The rumour spread faster than wildfire.
"Lin Qingya's having a blind date!"
By mid-morning, the rain had stopped and half the village had gathered near her brother's courtyard. Even the old men chewing sunflower seeds by the well came to watch, pretending they just happened to pass by.
At the centre of it all stood Qingya, dressed in a freshly washed cotton blouse and an old skirt she had mended herself. Her hair was pulled into a neat bun. She looked neither rich nor poor.
Her son Lin Chen sat on the steps, licking the last grain of sugar from his palm, blissfully unaware of what was happening.
Someone at the village gate shouted, "He's there! A man in a green shirt is inside!"
Instantly, everyone craned their necks.
The second sister-in-law, who had spent days calling him "the grim-faced devil," blinked in disbelief upon seeing him.
That devil was young. Younger than the elder sister-in-law had told them. He did not look like a man his thirties at all. She was sure the elder sister-in-law had lied!
Inside the yard, the man sat on an old stool.
For a second, the past and the present blurred.
In her previous life, she had heard of Han Yuzhe only through others. The incorruptible officer who never took bribes, the investigator who dismantled all the corrupt businessmen empires piece by piece.
Now standing before him, she understood why men feared and women stared.
"Officer Han," her brother greeted, wiping his hands. "Welcome again!"
Han shook his hand politely. "Just Han Yuzhe will do. I'm not here on duty."
His eyes drifted to the child that was now hidden behind his mother's skirt stealing peeks.
Lin Chen noticing the eyes on him tilted his chin up, curiosity winning over fear. "Are you the man my uncle said has a gun?"
Everyone gasped.
Qingya quickly hushed him, mortified. "Chen!"
But Han Yuzhe crouched slightly, expression unreadable. "Yes," he said, "but I only use it to protect people."
The boy blinked unsure whether he understood what was said to him but could get the word protect. "Do you protect mom's too?"
Something flickered in Han's eyes. "If they need it."
Satisfied, Lin Chen nodded solemnly and stepped aside.
Behind the wall of onlookers, a woman hid beneath a faded scarf, half her face veiled. Zhou Xinyi.
He smiled. He actually smiled.
Han Yuzhe, who hadn't smiled once during their marriage, had just smiled at another woman's child.
Xinyi's heart twisted. She had come only to confirm that Lin Qinya ends up with Han Yuzhe and doesnt get between her and Yun Han, but now jealousy burned her like fever.
She'd traded her marriage for the incoming luxury she thought she would have. Convinced that wealth was the true future she wanted. Yet seeing him now, tall, centered and respected, she suddenly felt the emptiness of her choice.
And worse, she knew what was coming: this woman, Lin Qingya, would one day hold everything Xinyi wanted. The house, the children's affection. But she would not get the riches.
Yes, the riches!
Not again.
She turned on her heel, heading straight for Yun Hao's construction site on the outskirts of the next town. She could not find him there meaning he had not arrived yet so there was only one place he could be. This time she would make sure that future of glamour was hers.
....
Back in the courtyard, after the greetings, Han Yuzhe straightened.
"Comrade Lin Qingya," he said formally, "may I speak with you?"
Qingya hesitated, glancing at her elder brother, who nodded and motioned the others inside.
The yard emptied, leaving only the two of them under the late-morning sun. The smell of drying wheat hung in the air, golden and warm.
"I won't waste words," Han Yuzhe began. "I've recently divorced. I have two sons. People suggested we might...suit each other."
Qingya smiled faintly. "That's one way to put it."
He didn't smile back. "I know your situation too. You have a child and need city registration. I won't insult your intelligence by pretending not to know that."
Her breath caught. He was blunt, brutally so.
But then he added, softly, "I also need stability. Someone who would take care of my child."
For a moment, the air stiffled.
Qingya met his gaze squarely. "If you marry me, you marry my child too. I won't leave him behind."
His expression didn't change, but the faintest curve touched his lips.
"Then it's decided," he said simply. "I'll protect both of you from now on."
...
From the lane outside, the ones who were closer and had heard some of the conversation passed it to the others.
"You see? He talked to her alone!"
"They're really going to marry?"
"The man looks younger than her right? Oh! he is so handsome!"
But Lin Qingya didn't hear them.
For the first time since her rebirth, she felt something unfamiliar flutter in her chest. Not love, not yet but somewhat like certainty that this time she had made the right choice.
Han Yuzhe the man who was said to never smile, had just promised her a future in a single sentence.
And as clouds parted overhead, sunlight spilled across the courtyard, as if even the heavens acknowledged their strange, practical beginning.