Chapter 22: Steady and Improving

Xue Qingdai tightly grasped her own sleeve. Yesterday, Xie Yan had even helped her roll up her sleeves gently and softly washed her hands. The cool water passed through his warm palms, a warmth that made her want to linger. But now, away from the male lead, changing the original story ending, her three brothers’ futures wouldn’t be so tragic—they would each shine in their own fields.

The eldest brother, Xue Shiyou, was the team leader—kind-hearted and always eager to help villagers prosper.

The second brother, Xue Fengrong, was a soldier—resolute and hardworking, wholeheartedly protecting their homeland.

The third brother, Xue Yongkang, was clever and quick-witted, able to thrive anywhere. With his stubborn spirit, he built his own business empire in the appliance market.

Those who schemed against them behind the scenes ultimately had her as their target. The enemies must have planned this long ago.

The Xue family’s reputation in the village had suddenly turned bleak overnight.

After the sun rose, sunlight filtered through the leaves, warming Xue Qingdai’s face. She touched the warmth on her skin.

Because she had never truly possessed it, she wanted to hold tightly to this favor.

It was time to take the initiative against the enemy—this person was definitely someone close to Xie Yan.

Xue Qingdai shaded her eyes with her wrist, blocking the dazzling sunlight.

“Auntie may not know much, but I’m the youngest at home. The whole family likes me. Although the engagement was arranged by the elders, Xie Yan and I haven’t seen each other or had any news for many years.”

“My second brother still writes me a letter every month while he’s in the army.”

“I’m not a person with much sense of security.”

“Xie Yan is too cold in nature. I can’t stand a future where I’m alone. Will he forget me after marriage?”

A man’s love was only temporary—like fireworks that burn bright and beautiful but then vanish into endless darkness.

Xue Qingdai’s worries were not baseless. Most of her patients were women suffering from irregular menstruation, sallow complexion, and physical weakness. Many had breast nodules that worsened due to grievance and sulking.

Not marrying was best—unless one was lucky enough to meet a good husband.

She had a bad temper, poor health, and little tolerance. Her family’s unconditional love was rare. But Xie Yan was still just a man she’d known for a short time.

Xue Qingdai wasn’t just healing bodies—she cared about the souls of her patients struggling in the everyday struggles of life.

Zhang Shuying stared unblinking at her future precious daughter-in-law.

So pretty! When she took her out shopping or to play mahjong, how impressive she’d look! Even buying groceries, she’d get extra scallions.

That cherry-like mouth, fair skin—her grandchildren would surely be blessed too.

Long eyelashes, a pair of expressive eyes—Zhang Shuying was sure that if her daughter-in-law cried, her son would be utterly unable to bear it.

Her initial choice was right—to settle the engagement with the Xue family decisively.

Though her daughter-in-law was a bit young, the cruel fate of “destroying the flower” softened her heart somewhat.

Zhang Shuying gently stroked Xue Qingdai’s hair confidently, “Xie Yan is different—he’s my son.”

“Don’t worry. If he forgets me, his old mother, he won’t forget you.”

Xue Qingdai didn’t believe it—they had only just met, and naturally, their two families didn’t talk much.

When Zhang Shuying went shopping, she seemed like a different person—always managing to mix and match outfits from dull-colored clothes.

She picked out several outfits for Xue Qingdai, who found them quite pretty. The distance between them slowly lessened.

They walked into the flower and bird market, where street vendors shouted, “Hey, take a look! A tearful clearance sale—direct from the manufacturer!”

Xue Qingdai just squatted down and watched.

An old man shouted at the few customers, “This fish here’s great! The tiger head’s really big, look at that lump.”

Xue Qingdai found it amusing and bought a black-purple fish with a long tail—called a black dragon eye—to keep for fun.

Zhang Shuying picked a goldfish with huge, glaring eyes.

They promised to raise the little fish together until they grew big.

Passing the Cultural Palace of Laborers, they saw a banner: “Comedy: Narrow Escape from the Tiger’s Mouth.”

Xue Qingdai hadn’t yet understood what it meant, but in front was a sign saying, “No scalping tickets”—making her realize this was probably a movie theater, with a warning against scalpers, like modern-day ticket touts.

Zhang Shuying was excited—she hadn’t seen a movie in ages, and now there was a new one, a foreign film.

“Daidai, I bought two movie tickets. There aren’t many chances this year—you must come watch.”

On the way back, the two chatted animatedly about what to wear, bringing dried fruit, peanuts, melon seeds, and buying a skewer of candied hawthorn.

When Zhang Shuying sent Xue Qingdai back, she saw Xie Yan waiting eagerly at the guesthouse.

He pretended not to care and tidied his shiny military boots.

Seeing Zhang Shuying and Xue Qingdai arm in arm walking toward him, a rush of emotions welled up inside him. If only they were already married.

“Xie Yan, what a coincidence—you’re here to see Daidai too.”

Xie Yan buttoned his collar tightly, “Yes, Mom.”

Zhang Shuying clearly knew her son wasn’t there just to pick her up. She waved lightly to the old man waiting in the distance, Xie Songshan, who waved back cheerfully.

She was glad to leave her son’s matters behind—his past mistakes were his own to deal with.

“Daidai, remember our movie time, okay? I’m leaving now.”

“Okay,” Xue Qingdai replied softly.

Xie Yan hid the two movie tickets in his hand, feeling a bit frustrated.

Zhang Shuying rode the bike’s back seat, smiling and chatting with her husband.

Xie Songshan rode slowly ahead, quietly listening and occasionally saying a word or two, making Zhang Shuying laugh heartily.

Xue Qingdai watched Zhang Shuying walk away, thinking such a lifelong, quarrel-free love was beautiful and rare.

“Daidai, are you going to watch a movie?” Xie Yan made small talk, though most people went in couples. Just yesterday, Xue Qingdai was still talking to him about breaking off the engagement. Today, on a whim, Xie Yan had booked two tickets for the movie Lushan Love with his comrade. He heard that couples who went to see the film often ended up married.

Xue Qingdai showed Xie Yan her cute little black dragon-eye fish; its tail looked like a butterfly’s wing.

“Yeah, and I also bought a little goldfish. They said direct-from-the-manufacturer sales are a bit cheaper.”

Xie Yan glanced at the small black fish, looking limp and cold—so much so that it was almost invisible in the pot.

“Daidai, put it somewhere warm to raise it. We can braise it later—it should taste good.”

Xue Qingdai: “…” She was definitely going to steam it instead!

Xie Yan pulled out his second physical exam report from his clothes. The first report was so terrible he had chosen to hide it. The second one was unexpectedly better—his sperm motility had improved quite a bit; his body was slowly getting healthier.

Now that Daidai knew he was a healthy man, maybe she wouldn’t be so eager to break off the engagement.

“Daidai, the last health report got lost—this one’s new,” Xie Yan said, his deep eyes hiding a hopeful look as he watched her.

Xue Qingdai was skilled in traditional Chinese medicine but only had a shallow understanding of Western medicine. She skimmed over the long technical details and flipped to the last page with the diagnosis, curious about how strange the male lead’s condition really was.

“Stable and improving? Strong endurance? No way!”

No one cared about Xie Yan’s offspring, and even his parents had given up pushing for marriage or children.

How could Xie Yan be “stable and improving”?

“Xie Yan, your health is so good, I’m so jealous…” Xue Qingdai said through tears, her face full of “happy” emotion.

She had always used his infertility as the main reason to want to break off the engagement—no other reason.

Suddenly, Xie Yan seemed to be doing better? But she didn’t want a man with her easy-pregnancy, multiple-birth constitution!

Xue Qingdai said, “Xie Yan, which famous doctor have you been seeing lately? I want to go see them too.”

And maybe “assassinate” that doctor while she was at it—spoiling her plans!