After the spiritual energy was restored: Goddess girlfriends came knocking.

Since Xiaoxiao arrived, the courtyard has become much livelier than before.

Lin Chu's hands were completely freed up; the things she used to have to do were now being taken care of by Xiao Xiao.

As soon as it was light, you could hear her shouting and yelling in the kitchen.

"Sister! The porridge is overflowing!" "Sister! How thick is thick enough to cut this vegetable?" Cang Yao answered as she ran towards the kitchen.

Lin Chu leaned against the threshold and rubbed her forehead.

At this moment, Xiao Xiao is struggling with an iron pot, swinging the spatula as if she's fighting with someone.

Cang Yao directed from the side, her voice drowning out the sizzling sound of the oil in the pan.

"Put this in last."

"Oh." Xiao Xiao wiped the sweat from her face with her sleeve, leaving a gray mark.

The group sat around the stone table during the meal.

The little one was the most talkative, describing everything from Aunt Qin's cat to the big goose at the village entrance that always chased people, in vivid detail.

Mr. Chen smiled so much that his eyes narrowed.

Lin Chu occasionally chimed in with a few words, while Cang Yao smiled, resting her chin on her hand, feeling as if a nest of sparrows had appeared in the yard.

However, sometimes Cangyao would feel that something was not quite right.

For example, that afternoon, Xiaoxiao brought over a plate of freshly made sugar cakes and pushed it in front of Lin Chu.

"Brother Lin Chu, try this. I learned it from my sister."

Lin Chu took a bite and nodded: "Not bad, Xiao Xiao is great."

She was so proud of herself that her braids almost stood on end.

Cang Yao had just come out of the kitchen, carrying a freshly washed bowl in her hand.

She paused for a moment upon hearing those words.

She put the bowl on the table, sat down, picked up a piece of sugar cake and took a bite. It was sweet, but she felt a little depressed.

For example, Xiaoxiao learned to weave nets from Aunt Qin and wove a crooked, green net, which she insisted on hanging on Lin Chu's book box.

Lin Chu thanked her, and she waved her hand, saying she just made it up on the spot.

Cang Yao was sweeping the yard, but then she stopped.

She couldn't quite describe the feeling.

That afternoon, Cangyao went to Aunt Qin's house to deliver pickled radishes.

Aunt Qin took the jar and held her hand tightly. The two sat in the yard picking vegetables and chatting casually.

As Cang Yao spoke, she began to express her feelings over the past two days.

Aunt Qin was picking chives in her hands, and as she listened, the corners of her mouth began to turn up.

"Do you feel unhappy when you see him being nice to someone else?"

"Yes."

"But if he smiles at you, does it make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside?"

"Yes."

After picking the last leek, Aunt Qin patted the mud off her hands and looked at Cang Yao with a smile: "Silly girl, are you jealous?"

Cang Yao blinked: "Jealous?"

"Jealousy is—" Aunt Qin thought for a moment to explain, "It's when you like him and don't want him to be nice to anyone else, you only want him to be nice to you. You feel uncomfortable if he even glances at someone else."

Cang Yao opened her mouth, her expression as if a mystery had been revealed.

"So—this is jealousy?"

"That's jealousy."

Cang Yao looked down at the chive leaves on her knees, lost in thought.

Aunt Qin found it more and more amusing to look at her like this, and then, as if remembering something, she leaned forward.

"Yao'er, tell your aunt the truth. When are you two getting married?"

Cang Yao looked up and paused for a moment.

"marriage?"

"That's right." Aunt Qin patted her hand matter-of-factly. "You've been living in Lin's house for so long, who in the village doesn't know you're his wife? Aunt Wang tells everyone every day how lucky Lin is to have married a wife who can cook and is beautiful. Why don't you two get married?"

Cang Yao opened her mouth.

She remembered what she had said to Lin Chu under the locust tree that day.

"Then I'll wait until I understand, and then we can get married, okay?"

He agreed.

"He said—" Cang Yao's voice trailed off, "He said that once I've thought it through, we'll get married."

Aunt Qin paused for a moment, then smiled.

She reached out and tucked the stray hairs from Cang Yao's forehead behind her ear, then patted her cheek gently, as if she were touching her own daughter.

"Silly child, is there even a need to think about this?" Aunt Qin's tone was both amused and helpless. "You get up before dawn every day to cook for him, you stand by and wait for him when he forgets to eat while he's studying, you even follow him to the capital for the imperial examinations—and you still aren't married? Then tell your aunt, what conditions would it take for it to happen?"

Cang Yao did not answer.

Her eyes lit up briefly, then dimmed again, and her brows furrowed slightly.

"But he's never said he likes me."

"Men, how many of them talk the talk?" Aunt Qin said, bundling the chives together. "Look at the way he looks at you. When he looks at other people, he barely lifts his eyelids. But when you come over, his eyes follow you. Isn't that obvious?"

Cang Yao thought back for a moment.

When Lin Chu looked at others, she did indeed have a faint, polite, and distant expression.

When I look at her—I can't quite put my finger on it, but it's different from how I look at other people.

"So—" Cang Yao began slowly, her voice tinged with a hint of probing, "he should like me?"

"Of course." Aunt Qin picked up the vegetable basket, then, as if remembering something, leaned close to Cang Yao's ear and lowered her voice, "Auntie has something else to tell you. If you don't hurry, someone else might get there first."

"What do you mean by 'first come, first served'?"

"You didn't know?" Aunt Qin put down her shopping basket and counted on her fingers, "Young Lin is currently at the top of the imperial examination list. So many families around here are eyeing this promising young man. Just a few days ago, matchmakers were already asking him about his marriage prospects; they'd inquired with several families."

Cang Yao's eyes widened in surprise.

"A matchmaker?"

"Matchmaker," Aunt Qin nodded emphatically. "So I advise you, if you can get engaged, do it quickly. You've been completely open with him, and he treats you well too, so don't drag it out. If you're too shy to say it, I'll go and talk to him for you."

"No need, no need." Cang Yao waved her hands repeatedly, the blush on her face spreading from her cheeks all the way to the base of her ears.

She stood up, pushed the groceries in her hands into Aunt Qin's arms, and said, "I'm going back now."

"Don't forget what your auntie told you!" Aunt Qin called out from behind.

Cang Yao walked back quickly, her pace quickening until she reached the village entrance before stopping.

She leaned against the tree trunk and used the back of her hand to cool her burning cheeks.

Aunt Qin's words were still echoing in her mind.

Jealousy, liking, marriage, matchmaker.

She took a deep breath and looked up at the tender buds that had just sprouted from the locust tree above her.

His eyes gradually brightened.

At night, Cang Yao lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.

Little Xiao was curled up next to her, breathing evenly, already fast asleep.

Cang Yao stared at the wooden beams on the ceiling with her eyes open, her mind a jumbled mess.

She thought about Lin Chu serving rice to Xiao Xiao during the day, about his "thank you" when he took the tassel, and about his shaking his head and laughing when he saw Xiao Xiao knock over the salt jar.

Then I remembered Aunt Qin's words—"When he looks at other people, he barely lifts his eyelids. But when you walk over, his eyes follow you."

She rolled over and pulled the blanket up to her chin. Does he like me?

He should like me, right? He said last time that he would marry me once I understood what true love was.

Now—she remembered the tightness in her chest, the discomfort she felt when she saw him smile at others, and the sudden realization that came to her mind when Aunt Qin said, "This is jealousy."

This must be what true liking is.

Will he marry me?

Does what he said back then still stand?

She turned over, buried her face in the pillow, and sighed softly.

"Sis," a small, sleepy voice came from beside me, "you're making pancakes, flipping them back and forth."

Cang Yao froze.

"No, it's nothing. You should go to sleep."

Xiao Xiao rubbed her eyes, mumbled something indistinctly, "Egg pancake, delicious," then turned over and fell asleep again.

Cang Yao helped her pull the blanket up and dared not move again.