anyway, with the doors and windows closed, no one can see us, and my parents won't know what's going on between us."

  They say women are made of water, changing their appearance one moment to another.

  As expected, when Guo Yezhu voluntarily suggested sleeping on the floor, Wu Xiuxiu, who was normally reserved and polite, felt a bit uneasy and asked in a soft voice: "It's cold at night, can you bear it?"

  Kuang Ye heard this and couldn't help but feel a surge of confidence in his heart. What makes you think you can take it?

  A man must do it whether he can or not; even if he really cannot, he must create conditions to do it.

  With a wave of his hand, he stood up straight and said to Wu Xiuxiu: "Don't worry, I'm not the kind of person who doesn't know how to gauge the situation. Since I promised to accommodate you, I will definitely keep my promise. Tonight, I'll sleep on the floor, and absolutely won't get close to you even half a step. You can sleep."

  Saying so, he made a move as if to go out of the door and bring in some dry grass to spread on the floor.

  "Halt!"

  Suddenly, Wu Xiuxiu stopped him, furrowed her brow in contemplation as if she had made a major decision, and resolutely said: "You sleep on the bed with me tonight too."

  Shrimp rice?

  Kuo Ye's legs trembled and he almost lost his balance. Was this the legendary explosion of charm, where a beauty would fall into his arms?

  Unfortunately, before Guo Ye could start having a sweet dream, Wu Xiuxiu directly shattered his fantasy. All that was heard was Wu Xiuxiu saying: "You and I sleep together, the quilt belongs to me, you can just use your coat to cover yourself for tonight. Guo Ye, I'm warning you, if you dare take advantage of me even a little bit. Me, me, today my hands have no scissors, but in my heart, there are scissors."

  My god, Guo Ye was stunned upon hearing Wu Xiuxiu's words. What does it mean to have no scissors in hand but scissors in heart?

  I still have no sword in hand, but I have a sword in heart, Little Li's flying knife, an example of never missing a shot.

  Just as he was savoring the meaning of Wu Xiuxiu's words, Wu Xiuxiu had already made up the bed, put the quilt to one side for herself, and placed a bowl of cold water in the middle of the bed as a boundary, to prevent Guo Ye from taking advantage of her.

  Wu Xiuxiu was so cautious and guarded that Guo Ye couldn't help but lament that his character was utterly worthless in her eyes.

  It's better to sleep on a bed than on the floor and enjoy the dampness of the night, right?

  Besides, sleeping in the same bed with Wu Da beauty, smelling that refreshing fragrance, isn't it a wonderful thing?

  Seeing Wu Xiuxiu dressed and sleeping, tightly wrapping herself in the quilt, her body still slightly trembling like sifting rice, Guo Ye's heart involuntarily produced a thread of sympathy. Forget it, being a temporary Liu Xiahui wouldn't be too shameful.

  He didn't even undress, but directly took off his shoes and socks and sat down on the bed with a thud, causing the wooden bed to creak.

  The bed in the middle of the room shook all night, with ripples rising layer by layer, as if it was about to spill out.

  Wu Xiuxiu saw this and glared at Guo Ye, scolding: "Can't you be a bit quieter?"

  Guo Ye slowly lay down on the bed, carefully keeping a distance from the bowl of water, closed his eyes and sighed: "No way, my butt is as big as a millstone, can't make any small movements."

  Wu Xiuxiu saw Guo Ye and started speaking coarsely again, but she didn't bother to respond to him. She gently closed her eyes and let out a soft snoring sound. However, Guo Ye listened carefully and found that the rhythm was somewhat irregular and uneven, as if Wu Xiuxiu's heart was racing like a startled deer right now?

  Two people like this, you close your eyes and I pretend to sleep, neither of us bothers the other, neither of us invades the other.

  Kuo's mind involuntarily recalled a classic joke from later generations, a joke about beasts and something even worse than beasts.

  Thinking of that joke and looking at myself tonight, it's really just the same.

  It seems that tonight the young man will also become a beast, thinking of this can't help but laugh, his body lightly turns around, letting out a "haha" sound.

  Creak... Creak creak creak...

  The creaking was a bit loud, and the wooden bed frame started making noise in protest.

  Wu Xiuxiu listened to the sound, her heart tightened and immediately opened her eyes to look at Guo Ye, finding that he didn't make any unusual movements either. She muttered to herself in her mind, "Nerves".

  After sleeping for a while, Guo Ye felt a slight itch on his back, so he turned over and scratched it with his arm. This time, the wooden bed began to protest again.

  Creak... creak... creak creak...

  This scratch was a bit too intense, the amplitude was too large, and it even splashed some water from that bowl, just splashing onto Wu Xiuxiu's arm.

  The slightly drowsy Wu Da beauty was instantly awakened by a drop of icy cold well water.

  Under conditioned reflex, Teng suddenly jumped up and grabbed the bowl of water, rushing straight towards Guo Ye's face.

  Splash!

  The icy well water, still in the autumn wind whistling in the second half of the night, Guo Ye immediately jumped up and rolled off the bed, wiping his sleeve while scolding: "Wu Xiuxiu, you're sick? In the middle of the night, what kind of madness are you suffering from?"

  Wu Xiuxiu saw this and only then realized that she had been a bit too sensitive, didn't know how to explain herself, and since the water had already been splashed, what else could be said?

  At a loss for what to do, Wu Xiuxiu simply didn't say anything and directly put the empty bowl on the bed, then pretended to be completely unaware of the situation as she snuggled under the covers and went back to sleep.

  "You..."

  Guo Ye saw Wu Da Mei having such a playful and deceitful side, damn it, she actually pretended to be sleepwalking with me.

  Damn it, this is outrageous! I'm going to teach you a lesson tonight.

  Just as he was about to pull Wu Xiuxiu up by her sleeve, suddenly...

  "Cough... Cough... Cough..."

  Another room outside the house came with Guo Lao's midnight cough, and it was unknown whether it was intentional or unintentional, but it made Guo Ye calm down.

  Forget it, I'll let you off this time, damn it!

  After finishing speaking, go out of the house into the courtyard to find a towel or something to wipe your face properly, and also the neckline that got wet from the well water.

  When Guo Ye arrived at the yard to look for things, he found that the thatched cottage where his parents lived was still lit with an oil lamp. The light was a bit weak, and there were voices talking, as if his parents were talking.

  Guo Ye casually pulled out a towel and wiped his face while tiptoeing over to the corner of the wall.

  Just then, I heard my mother giving Guo Lao a good pounding on the back while advising him: "You old thing, didn't the Wu family give us twenty taels of silver? Can't you spare a few taels to go to the county town and buy some medicine to eat? With this cough of yours, you'll be dead soon."

  "Ah, you silly wife! Do you think I want to cough? Look at today's expenses: our son and daughter-in-law came back with all sorts of delicacies, we bought new bedding from the Xu family in the village, and spent almost two taels of silver. Next year we still need to build a new house, how can we afford to waste money on medicine?"

  Guo Ye tightly grasped the towel in his hand, his palm slightly trembling as he listened to Er Lao's conversation.

  The old woman sighed softly after listening, saying: "It's true, the Wu family is a big household, and it's their first time coming over. They can't let their daughter-in-law eat coarse food with us, right? Let's endure for a while longer, until the five acres of good land given by the Wu family produce grain. You can pick some to sell in the city, then find a good doctor and get some medicine. Son's father, you're the pillar of our family, you can't collapse!"

  After finishing speaking, the old woman's voice seemed to be choked with sobs.

  Who would have thought that he would be scolded again by Old Man Guo, who shouted: "You damned egg, I, Old Man Guo, still want to live for several decades and see if my eldest son will make something of himself. This kid is clever, but unfortunately he has a useless father like me. If you don't think he'll grow up to be someone, do you think I'd let him marry into the Wu family? If the Wu family can help him out, and he becomes someone, then I can die with my eyes closed."

  At this point, the oil lamp in the house suddenly went out, obviously blown out by Old Guo.

  Right after that, Guo Lao Er said to Guo Liu Shi in a low voice: "Go to sleep, go to sleep. Tomorrow you still have to get up early to make breakfast for the kids and daughter-in-law. You old wife, I'm warning you, don't make that laborious pumpkin porridge for them, make some rice porridge instead. That pumpkin stuff isn't suitable for a refined person like our daughter-in-law. It's not filling, and eating too much of it will give you gas."

  Guo Liu nodded and fell into a deep sleep, emitting a faint snore.

  Guo Ye listened to his parents' whispers and murmurs, feeling a deep sorrow that couldn't be added to - this was what his parents were like.

  At this time, he continued to wipe his face with a towel, but he could no longer distinguish whether the water on the towel was from the well or the tears that had burst out.

  On the second day in the morning, Guo Ye and Wu Xiuxiu woke up under Xiao Man's knock on the door. After a simple wash, they came out to see their parents and then had breakfast.

  Today's breakfast is small salted vegetables, Wonton head, and a full pot of rice porridge. The porridge in the pot is very thick, Guo Ye has tried it, and even when he inserts chopsticks, they don't fall over.

  After finishing breakfast, Wu Xiuxiu and Guo Ye prepared to set off back to Dongliu Village.

  Wu Xiuxiu indeed did it from start to finish, and when she got on the horse-drawn carriage, she still chatted with her parents-in-law in a low voice, and invited them to come to Dongliu Township Wu's house for a short stay when they had nothing to do.

  Then, with the support of Yāo Niáng Chūn Xiāng, she got into the mule-drawn carriage.

  Guo Ye bid farewell to his parents with a few simple words, and after entrusting them to take good care of their health, he quietly hid all the things he wanted to say in his heart and got into the mule cart.

  Bang, bang, bang...

  The Wu family's driver cracked his whip and the mule cart, tied to a small donkey, moved slowly towards the village exit.

  Not yet at the village entrance, Guo Ye, who was preoccupied with worries, seemed to have heard someone shouting from outside the car, seemingly Xiao Mei's voice.

  He didn't hesitate and immediately lifted the curtain, then ordered the coachman to stop the carriage.

  As expected, little sister Guo Xiaoman caught up, her face flushed with a fist-sized small cloth package, panting and saying to Guo Ye: "Brother, this is what Father asked me to give you."

  After finishing, he stuffed it into Guo Ye's arms and turned around to run back. As he ran, he shouted: "Brother, there are ten taels of silver in this package. Father said that you're a man and should do great things, when going out, you can't have an empty pocket."

  The sound had just faded away when people were already running far off, almost all of them having run to their own doorsteps.

  Guo Ye clutched the small cloth package containing ten taels of silver tightly to his chest, and although it weighed only a few ounces in his hand, it felt as heavy as a thousand catties in his heart.

  Looking at the faintly visible Guo family's small courtyard, looking at his little sister still running on the road, gazing at his parents waving their hands outside the courtyard, Guo Ye's throat was a bit choked, but he resolutely held it back, and in his heart, he secretly vowed to move forward. Father, mother, little sister, wait for me, I will definitely let you live a life of great wealth and comfort.