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

Seeing that he indeed had caught a cold and even seemed to have become hunched over, Wutong brought him medicine several times in a row.

Wenxin never took it back, and later she simply stopped opening the door altogether.

By this time, he had not eaten for five days.

Sometimes his coughing could be heard coming from the house, and it was quite alarming.

He's giving up on himself and deliberately hurting himself; perhaps only physical pain can make him temporarily forget the pain in his heart.

But if this continues, he really will die.

Wutong could say one thing and mean another to drive him away, but she could never bring herself to watch him die of illness or starvation; that would be no different from killing him with her own hands.

Just as she was anxiously about to rush into the woodshed to feed Wenxin her medicine, Xuyun unexpectedly pushed open the door of the woodshed and saw Wenxin before she could.

It was a night when the old oil lamp that Xu Yun brought in illuminated the woodshed, and the shadows of the two men were reflected on the window, swaying with the flame.

Wutong held her breath and followed them to the corner of the wall on the right side of the woodshed, where there was a window that allowed her to see them and hear their voices.

In the woodshed, Wenxin was still lying on the bedding. The dark blue quilt was covered with patches, which made his face look as white as paper, and even the red mole between his eyebrows seemed lifeless.

Xu Yun stood to one side, his slender frame appearing somewhat taller now. He looked down at Wen Xin, a hint of pity flashing in his eyes, but it vanished in an instant, leaving only his usual indifference and arrogance.

"Get up, I have something to tell you."

Wenxin slowly opened her eyes, her expression blank. "I just want to sleep."

"Torturing yourself like this will only cause pain to your loved ones and joy to your enemies."

"I have no enemies, I'm just tired."

"Then you can listen to the whole story before you go to sleep," Xu Yun said coldly. "Didn't you beg me to tell you before?"

Wenxin realized what he wanted to say, and with one hand supporting himself on the blanket, he struggled to sit up, his body seemingly swaying slightly.

"Are you really willing to tell me?" He had been disappointed for so long that he could hardly believe such a good thing could happen.

Xu Yun said, "If you keep talking nonsense, I might change my mind."

Wenxin obediently shut up, a glimmer of hope burning on her lifeless face.

Xu Yun shook the hem of his robe, sat down in a corner of the bedding, and gazed at the starry sky outside the window, as if he were reminiscing.

"Your mother's name is Qi Yunqiong, and she is from Jinzhou..."

Qi Yunqiong came from Jinzhou, a town in Jiangnan. She had the delicate and beautiful appearance common among women from Jiangnan. She was born into a wealthy textile family in the area and rarely left her home. She spent her time in her room learning embroidery, playing the zither, and writing poetry. She was a true lady of a prominent family.

She came from a wealthy family, and her parents were kind people who would distribute porridge at the temple gate on the eighth day of each lunar month, earning them the title of "living bodhisattva" from the beggars.

Yet, even so, they were targeted by bandits during one of their outings. Seeing their luxurious attire, the bandits secretly plotted to send men disguised as day laborers to infiltrate their home and thoroughly investigate the entire mansion, inside and out.

On a dark and stormy night, hundreds of bandits lay in ambush in the city, waiting for everyone to fall asleep before they made their move.

At first, he would stealthily steal, but when he was discovered, he simply stabbed the person who discovered him to death and started robbing openly.

Qi Yunqiong's parents both died at the hands of bandits, and she herself was kidnapped by the bandits and taken back to their camp because of her beautiful appearance.

After being tortured by them in the camp for a period of time, they sold her to a slave trader. After many twists and turns, she arrived at the foot of Immovable Peak and was sold to a hunter as his wife.

That hunter was fierce and ruthless; he would beat her at the slightest provocation, and she had to do all the housework.

Poor thing, she was a woman who had never washed her handkerchief since arriving in Dalian. Here, she not only had to endure hardship and toil, but she also had to help the hunters gut the wild animals they captured, cut off their hides, and have the hunters sell them in the town at the foot of the mountain.

Every time the hunter went out, he would lock her in the house. Qi Yunqiong couldn't stand this life and tried to escape. While fleeing in the woods, she happened to meet Shi Xin, who was coming down the mountain to buy food.

Shi Xin was not yet twenty years old at the time. He had thick eyebrows and big eyes, a thin figure, and a shaved head. Wearing a monk's robe, he made Qi Yunqiong feel as if she had seen a god descend to earth, and she rushed over to ask for help.

Young and impetuous, Shi Xin, after understanding the situation, told her to stay in the woods to hide while he went to the house to ambush the hunter and hand him over to the authorities. Ideally, he could use this opportunity to catch the bandits who kidnapped her and send her back to Jinzhou.

He was very skilled, while the hunter only had brute strength and was no match for him.

After the hunter was handed over to the authorities, things didn't go as smoothly as he had hoped. First, the hunter refused to admit that Qi Yunqiong was someone he had bought, and accused her of being promiscuous, having affairs with other men behind his back, and even conspiring with those men to harm him.

Qi Yunqiong was easily embarrassed and could not bear such an insult. She immediately tried to commit suicide by hitting her head against the wall to prove her innocence.

It was Wenxin who rescued her and temporarily settled her in the town. He would come to take care of her whenever he had time, and he would bring her rice, flour and vegetables.

Qi Yunqiong settled down here, thinking of home day and night, and she and Wenxin gradually fell in love. The two were mutually attracted and finally decided to go to Jinzhou together to find their relatives.

At that time, Shi Xin had not yet returned to secular life and dared not speak to Xu Yun. He prepared for a long time but could not bring himself to speak.

Just then, news came from outside that Qi Yunqiong's uncles and aunts were looking for her and wanted to take her home.

There was no time to wait any longer; Qi Yunqiong wished she could fly straight home. Shi Xin, loving her, mustered his courage and went up the mountain to ask Xu Yun if he could return to secular life.

Xu Yun had long noticed that he had been acting strangely lately and suspected that he had someone he liked down the mountain. After hearing his words, he neither agreed nor disagreed, but only asked him, "When you go to her house, how will you support her?"

In the heat of passion, Shi Xin hadn't considered the issue of livelihood and said blankly, "Her family is quite well-off, we shouldn't have to worry about food and clothing..."

"So you're willing to go and become someone's live-in son-in-law? What if they don't even want a poor monk like you?"

Xu Yun interrupted him and said this.

Shi Xin was speechless. She went back to her room and thought for a long time before running back and saying, "I have legs that can walk, hands that can work, and a mouth that can speak. Even if I work as a laborer at the docks, I can still earn money to support her."

"You probably haven't seen how poor families live. Are you willing to let her give up her family fortune and live a simple life with you?"

I don't want to, I can't bear to.

Looking at his hands, Shi Xin suddenly realized that after living for so many years, all he knew how to do was chant sutras.

Xu Yun continued, "If you truly want to spend your whole life with her, instead of growing tired of each other after a few years, then you must start from scratch and amass a fortune of tens of millions before you can achieve a happy ending with her."

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