When Qin Lian woke up, the room was empty.
Xu Yinchen was already gone. His bedding had been folded and put away, the floor beside the bed was neat and bare. She sat up and glanced at the wall clock. It was 6:30 already. He was nowhere to be found.
"Did he go to the farm today?" she wondered. They had planned to go to the city, but she hadn't known he would need to go to the farm as well. Realising they would be late if she didn't move quickly, she got up and found her clothes from the wardrobe.
She was just pulling her hair back when the door opened.
Xu Yinchen stepped in and stopped.
His hair was slightly damp, pushed back roughly from his face. He was in his sleeveless cotton vest, his arms and shoulders carrying the flush of someone who had already been working for a while. He had clearly not expected her to be awake.
For a moment, neither of them moved.
Qin Lian's gaze moved from his face to his arms; broad-shouldered, lean muscled, the kind of build that came from years of real labour, and she felt heat rise to her cheeks before she could stop it.
Xu Yinchen caught her gaze. He cleared his throat and looked sideways. "You're awake. You could have rested a little longer. We can leave later."
"It's better to go early than late," she said, pulling herself together. "Otherwise, we won't make it back in time." She tilted her head slightly. "Where did you go this early?"
He cleared his throat again. "I went to the farm to check on a few things. I also filled the water basins in the bathroom and kitchen. You can bathe first if you want."
"Okay," She said simply. "I'll get ready and make breakfast. You can get ready after."
He nodded.
Just as she picked up her clothes from the bed, her face went suddenly hot.
Her cotton underwear was sitting right there, fully on display on top of the pile, clear as day. She hadn't even noticed it before.
No wonder he had been looking sideways the entire time.
Her face burned. She snatched everything up, spun around, and walked out with a quick "I'll go get ready", not waiting for a response, not looking back, not stopping until the bathroom door was shut firmly behind her.
After she left, Xu Yinchen stood very still. Then, quietly, a chuckle escaped him.
He pressed his lips together. But the corners of his mouth refused to cooperate.
He shook his head, caught himself still smiling, and stopped.
He glanced down at himself. Covered in sweat, vest damp, hair not fully dry. She liked things clean and tidy. He couldn't walk around the house looking like this.
He grabbed his clothes from the wardrobe and headed downstairs to take a quick bath by the well before she came out.
...
By the time the rest of the house stirred, the kitchen was already warm, and breakfast was nearly ready.
The smell of scallion pancakes had drifted up the stairs, and it didn't take long before small shuffling sounds could be heard from the children's room above.
When Xu Yinchen came from upstairs after getting ready, he stopped at the dining table.
Qin Lian was arranging the last of the dishes, her back to him. He looked at what was on the table and swallowed quietly.
Steamed egg custard, silky smooth and topped with fresh scallions. A stack of golden scallion pancakes, still sizzling faintly. Small glasses of milk were set out for the children. A small dish of soy sauce on the side.
Simple. But it looked like the kind of breakfast he had never thought to want for himself.
Qin Lian glanced up and saw him standing there. "Go and get the children. We'll eat and leave after this. If we're late, we won't make it back before dark."
He nodded. "I'll get them."
He went upstairs and found all three children already awake, washed, and sitting neatly on the edge of the bed as though they had been waiting for someone to call them.
He couldn't help but be amused by this scene. The children who always looked gloomy and silent looked excited for some reason. He simply waved them down.
When they all gathered at the dining table, Xu Yinchen looked around at the five of them, the children settling into their chairs, Qin Lian passing them milk, steam rising from the food, and felt something settle quietly in his chest.
The house didn't feel gloomy this morning. It felt loud, and full, and strangely warm.
Xu Shen and Xu Wei took their first bites of the scallion pancakes, and both went still. Crispy on the outside, soft inside, fragrant with oil and scallions. Xu Wei's eyes went wide. Even Xu Shen, who made a point of not reacting to things, quietly reached for a second piece.
Watching them eat, Qin Lian smiled.
"After breakfast," she said casually, "your father and I are going to the city."
Xu Shen's chopsticks stopped mid-air. He looked up at her, then at Xu Yinchen, his brows pulling into a hard frown.
Something flickered in his eyes, a suspicion, an accusation. He turned the full weight of that look onto Xu Yinchen, as if he had personally done something wrong.
Xu Yinchen, who had been eating peacefully, felt the gaze land on him like a stone. He frowned back. What exactly had he done?
It was Xu Wei who spoke first, his voice small and tight. "Why? Are you leaving us? Did we do something wrong?"
Qin Lian blinked. She looked at their faces, Xu Wei's face barely concealed distress, Xu Shen's hardened expression, even little Xu Hao gripping his spoon a little tighter, and felt her chest soften.
She let out a small laugh. "I'm not leaving. We're just going to the city to buy a few things. There are so many things missing in this house. We're going to get them, that's all."
"Oh." Xu Wei exhaled. His ears turned faintly red. He looked down at his bowl, embarrassed by his own reaction.
A small silence passed.
Then Qin Lian glanced at Xu Yinchen, considered something briefly, and turned back to the children. "Since you don't have school today… Do you all want to come with us?"
Three heads snapped up at once.
Xu Wei's face lit up immediately. Even Xu Shen, who was doing his best to look indifferent, straightened slightly in his chair.
"Can we really go?" Xu Shen asked, trying to keep his voice flat and failing.
"You can," Qin Lian said. "But only if you behave. The city is crowded. No wandering off on your own, understood?"
"I promise!" Xu Wei shot up so fast he nearly knocked his glass over. "I won't be naughty at all. Not even a little bit. Can we really come?"
Qin Lian looked at Xu Yinchen.
Xu Yinchen, who had not been consulted about any of this, looked back at her with an expression that said exactly that. Three children. In the city. Unplanned.
He sighed. "Go and get ready. We leave in half an hour."
The children cheered, shovelled the rest of their breakfast down at remarkable speed, and thundered upstairs.
The dining table suddenly felt very quiet.
Xu Yinchen began stacking the empty bowls as Qin Lian wiped down the table. He looked at her. "Why did you suddenly decide to bring them?"
She smiled, folding the cleaning cloth neatly. "They came to this village and haven't been anywhere since. It's good for children to go out and see the world sometimes."
She set the cloth aside. "And if we had left without them, they would have spent the whole day thinking the worst."
She paused, then added more quietly, "Besides, we don't have anyone to leave them with anymore."
Xu Yinchen thought about it. She was right on all counts. They couldn't leave the children alone for the whole day. He nodded slowly.
What surprised him was that what he hadn't even thought about, she had already considered.
He picked up the dishes and headed to the kitchen without another word.
...
Half an hour later, the five of them filed out of the house.
Xu Yinchen had borrowed the farm's small tempo for the trip, the same vehicle used to deliver pork to restaurants in the city.
He had cleaned it thoroughly this morning, scrubbing the back and front seats down and airing it out, making it look decent enough.
Still, the moment Qin Lian climbed into the front seat, something about the faint lingering smell made her expression shift. She sat very straight, lips pressed together, trying not to let it show on her face.
In the back, the three children settled happily onto the cleaned seats, completely unbothered.
Xu Yinchen started the engine, glanced at her expression, and said with an awkward cough, "This tempo is mostly used to deliver pork to the city. It's cleaned well, but…" he hesitated, "You might still feel a little odour. The seats are mostly untouched, though."
She nodded but said nothing.
"I had to borrow this because taking everyone to the city by bicycle would have been dangerous," he added. "This might feel a little uncomfortable, but right now it's the best option we have."
Qin Lian looked at him, then let out a quiet breath and nodded. "I know. It's fine."
She straightened in her seat, folded her hands in her lap, and looked out at the road ahead.
As the tempo rumbled through the village, the morning was already alive. Women swept their doorsteps, men shouldered tools heading toward the fields, and neighbours called out to each other across the road.
One by one, heads turned.
"Is that Xu Yinchen? With that city girl, he married?"
"Married? More like bought. Did you hear? They took a large bride price and sent her here with nothing but a small bag. Not even a wedding banquet."
"Look at her sitting in the front seat like she owns the place."
A woman leaning on her broom snorted. "Men are all the same. Dangle something pretty in front of them, and they forget everything; their children, responsibilities, and their senses."
"Huang Zedong was right about her. Did you hear how she treated her? Slapped an elder. What kind of woman does that?"
"And those poor children...." Another woman shook her head, "They've already suffered so much. Now they have to deal with a stepmother like that."
The tempo disappeared around the bend.
"Mark my words," the woman with the broom said quietly. "That family won't have peace for long."