Li Mingwei knew that even if she told them, they wouldn't believe her. She impatiently looked at the two disapproving faces in front of her and said, "Believe it or not, I'm going to eat now."
As she was about to get up, both hands reached out and pulled her back. With some force, Li Mingwei was thrown onto the bed. She opened her eyes wide, unable to believe what she was seeing, and shouted, "What do you want!"
The two quickly helped her up, apologizing, "Sorry, sorry, I didn't see that Chunhua Sister (Yun Sister) was also pulling you. We used too much force, hope you're not hurt."
She wasn't hurt from the fall. The inn's bed, though not very soft, had a blanket to cushion the impact. Besides being a little startled from falling back, Li Mingwei felt fine.
She sat up, adjusted her clothes, and glanced at the two, "You two are quite in sync."
Wang Chunhua and Yun Sister smiled at each other, unable to contain their curiosity.
Li Mingwei realized that women were all like this, just like her mother-in-law, who insisted on going out early in the morning to buy groceries and chat with everyone she met.
When she returned, she would share everything she learned that day and have a conversation with her. She might even know more about the happenings in Qingshi Town than Wang Chunhua.
After being stared at by the two for a while, Li Mingwei felt a bit embarrassed and had to confess, "Actually, it's nothing much. It's just that before the New Year, I taught him the qin for about half a month."
"On the first day, he asked me how long he could practice every day, and I told him to let me know if his hands hurt."
Li Mingwei had been playing the qin for over ten years, and even she occasionally felt uncomfortable after playing for a long time. She thought that as a beginner like Liu Yizhu, even if he had tougher skin, he couldn't endure for too long. There was no need to force him to practice for too long; if his hands hurt, he could take a break.
After all, mastering the qin was not something that could be achieved in just a day or two.
"I saw that his fingertips were red, so I asked if it hurt. He insisted that it didn't. I don't know if he really likes playing the qin so much, or..."
Or if he was just enduring it to spend more time with her.
Only when she showed signs of fatigue or exhaustion would he admit that his hands hurt.
Then the day's lesson would come to an end.
She thought he was a bit foolish.
Wang Chunhua recalled that during that time, the girl would leave after lunch and return quite late, taking one or two hours. She touched her own fingertips, "Liu Scholar really worked hard! Playing for so long in a day, his hands must be very sore."
"No, I did let him rest in between. Otherwise, his hands would have been ruined long ago."
Yun Sister teased, "So, you were already feeling sorry for him back then?"
"I wasn't, I didn't," Li Mingwei raised her head proudly, and was the first to walk out of the room. She knocked on the next door, and Yun Sister immediately stopped teasing her, rushing to the door to greet Qing Yang.
She linked arms with Qing Yang, gently inviting him, "We're going to eat, would you like to join us?"
Qing Yang glanced at the cold-faced Li Mingwei and the slightly excited Wang Chunhua, silently nodding his head.
Yun Sister immediately smiled even more happily. She carefully supported Qing Yang as they walked ahead, while Li Mingwei closed the door behind them. She turned to see Wang Chunhua still motionless, lightly nudging her, "Let's go."
Wang Chunhua snapped out of it, also linking arms with her, whispering, "Look at Yun Sister's helpless appearance."
"You don't need to worry about her, she's happy."
But eating was the priority, and she was starting to feel a bit hungry now.
Qing Yang paid for two more days of their room rent, then they left the inn together. It was dinner time, with people coming and going on the street. He only took a few steps before someone looked at him.
Yun Sister, seeing his bad expression, felt a bit concerned. She directly pointed to the nearest restaurant, "Let's eat there."
"I've eaten there before, it's not good," Li Mingwei blurted out, only then noticing Qing Yang's discomfort. She paused, forced a smile, and changed her tune, "It's also fine, in case you guys like it."
Yun Sister hesitated for a moment, but Qing Yang shook his head directly, "Our tastes should be similar, let's try another place."
"But you..." Yun Sister wanted to persuade him, but Qing Yang held her hand, she frowned, closed her mouth helplessly, and said no more.
Considering that he might really be uncomfortable, Li Mingwei didn't take them too far, and randomly chose a clean-looking storefront nearby to enter.
At the dinner table, Wang Chunhua saw Yun Sister constantly serving Qing Yang food, but he didn't respond. She felt annoyed, thinking that this guy looked good, but why was he so clueless. She lightly kicked Li Mingwei and gave her a few meaningful glances.
Li Mingwei misunderstood, immediately warmly serving her some food too, "Sis, you should eat more."
Wang Chunhua's face instantly darkened, how could even her sister not understand her.
After dinner, she pulled Li Mingwei ahead, walking quite a distance before whispering to her, "Am I missing your food that much? I'm just upset that Qing Yang doesn't seem to care about Yun Sister. She served him so many times, but he never responded."
"Sis, serving food doesn't necessarily mean caring, right?"
Li Mingwei argued, "He hasn't been out for so long, I sent him a letter saying Yun Sister was sick, and he came right away. It shows he cares about Yun Sister too."
"Today he was willing to come out to eat with us, which is quite rare. Look at the people passing by, who doesn't glance at him. If he minds, it's normal to feel a bit uncomfortable. Don't overthink it."
"If he really treats Yun Sister poorly, could she bear to leave him like this?"
Such matters are like drinking water, one knows best whether it's cold or warm. They don't know the full picture, so it's not right to judge.
Wang Chunhua grumbled, "Your husband would never act like this."
"Husband is husband, Qing Yang is Qing Yang, they're different."
Li Mingwei chuckled and embraced Wang Chunhua, "Sis, not everyone is as lucky as you to meet someone who clicks right from the start. Let things progress naturally, let them adjust slowly."
Wang Chunhua's gaze shifted past Li Mingwei to Yun Sister, who was slowly approaching them with Qing Yang's support. She couldn't deny that Li Mingwei had a point, but she couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for Yun Sister.
Before getting married, she had to take care of her younger siblings at home. Finally getting married, she now had to look after her disabled husband, and it was truly exhausting.
Despite her worries, when Yun Sister reached her, Wang Chunhua immediately put on a smile and greeted her.
Yun Sister returned the smile and then turned to Li Mingwei, who was still standing in place, staring into the distance, looking puzzled. "Why are you standing here and staring at nothing?"
"The clinic." Li Mingwei pointed to the location of the clinic at the intersection and continued, "The clinics in the city are different. They are open all night, with doctors on duty every evening. Inside, there are separate little rooms, so you don't have to worry about others seeing you."
"It's different in our town, just one big room where the doctor sits in the lobby to diagnose..."
As Li Mingwei complained, she pulled Wang Chunhua along without looking back, indicating that the hint had been given, and whether to go or not was up to them.
