Chapter 44: Attracting the Young Girl’s Attention

Xia Li returned to the market with nearly ten yuan she had earned, feeling quite hungry.

She didn’t bring the man with her, letting him guard their things at Wei Xiaojun’s small cooking stall while she went to do her errands.

It wasn’t until after noon that she came back, and sure enough, the man was starting to get anxious. As soon as he spotted her from a distance, he rushed over: “Wife… Li Zi!”

With his long legs, he quickly dashed in front of her.

His dark eyes fixed on her, his lips slightly pursed in a hint of grievance, but he still remembered to take the bamboo basket from her hands.

Xia Li clutched the hard-earned money and felt cheerful, noticing the smile in his eyes that he couldn’t hide. She beamed back, revealing her two little dimples: “Have you been waiting long? Come on, let’s go out for a meal. My treat!”

Not far away, an unpleasant voice suddenly cut in with a sarcastic tone:

“Absolutely shameless, messing around outside… Tsk, what a pathetic sight!”

Xia Li glanced over to see an overweight woman casting a sideways look in her direction.

The woman appeared old, her face wrinkled and shiny, and she had been mumbling something before.

When she saw Xia Li’s cold gaze, she pretended it was nothing and turned her head away.

However, her squinting eyes continued to scrutinize them, and her bitter and sulky expression ignited a spark of anger within Xia Li.

It seemed the woman was confident that Xia Li wouldn’t say anything, for while she stopped her sarcastic muttering, there was no sign of her harsh expression softening.

Xia Li felt cold inside, recognizing this chattering woman as someone familiar.

Upon reflection, she realized this was a woman from her memory; she was a certain aunt from the village, known to everyone as Aunt Dong.

This aunt was notorious for her chattiness and rude behavior, and Xia Li had suffered some losses the few times she worked with her in the past, so she felt a bit uneasy around Aunt Dong.

Xia Li wasn’t the original version of herself; she didn’t care whether the woman meant it or not.

Since that gossiping reached her ears, she certainly wouldn’t let it slide.

But Aunt Dong waddled away quickly, her chubby figure turning to head straight to a stall not far across the road.

That stall also had a pot on the fire and looked like a cooking booth, but it had twice as many tables and benches compared to Wei Xiaojun’s.

Xia Li withdrew her gaze lightly and returned with the man to Wei Xiaojun’s stall.

Today was a big market day and coincided with the rest period for workers in town. Wei Xiaojun’s cooking stall was doing great business, truly busy for the entire afternoon, and they were just taking a short break now.

Seeing Xia Li return, Wei Xiaojun waved excitedly at her: “Li Zi, come sit down! Are you starving? I’ll fry a couple of dishes for you; it’ll be ready soon, just wait!”

Xia Li smiled and nodded.

Wei Xiaojun’s mother often came to help at the cooking stall, warmly greeted Xia Li, and then went to wash dishes and clean up.

Wei Xiaojun was particularly happy to see that Xia Li had really come from there today.

While busy preparing the dishes in front of the stove, she took a moment to chat with her: “Li Zi, you have no idea! All morning, with that guy helping us here, so many young girls passing by couldn’t take their eyes off him. They nearly filled up our spot! One table after another; they’d rather wait in line just to eat our stir-fried dishes!”

As she spoke, she chuckled, looking at Xia Li with a teasing expression mixed in with her gentle demeanor.

Xia Li was surprised; she didn’t know the man had such an effect.

Today he was wearing the new clothes he had just bought, and at first glance, he did stand out.

With his tall, straight figure and long legs, broad shoulders, and narrow waist, he looked quite impressive.

His face had a strong, handsome outline with a hint of aloofness; his bright black eyes and straight nose complemented his thin lips, which were pressed into a serious line.

His overall aura was subtly sharp, but the more he looked that way, the more he attracted the attention of young girls.

To be fair, when he tidied himself up neatly, aside from being a bit rugged, he definitely had that striking good looks that could impress others.

Xia Li glanced over at him, her gaze shifting for the first time to appreciate him from the perspective of a young woman noticing the opposite sex.

The tall figure of the man sat beside her, and after not seeing him for a whole morning, he had so much he wanted to say to his wife, always paying attention to Xia Li.

Upon noticing her, he immediately met her gaze, his deep eyes filled with joy at seeing his little wife return, and his lips unconsciously curled into a slight smile.

However, facing Xia Li’s beautiful, sparkling almond-shaped eyes at such a close distance stirred a hint of restlessness within him.

His little wife’s eyes were truly captivating, and he felt a warm flush creeping up his ears.

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Little Theater.

Before amnesia, Captain Jiang (dismissively): “Hmph, what’s a girl to me? I only love big motorcycles and little tanks.”

After his mind was wiped, Captain Jiang (falling in love): “Hmph… this girl, she smiled at me, and she even winked at me. No doubt, she must be my little wife!”