All the heavens begin with the love in the courtyard.

Ran Qiuye was surprised that He Yuzhu asked about this. After a couple of seconds of hesitation, she readily admitted it.

"I know, I actually went to your compound later, but after learning that you were hospitalized, I didn't go again!"

Although Ran Qiuye's tone seemed calm, He Yuzhu could clearly sense that Ran Qiuye must have gone through something at that time.

He Yuzhu stopped what he was doing, turned around and looked directly at Ran Qiuye, speaking in a very sincere tone.

"If I'm not mistaken, you must have run into Qin Huairu that day, right? And Qin Huairu must have said something to you about how close she and I were!"

Ran Qiuye looked at He Yuzhu's serious expression, nodded, and then shook her head. Her feelings were also complicated at the moment, and she recalled the scene when she met Qin Huairu that day.

That afternoon, Ran Qiuye made time early to arrive at He Yuzhu's courtyard. She was thinking that she would help with the cooking and take this opportunity to get to know He Yuzhu better.

As soon as she entered the compound, she ran into Qin Huairu, who had just returned from delivering food to the hospital.

Upon seeing Ran Qiuye, Qin Huairu looked exhausted and remained silent, leading Ran Qiuye to He Yuzhu's house.

As Qin Huairu skillfully began preparing soup for He Yuzhu, she casually spoke to Ran Qiuye.

"Teacher Ran, Zhu Zi was admitted to the hospital yesterday. He has a high fever and is in a coma!"

Ran Qiuye was also taken aback. Just as she was about to ask for details, Qin Huairu started cleaning He Yuzhu's house in front of her. Ran Qiuye was very embarrassed. In the end, she asked where He Yuzhu was hospitalized because she wanted to go see him.

Qin Huairu said something very coldly.

"Teacher Ran, you're not suited to be a pillar!"

Ran Qiuye was speechless, but unable to refute, she could only stand silently in the room.

Qin Huairu tidied the bedding as skillfully as if she were in her own home. After finishing, she sighed dejectedly and continued speaking to Ran Qiuye.

"Teacher Ran, you should actually know about the relationship between Zhu Zi and me, right?"

Ran Qiuye nodded blankly.

Qin Huairu continued.

“Over the years, I have indeed liked Zhuzi and even fantasized about him becoming my support. But obviously, that fantasy was just wishful thinking on my part. I also hope that he can find a suitable girl to take care of him for the rest of his life. I have been deliberately distancing myself from him recently in the hope that he will not be affected by me and can find a good girl. But look, he has fallen ill as soon as I was not careful. Teacher Ran, if you think you can take good care of Zhuzi in the future, I wish you all the best. But if you cannot give him a warm and safe home, I hope you will think it through!”

After saying that, Qin Huairu ignored Ran Qiuye and started making soup and cooking. She did it very carefully and attentively, and her tired face was full of peace.

As Ran Qiuye watched that scene, she felt like a sinner, a sinner who had interfered in the relationship between He Yuzhu and Qin Huairu. At that moment, she backed down!

Later, she felt that leaving without saying goodbye was a bit unfair to He Yuzhu, and she wanted to wait until he was discharged from the hospital to say goodbye to him properly. But that day, as soon as she arrived at the gate of the compound, she heard several people talking about Qin Huairu and He Yuzhu's messy affair.

After listening for a while, she finally understood. It turned out that Qin Huairu's wicked mother-in-law had ruined her daughter-in-law's reputation so that Qin Huairu could take care of her in her old age, making it impossible for Qin Huairu to get married.

At that moment, Ran Qiuye thought the same as most people: Qin Huairu was really pitiful, her reputation was completely ruined. Then she thought of the other person involved, He Yuzhu, and Ran Qiuye hesitated again and chose to leave directly.

And so, by a twist of fate, the two missed each other once again.

If it were He Yuzhu from the original novel, he definitely wouldn't understand, and in the end, he would still follow the same old path and be won over by Qin Huairu.

However, despite his complicated feelings, He Yuzhu had no intention of rekindling his relationship with Qin Huairu.

Ran Qiuye wanted to say something, but didn't know where to begin. Qin Huairu hadn't said anything that day, and what she said made a lot of sense. She really couldn't take care of He Yuzhu, and in her current state, she needed someone else to take care of her.

Ran Qiuye didn't know how to explain it to He Yuzhu, so she could only lower her head and remain silent.

When He Yuzhu saw Ran Qiuye like this, he immediately felt that he must have been tricked by Qin Huairu again. That woman was an extremely scheming bitch!

He Yuzhu stopped talking and stepped forward, taking a step and grabbing Ran Qiuye's hand.

Ran Qiuye was startled and tried to break free, but He Yuzhu gripped her even tighter. He then placed his other hand on her shoulder, making her look at him.

Seeing Ran Qiuye's flustered little face, He Yuzhu felt particularly sad. He looked into Ran Qiuye's eyes and said to her very seriously and solemnly.

"Qiuye, do you hear me saying what I really mean? Every word I'm saying now comes from the bottom of my heart!"

Ran Qiuye stopped struggling. Although she was still a little flustered, she raised her head and looked into He Yuzhu's eyes.

Seeing Ran Qiuye's somewhat frightened, flustered, and evasive eyes, He Yuzhu secretly vowed that he must protect this woman!

Chapter 63: Let's get married!

"Qiuye, I swear to God here that there is no relationship between me and Qin Huairu other than that of neighbors. I used to help her family because I felt sorry for them, but that was purely because I felt sorry for her as a widow with several children!"

He Yuzhu looked directly into Ran Qiuye's eyes, and a glimmer of light finally appeared in Ran Qiuye's eyes as she looked directly into He Yuzhu's eyes as well.

"Do you trust me, Akiba?"

"Yes! I believe you!"

Seeing the glimmer of light in Ran Qiuye's eyes, He Yuzhu finally breathed a sigh of relief before continuing to speak earnestly.

"Furthermore, I really, really want to tell you that I have always hoped to build a family with you. Let's work hard together and walk together. I want you to be my wife. I don't want to see you suffer, and I don't want you to suppress all your sadness and sorrow in your heart. I want to share all the difficulties with you. I am willing to use my shoulders to carry everything for you. Qiuye, can you give me a chance?"

Ran Qiuye's eyes shone brighter and brighter, but as they shone, a pure and clear tear slid down her cheek. Yet, she smiled as she looked at He Yuzhu, her tears falling uncontrollably.

He Yuzhu carefully reached out and wiped away the tears from the corner of her eyes. The two gazed at each other silently. He Yuzhu had already gotten the answer from her eyes, and suddenly felt a sense of accomplishment!

Just then, a kid who looked like a student sneaked into the toilet. When Ran Qiuye saw this, she immediately struggled free and continued to sweep.

The little devil glanced at the two of them, made a face at Ran Qiuye, snorted, and then took off his pants, intending to urinate in front of Ran Qiuye. He Yuzhu was furious when he saw this. This little brat! He went up and tried to flick his penis.

Seeing this, Ran Qiuye quickly grabbed He Yuzhu. He Yuzhu looked at Ran Qiuye's pleading eyes and held back. This scene made him determined to find a way to get Ran Qiuye out of this environment first.

When Ran Qiuye realized that it was almost time, she suddenly remembered that there were still circles drawn on her face, so she quickly washed them off with water, which made He Yuzhu feel very sorry for her.

In this era, there are many things that He Yuzhu is powerless to change. Half an hour later, the two secretly left the school.

The two found a secluded park and strolled around secretly. Finally, they found a stone bench to sit on, and He Yuzhu couldn't help but reach out and hold Ran Qiuye's hand.

Ran Qiuye did not refuse, but the two of them were once again in an awkward situation.

"Akiha, I'll find a way to get you out of school!"

Ran Qiuye looked at He Yuzhu with some surprise, thought for a moment, and finally shook her head.

"Didn't you say this wave would eventually pass? I actually quite like being a teacher. Children will always make mistakes, as long as they know them and can correct them!"

He Yuzhu looked at the girl who had always appeared strong with some pity, but in the end he couldn't bear it, so he took her hand and placed it in his palm.

"Listen to me, if you like being a teacher, you'll have plenty of opportunities in the future. You can become a teacher again after this wave passes. Anyway, I don't want to see you suffer any more grievances!"

Ran Qiuye paused for a moment, then obediently nodded without saying a word.

Seeing that there was no one around, He Yuzhu pulled Ran Qiuye into his arms and let her lean against him. Ran Qiuye leaned stiffly against He Yuzhu, and He Yuzhu could feel that her palms were sweaty. He smiled helplessly and whispered in her ear.

"Akiha, let's get married!"

Ran Qiuye froze, as if she were a straight log, and leaned motionless against He Yuzhu's shoulder.

After a long while, she slowly spoke.

"You really want to marry me?"

He Yuzhu raised his head, looked at the slender girl in front of him, smiled, stroked her braid, and finally gently lifted her chin, saying very solemnly.

"I want to marry you, live with you, raise children, and grow old together!"

Ran Qiuye's eyes began to well up with tears again, but this time she didn't cry out loud. She took the initiative for once, reaching out to hug He Yuzhu's waist, burying her head in He Yuzhu's chest, and nodding vigorously!

At this moment, He Yuzhu felt that all his expectations had finally come true. He was finally a married man, and this time, he would not let his happiness slip away again.

The two stayed in the secluded little park for two hours until it was almost dark, at which point He Yuzhu took Ran Qiuye home.

He Yuzhu never expected that he could hold Ran Qiuye's hand so quickly, and even get her to agree to date him. On his way home, he still felt like he was dreaming.

In fact, He Yuzhu was overthinking things. Feelings in this era are very pure. Ran Qiuye appears to be a cheerful and optimistic girl, but she has experienced too much in the past few months, and all her sadness and sorrow are hidden in her heart.

But suddenly, He Yuzhu bravely appeared, making her realize for the first time what it felt like to be protected; beneath that seemingly hard shell lay a soft and vulnerable heart.

He Yuzhu returned home and pondered for a long time. He glanced at Qin Huairu's house outside and saw that it was brightly lit, indicating that it was dinner time.

It seems I need to marry Teacher Ran as soon as possible and settle things. That guy on the other side is really hard to guard against. He Yuzhu has truly experienced it firsthand.

He even vaguely suspected that the last time Qin Huairu came to his house that night, she was slapped by the old woman, and the whole thing became a big fuss. Could this incident also be a trap?

He Yuzhu simply couldn't imagine what kind of scheming woman would be willing to sacrifice her reputation to force a man to choose her.

It seems that he will have to stay away from this widow from now on, He Yuzhu thought to himself.

Nothing happened that night. The next morning, He Yuzhu went to the factory to ask for leave. In order to avoid any unforeseen complications, he planned to resolve Ran Qiuye's matter as soon as possible.

At this point, the connections He Yuzhu had built up over the years finally came in handy. He didn't actually look for any big shots; he just found a former secretary who had served him back then, who now worked in the area around Teacher Guan Ran's school.

He Yuzhu didn't really have any requests. He just wanted to get Ran Qiuye suspended from her job and have her work relationship transferred so that she could temporarily get out of the quagmire.

(I won't go into details here!)

If there's an opportunity, in a few years when things are better, he'll try to find a way to get Ran Qiuye back to teaching. In the next few years, he'd rather Ran Qiuye stay out of work and stay away from all that trouble.

This matter couldn't be resolved in a day. He Yuzhu met with Ran Qiuye again the next day to reassure her that the matter shouldn't be difficult. Ran's parents were just overseas Chinese, far from being among the most severely affected, and the impact on them wasn't too serious.

He Yuzhu hasn't told anyone about his relationship with Teacher Ran yet, fearing another unexpected incident. He plans to announce it once everything has settled down.

After staying in the hospital for two days, Xu Damao was eager to be discharged. Although his speech was still unclear and his skin was still dark, he could move around without much difficulty.

Xu Damao was in such a hurry to be discharged from the hospital because he was worried that if he stayed in the hospital for too long, his position at the steel mill would be replaced. As a well-known conspiracy theorist, he always had a kind of paranoia!

Worried about being replaced!

Chapter 64: Why does nobody believe me!

Xu Damao's concerns are not unfounded.

Xu Damao rose from an ordinary projectionist to one of the eight pillars of the steel mill in less than a year.

If he can do it, then others can too. When betrayal has become a fine tradition, no one can guarantee that they won't be dragged down by someone else tomorrow.

Despite losing all his composure, Xu Damao still tried every means to express his loyalty to Director Li, saying that even if he died from poisoning, disease, or starvation, he would always follow in Director Li's footsteps!

Although Director Li felt nauseous just looking at Xu Damao's liver-colored face, he still praised his revolutionary spirit of not leaving the front line despite being seriously injured, which was commendable!

But despite the praise, Director Li was always concerned about saving face. Seeing that Xu Damao's speech was slurred and he looked like he had late-stage tuberculosis, he was quite upset.

No matter how you look at him, his appearance is unpleasant to look at, so without hesitation, Xu Damao was sent to a corner to write documents every day. It was better to go to a corner so as not to pollute his eyes.

This officially banished Xu Damao to the sidelines. Xu Damao is now suffering in silence and can only silently write Director Li down in his little notebook.

Director Li's attitude towards him made his narrow-minded heart even narrower. At this moment, he felt that he had been abandoned by the whole world, and that the whole world was his enemy.

I need to deal with these people one by one, but the first one I need to deal with right now is that stupid woman, Qin Jingru!