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

When the two rushed into the cowshed, they were already soaked to the bone.

The rain outside suddenly intensified, as if someone was pouring water down from the sky. Everything was a white blur, and you couldn't even see the road.

The cowshed was cramped, only two or three square meters in size, and was filled with dry hay and rotten wood.

Lin Qingqing leaned against the corner, her clothes soaked through, clinging tightly to her body and outlining her exquisite curves.

She was shivering from the cold, her arms wrapped around her chest, and her teeth chattering.

Gu Qiangying placed the medicine box on the only pile of dry hay and glanced back at her.

Rain dripped down his hair, and his glasses were fogged up. He took off his glasses and flicked them away, revealing his long, narrow eyes, now free of lenses, which appeared exceptionally deep in the dim light.

"Stay closer to me," he said to Lin Qingqing.

Lin Qingqing took two steps closer, and Gu Qiangying reached out and began to unbutton his shirt.

"Third...Third Brother?" Lin Qingqing was startled and instinctively looked around. "What are you doing?"

Gu Qiangying's slender fingers unbuttoned each button, revealing her lean and fair chest.

Although he looked refined, his muscles were well-defined, unlike Xiao Yong's exaggerated muscles, but they exuded a sense of resilience.

He took off his soaking wet shirt, wrung it out with both hands, and the water gushed out and pooled on the ground. Then he turned the shirt over.

The inner layer is also damp, but it's better than the outer layer.

"What are you hiding from?" Gu Qiangying approached with a shirt in hand, cornering her. "It's so cold, I can't work, and I don't have a penchant for working outside."

As he spoke, he draped his shirt over Lin Qingqing's head and gently rubbed her hair through the fabric.

The man's presence instantly enveloped them.

It smelled of rain, mixed with his unique, faint medicinal scent.

Lin Qingqing buried her face in his shirt, her nose filled with his scent.

"Third Brother..." Lin Qingqing said in a muffled voice, "You've been refusing to accept payment for the consultation and medicine from that family?"

Gu Qiangying paused for a moment, then chuckled, "Who said I wouldn't accept it? I'll come collect the medicine fees after I sell that little girl."

Lin Qingqing pulled her shirt down a little, revealing a pair of watery eyes as she looked at him: "You're being stubborn."

Gu Qiangying looked down at her.

The two were now very close. He was shirtless, his skin glistening in the dim light, water droplets sliding down his collarbone, over his chest muscles, and into his waistband.

"Qingqing, don't think too highly of me."

Gu Qiangying casually draped his wet shirt over the beam next to him, then braced himself with one hand on Lin Qingqing's side, trapping her between himself and the pillar.

The sound of rain outside was noisy, but it made this little corner of the world seem especially quiet.

"I didn't study medicine to practice medicine and save lives."

He lowered his head, leaned close to her ear, and spoke in a deep, seductive voice.

"I just like that feeling. A knife and a few needles can decide a person's life or death. If I have enough skill, if I want him to live, even the King of Hell can't take him away; if I want him to die, even a god can't save him."

His fingers slid down Lin Qingqing's cheek and stopped on her slender neck, the pulse under his fingertips pounding violently.

"I like this feeling of having control over life and death."

Lin Qingqing looked into his eyes. There was no gentle warmth in them, only a chilling madness and obsession.

Strangely, she didn't feel scared.

"Then why did you save that old man?" Lin Qingqing looked directly at him. "You could have just ignored it."

Gu Qiangying narrowed his eyes, seemingly surprised that Lin Qingqing dared to ask a question in return.

"It's fun." He curled the corner of his mouth and, before Lin Qingqing could react, suddenly lowered his head and pecked her on the corner of her lips.

They parted at the slightest touch, carrying the coolness of rain.

"Moreover," Gu Qiangying stepped back half a step, put her glasses back on to conceal the undercurrent in her eyes, "occasionally acting as a bodhisattva in a quagmire isn't so bad."

He turned around, looking at the rain outside, his back straight and aloof.

"Dry yourself out and put your clothes on. We'll leave when the rain gets lighter."

Lin Qingqing touched the corner of her mouth, where his warmth still lingered.

Looking at Gu Qiangying's retreating figure, she suddenly felt that he seemed somewhat lonely.

The rain gradually subsided, leaving only a light drizzle.

By the time the two returned to their courtyard, it was already dusk.

Before even entering the door, he saw a thin figure pacing anxiously in the doorway. When he saw two figures appear at the intersection, Jiang He's eyes lit up, and ignoring the mud on the ground, he took off running towards them.

"elder sister!"

He completely ignored Gu Qiangying, who was walking in front of him, and rushed to Lin Qingqing like a gust of wind.

"Why are you so late? I've been waiting all afternoon! Aren't you cold?"

Jiang He asked a barrage of questions while simultaneously draping a large towel he had prepared over Lin Qingqing's head, covering her completely except for her small, palm-sized face.

"I'm not cold..." Lin Qingqing was about to speak when a warm jar was shoved into her hand.

"Drink it quickly! This is ginger soup. I've been simmering it for a long time and added lots of brown sugar. It's not spicy at all!" Jiang He looked at her expectantly, her beautiful eyes filled with heartache and a hint of unconcealed grievance.

Lin Qingqing held the enamel mug, the warmth spreading from her palms throughout her body.

She lowered her head and took a sip; the sweet and spicy flavor instantly dispelled the chill in her body.

"It's delicious." She smiled at Jiang He.

Jiang He breathed a sigh of relief, then turned his head away, his obedient and clingy demeanor towards Lin Qingqing vanishing instantly.

Especially when he saw the wet shirt Gu Qiangying was carrying and her bare upper body, even though he had done everything with his third brother before, the flames in his eyes still suddenly flared up.

"Gu Laosan, where did you take my sister?" Jiang He asked like a possessive wolf cub, "Why are you naked?"

Gu Qiangying draped the wet shirt over her arm and looked at him with a half-smile.

"Little Crane, have you gotten so into raising pigs that you want to become a watchdog?"

"You're the dog!"

Jiang He was furious. If it weren't for Lin Qingqing being there and him needing to maintain his image, he would have pounced on her and bitten her. "You get soaked in the rain, and now you're dragging my sister down with you! I knew I shouldn't have let you bring her!"

"Alright." Gu Qiangying was too lazy to argue with her immature younger brother. She walked past him into the yard. "If I really wanted to bully her, would you have seen her come back unharmed?"

As he passed Jiang He, he paused for a moment and said casually, "Cook me a bowl too, I'm cold."

Jiang He was so angry his face turned green. He shouted, "It's in the pot! I cooked it for you a long time ago! Who's as heartless as you?!"

Gu Qiangying walked ahead, saying, "Bring it inside and hand it to me!"

Jiang He waved his fist at his back, turned around, grabbed Lin Qingqing's sleeve and shook it.

"Sister, ignore him!"

"Next time we go for a consultation, if the weather is bad, I can give you a ride on my bicycle. Let Old Gu walk there himself and make him furious."

Lin Qingqing couldn't help but laugh at his ability to change his expression faster than flipping through a book.

"Okay, I'll let you give me a ride next time."