Ning Qingxue listened as Ye Mo kept calling her "Qingxue," and she linked her arm through his. At that moment, she even wondered if she really was Ye Mo's wife. Why did the feeling come so suddenly?
She recalled the scene when she and Ye Mo wore pajamas and had Li Mumei take pictures. She almost got carried away by the memory. Thinking of that day, Ning Qingxue quickly withdrew her hand from Ye Mo's arm, her heart still pounding. Every time she came into contact with Ye Mo, she found it impossible to keep up a cool, indifferent front; instead, she naturally liked the feeling.
Ye Mo seemed to possess something she yearned for—an indescribable tranquility and longing, yet also something elusive and intangible. It attracted her like a moth to a flame. She had to constantly remind herself what kind of person Ye Mo really was.
Zhou Lei watched Ye Mo's casual ease and Ning Qingxue's delicate dependence, and saw the faint shyness on her face. Inwardly, she doubted—could it be that Ning Qingxue truly loved Ye Mo and that their marriage was due to love, not some other reason?
"Let's go," Ye Mo said as he noticed Zhou Lei still lost in thought. He had no patience for this gossip-loving woman.
The three walked out of the courtyard, each lost in their own thoughts. Not far from their residence was a fairly large restaurant called "Brilliant Delicacies," a star-rated establishment. Ning Qingxue didn't want to go too far and pointed at it, suggesting, "Ye Mo, this place looks nice. Let's eat here."
"No, it's too expensive here," Ye Mo replied before she could finish.
Ning Qingxue's temper flared. "Ye Mo, why do you keep so much money then? Eating here would only cost about a thousand at most. You've got that card…" Ning Qingxue wasn't one to care about appearances, but Ye Mo still kept fifty thousand yuan untouched. Even though Zhou Lei was her classmate, she found it hard to accept this stinginess, especially since she was from the Ning family. Ye Mo was really cheap to her.
Zhou Lei looked at Ye Mo with surprise. It was her first time meeting someone so stingy over a meal, and that too in front of his wife's classmate. Yet Ning Qingxue's attachment to him seemed genuine.
Seeing Ning Qingxue about to say more, Ye Mo, though furious inside, knew better than to lose his temper. If he did, their act would be ruined. Besides, he was about to leave Ninghai soon—no point arguing with a woman now.
So he quickly said, "Alright, as you wish. Let's eat here today." Though he said so, he felt extremely depressed. He only had about three thousand yuan left in his pocket, all earned from selling blood. Although the blood would be wasted if not sold, using the money earned from it to treat a woman he didn't quite like left a bad taste.
Ye Mo had already decided that after this, he would leave Ninghai in a few days. He had helped Ning Qingxue enough and wanted to find a quiet place to cultivate his Silver Heart Herb. He now deeply understood that without a certain level of strength, a grassroots person like him was just prey.
The meal was fairly enjoyable. Zhou Lei didn't get what she wanted, but she noticed the difference in spending habits between Ye Mo and Ning Qingxue. Seeing Ye Mo pay in cash rather than by card confirmed for her that he wasn't very well off.
The biggest annoyance was Ye Mo himself. The meal had cost him over three thousand yuan, down to the last five and ten yuan coins. If it weren't for Ning Qingxue purposely ordering a two-thousand-yuan bottle of red wine—mostly drunk by him—the meal wouldn't have cost so much. Still, he was unhappy.
He knew Ning Qingxue did it on purpose, giving him a frozen card and acting arrogant. At one point, Ye Mo almost threw the card back at her, telling her to get her own money. "Fine, I can't afford you, but I can afford myself. No wonder they say pitiful people always have hateful parts—Ning Qingxue is exactly like that."
After the meal, Zhou Lei didn't stay and said goodbye. Maybe seeing Ye Mo pay with five and ten yuan coins annoyed her—it was like he was showing off that he had no money.
On the way back, Ning Qingxue was no longer as affectionate as before. She didn't want to acknowledge Ye Mo, feeling that he had embarrassed her today. Though she didn't care much about that, she couldn't accept him not using the card but pulling out small change to pay. The wine was her deliberate choice, but in the end, Ye Mo drank it all himself.
Ye Mo also kept quiet. Over three thousand yuan for one meal left him with barely twenty yuan.
In the coming days, if Ye Mo didn't go out to find work, he wouldn't even have food to eat. Maybe he really had to sell blood to survive, though he would never admit to it—he still had over a hundred yuan in small change in his medicine box. Although he sold blood at the same price as others, he believed his blood quality was better and felt the price unfair.
Ning Qingxue felt this most keenly, as Ye Mo cooked simpler and simpler meals. Though she wasn't picky about food, she looked down on Ye Mo's stinginess.
That night, Ye Mo carried his small medical box and went out. He hadn't expected that after Ning Qingxue arrived, he would have to go out early to run a night stall. Originally, after helping the old man treat the poisoning, he thought he could stop, but he ended up back on this path.
Disappointingly, after two days of setting up a stall on Ningdu District's bustling pedestrian street, he hadn't made a single sale and was even chased off by city management once, which frustrated him greatly.
Ye Mo rarely went to Ning University now—he didn't want to see Yun Bing, and there was little left to learn there. He planned to give some pills he made to Shi Xiu, but Shi Xiu had taken a week off due to family matters.
Though Ning Qingxue barely spoke to Ye Mo these days, she noticed what he was doing. Her father had called and assured her not to worry. Even if Ning Zhongfei was kicked out of the Ning family, he wouldn't sell his daughter, let alone to the demon from the Song family.
Her father's words comforted Ning Qingxue somewhat. Her parents were heading to Yanjing to confront the Ning family. Regardless of the outcome, they would come to Ninghai the day after tomorrow to take her away.
Looking at the medicine pot and stove Ye Mo left in the hallway, Ning Qingxue's disdain softened. What did he have to do with her? This was a business transaction. She gave him fifty thousand yuan; that money was his. Whether he spent it or not was his own business. No need to be disappointed in such a person.
Thinking this, Ning Qingxue felt a little better. Though stingy, Ye Mo still bought groceries daily and cooked.
Ye Mo went out again carrying his little box. Xu Wei hadn't come back. Perhaps because Xu Wei lived with Ye Mo, Ning Qingxue tried to avoid facing her. Why she felt that way, she didn't understand—maybe to avoid awkwardness.
Whatever the reason, they were still technically husband and wife. But her husband sleeping next door at another woman's place meant their marriage was fake. She didn't want to face that woman.
Knowing she would leave in two days, maybe never returning, Ning Qingxue felt a faint melancholy—not because of Ye Mo, but for other reasons.
For the first time, Ning Qingxue stepped out of the courtyard, maybe wanting to see what kind of place she had lived in for over twenty days.
Ningdu pedestrian street was probably the liveliest spot in Ningdu District at night. Unconsciously, Ning Qingxue found herself there.
Bright neon lights, all kinds of snacks and trinkets everywhere, and many street vendors setting up stalls.
Next to one stall, golden cakes baked to a tempting golden color steamed invitingly. Usually, Ning Qingxue never ate street snacks, but this time she couldn't resist and spent two yuan on one. Taking a light bite, it was somewhat glutinous but tasted pretty good.
"Come take a look! Ancestral recipe, cures all diseases. Headaches, fevers, wounds inside and out, rheumatism, nearsightedness—if you can think of it, I can cure it!" The shouting almost made Ning Qingxue laugh at the seller's exaggerated claims.
She looked up instinctively at the snake oil salesman and froze. Wasn't that Ye Mo? Though he wore sunglasses and a duckbill hat, Ning Qingxue immediately recognized him. Besides, he had that signature small box with him. Now she knew—the box contained medicine.