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

The waiting time seemed to pass very slowly.

Cang Yao paced back and forth in the courtyard, opening the gate three times and glancing towards the village entrance three times.

Every time I hear footsteps, I stand up, only to find it's the neighbor's dog passing by, and then I slowly sit back down.

In the afternoon, she simply moved a stool to the gate of the courtyard, holding the Book of Poetry in her hand, but didn't turn a single page.

She looked at the words in the book, but her mind was filled with other things.

Was I too sudden last night? Did he get scared?

She regretted it a little, not that she regretted saying it, but that she regretted running away right after saying it.

He was secretly annoyed. Why did he run away! What would he say if he ran away?

I should stand still and watch him, waiting for his reply.

Even if he says he doesn't like her, she wants to look him in the eye and hear it.

Lin Chu has gone out, and no one knows where she went.

Could it be that she's finding herself too bothered and wants to escape to a safer place?

Cang Yao grew increasingly uneasy, covered her face with the Book of Songs, and sighed heavily.

The sun gradually moved westward, and the shadow of the locust tree in the courtyard shifted from the east wall to the west wall.

Cangyao reheated the food twice, then put it on the stone table until it cooled down, and then took it back to reheat it.

Xiao Xiao was munching on a freshly braised chicken leg that Aunt Wang had brought over in the yard, watching her older sister rushing in and out like an ant on a hot plate.

"Sis, can you sit down and rest for a while?"

"I'm not tired."

"I feel tired just looking at you, even if you're not tired."

Cang Yao finally sat down on the stone bench, but her legs kept shifting position, and her toes kept drawing circles on the ground.

She opened her mouth, then suddenly said, "Xiaoxiao, I told Lin Chu last night."

"What did you say?"

"Tell me—tell me you like him."

Xiao paused for a moment while gnawing on the chicken leg, then continued gnawing as if nothing had happened.

"oh."

Aren't you surprised?

"What's so surprising?" Xiaoxiao tossed the chicken bones into the bowl. "You've been hanging around him every day for years, cooking fish for him, washing his clothes, cleaning his house. You were more anxious than anyone when he failed the imperial examinations, and happier than anyone when he succeeded. Do you think I can't see it?"

She wiped her mouth with her sleeve. "I knew it a long time ago."

Cang Yao opened her mouth, her face slowly turning red.

"And what about him?"

"I'm just a turtle, how would I know so much?" Little one muttered. "Anyway, I see you every day."

Cang Yao lowered her head, then raised it again, and glanced towards the village entrance.

It was getting dark.

Just as she was starting to wonder, "What if he doesn't come back?", familiar footsteps sounded at the gate of the courtyard.

Cang Yao jumped up from the stool and ran to the door in a few steps.

Lin Chu stood outside the door, carrying a small cloth bag. He looked travel-worn and a little tired, but he smiled when he saw her.

"Where did you go—" Cang Yao's voice trembled slightly. She thought she would question him forcefully, but the words that came out were all different. "Why didn't you tell me you left? I thought—I thought you—"

She realized she was getting more and more incoherent, so she simply shut up and stood at the doorway, looking up at him.

Lin Chu looked down at her slightly red eyes, walked over and rubbed her head.

"Cangyao".

"Um."

"Come with me for a walk by the stream."

Cang Yao raised her head.

Lin Chu's expression was different from usual.

"it is good."

Lin Chu reached out and took her hand.

Cang Yao looked down at her hand being held, and froze.

His palms were warm, and his fingers were neither too tight nor too loose, perfectly enclosing her hand.

Although we hold hands sometimes, this time it felt different.

Cang Yao's face gradually turned red.

Xiao Xiao was gnawing on a chicken leg in the yard, watching the two people walk out of the yard one after the other, one walking steadily, the other staggering.

She shook her head and spat out the last bone.

The crooked willow tree by the stream swayed its branches gently in the night breeze.

Lin Chu led Cang Yao to the willow tree, where the stone she had moved there years ago stood.

He took something out of his bag and handed it to her.

A candied hawthorn skewer.

The bright red hawthorn berries, coated in a glistening sugar glaze, didn't break this time.

Cang Yao looked down at the candied hawthorn.

She reached out, but instead of taking the candied hawthorn, she grabbed the hem of his shirt.

She gripped his clothes tightly with both hands until her knuckles turned white.

"Lin Chu." Cang Yao's voice was muffled, as if she had suppressed all her emotions. "I was wrong."

Lin Chu was taken aback.

"I shouldn't have been angry with you. You just went to town, and I was overthinking things. I shouldn't have kept wanting your answer."

She lowered her head, and her voice grew softer and softer.

"I don't want you to marry me anymore, just don't leave me. Just let me stay by your side."

Cang Yao finally raised her head, her peach blossom eyes filled with tears, her eye sockets red, and her eyelashes wet and clumped together.

Lin Chu looked at her hand gripping his clothes tightly, and at the reddening corners of her eyes.

He put the candied hawthorn aside, reached out his hand, and placed his palm on her cheek.

He gently wiped away the tear that was about to spill from the corner of her eye with his thumb.

"Fool."

Lin Chu's voice was very soft and gentle, as if she were comforting a wronged child.

"You did nothing wrong, and I won't abandon you."

Lin Chu wiped her eyes again.

"You've been very obedient."

Cang Yao sniffed, about to speak.

Lin Chu pressed his thumb against her lips, preventing her from speaking.

"Furthermore—" He paused, a smile curving his lips, clearly visible in the moonlight, "Who said I was going to break my promise?"

Cang Yao was stunned.

Her lips parted slightly beneath his fingertips, and her peach blossom eyes slowly widened.

Lin Chu withdrew her hand and took out a small brocade box from her bosom.

He placed the brocade box in her hand.

"I went to town today specifically for this, to open it and take a look."

Cang Yao looked down at the brocade box in her hand.

My fingers were trembling slightly, and it took me a couple of tries to open the lid.

There was a bracelet in the box.

Golden.

It's not very detailed, and the workmanship isn't particularly exquisite.

It is carved with fish scale patterns and gleams with a warm light under the moonlight.

You can tell that a lot of thought went into it—the edges are polished very smoothly, without a single burr.

"In my hometown, there's a custom," Lin Chu's voice came from above her head, "that if a man and a woman are mutually in love, the man will give the woman a token of their affection."

Cang Yao raised her head, her peach blossom eyes still glistening with tears, but the light within them was different now.

Lin Chu took the bracelet out of the brocade box and took her right hand.

Her fingers were trembling slightly.

Lin Chu looked at her but didn't rush to put it on her.

"Cangyao".

"Um."

"Are you willing?"

Cang Yao bit her lip, tears welling up in her eyes.

This time she couldn't hold back, and tears slid down her cheeks.

She nodded vigorously.

"I do! I do! I do!"

She lunged forward, crashing into his arms, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist, and burying her face in his chest.

Lin Chu was knocked back a little by the bump, and after regaining her balance, she gently placed a hand on her back.

Give me your hand first.

Cang Yao lifted her head from his embrace, her eyes and nose red, but her smile was more beautiful than ever.

She extended her right hand, and Lin Chu slipped the bracelet onto her wrist; it fit perfectly.

Cang Yao raised her hand to her eyes and looked at it over and over in the moonlight.

A golden halo swayed between her fingers, reflecting the shimmering light of the stream.

She had seen enough and placed her hand on her chest.

"Lin Chu." She looked up and stared at him intently.

"Um."

Do you like me too?

Lin Chu looked at her.

He reached out and pulled her into his arms, resting his chin on the top of her head.

"Yes! After the palace examination, I will announce to everyone that I will marry you." Lin Chu's voice was very soft, close to her ear, so that only she could hear it.

Cang Yao buried her face in his chest and hugged him tightly.