A Farm Girl: Three Acres of Fertile Land Can Be Exchanged for a Country

It turned out to be Duan Yanxi and Bao'er's mother. Bao'er's mother was carrying a bamboo basket with a few potatoes and a bunch of spinach in it, while Duan Yanxi was holding a baby girl. They seemed to have come to pick vegetables.

What bad luck to run into someone here...

Ruolan's mind raced, and she made up a lie: "When I woke up, I saw that no one was home, so I went out to look for them."

Upon seeing her attire, Duan Yanxi immediately guessed that she intended to escape. He smiled wryly and said, "Is that so? Then I'm sorry to have troubled you, Mother. We're fine, let's go back."

Ruolan had no choice but to follow them back, and her escape plan fell through.

When they returned to the courtyard, Niu Laosan was already back, chopping wood in the yard, while Bao'er was playing with his bamboo dragonfly.

Upon seeing Ruolan, he excitedly ran over, stretched out his hand, and asked, "Where's my candied hawthorn?"

The others looked at them in confusion. Ruolan squatted down awkwardly and said, "I didn't see it today. How about I buy it for you another day?"

Bao'er looked at her with disappointment, "So you were a liar."

Ruolan could lie without batting an eye in front of adults, but his words made her heart skip a beat, and she almost confessed the truth.

Seeing that her expression was off, Duan Yanxi reached out and pulled her away, saying to Niu Laosan, "I'll take her to the ancestral hall first."

Niu Laosan, oblivious to the subtle tension between the two, said nonchalantly, "Alright, then hurry back, dinner will be served soon."

Duan Yanxi hummed in agreement and left the courtyard with Ruolan.

Along the way, they encountered many villagers. Duan Yanxi calmly supported Ruolan, his face revealing no hint of anything amiss.

However, once they arrived at the deserted ancestral hall, he went inside, closed the door, and forcefully pushed Ruolan against the wall, his face grim.

"You won't shed a tear until you see the coffin, will you?"

Ruolan bumped into the wall, her shoulder aching. The emperor in her arms was also awakened by the impact and burst into tears.

She held him and gently rocked him to comfort him and stop him from crying, while raising her head expressionlessly and saying, "I don't know what you are."

"You don't know that? You're quite the actor."

Duan Yanxi walked over, reached out and pulled off the cloth covering her head, holding it up in his hand: "If you still refuse to give up, then I can only..."

With a rip, the cloth tore in two in his hand, which he threw at Ruolan without hesitation, adding his unfinished words: "I'm cutting ties with you."

Ruolan knew she couldn't hide it from him the moment she saw him and Bao'er's mother. Confronting him would only lead to her own downfall, so Ruolan softened her tone, meekly picking up the tattered cloth, and said in a low voice, "I understand, I won't do it again..."

Duan Yanxi did not completely believe her because of this statement. On the contrary, because he knew her true nature well, he became even more wary.

He looked at the dilapidated ancestral hall and thought to himself that he should buy a lock and lock Ruolan inside so that she would never be allowed to go out again.

Ruolan glanced at him cautiously and asked, "Shouldn't we go to Third Brother's house?"

"Third Brother? You're calling him so affectionately, do you want him to help you escape?"

Duan Yanxi asked unhappily.

“I’m just hungry,” Ruolan said.

"You're a woman with a mind more complex than the eye of a pin. Do you think I can't see that you're seducing him?" Duan Yanxi recalled the events of the day and maliciously guessed, "He probably already has a plan on how to sleep with you. You're quite something, willing to have any kind of man."

Ruolan, having endured this for so long, finally snapped in anger and embarrassment, "I didn't seduce him! But you, getting so close to that village woman, do you really think I'm blind?"

Who I'm close to is none of your business.

Ruolan instinctively wanted to retort, but a sudden pain in her neck reminded her of what had happened earlier, so she wisely shut her mouth.

Duan Yanxi was pleased with her sensible behavior and opened the door, saying, "Don't just stand there like an idiot, come out."

The two returned to Niu Laosan's house and had dinner with the family of three. At the dinner table, Niu Laosan kept glancing at Ruolan, Bao'er's mother kept glancing at Duan Yanxi, while Bao'er was happily munching on a chicken leg, her hands covered in grease.

His gluttonous appearance stirred Ruolan's maternal instincts, and she couldn't help but take out a handkerchief to wipe the corners of his mouth.

Duan Yanxi glanced at her sideways, growing increasingly puzzled. In his memory, Ruolan wasn't someone who liked children. What was going on?

After the meal, Bao'er's mother took out several sets of clean clothes and gave them to them to change into.

They took the clothes, thanked them, and left, walking into the ancestral hall.

It was already very late, and they needed to light an oil lamp to see things clearly, but they couldn't go to sleep right away. They still had to boil water to take a bath, sweep the floor, and make their beds.

Duan Yanxi had never done these things himself before, so he instructed Ruolan, "Go and boil water."

Ruolan knew she couldn't rely on him for these things, so she put the child on the bed and resigned herself to her work.

The stove was small, only enough to heat enough water for one person's bath at a time. While Duan Yanxi was taking a bath, Ruolan would go to make the bed and sweep the floor. By the time she finished everything, it was already midnight.

She was so tired that she couldn't straighten her back. She took off her clothes, lay down on the bed, closed her eyes, and fell asleep.

She was pulled aside, and Duan Yanxi came over and nudged her. She was extremely annoyed and said with her eyes closed, "If you don't want me to die of exhaustion, then don't bother me."

Duan Yanxi chuckled twice, patted her thin shoulders, and said, "You look frail, but you're actually quite capable."

Ruolan rolled her eyes, not wanting to pay him any attention.

His hand slid down her shoulder line, stopping on her flat stomach. He lifted her clothes, looked down at her round belly button, and whispered, "I've always had a question."

Ruolan nodded in agreement.

Duan Yanxi looked up at her face, his eyes filled with probing and suspicion.

"Before you came with me, did you really only serve one other prince, the Eighth Prince?"

Ruolan suddenly opened her eyes, alarm bells ringing in her mind, wondering why he had suddenly asked this. She pushed his hand away, pulled the blanket over her body, and buried her head inside.

"I don't want to talk to you, I'm going to sleep."

Duan Yanxi was not one to give up easily; he raised his hand and yanked the blanket off to the ground.

Ruolan sat up, picking up the blanket while muttering, "Are you crazy? This blanket was given to us by the village chief. If you get it dirty, are you going to wash it?"

Duan Yanxi blocked her hand and pressed her for the truth: "You must tell me the truth."

Is there a difference between "yes" and "no"?

"Of course I have!" Duan Yanxi grabbed her wrist, a hint of disgust flashing in his eyes: "You've had a child before, haven't you?"

Ruolan was startled when she realized she had been tricked. Despite her best efforts to hide it, a hint of panic flashed across her face.

Duan Yanxi caught the hint of panic, understood the answer, and collapsed onto the bed with a thud, laughing loudly as he looked at the moldy ceiling.

"Haha...hahaha..."

Ruolan was completely confused. "What are you laughing at?"

Given his personality, shouldn't he have slapped him?