Ding Wanru's Feelings

Chen Yongqiang stood up and reached into his pocket: "How much do you want?"

Ding Wanru quickly pressed down on his arm: "It's not much money, you don't need to pay."

"That won't do," Chen Yongqiang insisted on paying.

Under the dim light, Ding Wanru's cheeks flushed slightly.

Her voice was so soft it was almost inaudible: "Really, you don't need to. You know how I feel. As long as you move in, I'm all yours."

Chen Yongqiang was well aware that Ding Wanru had always wanted to find a son-in-law to live with her family.

But now that Lin Xiulian is living in the house, even though it's only a temporary arrangement, we can't afford to mess with a good girl like Ding Wanru again.

"I'm a married man, I'm not good enough for you." Chen Yongqiang placed five cents on the table.

He picked up the wolf cub with its injured leg bandaged, turned around, and left.

Ding Wanru watched his figure disappear into the night, lost in thought. She figured she wouldn't be able to sleep that night either.

As Chen Yongqiang came out of Ding Wanru's room, he didn't notice that not far away, the cook He Jun was carrying a bag of pastries he had brought back from town, his face ashen.

He Jun came at this time specifically, hoping to take the opportunity of delivering food to talk to Ding Wanru again.

Unexpectedly, she bumped into Chen Yongqiang coming out of her room, and a surge of anger rose up in her heart, her teeth grinding together.

"What exactly is Chen Yongqiang trying to do?" He Jun felt both bitter and angry.

"Even after the divorce, Lin Xiulian is still living in the house. And now, in the middle of the night, she's sneaking out of Wanru's room again, trying to have her cake and eat it too. That's so underhanded!"

The more he thought about it, the more he felt there was a serious crisis.

Although Ding Wanru was an orphan, she was pretty and the only doctor in the village, so many people had their eyes on her.

I've tried everything to persuade her, but she's always lukewarm. And now Chen Yongqiang has suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

"No way!" He Jun clenched the paper package in his hand.

"We can't delay any longer. We need to find her and make things clear, and get the marriage settled as soon as possible! Any delay could lead to unforeseen problems!"

He Jun forced out what he thought was a gentle smile, strode to Ding Wanru's door, and knocked.

"Wanru, are you asleep? It's me, He Jun."

Ding Wanru, who was inside, had just finished packing her medicine kit and was about to turn off the light when she heard the noise, so she had to go back and open the door.

"Brother He? It's so late, is there something you need?"

He Jun quickly handed over the pastries in his hand: "It's nothing serious, I just saw someone selling osmanthus cake in town today, so I brought you some to try."

He peeked into the room and asked casually, "I think I just saw Chen Yongqiang leave your place? Did he come to see you for a medical checkup?"

Ding Wanru took the oil paper package and said in a flat tone, "Yes, he found an injured puppy and asked me to help him apply some medicine."

He Jun scoffed inwardly, but showed no sign on his face. He continued, "Yongqiang is just kind-hearted. He hasn't even sorted out his own affairs yet, and he still has the mind to care about stray dogs."

"Wanru, you see, it's not very convenient for a young woman like you to live alone. I'm a straightforward person, I don't know how to say anything fancy, so what do you think about our relationship?"

"I genuinely want to spend my life with you. If you agree, I'll move in right away and become a live-in son-in-law!"

Ding Wanru looked at He Jun's anxious and eager face, but felt no emotion; instead, she felt a sense of annoyance.

She knew He Jun's thoughts all too well, and understood why he had come to propose marriage so soon after Chen Yongqiang left at this exact moment.

Her suggestion of finding a son-in-law to live with her was actually a way of politely rejecting men like He Jun, who didn't truly understand her and just wanted to find a woman to share life with.

Ding Wanru distanced herself: "Brother He, I appreciate your kindness, but right now I just want to stay here and run this clinic. I don't have any plans to get married yet. Please take this osmanthus cake home and eat it yourself. Thank you."

After saying that, she stuffed the oil paper package back into He Jun's hand, and before he could say anything more, she said, "It's getting late, Brother He, please go back," and then closed the door.

He Jun stood outside the closed door, holding the package of osmanthus cakes that had been returned, his face flushing red and then turning pale.

Meanwhile, Chen Yongqiang returned home.

Hearing the noise, Lin Xiulian got up to check: "You're back? Did you have any success today?"

Chen Yongqiang found an empty basket by the wall, lined it with some dry grass, and put the wolf cub in his arms inside. "We didn't catch any prey, but we found a wolf cub under the cliff behind the mountain."

"Wolf cubs?" Lin Xiulian was somewhat surprised. She groped her way up, put on her coat, and walked over.

She squatted down beside the basket, examining the small, furry creature curled up inside. "Is this a wolf cub? It looks about the same as a mongrel puppy."

"They're still young, so they don't look much different now." Chen Yongqiang walked to the table, picked up the bowl of cold water, and took a big gulp.

"When they grow up a bit more, their eyes will look different."

Lin Xiulian reached out her finger to touch the wolf cub's ear, but the little guy twitched in his sleep, and she immediately withdrew her hand.

"That's a wolf! I've heard wolf cubs can't be tamed. What if they bite people when they grow up?"

Chen Yongqiang put down the bowl of water, walked to the wall, took the hunting rifle off his back and hung it up: "Its good fortune is that the mountain god let me encounter it. Whether it can be tamed or not, we'll see."

He placed the basket containing the wolf cubs in the corner of the main room, then turned and went into the inner room to rest.

Lin Xiulian followed behind him naturally, and Chen Yongqiang paused as he unbuttoned his coat.

Although the east room is simple, it can be tidied up and made suitable for sleeping.

He was well aware of the gossip circulating in the village; a divorced man living under the same roof as an unmarried woman was bound to attract gossip.

"Xiulian..." he said, the words already on the tip of his tongue.

Turning his head, he saw the girl silently walk to the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) and spread out the somewhat stiff bedding for him.

She had no relatives or friends here, and she was her only support at the moment.

The words to tell her to sleep in the east room swirled in her throat a few times, but she ultimately swallowed them back.

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, a sobbing sound woke Chen Yongqiang and Lin Xiulian. The sound came from a bamboo basket in the main room.

Lin Xiulian got dressed and went out to check. She squatted by the basket, looking at the restless little creature inside: "It's probably hungry. What should I feed it?"

Chen Yongqiang went to the kitchen, took a knife, and cut a small piece of dried wild boar meat: "Try this and see if it will eat it."

Lin Xiulian took the meat strip and handed it to the wolf cub's mouth.

The little guy came over, sniffed it with his nose, and even stuck out his tongue to lick it, but didn't eat it.

"It's too small, it doesn't know how to eat meat yet." Lin Xiulian looked at it with heartache and looked up at Chen Yongqiang with some helplessness.

"Go and boil some rice porridge to tide you over. I'll go check which ewe has given birth and get some goat milk later," Chen Yongqiang instructed.

Lin Xiulian nodded quickly: "Then I'll go start a fire."