Inviting the Moon to the Farmhouse

Chapter 184 Seeing her again, she was no longer the same person.

Xia Lanyue woke up feeling unwell in the early morning.

She opened her eyes and looked to her side, searching for Xia Yao's figure.

But there was no one.

She glanced out the window; it was already past 9 AM. If she wasn't mistaken, Xia Yao should have gone to see Village Chief Zhao.

Xia Lanyue tried to sit up, but as soon as she moved, she felt soreness all over her body.

She looked down at her body, which was covered with the marks left by yesterday's lovemaking.

Xia Lanyue's face flushed unconsciously.

Xia Yao usually looks very polite and refined, but once the lights are off, he's a completely different person, almost shaking the already flimsy bed to its breaking point.

They kept going until the wee hours of the morning before finally stopping after she begged them to stop.

Despite the pain, Xia Lanyue sat up and looked into the room. On the table was the breakfast Xia Yao had prepared, and on the stool were a basin of water and a towel.

A warm feeling spread through Xia Lanyue's heart.

However, thinking that there was still no news of Dai You and Jiang Di, Xia Lanyue dared not delay and immediately got up and rushed to Wang Xiang's house.

Xia Lanyue rushed to Wang Xiang's house and arrived just before he left.

Wang Xiang cautiously checked behind her to make sure no one was following her, and once she entered the house, she quickly closed the door.

Back in the courtyard, Wang Xiang glanced at Xia Lanyue's neck and quickly looked away, saying, "Miss Dai, let's talk inside."

Xia Lanyue followed Wang Xiang into the house. As soon as she sat down, she heard Wang Xiang ask her an urgent question.

"How's it going? Did Xia Yao agree?"

Xia Lanyue did not receive a definite answer from Xia Yao, but she felt that there should be no problem, so she nodded.

Wang Xiang smiled with relief, "That's good. With Brother Xia's help, there shouldn't be any problems with this matter."

"Still no news from them?" Xia Lanyue asked.

Wang Xiang shook her head, "Wait for me, young lady."

After saying that, Wang Xiang got up and went to the inner room.

When Wang Xiang came out again, she was holding a box in her hands.

Wang Xianglai placed the box in front of Xia Lanyue and opened it.

It was filled with loose silver and copper coins, a whole box full.

Xia Lanyue opened her mouth wide in surprise and looked at Wang Xiang in confusion.

Wang Xiang sat on the stool next to her and said, “Miss Dai, I know that this matter requires money to smooth things over. We are a small family and don’t have that much money. This is all that our brothers have put together. I don’t know if it’s enough. Please pass it on to us, Miss Dai.”

Xia Lanyue hesitated. She didn't want to accept the money, but without it, their business might not go well.

Just then, they heard a knock on the door.

Wang Xiang and Xia Lanyue were both taken aback. Wang Xiang quickly closed the box and put it in the cabinet. Then she gestured for Xia Lanyue not to move and turned around to open the door.

Soon, Wang Xiang returned, followed by another person.

The visitor was Dai You.

He is back!

When Dai You entered the room and saw Xia Lanyue, he was also very happy.

Xia Lanyue stood up and went to greet them, "How are you? Are you all alright?"

Dai You nodded. "Yes, Jiang Di is fine too. She's hiding outside the village now."

However, as Xia Lanyue approached, Dai You's gaze fell on her neck, and his smile vanished. He then looked at Wang Xiang in disbelief, but Wang Xiang did not look at him.

Dai You's face was filled with anger, which he no longer concealed.

Xia Lanyue noticed the change in Dai You's mood and seemed to understand the reason for his anger. She pretended not to know and continued to talk to him, "That's for the best. If you're alright..."

"You've disappointed me so much," Dai You blurted out angrily.

Then, Dai You turned around and strode outside.

Xia Lanyue glanced at Wang Xiang and then chased after her.

She didn't know what to say to Dai You, but she had a feeling that if she didn't go out now, she might never find him again.

Dai You was already tall and walked very fast.

Xia Lanyue ran after her.

Finally, when they reached the outskirts of town, Xia Lanyue was too exhausted to continue the chase.

She gasped for breath and used her last bit of strength to call out to him, "Dai You, I can't walk anymore."

Dai You stopped walking, but did not turn around.

Xia Lanyue couldn't see his expression, but she could guess that it must be filled with soreness and pain.

Xia Lanyue walked over slowly and stopped three steps away from him.

“Dai You, I’m so happy you’re back safe and sound,” Xia Lanyue said. “Also, thank you for saving Jiang Di for my sake.”

Dai You didn't say anything, he just stood there.

Xia Lanyue knew Dai You was heartbroken, but since things had come to this, she didn't regret it. "I hope you won't be angry with me. My decision was made after careful consideration."

Dai You sighed, his voice trembling, "Why didn't you wait for me to come back?! Why didn't you believe me?!"

"It's not that I don't trust you, it's just that I feel... Xia Yao and I are going to get married anyway, so it's only right that he does these things," Xia Lanyue said, pretending to be relaxed.

"And what am I to you? A joke?"

Dai You tried his best to suppress his sadness, but Xia Lanyue could still hear the emotion in his voice.

"I'm sorry," Xia Lanyue sincerely wanted to say to Dai You.

Dai You fell silent.

After a moment, he sighed, turned around, took a paper package from his pocket, stuffed it into Xia Lanyue's hand, and then ran away.

"Sigh," Xia Lanyue watched Dai You's departing figure and stopped calling out to him. She knew that she could no longer stop Dai You's steps.

She lowered her head, opened the paper package, and found it contained croton seeds.

As darkness fell, Xia Lanyue waited at Wang Xiang's place, but Dai You did not appear.

She looked at the two bundles on the table, picked up her own, and went out the door.

She thought that Dai You would come and pick up his bag when he was in a better mood.

After leaving Wang Xiang's house, Xia Lanyue headed to Xia Yao's house, as if she had found the place she wanted to go.

She stood at the doorway, looking out into the courtyard. The lights in the house were off; Xia Yao hadn't returned yet.

She tentatively called out, "Xia Yao? Are you there?"

After waiting for a while and receiving no response, she pushed open the door and went inside.

Meanwhile, Xia Yao was talking to Zhou Yuan by the lake on the edge of the town.

"Have you heard from Jiang Di yet?" Xia Yao asked.

“He was kidnapped the day before yesterday, so I led a group to follow him. We were probably discovered halfway through, so they went around in circles and managed to shake us off,” Zhou Yuan said.

"Did he recognize our people?" Xia Yao asked.

Zhou Yuan shook his head. "There shouldn't be any, we covered our faces."

Xia Yao was satisfied. "Who were the people who broke into the prison? Can you recognize them?"

“There’s someone inside. Judging from his build, he looks like Dai You. His height is so striking. There aren’t many people with that height. I think it looks like him,” Zhou Yuan said.

Xia Yao nodded.

Seeing that Xia Yao was no longer speaking, Zhou Yuan smiled and said, "We brothers felt very guilty for not doing a good job on the thing you asked us to do last time. Now that he's run away, it's considered that nothing went wrong."

Xia Yao didn't seem satisfied with what he said and didn't respond.

Zhou Yuan wisely stopped smiling.

Xia Yao glanced at Zhou Yuan sideways and then said, "Thank you for your help these past few days."