I am the villain in the book

An incense stick's time later.

After Wei Changtian repeatedly assured her that Xu Qingwan wouldn't lose those twenty taels of silver, Little Xu finally stopped crying, albeit with lingering suspicion.

Only then did she finally realize she was blushing.

As he spoke, Wei Changtian took out a ceramic pot from the food box, smiling as he said, “I'm not full either, I'll have some porridge with you.”

“Oh.”

Xu Qingwan lowered her head, quickly grabbing the small wooden box on the table and hiding it behind her back. Wei Changtian pretended not to notice, picked up the ceramic pot, and poured out two large bowls of Laba porridge.

Laba porridge, as the name suggests, needs at least eight ingredients, and of course, adding more is fine too.

For example, in a wealthy family like Wei Changtian's, there were at least ten or so ingredients in one bowl of porridge.

Besides the common rice, millet, Job's tears, and lotus seeds, there were also red dates, walnuts, raisins, and other ingredients that ordinary families wouldn't use. The aroma of the porridge instantly filled the entire room.

“Drink up.”

Handing Xu Qingwan a pair of chopsticks, he also took out a few small dishes of pickled vegetables from the food box.

Wei Changtian took the lead, picking up the bowl and taking a big gulp of porridge, then happily eating a mouthful of Li Suyue's pickled chili peppers.

Xu Qingwan had originally planned to wash her face first, but seeing Wei Changtian eating so heartily, she couldn't resist. In the end, she simply ignored the tear stains on her face, picked up the bowl, and began to sip slowly.

“Slurp, slurp,” two sounds, one loud and one soft, echoed in the room. The loud one was from Wei Changtian, and the soft one was from Xu Qingwan, who was “eating while crying.”

However, this time she wasn't crying because she was sad, but because the chili peppers were too spicy.

“Hahahaha, so you can't handle spicy food.”

Wei Changtian deliberately stuffed another pickled chili pepper into his mouth, laughing as he said, “Shu Prefecture is cold and damp, not being able to eat spicy food will easily lead to arthritis in the future.”

“Ar-, arthritis?”

Xu Qingwan stared with her big, teary eyes, looking puzzled: “What is arthritis?”

“Cough, it's bone chill.”

Wei Changtian changed his wording, shaking his head and saying, “If you develop a chronic illness, I won't take care of you.”

“Who-, who wants you to take care of me...”

Xu Qingwan's face turned even redder: “Al-, always saying these strange things...”

“Then you're even stranger.”

Wei Changtian suddenly put on a serious face, saying sternly: “You still haven't answered my question from earlier.”

“Why didn't you reply to my letter? Why didn't you tell me in advance about being transferred to Shu Prefecture?”

“I...”

Xu Qingwan put down her bowl, lowering her head and mumbling as if she was answering, but it wasn't very clear.

“I-, I wanted to write you a letter...”

“But-, but...”

“But what?”

Wei Changtian directly moved his chair to sit next to Xu Qingwan, complaining: “Speak up louder.”

“Oh.”

Xu Qingwan quickly wiped the corner of her eye, explaining in a small, aggrieved voice like a mosquito buzzing:

“Bu-, but every time I pick up the pen, I cry, and before I can finish writing, the paper is always soaked, so I didn't send it to you...”

“Yo-, you don't be angry, okay...”

Lightly tugging on Wei Changtian's sleeve, Little Xu looked apprehensive.

Wei Changtian was stunned upon hearing this, and after a long while, he took a deep breath and said seriously:

“Couldn't you wipe your tears while writing?”

“...”

This time, it was Xu Qingwan's turn to be stunned.

She opened her small mouth, not knowing how to answer. Fortunately, Wei Changtian was just teasing her, and immediately asked:

“Then what about the matter of coming to Shu Prefecture? Even if you couldn't write a letter, being transferred from the capital to Shu Prefecture, this matter must have required my father's approval, right?”

Wei Changtian analyzed: “But my father didn't tell me either, did you tell him not to say anything?”

“Mm-, mm.”

Xu Qingwan continued to tug on Wei Changtian's sleeve: “I-, I was afraid that if I told you, you wouldn't let me come...”

“...”

Wei Changtian's tone faltered: “Are you an idiot?”

Xu Qingwan shook her head honestly: “No-, not...”

“? ? ? ”

Looking at Little Xu's appearance, as if her IQ didn't exceed fifty, Wei Changtian almost laughed out loud.

“Heh heh... Cough! Drink porridge!”

“Oh, oh.”

Xu Qingwan also realized that she seemed a bit stupid at this moment, and lowered her head to drink porridge in embarrassment.

Wei Changtian looked at her for a while, and after finishing the porridge at the bottom of his bowl, he suddenly asked:

“Is it good?”

“Goo-, good.” A very sincere answer came from the large bowl.

“...”

Many people probably deeply understand the saying that everything tastes good when you're hungry.

When you are hungry, even the thought of steamed buns will make your mouth water, but when you are already full, any delicacy seems tasteless.

Therefore, it's understandable that Xu Qingwan, who hadn't had dinner, found the Laba porridge delicious.

But Wei Changtian had clearly already eaten hotpot, yet he smiled and nodded.

“Yeah, I think it's pretty good too.”

After drinking the porridge, the two sat and talked for a while.

Xu Qingwan talked about some of the things that had happened in the capital in the past three months, while Wei Changtian selectively talked about what he had seen and heard in Shu Prefecture.

As for Yang Liushi and Liang Qin, he didn't hide anything.

After all, these things couldn't be hidden anyway.

It would be false to say that Little Xu didn't care about this, but she didn't say much, probably because she had already been mentally prepared.

Time passed quickly, and it was already the hour of Hai (9-11 PM), the night outside the window was already very deep.

A solitary man and a woman sharing a room under such circumstances, if it were in his previous life, only a man who had been kicked in the head by a donkey would turn around and leave.

But after all, this was still ancient times, where openness wasn't high, so although Wei Changtian really wanted to stay overnight, he knew that a “proper” woman like Xu Qingwan probably wouldn't agree.

Good things take time, forget it.

“You've been traveling for so many days, get some rest early tonight.”

Standing up, Wei Changtian said regretfully: “I'll go back first, I'll come find you tomorrow.”

“Mm.”

Sure enough, although Xu Qingwan was a little reluctant, it was only out of a desire to spend more time with Wei Changtian, and probably had no intention of “offering herself in advance” at all.

“Drive carefully on the road.”

“Got it.”

Wei Changtian put the ceramic pot and other items back into the food box, reaching out to grab the tattered red string again.

However, Xu Qingwan suddenly stopped him at this time.

“Wa-, wait a moment.”

“What's wrong?”

“This is for you...”

Reaching behind her head and gently pulling, her smooth black hair instantly slid down.

Xu Qingwan handed the removed red string to Wei Changtian, saying softly:

“Originally, I should have embroidered a sachet or a money bag for you, but I can't do needlework. I learned from my mother for a long time but I couldn't learn it. Don't dislike it.”

“...”

Taking the brand new red string, Wei Changtian put it in his chest and put it away: “I won't... Alright, then I'm leaving.”

“Mm... Wai-, wait a moment again.”

“What is it now?”

Wei Changtian turned his head back with a puzzled expression.

However, Xu Qingwan didn't say anything this time, just gently grabbing his sleeve, and then, in Wei Changtian's surprised eyes, suddenly closed her eyes, and like a martyr going to their death, pushed her thin lips forward.

“Bwa~”