"You're right. I'm not alone anymore. I have a family to take care of."
After realising what he just said, Xu Yinchen's ears turned red. He coughed lightly. "What I wanted to say is, I have never been married before. I just wanted you to know that."
Qin Lian couldn't help it; a small laugh escaped her. Any normal person arriving in her situation might have wondered. But she already knew. Still, the way he explained it so carefully made her smile. "I know. Thank you for letting me know."
After that, he went quiet. As if waiting for her to speak.
Qin Lian waited, but he said nothing more. Still, she had a feeling he hadn't started this conversation just to talk about himself.
She took a breath.
"About me.... You must already know the story, right?"
"All my life, I lived in the city with my parents. I was engaged since I was young to a man who never showed real interest in me; it was a family arrangement, basically." She said truthfully.
The Lin family guy, although the original owner had loved him deeply, he always ignored her, basically looked down on her. She never understood why the original host was so devoted to him anyway.
She kept her voice even. "Then just a month ago, I found out I wasn't their real daughter. I got to see human nature up close, how people can change overnight."
Her voice lowered as she remembered the disappointment in Qin Lian's memories. "The mother who used to pamper me became a stranger. The father who used to listen to my every tantrum became someone who got angry at whatever I said. I became the enemy of everyone in that house."
Xu Yinchen listened in silence, eyes on the ceiling, hands nervously clenched behind his head.
"I resisted when they asked me to exchange the engagement. I created chaos. I even hurt myself in the rebellion."
She stopped for a moment. These were the original owner's memories, her pain, her story. But somewhere along the way, those emotions had quietly become Qin Lian's own too.
The loneliness, the rejection, the feeling of being unwanted; she understood all of it too well. It didn't matter whose life it originally was. That pain felt real.
"But later I realised, it doesn't matter anymore. If I have to beg them for love and care, then it isn't real anyway. So I left. With just a small bag of clothes. I didn't want to take anything else from them."
Xu Yinchen was still. She was more like him than he had expected, alone and lost in this world. At least he had a home to return to. She hadn't even had that.
A long silence passed between them.
Then he spoke, his voice low and careful. "You… I know you decided to fulfill this engagement because of the betrothal gifts. But you don't have to care about that."
"It was something between the Mu family and me; it has nothing to do with you." A pause. "If you're doing this only to fulfill that promise, you don't have to. I don't want you to ruin your life because of this."
Only he knew how much he had been carrying this since she arrived. It had only been two days, yet it felt like much longer. She was young. She deserved someone better, a better life than this village could offer her.
Qin Lian said nothing.
Every second of her silence made his heart tremble a little more. He was afraid of what he might hear.
Then the blanket rustled. She sat up and looked down at him.
"What do you mean?" she said. "Do you want me to leave your house?"
His eyes went wide. He sat up immediately. "No! I didn't mean that. I just wanted you not to choose out of pressure. I don't want you to regret your decision later."
Qin Lian looked at him for a moment. Then her expression softened, and she smiled. "If you're worried that I came here only to fulfill the engagement, then you're right."
His heart sank. His expression turned serious, waiting.
"But that's only half the truth." She met his eyes. "I came to fulfill the engagement, yes, but not because I was forced. I made this decision knowing what I was doing."
"And if you're afraid I'll regret it later, don't worry. As long as you don't cheat on me and don't treat me badly, I won't regret this decision." She held his gaze. "So it all depends on you now. How seriously you take this."
She meant every word. She had been betrayed once. She couldn't afford to go through that again.
Xu Yinchen looked at her for a moment. Then, quietly, he smiled and said nothing.
Because he had already made his choice.
"I won't," he said then, firmly. "I will never betray you. Nor will I treat you badly. Never. I swear on my life."
Seeing his red ears and flustered face, Qin Lian laughed softly. "That's good then. So don't think too much about it."
"I'm the real daughter of the Mu family, and I'm betrothed to you, that's all there is to it. Let's stop looking at the past and focus on our future. Okay?"
Xu Yinchen nodded. All the thoughts that had been brooding in his mind since yesterday quietly disappeared.
Her words had settled something in him. As long as she stayed, he would treat her with every bit of loyalty and respect she deserved.
For a while, neither of them said anything. The room was quiet again, but it felt different from before, lighter somehow.
He thought of something and said with some hesitance, "Erm… since we are married now, we will also need to get a marriage certificate."
"We should," She agreed. "But my household registration is still at the Qin family. I didn't bring it with me."
Xu Yinchen was surprised. He hadn't expected her to agree so readily. Seems like he was worrying about her too much.
Before he could say anything, she added, "It's alright. I was planning to go to the city tomorrow to buy a few things anyway. I can collect it while I'm there."
Thinking about her bandage and the thought of her going back there alone, he felt uneasy. "I'll take you."
"You? Are you sure? Aren't you busy?"
"It's alright. I can make time to accompany my wife."
She paused at that, then smiled and nodded. "Sure."
She glanced around the room. There were so many things that needed changing in this house.
"Would you mind if I also picked up a few things for the house while we're there? There are quite a few things we're missing, and some changes I'd like to make."
He looked at her, quietly pleased that she was already thinking about it. "I gave you the money. You don't need to ask me before using it. It's your call."
She nodded.
And with that, they both went to sleep. For the first time, Xu Yinchen fell asleep with a smile on his lips, relieved.