Walking on the road, villagers would occasionally cast puzzled glances.
Ye Qiu and Xue Ke's attire and temperament clearly indicated they were wealthy and noble, making some curious about why they had come to the village.
With his appearance greatly changed, the villagers naturally couldn't recognize Ye Qiu. The last time he brought Xiao Wu back, Village Elder Zhang was somewhat disbelieving that the person standing before him was Ye Qiu.
They didn't encounter many villagers along the way. Ye Qiu held Xue Ke's hand and walked further into the village.
Before long, a sturdy, aged stone house appeared before their eyes.
Moss covered it, and weeds grew in the cracks between the stones.
"Ye Qiu, is this...?"
Xue Ke looked at Ye Qiu, who had stopped for a long time, and asked tentatively.
"This is where I lived when I was little!" Ye Qiu smiled softly. "Let's go, let's go inside and take a look!"
"Okay!" Xue Ke nodded gently, following Ye Qiu towards the stone house's entrance.
The wooden door, weathered by wind and sun, was already somewhat decayed, creaking continuously with just a gentle push.
Inside, there wasn't much dust, but there was a musty smell.
Ye Qiu waved his hand, and a rich, fresh scent quickly dispelled the musty smell of disrepair.
"Is this where you lived when you were little, Ye Qiu?" Xue Ke looked astonished.
Standing still, looking at the stone house, which was not much taller than herself, almost touching Ye Qiu's head, smaller than her own bathroom, and with many areas partitioned by wooden boards, a look of distress suddenly flashed in her eyes.
"Stop! Don't look at me like that..." Ye Qiu looked at the emotions in Xue Ke's eyes and couldn't help but pinch her little face, interrupting her.
"Why?" Xue Ke covered her reddened tender face, looking at Ye Qiu in confusion.
"Because this is the normal situation for most ordinary people in this World! In the villages around these cities, and even in some small towns, there are many people worse off than me!"
Ye Qiu smiled indifferently; there was truly nothing to pity or feel distressed about, it was simply a common state of affairs for commoners.
But Xue Ke was stunned.
As an Empire princess, she had never stepped out of Heaven Dou City, had not even explored all of Heaven Dou City, and certainly didn't know about the suffering of the common people.
All this time, she had never seen such a sight.
"Here, you sit here for a moment, I'll go fix this house!"
Ye Qiu directly took a stool from his Divine Might Space and placed it in front of Xue Ke.
"Why don't I help you?"
"No need, I'll be quick."
Ye Qiu pressed her onto the stool and turned to replace the decayed wooden boards, wooden doors, and other items with materials taken from his Divine Might Space.
He then used his Sharingan to check the stone house, which was built with stacked stones, to see if any stones were unstable.
About fifteen minutes later, Ye Qiu finished everything.
Xue Ke didn't just sit there; she followed closely by Ye Qiu's side, quietly watching him.
"Ye Qiu..." Xue Ke walked up to Ye Qiu, gently brushed the dust from his face with her sleeve, and softly called out.
"Hmm, what is it?"
Xue Ke looked earnestly at Ye Qiu, then suddenly revealed a gentle smile.
She softly said, "I believe Father and Big Brother Crown Prince will make their lives better!"
Ye Qiu was stunned, but he smiled meaningfully.
In the current situation, it was truly uncertain who would win the throne!
He didn't say much, just nodded slightly and said, "Hmm, I hope so!"
"Hmm, it definitely will!" Xue Ke nodded earnestly, then pointed to some wooden toys in a corner. "Ye Qiu, did you play with those when you were little?"
"No, those were things I made for Xiao Wu before." Ye Qiu shook his head, and as he spoke, he had already taken out incense from his Divine Might Space.
"Xiao Wu..." Xue Ke, who had been very happy, suddenly fell silent. She knew Ye Qiu had other female confidantes, and felt a little uneasy. "They..."
"They're very easy to get along with," Ye Qiu said with a smile, turning to walk towards the peach tree outside the house.
Hearing this, Xue Ke's face flushed, and her heart swelled with joy.
Did Ye Qiu's words mean he had already accepted her?!
"Ye Qiu!" Xue Ke happily called out, then chased him out of the stone house. Before she even stepped through the door, she saw Ye Qiu kneeling before an old peach tree.
Putting away the joy on her face, she tiptoed closer to Ye Qiu. When she saw the several lit red incense sticks and heard what Ye Qiu was confiding, she also knelt down without hesitation, blushing, under Ye Qiu's surprised gaze.
Ye Qiu merely smiled at this.
For the rest of the time, Ye Qiu truly took Xue Ke for a walk.
First, he visited Village Elder Zhang and Zhang's Wife at the village head's house, leaving some money and also using his Spirit Ability to heal their internal hidden injuries, as well as leaving a few herbs that could prolong life.
During this time, because he brought Xue Ke back, Village Elder Zhang lectured him quite a bit, even thinking he was heartless and had dumped Xiao Wu.
Seeing Ye Qiu look deflated for the first time, Xue Ke couldn't help but secretly snicker from the side.
After a brief gathering, Ye Qiu took Xue Ke and left Bi You Village.
He couldn't take Xue Ke out for too long.
At the village entrance, Xue Ke lowered her head, holding Ye Qiu's sleeve, following him like a young wife.
Her fiery red face had two rows of tooth marks.
Perhaps it was because Village Elder Zhang had lectured him, and seeing Xue Ke making fun of him, Ye Qiu childishly bit her face twice.
This made Xue Ke too shy to lift her head, her shyness mixed with joy. Although her head was down, a smile played on her lips.
"All right, next, I'll take you to Notting College to see!" Ye Qiu took Xue Ke's hand, looked at Bi You Village one last time, and was about to activate his Divine Might to leave.
"Ah? My... my face still has tooth marks~"
Xue Ke lowered her head, covering her face, her delicate voice as faint as a mosquito.
"Haha, who told you to make fun of me!" Ye Qiu chuckled, slowly taking Xue Ke's hands away.
Xue Ke looked up at him, pouting and mumbling, "Hmm, I won't do it again."
"Sorry." He reached out and cupped Xue Ke's small face.
Rolling spirit power transformed into life force, slowly smoothing the tooth marks on both sides of her cheeks.
He gently rubbed her smooth skin; it had already recovered as before, supple, clear, and elastic.
Pop!
Xue Ke quickly stood on her tiptoes and lightly pecked Ye Qiu's lips. Then she hugged Ye Qiu, rested her head on his chest, and softly said it was nothing.
Space twisted, and the figures of Ye Qiu and Xue Ke disappeared at the village entrance.
In Nuoding City, Ye Qiu took Xue Ke back to the carving shop where he had been a work-study student and visited Jerry and Tom, the couple from back then.
It took a lot of talking for Ye Qiu to prove he was himself.
After selectively telling them some of his stories and leaving some herbs to heal their internal hidden injuries, Ye Qiu and Xue Ke bid them farewell.
"Woof woof~"
As Ye Qiu and Xue Ke left, a gray and white bulldog with a red collar around its neck at the shop entrance barked at the two of them again.
The old couple had no children; this was a dog they adopted for companionship, apparently named Spike.
...
Walking through Notting College, Xue Ke held Ye Qiu's arm, her face filled with happiness and contentment.
"Ye Qiu, will you take me out again in the future?"
"Of course, no problem, if I have time," Ye Qiu readily agreed. "But the premise is you must not mention me to Big Brother Xue."
"Ah?" Xue Ke looked at Ye Qiu in surprise, somewhat confused, but thinking of how Xue Qinghe often spoke ill of Ye Qiu in front of her, she nodded seriously.
"Hmm, I remember!"
In her heart, she secretly resolved to find an opportunity to make both her Big Brother Crown Prince and her Father agree to this marriage that she herself had found!
"Alright, we should go back!" Ye Qiu looked up at the sky; it was already noon, almost dinner time.
"Hmm!" Xue Ke nodded slightly. As for her relationship with Ye Qiu, she felt that they had tacitly confirmed it.
Divine Might activated, and the journey revisiting old places had ended.
"Ah! Teacher Yuehua!"
As soon as they returned to the top floor of Moon Pavilion, the two ran right into Tang Yuehua.
"How was it? Did you have fun?" Tang Yuehua teased, looking at Xue Ke, who was tightly hugging Ye Qiu.
"Ha-happy..." Xue Ke fumbled to let go of Ye Qiu, then was about to run downstairs.
"Ye Qiu, see you next time!" After speaking, she saw Ye Qiu gulp, and seeing Tang Yuehua's playful expression from the side, she had no choice but to put away her desire for a kiss and ran downstairs.
She didn't forget to greet Tang Yuehua.
"Goodbye, Teacher Yuehua!"
"Hehe... This girl is really shy!"
Tang Yuehua chuckled softly, walked towards Ye Qiu, took Xue Ke's place, and hugged Ye Qiu tightly.
Indeed, her generosity had its limits; she still felt a bit jealous in her heart.
Wishing everyone a happy life!
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