Li Xuejian was someone who would do something as soon as it was decided. After telling He Anran that he wanted to repair the house, he went to Uncle Chen to borrow the hand hoe¹a tool used to dig soil, remove weeds, clear soil, and harvest root crops and then came up to the mountain, searching for the clay soil.

Their home was at foot of the mountain and without neighbors close so there was no need to worry about privacy but the downside of this location was that it wasn’t safe. Li Xuejian also wanted to reinforce and make the fence tall enough that any wild animal couldn't jump it.

He found a natural soil that did had some impurities but it was still a lot more pure than the stuff coming out of that villager’s fields. However, digging out this clay was much more troublesome than Li Xuejian thought, it was tremendously hard to break. 

The weather had been particularly sunny today. Li Xuejian's clothes were damp with sweat and his hair stuck to his forehead, dripping wet. He constantly wiped his sweat with a sleeve of the cloth as he was working. 

After two hours, Li Xuejian finally was done with it. He piled up the soil that he had dug up in the cart and was dragged it back to the courtyard. His scar flesh prickled because of the sweat and his face was terribly itchy all over.

Li Xuejian rushed to the house and without second thought dipped his head in a bucket of cold water and at once felt some sense of relief.  

He Anran came out of the room as he heard the noise. When he took a quick glance at the situation, he dashed towards Li Xuejian, wanting to help him wipe the water dripping from his face, but he momentarily overlooked his speed and crashed right into him. 

The boy who was as thin as a bamboo stick couldn’t handle such a strong force. The collision of their bodies made his standing unstable but before the ger could fall, Li Xuejian bent over and managed to grab him on time, gently holding his wait in place.

He spoke in a low voice: “Don’t run so fast in the house.”

With the magnetic tone spoken by his ear and the scalding hand on his waist, He Anran's mind promptly stopped working. While he was like this, Li Xuejian took a cloth from the ger’s hands and wiped his face.

When He Anran came back to his senses after a long time, he could only feel his heart thumping wildly, and then he guiltily said: “Husband, it’s all m-my fault.”

Seeing the boy looking so pitiful, Li Xuejian ruffled his blond hair with his hand: “Just be more careful from now on.” The boy's hair was pleasant to touch, a little rough, but silky.

He Anran nodded obediently and hung his head in embarrassment. He intertwined his hands together, fidgeting under Li Xuejian’s gaze.

The atmosphere suddenly went quiet.

Li Xuejian coughed lightly and as he took the awkward hand off the ger's head. Then he asked the boy as he contemplated on his behavior: “Is there something on your mind?” The ger must want to tell him something.

He Anran bit his lips and hesitated before saying: “Husband, you sh-should use herbal ointment I on-once give you at the river, it’s su-suitable for the treatment of wounds and skin.” He secretly glanced at Li Xuejian from the corner of his eyes, not sure if the other still remember their first meeting by the river. 

Li Xuejian was a little bit caught off guard when He Anran suddenly mention that day, but soon a slight smile flashed across his face: “En, you know about medical herbs and such, then?” He probed, wondering how the boy could have this kind of knowledge.

That was not the case, He Anran slowly told him a story about a time when he found a snake in his thatched hut and scared, beat him with a hoe. But serval days later the same snake appeared with its wounds healed, and the ger tried to kill it with the same effect. The situation repeated again in a few days, but this time, however, he observed the snake slithering away into some weeds and beginning to eat them. Those plants turned out to have healing qualities and He Anran collected them, making a herbal ointment.

Li Xuejian listened in interest but frowned at the thought that the boy was not living in a proper home but a thatched hut before.

Not to mention the fact that also the home they were living in currently was not to Li Xuejian's satisfaction. The roof might not make it through the autumn rains, with his limited experience in this field, he could only fix the hole on the surface. 

It was necessary to go to the county town in a few days, and order the fired soil bricks, and then hire people to build a new house.

Back to now, Li Xuejian found the wooden box he previously got from the ger and smeared the medicine ointment on his face. Since the meal was not ready, he went out to mix soil with water, and then started working on a fence in the courtyard.

Li Xuejian didn’t appear again for a period of time.

He Anran continued to sew clothing by using one of Li Xuejian's tunics as a reference. Additionally, as a wife, it was a type of happiness to be able to make clothes for his husband. As he sew, his attention unconsciously went to the moment the other touched his waist… Li Xuejian’s hand was really slender and hot.

Alas! His husband just casually didn’t let him fall and it was just to save him out. Why was he thinking about weird things?!

He Anran patted his warm cheeks and forced himself to stop dwelling on it. He needed to focus on sewing more accurately and not pricking his fingers with a needle.