For the first time, he held her like a princess in his arms, and truly noticed how small and fragile she was. The faint fragrance that exclusively belonged to her stirred a strange feeling in him, like an impulse to pounce on her.

Ye Yang got frightened by this thought in his head. He felt that he had gone overboard and was disgusted with himself! Frustrated, he placed her safely on the bed, covered her nicely with the blanket, and went to close the door.

It was like he was encased by a layer of coldness, and left Liu Duo feeling confused. What had just happened? Wasn't she the angry one?

With the door closed and locked, Ye Yang blew out the oil lamp, took off his outer garments and climbed into bed. He tucked himself in but didn't hug her this time. Instead, he had his back against her, and directly went to sleep.

Brow furrowed, Liu Duo stared at the back of his head as she lay sideways, mumbling, "Damn you, I'm the one who's mad here. What's going on with you? You aren't even consoling me. How horrible..."

Ye Yang had his eyes open, staring into the dark, looking nowhere in particular. He wasn't asleep. He deeply regretted the filthy thoughts he had earlier and how they kept resurfacing. He couldn't face Liu Duo like this.

Liu Duo complained about it silently, and she was eventually overtaken by sleep.

She was so used to hugging that her hands fumbled about as she slept. They finally got to Ye Yang's waist and she managed to sleep peacefully beside him.

Ye Yang, who couldn't sleep a wink at all, felt the tiny hands around his arms. He turned around to face her.

Without the oil lamp, he couldn't see her face. Moonlight was absent that night too.

But Ye Yang felt as though he could see her. His big hands rubbed against her tender cheeks as he said softly, "Little Duo, it's not that I don't trust you. It's not that I don't want to walk with you. I was wondering why you were angry."

He spoke softly and slowly to a sleeping Liu Duo, who didn't hear anything.

The next day, Liu Duo was roused awake early in the morning by the sound of shouting and screaming.

Downstairs, Grandmother Liu and Grandmother Ye were quarreling with one another while Ye Yang and Ye Liu looked on, one expressionless, the other giggling like a fool.

Ye Mo and Ye Ling were preparing breakfast in the kitchen. Ye Liu prohibited Ye Mo from meddling, which allowed the fight to continue.

"You old hag! We said never to contact again, and here you are trespassing in my grandsons' house? Get lost!" Grandmother Ye accused Grandmother Liu maliciously.

She knew Liu Duo was a shared wife who had been sold to the brothers, so she was basically ex-communicated from her family.

Boasting the same level of ferocity, Grandmother Liu countered, "You're the old hag here! I came here looking for my grandson-in-law. What does that have to do with you? You should get lost! You haven't visited in ten years, so why now?"

She also knew that Grandmother Ye had a strenuous relationship with Ye Yang and his brothers!

Their fight was intense. Liu Duo got up and simply combed her hair, put on her shoes and went out to the balcony to see what was going on.

She found Grandmother Liu and Grandmother Ye going head-to-head with each other.

She went back inside, tidied her hair, changed her clothes, and went downstairs, "What are you two doing in our house?"

She gave them the side eye before going to wash up at the well.

Ye Liu immediately followed her since she had woken up. He helped fetch more water for her, because they had previously poured all the clean water into the wooden barrels to wash the bamboo shoots.

"What a useless bitch, to wake up at this hour!" Grandmother Ye cursed quietly.

Only to be heard by Grandmother Liu, who had a sharp sense of hearing, "Who are you calling useless, you old hag? You have no right to scold my granddaughter. Who do you think you are?"

"Your granddaughter? Where is she? Don't go barking up the wrong tree! She's the shared wife of my four grandsons. What else is she if not a useless bitch?" Grandmother Ye retorted without a shred of kindness.