A delicate beauty takes a place in a marriage, while a cold, rough man seduces her every night.

Jiang Runsheng never expected to run into Qiao Qingyan here.

These past few days he has been unable to eat or drink, living in regret and self-blame every day. He knows that Qingyan married into the Xiao family in place of Chen Xiaomeng just to spite him.

He was desperately thinking about her and wanted to see her.

With the sweltering heat of midsummer approaching, today all staff members of the township broadcasting station went to the countryside to conduct summer fire prevention publicity from house to house, and also to inform people about grain pricing and unified purchase and sale.

He arrived at the Xiao family's door by chance, and the moment he saw Qiao Qingyan, his heart skipped a beat.

Qiao Qingyan wasn't as excited as him; her expression was distant and indifferent. She now only regarded Jiang Runsheng as an ordinary classmate, an acquaintance she knew.

Jiang Runsheng was stung by her cold demeanor and cautiously asked, "Qingyan, are you... doing well?"

"I'm doing fine, don't worry about me."

"How could you possibly be doing well? Xiao Jingye is an uncultured, rough man. How could you two possibly have anything in common?"

Qiao Qingyan was speechless. She hated men who kept pestering her endlessly.

"Runsheng, we're over. You're Chen Xiaomeng's husband now; you should be concerned about her!"

"I don't want to care about her! Why should I care about her? I don't like her at all. Qingyan, you know how I feel about you. I've liked you since we were in school. That night with Chen Xiaomeng, I just had a few drinks and got seduced by her. From beginning to end, the only person I've ever loved is you!"

Qiao Qingyan shook her head helplessly: "Don't say such things anymore. I'm married now! You've already married Chen Xiaomeng. Can't we just go our separate ways peacefully?"

The other party persisted: "If you're willing, I can divorce Chen Xiaomeng right now and be with you!"

Zeng Yumei, who was holding Duoduo inside the house and observing the situation outside, was pacing anxiously.

Qiao Qingyan almost laughed out of anger: "Jiang Runsheng, what kind of pipe dream are you having? How many times do I have to tell you before you understand that I don't like you, I don't like you!"

"So who do you like? Qingyan, don't tell me you've really fallen for that rough hunter?"

Under the shade of the trees, Xiao Jingye had already clenched his fists. He originally wanted to go forward and carry this frail man away, but upon hearing these words, he suddenly stopped and his gaze was fixed on Qiao Qingyan's slender back.

The woman crossed her arms, her voice firm and resolute:

"Yes, he's my husband, why wouldn't I like him? He's better than you in every way—looks, character, everything. After his father passed away, he single-handedly supported the family, caring for his elderly mother and looking after his young sister. He's a truly upright and responsible man. I love him to death, I adore him, and I want to give him eight sons in the future!"

Xiao Jingye slowly relaxed his taut fist, his deep eyes darkening, his emotions unreadable.

Jiang Run was so angry that his face turned ashen. He assumed that Qiao Qingyan was just being stubborn and trying to provoke him.

How could the deep friendship that two people have shared since childhood possibly break down so easily?

At that moment, he caught sight of the burly Xiao Jingye standing behind Qiao Qingyan, and his heart tightened. He hastily uttered a sentence:

"You're angry right now and not calm enough. We'll talk about this another day." With that, he hurriedly left.

Qiao Qingyan seemed to feel the burning gaze behind her. She turned around and saw Xiao Jingye staring intently at her.

She gave a slightly awkward smile and said, "You're back?"

Xiao Jingye strode up to her, his expression unreadable, gave a faint "hmm," and went inside.

Upon hearing her brother's voice, Duoduo immediately ran out of the house, her short legs trotting over to Xiao Jingye, sweetly calling, "Brother, brother..."

Xiao Jingye bent down and picked her up with one arm, gave her a light kiss on her soft little face, and carried her straight into the house.

Qiao Qingyan felt uneasy, wondering when he had returned, how much of what he had said, and whether he had heard it clearly.

Her ex-fiancé blocked her way in front of her in-laws' house to confess his love and pester her, which was quite shocking.

Fortunately, there are few residents around the Xiao family's house; otherwise, if others saw it, who knows what gossip would spread, making Xiao Jingye feel embarrassed for no reason.

Men have the strongest sense of pride, and even if he has no feelings for me at all, he will never tolerate such a scene.

Qiao Qingyan suddenly felt a pang of guilt. Although she hadn't done anything wrong, she inexplicably felt guilty.

Inside the room, Xiao Jingye placed the Chinese medicine he had brought back from the city on the wooden table: "Mom, this is the medicine I got for you."

Seeing her son's gloomy expression, Zeng Yumei was afraid he would misunderstand what had just happened, so she quickly spoke up to defuse the situation: "That young man just now was a villager who came to do propaganda work."

"Hmm," Xiao Jingye replied indifferently.

Upon hearing her mother-in-law's words, Qiao Qingyan immediately gave her a grateful look.

Xiao Jingye opened the bag containing biscuits and milk candy, and Zeng Yumei smiled and waved to her daughter-in-law: "Girl, come and have something to eat. Jingye bought it from the city."

Qiao Qingyan looked at the food on the table and couldn't help but wonder: Chen Xiaomeng had clearly said before that the Xiao family was so poor that they had nothing at all.

But ever since she married into the Xiao family, she has been able to eat meat every day, and Xiao Jingye even has extra money to buy these snacks.

Is there something wrong with the information about Chen Xiaomeng?

She declined softly, saying, "I don't really like these snacks, you guys can have them."

"Mom is sick and can't eat these sweets. Please sit here and eat," Zeng Yumei said, picking up the medicinal herbs her son had bought and turning to go into the kitchen.

Qiao Qingyan realized that most of these snacks were bought by Xiao Jingye for her younger sister Duoduo. Besides, White Rabbit milk candy was expensive, so she felt embarrassed to eat other people's food.

Just as she was about to turn around and go back to her room, the man's cold, deep voice rang out in the air: "I bought this especially for you, and you're not going to eat it?"

"Huh? You bought this for me?" Qiao Qingyan pointed at herself, her face full of surprise.

Xiao Jingye looked up at her: "Duoduo is overweight, and the doctor doesn't allow her to eat snacks. My mother isn't in good health either, she has some chronic illnesses, so she can't eat them either. I bought these especially for you."

Qiao Qingyan was immediately flattered and awkwardly sat back down at the table: "Well... thank you."

The other person didn't answer, but their face darkened.

He pinched a candy, peeled off half of the wrapper, and handed it to her.

Qiao Qingyan took it, said thank you again, and looked up to see Duoduo staring at her expectantly, practically drooling.

She couldn't bear it; how could she let the child watch the adult eat candy? She felt embarrassed.

Xiao Jingye, who was standing to the side, had already broken off a piece of cookie and handed it to Duoduo. Regardless of whether she could understand or not, he solemnly instructed her:

"Look how fat you are, you could float in water. You're only allowed half a cookie, the rest are your sister-in-law's."

After saying that, he gently flicked the tip of her nose: "Got it?"

Duoduo was eager to grab the cookies, but he deliberately held his hand high, not letting her have enough.

Only after the little one mumbled a soft "I remember" did Xiao Jingye hand her the biscuit.

Seeing this, Qiao Qingyan felt relieved and put the rich, milky White Rabbit candy into her mouth.

The sweet and mellow milky aroma melts instantly on the tongue, leaving the mouth feeling refreshed.

While she was chewing on the milk candy, she secretly glanced at Xiao Jingye beside her and couldn't help but wonder: Why would he buy snacks for himself?

"Aren't you going to eat?" she asked casually.

No sooner had she finished speaking than a trickle of saliva involuntarily spilled from the corner of her mouth, and Qiao Qingyan hurriedly pursed her lips and sucked it back.

In an instant, her cheeks flushed bright red, and she was extremely embarrassed.

Xiao Jingye shifted his cold gaze from her face, sat down at the wooden table, and shook his head slightly: "I don't like to eat these."

"Oh... then why did you buy it for me?"

He avoided the question, his deep gaze fixed on me: "I heard you're going to give me eight sons?"