60 Chapter 60: Closing the Distance

“Go ahead,” Song Que thought for a moment before replying.

Since he had nothing to do anyway, he could just listen.

Qin Xiaoyao’s eyes lit up, and she continued.

“In the distant ancient times, there was a Mountain of Flowers and Fruit in the country of Aolai in the East. On the mountain, there was an immortal stone that absorbed the essence of heaven and earth and produced immortal babies.”

“One day, the stone burst. The sound shook the heavens, and the stone gave birth to a stone monkey…”

Qin Xiaoyao recounted the story of ‘Journey to the West’ as she recalled it.

Song Que was listening at her side.

He had only wanted to beat around the bush to get more incriminating evidence against Qin Xiaoyao, as well as to kill time, but the more he listened, the more interested he became.

“Alright, let’s stop here for today. If you want to know what happens next, wait for the next episode.”

After she finished telling how the Monkey God wreaked havoc in Heaven by scrawling the words ‘The Great Sage, Heaven’s Equal, was here’ at the end of the sky, Qin Xiaoyao yawned finally and chose to end the story for the night.

Song Que, on the other hand, was very captivated by the tale.

Listening to Qin Xiaoyao’s tale, he was a little reluctant to let her end the story temporarily, but he didn’t stop her.

Then, before Qin Xiaoyao started snoring, he closed his eyes.

As usual, before he fell asleep, he heard a familiar snoring sound beside him.

After that, even Song Que himself did not realize that he no longer wanted to pounce over and strangle the noisy fellow beside him to death, unlike in the past.

The next day, when Qin Xiaoyao got up, it was still raining outside.

After breakfast, Big Girl Li wore a straw raincoat and came later than usual.

“Since you’re here, come with me and toss these ramie plants into the stream.”

“Before the rain stops today, we won’t be going into the mountains,” Qin Xiaoyao said.

“Alright!” Big Girl Li quickly agreed.

“Yup. And, if it rains in the future, we’ll also rest. You don’t have to come over.” Qin Xiaoyao thought for a while and said.

Big Girl Li’s face lit up.

“Alright!”

Then, she started to get busy with Qin Xiaoyao.

They took the ramie plants from the courtyard to the river and tossed them into the water.

In order to stop the ramie from floating away, the two of them also made some barricades.

Qin Xiaoyao only let Big Girl Li go back after they were done with the work.

After returning to the Song family’s house, she had a free day for the first time ever.

However, Qin Xiaoyao wasn’t someone who could stay idle. She wasn’t interested in weaving straw sandals with her mother-in-law and little sister-in-law, so she went to boil medicine for her attractive husband.

In addition, she was preparing to change Song Que’s dressing one day in advance.

After preparing the tools and ointment, Qin Xiaoyao went to the room next door.

At this moment, Song Que was sitting on the bed, copying the book she had brought back from town.

When he saw Qin Xiaoyao come in, he didn’t frown like he usually did.

He only glanced at her once and then looked away.

“I’m here to change your dressing,” Qin Xiaoyao said.

She felt a bit happy inwardly.

Surely it was a good sign that he did not frown upon seeing her?

Only then did Song Que raise his head again to look at Qin Xiaoyao.

Following that, he put down the brush in his hand and shifted his body outwards.

Then, he cooperated with Qin Xiaoyao and placed his leg on the small stool she had brought.

“I’ll have to trouble you then,” he said.

Qin Xiaoyao was taken aback.

She wondered whether she was hearing things.

Did her attractive husband just talk to her?

“You… You’re welcome,” Qin Xiaoyao quickly stammered.

Then, she got to work.

“Can you continue with the story from last night?” Then, Qin Xiaoyao heard Song Que’s voice from above her head.

“Sure,” Qin Xiaoyao replied readily.

Then, as she changed Song Que’s dressing, she continued with the story from last night.

She was serious in her work and kept her eyes focused on Song Que’s legs.

However, she did not notice that Song Que was looking down at her with his head lowered.

His expression was full of inquiry and earnestness.

Suddenly, Qin Xiaoyao pulled on his wound unwittingly, and Song Que winced in pain.

“I’m sorry! Are you okay? I’ll… I’ll be more careful after this!” Qin Xiaoyao raised her head and immediately looked into Song Que’s deep eyes.

...

Then, her heart thumped with overwhelming joy again.

“I’m fine. You can continue.” Song Que quickly adjusted his expression and said gently.

For the first time, he realized that he didn’t hate this woman’s infatuated gaze.

On the contrary… he felt…

Never mind…

Qin Xiaoyao came back to her senses.

“Alright,” she said. She blushed and lowered her head.

Then, she continued to change Song Que’s dressing and told him the story of ‘Journey to the West’.

The changing of dressing ended very quickly.

Qin Xiaoyao pretended to help Song Que back to his previous sitting position.

Just as she realized that her actions were a little inappropriate, Song Que unexpectedly cooperated and extended his hand.

...

Qin Xiaoyao was very moved.

She then reached out to support Song Que, not daring to look at Song Que during the entire process.

However, Song Que stared at Qin Xiaoyao intently, his eyes still full of curiosity.

Finally, Qin Xiaoyao helped Song Que back to his earlier sitting position.

“Alright. I’ll… I’ll go out first.” With her head lowered, Qin Xiaoyao still didn’t dare to look at Song Que.

Damn it! Her attractive husband was probably staring at her just now.

They were so close that she could feel his breathing.

“Alright,” Song Que replied indifferently.

Qin Xiaoyao quickly grabbed her tools and fled in a hurry.

She only calmed down when she was outside the room and could feel the cool air hit her face.

This wouldn’t do! Qin Xiaoyao, you couldn’t go on like this!

She had to train up some resistance slowly.

Otherwise, how was she going to get along with her attractive husband in the future?

After reminding herself in her heart, Qin Xiaoyao finally made up her mind.

Henceforth, she must no longer avoid her attractive husband.

Moreover, she had to talk to him more and get used to living with him.

At noon, the sky finally cleared up.

Qin Xiaoyao was washing the dishes when Big Girl Li came again.

She also carried a backpack on her back, which contained a sickle and a small hoe.

“It’s clear after the rain, so there must be a lot of mushrooms in the mountains now. Sister Sanya, let’s not go too far today. Let’s just go to the mountains behind to pick mushrooms,” Big Girl Li said with a laugh.

The reason was that the paths in the deep mountains were more difficult to walk on if they set off after the rain, making it easier to fall.

Qin Xiaoyao nodded.

“Okay! I was just thinking of having mushroom soup. In addition, Fortune Mansion will definitely also accept mushrooms.”

Even if the restaurant didn’t take them, she could still store them after drying.

Therefore, after Qin Xiaoyao cleaned up the kitchen, the two of them entered the mountain again together.

In the end, when they reached the back of the mountain, they realized that there were many people picking mushrooms.

However, most of them were young children from the village.

After asking, Qin Xiaoyao found out that the children often went up the mountain to pick mushrooms after the rain.

Some of them were taken back to cook at home, while others were actually used to feed the chickens.

When Qin Xiaoyao saw some of the children picking a lot of mushrooms, she had some ideas.

“Do you think there will be any takers if we say that we are buying mushrooms from other people for one copper coin per catty?” Qin Xiaoyao asked Big Girl Li.

The mushrooms in the mountains were usually not big or heavy.

If she asked for one catty, the amount of mushrooms required to make up the weight would be quite substantial.

Even if she and Big Girl Li were quick at picking mushrooms, they probably wouldn’t be able to pick many in just half a day. It was better to buy them directly.

It was one copper coin per catty. The adults might not think much of it, but the children should be interested.

Big Girl Li thought for a moment.

“We can try.” She expressed her concurrence.