The next day, Yang Ming got up early feeling quite good because he had secretly held his wife all night without being discovered.
After washing up in the morning and stepping out, he happened to encounter Li Fugui returning home for breakfast. This was their first meeting since Li Fugui had recovered from his illness.
The two men made eye contact, and the atmosphere turned awkward for a moment.
Li Fugui didn’t know how to face Yang Ming. In the past, his words to Yang Ming were never kind, always laced with disdainful sarcasm, but now he was... This must be the punishment from the heavens for what he had done before.
He just felt unbearable shame and didn’t know how to interact with Yang Ming.
Yang Ming noticed Li Fugui’s discomfort and thought if he were in his shoes, under the same blow, he might not have been able to handle it as Li Fugui was now, "Is your family settling in well?"
Li Fugui smiled awkwardly and nodded, "Yes, we are settling in well."
"Then stay with ease, and don’t have any concerns."
Li Fugui’s heart churned again. Yang Ming had brought him home under those circumstances; even more so now, he felt he owed a debt of gratitude he might never be able to repay in his lifetime.
"Brother Li, do you have any plans for the future?"
"..." Facing Yang Ming’s question, he didn’t know how to answer. Right now, he probably had no ability to do anything.
"Have you thought about going back to the Academy and striving for official positions?"
Li Fugui shook his head. He was well aware of his own limitations. Although he knew a few characters, he definitely wouldn’t pass the exams for official positions, and he didn’t want to waste his time on that.
He thought he really needed to consider carefully what he wanted to do next. How could he go about finding Xiaotian? He couldn’t just wait in this household forever.
Seeing that Li Fugui didn’t respond and seemed to be pondering something, Yang Ming didn’t press any further. He figured Li Fugui must have his own plans; he just wasn’t sharing them.
But there was something he had to remind Li Fugui of, "Brother Li, Xiaoqiu is like you. She has suffered a shock before, and I don’t want her to fall ill again, so please keep your distance from her as much as possible."
"I understand. The past was indeed my fault. Rest assured, I’ll definitely stay far away from her."
Having been in the household for several days, he had heard about Yang Qiu’s situation. She, too, had a tough life, and he didn’t want to hurt her, nor could he.
If he stayed here, even at a distance, there were some things he couldn’t control. He thought he should take the opportunity to leave.
"I heard from my wife that you want to marry Xiaotian?"
"Yes." Li Fugui nodded shyly. In his whole life, he only wanted to marry Xiaotian, which is why he agreed to stay.
"Then listen to what my wife says."
"I’ll go find Xiaotian, don’t make us worry and go looking for you."
"..." Did Yang Ming figure out he was planning to leave? How terrifying were this couple? Whatever he thought, they seemed to know.
How would Yang Ming know he was planning to leave? He only wanted to remind him to cooperate well and not cause trouble for his wife, who was already so tired from managing the household.
Just as Li Fugui was thinking about staying away from Yang Ming and his wife in the future, suddenly Yang Ming pulled him aside and said quietly, "Brother Li."
"That... I wanted to ask..."
"..." Why was this man hesitating? "Ask what?"
"How did you express your feelings to Xiaotian?"