“What’s the matter, second brother?” she asked indifferently.
His gaze was complex as he looked at her. He had intended to apologize; being with Rong’er was a betrayal to her. Considering she never acknowledged him as her husband, he thought that if he said it out loud, she wouldn’t care. Seeing Li Rong’er standing at the kitchen doorway watching him, he didn’t want to hurt Rong’er’s feelings. So, he just said, “The twenty taels I owe you, once my injury is healed, I’ll repay after selling the game from hunting in the mountains.”
The second brother had said before that he wanted only one woman in the future, but Su Qingyue never took it to heart. Since she had told him to marry someone else, she didn’t care about his emotional promises to her.
Yet he had promised he would not go hunting in the mountains anymore, and he easily overturned that promise.
Truth be told, Xiao Yishan owed her far more than those twenty taels he spent on Li Rong’er.
His insistence on repaying this small amount of money actually made her feel averse.
Twenty taels was not a small sum.
If he wanted to repay it, so be it.
Su Qingyue nodded indifferently.
In Xiao Yishan’s heart, a flash of disappointment passed. Indeed, once a woman decides to follow a man, does her heart change that much?
Previously, his wife didn’t want him to repay those twenty taels, but now that they were dividing the family, she seemed eager to take more.
Xiao Yishan thought about how she unhesitatingly took back the more than a thousand taels, it was also to exclude him, Xiao Yi, from her life, wasn’t it?
The more he thought about it, the more imbalanced he felt in his heart.
“I will repay it!” He dropped these four words and went into the kitchen.
Su Qingyue watched his stiff back and rolled her eyes. The second brother was indeed a glutton for punishment.
Li Rong’er had been all ears, listening to what Xiao Yishan and Su Qingyue were saying. Hearing him mention repaying the twenty taels, her face went green.
She wanted to curse Xiao Yishan fiercely, but she didn’t have the guts.
Seeing as the day was getting warmer, Rong’er prepared a basin of warm water, dipped a facecloth in it, and handed the wrung-out facecloth to him, “Brother Xiao, wash your face.”
Xiao Yishan was deeply moved by her thoughtfulness.
In the past, the Xiao Family was so poor that no woman ever came close.
The relationship he had with Liu Haitang was one where he earnestly wooed Haitang, never having enjoyed such tender, solicitous care from a woman. “Rong’er, you’re so thoughtful,” he said.
She feigned a shy smile, peeking up at him timidly with her head lowered.
Xiao Yishan liked her innocent and timid appearance, thinking her quite cultivated and pure.
Thinking about how she had given her pure and clean self to him, his heart softened, and he reached out his large, generous hand to hold her small one, “Rong’er, I will definitely treat you well in the future!”
She pretended to be moved and clasped his large hand, while inside she was so angry she could shake, yet her face remained gentle, “Brother Xiao, there’s something I’m not sure if I should say.”
“You say it,” he encouraged.
“I heard what you said to Su Qingyue just now,” she said cautiously. “I have no problem with you repaying her. But after you give her the money, with your third brother’s clever mind, he’ll surely take it from her. Besides, twenty taels of silver is not a small amount. Didn’t Su Qingyue say in front of the villagers that day that it wasn’t necessary to repay the twenty taels? Why are you insisting on repaying it? What’s the reasoning?”
Xiao Yishan knew that his third brother resented him for using Yue’er’s money to ‘buy’ Li Rong’er. He also felt that it was not honorable to do so, which was why he thought about repaying it, “Are you not pleased?”
“No,” she quickly put on a smile to appease him when she saw signs of his growing irritation. “I just feel that your third brother is unreliable. Instead of letting Su Qingyue’s money be conned away by him, it would be better if you kept the twenty taels and occasionally bought something for her with it to keep it safe,” she suggested.