Chapter 24

After the first day of the Lunar New Year, it was time to go door-to-door visiting relatives.

The first couple of days, Bai Jiaojiao still went along. But one day, she overslept, and by the time she got up, they had already left.

Bai Jiaojiao hated the New Year anyway, and was more than happy to be left behind during those visits.

These past few days, Xiao Zhou had been very enthusiastic about visiting relatives. He even took the initiative to ask his father to bring him to see many of the people he used to know.

Everyone knew Xiao Zhou had forgotten a lot, so they were all eager to share stories from the past with him.

At this rate, it wouldn’t take long for Xiao Zhou to recover his memory.

Bai Jiaojiao lifted the lid and saw the buns that had been kept warm just for her. She silently picked one up and started nibbling.

Once he regained his memory, this kind of special treatment would probably be over.

But at least, everything could return to its original course.

The weather was especially nice today, with plenty of sunshine. Bai Jiaojiao put on a new white cotton coat, bundled herself up tightly, and planned to go out for a walk, stopping by Chenjia Village along the way.

Xiao Zhou had told her he’d looked into this man named Chen Dawei. As it turned out, just like Father Xiao had said, there were no past grievances—but he’d still keep an eye on him.

Still, Bai Jiaojiao felt it would be better to go see for herself.

Following the path from memory, she walked a long way, nearly over a mountain, but still didn’t see the village.

Her feet were aching, so she sat down to rest under a tree.

“Bai Jiaojiao?”

A young male voice suddenly rang out from behind her. Bai Jiaojiao turned and her face went a little pale.

“What are you doing here?” she asked in surprise.

It was their neighbor from the village where she and Xiao Zhou lived—Chen De’an.

More importantly, he was the original host’s first lover—worked at a factory, earned good money, and was quite handsome.

He didn’t care much for the original host, but liked her looks and figure, sweet-talked her into sleeping with him, then dumped her without hesitation when he found a city girl.

Wait—his surname is Chen?

“I’m from Chenjia Village,” the man said kindly.

Chen De’an was also wearing a white cotton coat, which, when paired with hers, looked suspiciously like a matching couple outfit.

She remembered when they were at the department store picking out coats, the shop assistant had said they had matching options. Bai Jiaojiao had thought about getting the white one for Xiao Zhou too, but black suited him better, so she went with that.

At the time, she even said that wearing black and white made them look more like a couple.

Now Bai Jiaojiao was covered in black lines—was the plot that determined to steer her into this mess?

Chen De’an noticed too and joked, “We really do look like a couple in these outfits.”

“Mr. Chen, please don’t say things that can be easily misunderstood,” Bai Jiaojiao stepped back slightly, her expression distant.

Not to mention he was the original host’s first lover in the source material—just considering Xiao Zhou’s possessiveness, seeing them like this would send him straight into blackened mode.

Chen De’an was momentarily stunned, but then realized they hadn’t interacted much before, and now it was just the two of them here—her being cautious was understandable.

“Sorry, I was just joking. If you don’t like it, I won’t say it again,” he said.

Looking around, he asked curiously, “What are you doing standing here?”

“My husband will be here soon. You don’t have to worry about me,” Bai Jiaojiao replied.

Chen De’an frowned. “No matter what, he shouldn’t leave you alone out here. Why don’t you come to my place for a bit?”

“No, no, that’s not necessary,” Bai Jiaojiao refused immediately. Was he kidding? If she really went to his house, wouldn’t that be walking right into the plot?

Chen De’an didn’t insist and walked off by himself.

Bai Jiaojiao watched the direction he left in, and once he was far enough, quietly followed behind.

The mountain path wasn’t easy to walk on, with lots of obstacles in the way. Before long, she lost sight of him.

The trees around her were all covered in snow, and she could vaguely hear rustling noises. Bai Jiaojiao bit her lip and carefully made her way down the slope.

“Bai Jiaojiao.”

Chen De’an stepped out from behind a tree, looking at her in confusion. “Why are you following me? Didn’t you say you were waiting for your husband?”

“I got lost. What I said earlier was just nonsense,” Bai Jiaojiao admitted.

The young man chuckled. “Then come with me. Once it gets dark, the wolves on the mountain might come out.”

Bai Jiaojiao instinctively looked toward the direction the sound had come from earlier. “Wolves? In the middle of winter?”

“Who knows?”

“…Right.”

Bai Jiaojiao’s face turned a little paler.

Chen De’an stared at her face and couldn’t help but look a little longer. He’d always known she was beautiful—easily the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.

But her character was awful. No one in the village liked her, and she always said things that made people uncomfortable. Still, she was very beautiful.

But today, being this close, she didn’t seem like the gossipy person from the village at all. She actually seemed… sweet. Innocent.

Chen De’an’s tone subconsciously softened. “Don’t worry, I’ll take you down.”

Bai Jiaojiao didn’t want to go, but she was genuinely afraid.

She had a bit of a persecution complex. What if Chen De’an led her somewhere remote and something happened?

In a place this desolate, if she really went missing, it might be a while before anyone even found out.

“Jiaojiao, where are you?”

Suddenly, Xiao Zhou’s voice rang out from not far away.

Bai Jiaojiao’s eyes lit up, and she immediately ran forward. Just as Chen De’an was about to follow, she tripped him with her foot, sending him tumbling into the bushes.

“Xiao Zhou!”

The moment she saw his tall, familiar figure, Bai Jiaojiao didn’t hesitate to throw herself at him, hugging him tightly.

Xiao Zhou was stunned for a second, then wrapped his arms around her tightly.

“I was so scared,” she cried, trembling slightly. “I got lost…”

Feeling her shivering in his arms, Xiao Zhou swallowed the scolding he had originally wanted to give and gently patted her back.

“It’s okay. I’m here now.”

Once Bai Jiaojiao had calmed down a bit, she sniffled and said, “Let’s go.”

She hadn’t forgotten that Chen De’an was still nearby. She couldn’t let these two men meet.

But just as she had that thought, Chen De’an came down the slope too, looking much worse for wear, with snow and grass all over his head.

“Wait, let’s go together.”

Xiao Zhou’s gaze paused slightly when he saw Chen De’an’s coat, then turned to look at his wife.

“You two were together just now?”

Before Bai Jiaojiao could answer, Chen De’an chimed in, “Yeah, Jiaojiao got lost, and I helped her down. I was going to invite her over for a meal. After all, we live near each other on Xihe Road—neighbors, you know.”

Xiao Zhou’s eyes darkened slightly.

Bai Jiaojiao’s eyes went wide. Was this what they called forcing the plot?

Every word was technically innocent, but the implication was full of ambiguity.

She quickly grabbed Xiao Zhou’s hand, worried he might go punch someone.

Her voice turned colder and more distant than usual. “Thanks, but my husband and I will invite you to a meal next time. We won’t trouble you today.”

“…Alright,” Chen De’an replied, his gaze dimming slightly.

The key part was “my husband and I”.

She was being that careful?

“I’ll invite him myself. If Jiaojiao doesn’t want to deal with him, she doesn’t have to,” Xiao Zhou said.

Bai Jiaojiao’s mouth twitched. She gently punched his chest and said coyly, “Ah Zhou, don’t say it like that~”

The tips of his ears turned red. He grabbed the small hand on his chest tightly and said, “I won’t, next time.”

Chen De’an walked off with an ugly expression.

Once he was gone, Bai Jiaojiao felt even guiltier. She buried her face in Xiao Zhou’s chest, not daring to look at his face.

She was terrified that Xiao Zhou would react like he did in the original storyline—treating this like he caught her cheating.

Xiao Zhou gently stroked her back.

As she began to relax, two rough and calloused fingers tilted her chin up gently.

“You hugged me so eagerly today,” he said slowly, “because of him?”