Su Yuru was not tall, but she had a graceful figure.
She walked up to Shen Yun with composure, offering him a gentle and proper curtsy.
Every move she made exuded the demeanor of a lady from a prominent family.
Shen Yun was curious about her identity.
As far as he knew, Su Qianwan, the head of the Su family, had three sons and two daughters.
He wondered if the woman before him was the elder or younger daughter.
The woman carried a pleasant scent, her smile was gentle, and her posture elegant…
Shen Yun tried to find any similarities between her and Su Xiaoqi.
Su Xiaoqi turned her head and saw Shen Yun staring intently at Su Yuru.
Her heart constricted, and unhappy, she pushed away Su Jiamo and walked away.
Hmph, men were all superficial after all.
The moment they saw a pretty girl, they couldn't move.
As Su Xiaoqi moved, Su Jiamo followed her like a shadow.
He pointed at Shen Yun, who was staring at his sister, and whispered:
"See that? They're a perfect match. You should stick with me."
Su Xiaoqi shot him a glare, "Su Jiamo, this is outside. I don't want to embarrass you, so don't force me."
"Xiaoqi, I'm sincere." Su Jiamo was truly bold. The sun was setting, and it was getting dark.
But there were still people outside. He chased after Su Xiaoqi without regard for anyone, running out of the shop and getting close to her to confess his feelings.
Su Xiaoqi couldn't be bothered with him.
However, since Shen Yun hadn't followed her, she didn't dare to wander off.
It was dark, and she was even more disoriented.
"Shen Yun," she called out into the shop angrily.
Of course, she wasn't angry that Shen Yun was looking at Su Yuru.
They were meant to be a couple. It was the selfish Su Qianwan who found her, a fake, to impersonate her, thus forcibly separating them.
Anyway, she was going to leave eventually.
It would be good for them to cultivate their relationship.
Shen Yun quickly came out, pushing aside the clingy Su Jiamo.
The two walked away side by side.
Su Jiamo pounded his chest in frustration.
Su Yuru, on the other hand, frowned:
"She's already married, so why is she still entangled with my second brother?"
Having studied the sayings of the sages since childhood, she knew the virtues and precepts for women by heart.
Seeing Su Xiaoqi interacting with her second brother like that, she truly looked down on her character.
This farce cast a shadow over both Su Xiaoqi and Shen Yun.
They lost any desire to continue their stroll.
They came out of the jewelry shop and returned directly to the inn across the street.
Su Yuru watched their retreating figures and asked, "Isn't that one of our Su family's properties?"
Su Jiamo retorted impatiently, "Half of Mianzhou City belongs to our family. What's wrong with that inn?"
Su Yuru added, "I heard that Young Master Shen is also participating in the academy examinations this time. If he passes, he'll become a scholar."
Her father had previously disliked Shen Yun, thinking that although he was a scholar, he lacked official status and was not worthy of her.
Su Jiamo muttered, "So what if he becomes a scholar? He's still from a fallen family."
"What if he becomes a provincial graduate, or even a jinshi?" Su Yuru harbored hope.
It was her first time meeting Shen Yun, and she felt that his tall and straight figure had quietly taken root in her heart.
If he achieved success, would she still have a chance with him?
Su Jiamo patted his sister's shoulder, decisively interrupting her fantasies:
"Good sister, don't think about these messy things. Father said long ago that your marriage is in the capital, not in this small place.
You just wait patiently for our father to find you a good marriage, and have a grand wedding."
Su Yuru sighed and fell silent.
Although this shopping trip ended unhappily, it was not without reward for Su Xiaoqi.
She had confirmed her direction of effort.
Returning to the village, she saw villagers plowing and tending to the fields everywhere.
Her heart stirred, and she proactively broke the silence that had persisted between the two of them yesterday.
"Spring planting is coming soon, shouldn't our family also start getting busy?"
Shen Yun looked at her and seriously said that their family had no land, so there was no need to be busy.
The Shen family were outsiders and had no land. Shen Yun also didn't know how to farm.
For many years, their livelihood had initially relied on selling off the valuables left by Shen's father.
Later, it was Zhao shi embroidering and Shen Yun copying books and writing.
Their lives were precarious, barely enough to eat.
Su Xiaoqi was shocked and after a pause, her lips trembled as she said,
"What? Your family doesn't even have land? Then, then how will we grow grain?" How would she open a grain shop?
The flood had passed, Shen Yun's urgent matters were done, and it was time to get rich.
Shen Yun suddenly stopped and turned around. Su Xiaoqi couldn't stop in time and bumped into him.
Her delicate face hit his chest squarely.
"Ouch, it hurts, hey, why did you stop so suddenly when you were walking properly?" Su Xiaoqi rubbed her face and glared at Shen Yun.
Shen Yun followed her finger and gently touched her reddened cheek, blowing on it lightly.
Before he could speak, they heard a commotion from a paddy field.
"Did you hear? That bookworm Shen successfully entered the examination hall."
"Will he pass?"
"Heaven only knows."
"Come on, let's bet. I'll wager one copper coin that he still won't pass this time."
"I'll bet he won't pass either."
"Hahaha, then I'll specifically bet that he will pass."
The young men in the village were openly joking about Shen Yun in the fields.
Even when they saw Su Xiaoqi and Shen Yun passing by,
they didn't hold back and dared to joke directly to their faces.
It was only when Zhao Liushun passed by and glared at them that:
"Since it's not raining, why aren't you turning the soil and planting seedlings? You have this free time, you might as well work more."
Zhao Liushun looked young, but his generation was senior.
As soon as he spoke, the young men scattered like a flock.
Su Xiaoqi glanced at Shen Yun. He seemed completely unfazed by what people were saying about him.
It was as if they weren't talking about him at all, but someone else.
"Yun-ge, don't mind them. Those idle loafers are just full of energy with nothing to do."
Shen Yun nodded and said that the outcome had already been decided when he left the examination hall.
Hearing his confident tone, Su Xiaoqi realized that he wasn't unfazed at all.
Rather, he had enough confidence that he would definitely pass.
But what if fate played a joke on him and he didn't pass?
Seeing Su Xiaoqi lower her head, Shen Yun knew she was overthinking again.
He placed his hands on her shoulders, and indeed, he heard words that displeased her.
He said lightly, "Don't worry about unnecessary things. Don't you want to farm?
See that paddy field below the slope ahead, and the half-acre of sandy land next to it, that small hill..."
"All of this is mine. If you want to plant, take it and plant.
However, it's all inferior land that my elder brother and second brother didn't want," Zhao Liushun added.
Su Xiaoqi walked closer to examine it. The soil quality of the land wasn't great. But it didn't matter, her main output wasn't from here.
She was just using it as a gimmick.
She told Shen Yun that she planned to hire people to plow it and divide it into two halves, planting rice and wheat separately.
The sandy land would be used for planting vegetables.
"Hey, Xiaoqi, you're really amazing. A young lady of noble birth actually knows how to farm," Zhao Liushun said with surprise.
Little did he know that this remark had struck a chord with both Su Xiaoqi and Shen Yun.
They both inevitably recalled the scene of their encounter with the Su siblings in the jewelry shop yesterday.
That awkward feeling returned, making them feel uncomfortable.
From then on, the Su siblings had planted a seed of worry in both of them.