As she heard the sound of the wheels rolling behind her, she turned around to see Qinghe’s eyes filled with a touch of sadness.
Fourth brother couldn’t go to the mountain to work, and he must be feeling upset about it.
Su Qingyue wanted to comfort him and tell him not to care, but she didn’t know how to put it into words.
She walked up to him, bowed her head, and quickly dropped a kiss on his forehead before moving away.
Xiao Qinghe was startled, what had his wife just done?
He touched his forehead in a daze… His wife had kissed him?
Yes, his wife had kissed him.
A flush spread on his face, and he kept thinking about her initiative to kiss him for a long time.
As soon as he came back to his senses, he told himself that no matter what, he had to do whatever he could and try not to burden his family.
Although he was destined to never stand up in his lifetime, his wife, even with her plain appearance, shone so dazzlingly.
Still, his insecurities weighed on him like a heavy stone, making it hard for him to breathe.
The afternoon sun was intense. Su Qingyue moved the jars and the desk into the kitchen.
Xiao Qinghe was weaving a bamboo basket, and she helped him carry a pile of bamboo slices to a shady spot under the eaves to avoid getting dizzy from the sun.
Su Qingyue picked up a long bamboo strip and wanted to weave a basket as well, but Qinghe stopped her once more, “Wife, let me do it. I can handle it. You can just rest.”
She shrugged, “It’s faster with two people. Weaving a basket isn’t tiring, and I don’t have anything else to do anyway.”
Although she did not know how to weave baskets before, she had watched her third brother teach the second and fourth brothers. With her intelligence, she quickly grasped the simple task. At first, she was a little clumsy, but soon she became proficient.
Su Qingyue occasionally looked up at him, feeling that a gentle and elegant man like fourth brother should be well-educated. But to her surprise, third brother said he was illiterate, and indeed, he was a real illiterate, unable to recognize a single character.
She stared at him and called out, “Fourth brother… ”
“Huh?” He looked at her gaze, his handsome face slightly red.
“Fourth brother, you really blush easily,” she teased.
The flush on his face deepened, and he barely managed a faint reply, “Not really… ”
She playfully pinched his face, “Yes, you do!”
Seeing her lean closer, her voluptuous chest, her youthful appearance, and her red lips, he wanted to kiss her again.
Noticing him staring at her in a daze, she knew the young man was secretly in love with her again, “Fourth brother, do you want to learn to read?”
He was stunned for a moment and hesitantly said, “That is what children from wealthy families learn… ”
“Who said that?” She countered, “You can still learn without money.” If it were modern times, education would be compulsory, with no tuition fees, just a small fee for textbooks and supplies.
“The gifts for schooling are expensive. Every year, it costs several taels, and the books are also expensive. And…” He glanced at his disabled legs, “I’m already a… what good would learning to read do for me?”
Her expression became solemn, “Fourth brother, do you really think you’re useless?”
Seeing the pain in his wife’s eyes, he realized it was for him, and his mouth opened to say something, but he was full of bitterness. It was a fact that he was useless. Thinking of his big sister’s words, she always called him a waste, saying that he was living a worthless life…
Being unable to stand for his entire life, what could he do?
Su Qingyue knew that even if she found a way to pay for Fourth brother’s education, he would not be willing to go because he would be reluctant to spend money. Moreover, his legs were disabled, and it would indeed be inconvenient to go to school outside. “Fourth brother, what if I teach you to read? Is that alright?”