After becoming a widow, I became the apple of a rough man's eye.

The curtains weren't fully drawn, and a beam of light leaked in, shining directly onto the concrete floor and illuminating the dust particles floating in the air.

Lin Qingqing felt as if some feather had brushed against her cheek, again and again, carrying a bit of lukewarm heat.

She wrinkled her nose, groaned, and tried to turn over to avoid the annoying touch. As soon as she exerted force, a soreness shot up her spine, and all the messy memories of last night instantly came flooding back.

She slowly opened her eyes.

The first thing you see is a clean and tidy white shirt collar, with the buttons fastened meticulously.

Looking up, you see the Adam's apple bobbing, the jawline sharp and clean, and further up, Gu Qiangying's refined face is almost within reach.

He had been awake for a while, holding a book in one hand and reading it, while his other hand was also busy, his fingertips idly twirling the ends of her hair.

Seeing that she was awake, Gu Qiangying closed the book in her hand and casually put it on the bedside table.

"woke up?"

Lin Qingqing instinctively gripped the corner of the blanket and shrank further into the covers.

Last night, this person spoke to her in such a polite manner, but his actions were anything but polite, forcing her to call him "Third Brother" several times.

"What? Don't you recognize me?" He flicked her forehead with his fingertip. "You were quite affectionate when you were begging for mercy last night."

Lin Qingqing's face turned bright red, and after a long pause, she finally managed to stammer, "You...you're not allowed to say that."

"Okay, I won't say." Gu Qiangying readily complied, threw off the covers, and got out of bed.

He was dressed in neat trousers and a shirt, with hardly any wrinkles, and didn't look like someone who had spent the night crammed into this small single bed.

He walked over to the washbasin stand, wrung out a hot towel, and handed it to him: "Wipe your face, tidy up, and let's go eat. Xiao Wu next door has probably scraped all the plaster off the wall."

Mentioning Jiang He, Lin Qingqing's heart tightened: "Xiao He, he..."

"Knock knock knock!"

Before he could finish speaking, the door was pounded on with a deafening roar.

"Third Brother! The sun's already high in the sky! Are you guys embroidering in there?" Jiang He's voice came through the door, tinged with a resentful rage. "I'm starving!"

Gu Qiangying walked over and opened the door.

Jiang He stood at the door with messy, unkempt hair and dark circles under his eyes, clearly indicating he hadn't slept well the night before.

His gaze passed over Gu Qiangying and saw two pillows on the bed. Although the red mark on Lin Qingqing's neck was mostly covered by her collar, a bit of it was still visible.

Jiang He ground his teeth, his eyes blazing as he glared at Gu Qiangying: "Third Brother, didn't you say you'd stay with my sister last night? How could you fall asleep like that?"

Gu Qiangying slowly rolled up her sleeves, revealing a section of pale forearm, and said in a flat tone, "I kept watch for a while, then I got sleepy and went to sleep."

"I don't believe you for a second." Jiang He pouted, squeezed into the room and approached Lin Qingqing, looking aggrieved as if seeking comfort, "Sister, my back hurts. The bed in this guesthouse is too hard, it's hurting my bones."

Lin Qingqing was wiping her face with a hot towel when she heard him say that, and without thinking much of it, she said, "Then let's go to the herbal medicine shop later and have Third Brother get you a couple of plasters?"

Jiang He choked.

Gu Qiangying chuckled softly beside her and patted Jiang He's shoulder with a good mood: "Did you hear that? Patchwork is plentiful."

The three of them finished getting ready and left the guesthouse. The sun was already high in the sky.

The breakfast stalls in the county town were bustling with activity. Fried dough sticks were bubbling in boiling oil, and soy milk was steaming, mixed with the smell of smoke from coal stoves.

Lin Qingqing had used up a lot of energy last night, so she was indeed hungry now.

Gu Qiangying ordered three bowls of soy milk, a pound of fried dough sticks, and only two meat buns left, which she placed in front of Lin Qingqing.

Eat more.

Lin Qingqing had just picked up her chopsticks when Jiang He quickly reached for a steamed bun, saying, "I want some too!"

"Smack."

Gu Qiangying tapped Jiang He's hand with her chopsticks with precision, the force was not great, but the sound was crisp.

"What are you eating!" Gu Qiangying pushed the plate of steamed buns towards Lin Qingqing. "You're still so young, you'll have plenty of opportunities to eat them later."

Jiang He rubbed the back of his hand and took a bite of the fried dough stick indignantly: "You're biased."

Lin Qingqing couldn't help but laugh as she watched the two brothers sparring.

She picked up a steamed bun, broke it in half, and handed the half with more meat filling to Jiang He: "Here, stop fooling around."

Jiang He immediately beamed, took the steamed bun, and proudly gestured with his chin towards Gu Qiangying: "See? My sister still cares about me."

Gu Qiangying chuckled, "Eating won't shut you up."

After lunch, the three headed straight to the county's medicinal herb company.

In those days, the trade of medicinal herbs was still mainly under a planned economy, but some private circulation was allowed.

Gu Qiangying worked at the commune health center. She was certified and an expert. Once inside, she became acquainted with Manager Wang, who was in charge of purchasing.

"Oh, Dr. Gu, what a rare guest!" Manager Wang, a middle-aged man with a receding hairline, was blowing on the tea leaves from a large tea mug. Upon seeing Gu Qiangying, he immediately put down the mug and came out to greet her.

"Come and see what's in stock this season." Gu Qiangying didn't stand on ceremony and went straight to the point, "Have the astragalus, angelica, and that batch of wild schisandra berries I ordered arrived?"

"We're here, we're here. They're all in the warehouse."

As the group entered the warehouse, a strong smell of herbs wafted towards them.

The moment Gu Qiangying entered this place, her entire aura changed.

He casually grabbed a handful of sliced ​​astragalus root, smelled it, and then examined its texture against the light, his brows furrowing slightly.

"Old Wang, this batch of goods isn't very good quality." Gu Qiangying threw the astragalus back into the sack, dusted off his hands, and said, "Did it come from Gansu? The moisture wasn't drained properly, so it's heavy."

Manager Wang chuckled awkwardly, "Dr. Gu has a keen eye; this is indeed a little damp, but the price is negotiable."

"Price is one thing, efficacy is another."

Gu Qiangying walked to another pile of sacks, untied one and looked inside. "This angelica root is quite good, with a large head and long body, and plenty of oil."

Jiang He followed behind, doing the hard labor, already carrying several bundled paper bags in his hands, his tongue lolling out from exhaustion.

"Third Brother, isn't that enough? We still need to take a bus back, and I can't carry all this."

"If you can't carry it, then practice." Gu Qiangying said without turning her head, "Go back and dig more ground, and you'll naturally have the strength."

Lin Qingqing followed beside Gu Qiangying, watching her haggle with someone.

He spoke slowly and deliberately, without shouting, but every word he uttered hit the nail on the head, leaving Manager Wang speechless. In the end, not only was the price reduced by 20%, but he also got several kilograms of licorice for free.

Lin Qingqing was somewhat touched.

In the village, everyone buys and sells things by shouting loudly; whoever is the loudest is right.

But Gu Qiangying is different; she always speaks politely and logically, and she's also very intelligent.

"Oh, right, Dr. Gu," Manager Wang exclaimed as he slapped his forehead, "the two pounds of natural musk you ordered haven't arrived yet. They said it was delayed on the way and won't be delivered for another two days."

Gu Qiangying raised an eyebrow: "A couple of days is a few days?"

"The earliest it will be is the day after tomorrow."

Gu Qiangying pondered for a moment, then turned to look at Lin Qingqing and Jiang He.

Upon hearing this, Jiang He's eyes immediately lit up, and he threw the medicine packet on the ground, exclaiming, "That's great! We can stay in the county for a couple more days!"

Gu Qiangying glanced at him, didn't refute, and turned to Manager Wang, saying, "Okay, then wait two days. Keep these goods here for now, and find a truck to pick them up once they're all gathered."

Once outside the pharmaceutical company, Jiang He was like a wild dog let loose, grabbing Lin Qingqing and trying to run towards the park.

"Sister, I heard there are boats in People's Park, let's go boating!"

Lin Qingqing hesitated for a moment: "That will cost money, won't it?"

"Third Brother is rich!" Jiang He pointed at Gu Qiangying with confidence. "The money we saved on buying the medicinal herbs is enough for us to go boating ten times."

Gu Qiangying pushed up her glasses, not wanting to spoil the fun: "Let's go, let's go for a walk."

The People's Park in the county town is not large, with an artificial lake in the middle, its green waters rippling gently, and weeping willows swaying along the banks.

Several small wooden boats painted green floated on the lake.

The three of them rented a boat.

Jiang He volunteered to row the boat, sat in the middle, held the oars with both hands, and rowed the boat crookedly, even spinning it around in place.

"Can you row a boat?" Lin Qingqing sat at the bow of the boat, feeling a little dizzy from the rocking, and couldn't help but laugh and playfully scold him.

"I definitely will!" Jiang He gritted his teeth, his arm muscles tensing as he struggled against the two oars.