Inviting the Moon to the Farmhouse

Chapter 117 Night Meeting with Zhou Yuan

Night fell over the river valley village, and all was quiet. Only two houses in the village still had their lights on, one of which belonged to Xia Yao's family.

Xia Yao put down the book in his hand, gently blew out the oil lamp on the table, and walked out of the room.

By the soft moonlight, he walked across the familiar countryside, heading towards the river. All around was quiet, save for the echoing sound of his footsteps.

People were already waiting by the river.

This person is about 1.7 meters tall, with a strong build, and has a scar about three centimeters long on his cheekbone.

Xia Yao approached, and the man turned around to look at Xia Yao upon hearing the sound.

Xia Yao spoke first, "Zhou Yuan, I'm here."

Zhou Yuan handed a large cloth bag to Xia Yao, saying, "Here, this is the money for eleven shi of grain. I kept thirty percent for myself, and this contains three guan."

Xia Yao took it, weighed it in his hand, and didn't open it.

"So? Has Village Chief Zhao suspected us?" Zhou Yuan asked.

Xia Yao shook his head. "What about you? Did the brothers who went to Wei Liangxing's house to steal get caught?"

"No, don't worry about the guys. They even said to come to us for things like this in the future, hehe," Zhou Yuan said with a smug smile.

Xia Yao nodded.

Zhou Yuan seemed to notice that Xia Yao wasn't in a good state, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Um, my sister, she wants to see you."

"Could you please tell her for me that I'm currently recovering from an injury and can't see her?" Xia Yao refused.

Zhou Yuan looked at Xia Yao with disdain. "It's been a month and you're still not better? But she just wants to see you, she's not going to do anything, what's wrong with that!"

Xia Yao coughed twice, "My body really won't allow it."

Zhou Yuan's face scrunched up even more. "Your body is too weak." Zhou Yuan wanted to leave, but then remembered something. "Tomorrow night, at this time and place, she will come. Whether you come or not is up to you. Anyway, I've already delivered the message. I'm leaving."

Zhou Yuan really turned around and left without any hesitation.

Watching him leave, Xia Yao straightened up, no longer pretending to be weak, and then walked home.

He stood in the courtyard, in front of the window of the west room, and coughed a few times.

A short while later, Acheng came out.

"Cousin, how is it?" Acheng asked.

Xia Yao handed the money bag in his hand to Acheng, "Here is six strings of cash, for Aniu's wedding."

"Hehe," Acheng chuckled, "If I had known, I would have transported more grain out and given Wei Liangxing a big embarrassment."

"That's enough," Xia Yao said weakly.

Seeing Xia Yao's listless demeanor, Acheng said, "Cousin, you haven't been in good spirits these past few days. Is it because of that woman? Hehe, I've heard about what happened between you two in the reed marshes..." Acheng gave a meaningful smile.

"Who told you that?" Xia Yao asked.

"I heard it by the river. You, you kept this from me! I only found out from someone else. If you like her, you can just tell me. I would never steal your woman. This almost made me hit on her," A-Cheng complained. "But she's so stubborn. She'd rather get beaten than pay! Were you just going to watch her get beaten?!"

Xia Yao ignored his words, "Have you found out where she is?"

"In town, I didn't find out anyone's name, but I knew the place."

How did you find it?

“I secretly followed Doctor Zhang there, waited at the door for a while, but no one came. Afraid of being seen, I came back,” Acheng said. “Do you want me to take you there? Let’s bring her back?”

"Hmph," Xia Yao snorted coldly, "No need, let her stay there to recover."

"Cousin...don't you have any plans to marry her?" Acheng asked.

Xia Yao was taken aback. "Why are you asking so many questions?!"

"Hey, just asking," A-Cheng said, glancing at Xia Yao's expression.

"No matter what I think, you can't touch her, or our brotherhood will be over," Xia Yao warned.

"Look at what you're saying, I'm not that kind of person," Acheng said with a displeased look. "I won't, don't worry."

Late at night, everything is silent.

Jiang Di walked home in the darkness.

There were no lights in the courtyard; everyone was already asleep.

He hesitated for a long time in the courtyard before finally pushing open the door to Xia Lanyue's room and going inside.

Kneeling beside her bed, Jiang Di gazed at Xia Lanyue, who was fast asleep, in the moonlight. Perhaps due to pain, her brows were tightly furrowed.

Jiang Di raised her hand and gently stroked her forehead, trying to smooth out her furrowed brows, only to discover that her forehead was burning hot; she had a fever!

"Dai You?" Xia Lanyue asked weakly.

Jiang Di was startled and quickly withdrew her hand, replying softly, "You're awake?!" Then she turned around and lit the oil lamp in the room.

Xia Lanyue slowly opened her eyes. By the light, she could see that the person in front of her was Jiang Di.

Jiang Di squatted down by her window, observing her condition. "How are you feeling? When did you wake up?"

"Dai You, is there any news about Dai You?"

Jiang Di bit her lip and said slowly, "Not yet. Don't worry about him. Take care of yourself first. You have a fever. I'll go and fetch Doctor Zhang."

Xia Lanyue stopped speaking; she no longer had the strength to speak.

Xia Lanyue didn't know how long she had slept before the roosters crowed outside, and she slowly opened her eyes.

She vaguely heard people talking in the courtyard; it must be Jiang Di and her mother.

“I have never let you brew medicine,” Jiang said.

"Mom, it's good that you're healthy and don't need to take medicine. I'll be even happier if you live to be a hundred," Jiang Di was coaxing his mother again.

"What I mean is, this is not a job a man should be doing."

"There's no gender distinction when it comes to decocting medicine. Look at that Dr. Zhang, he's a man too, a well-known man in town."

"Hey, do you need a beating? You keep talking back to your mother," Jiang said, raising her hand as if to hit Jiang Di.

Jiang Di didn't dodge, but instead stretched her head towards the palm, saying, "Go ahead and hit me, Mom. As long as you're happy, hit me as many times as you like. Come on."

"Oh dear," Jiang said helplessly, pushing him aside. "She's Xia Yao's woman. How do I have to explain it to you for you to understand?!"

"Mom, we agreed not to talk about this, what's wrong with you?" Jiang Di also pretended to be angry.

Seeing that he was unyielding to both soft and hard approaches, Jiang Shi also got angry and said, "I'm not going to bother with you anymore," and went back to her room.

Not long after, Jiang Di carried a bowl of medicine into Xia Lanyue's room.

"Dai Xiyue, are you awake? If you are, take your medicine," Jiang Di said softly by her bedside.

Xia Lanyue opened her eyes, nodded, and propped herself up on her arms. The place where she had been hit still throbbed with a needle-like pain, but she gritted her teeth and endured it without crying out.

"Were you talking to Aunt Jiang just now? What did she mean by what she said?" Xia Lanyue couldn't help but ask.

Jiang Di's hand trembled as she held the medicine bowl, almost spilling the medicine. "It's nothing."

"I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but where did that phrase 'Xia Yao's woman' come from?"

Jiang Di handed the bowl to Xia Lanyue, "Here, finish this and I'll tell you."

Xia Lanyue looked at Jiang Di with some doubt, took the medicine, and drank it all in one gulp.

"Ugh," she nearly vomited, but thankfully covered her mouth in time. Once she felt a little better, she looked up and asked, "You can speak now."

Jiang Di took the bowl from her hand. "You misheard. It was Xia Yao who hit a woman, yes, hit a woman."

Xia Lanyue looked puzzled. "What are you talking about?!"

"Um... I've finished speaking. I have to go now. You should rest," Jiang Di said, quickly walking out of the house, leaving Xia Lanyue looking completely bewildered.