Exile with Storage Space: Family Fortunes in the Barren Lands-Chapter 515 - 0483: No One Else Saw It. (2)

Li Yuwen immediately raised her eyebrows in frustration, "No way, I won’t marry him. We’re just pretending to be married to get through this dangerous time, and then we’ll split up. We’ve already agreed."

Li Xingmao shook his head, "You, oh you, can’t you change your temper a bit?"

"Change what? Is there anything wrong with what I think? I don’t like him!" Li Yuwen’s face lengthened.

"Alright, alright, you decide for yourself. I’m just giving my opinion." Li Xingmao knew that this sister had the most stubborn temper and didn’t intend to persuade her. His words were merely expressing his own thoughts.

"Take back your opinion. I’m not listening." Li Yuwen turned her head away.

Pei Shenyan walked in from the front, and the two siblings dropped the topic. Li Yuwen picked up her teacup, sipping it slowly to soothe her throat.

"Big brother, Yuwen, breakfast is ready. Let’s eat," Pei Shenyan walked in through the moon gate into the courtyard and smiled at the two of them.

"Alright, let’s go have breakfast." Li Xingmao flicked his sleeve and stood up.

Li Yuwen put down her teacup and stood up as well.

The breakfast table was set in the main hall.

The only ones eating were Li Xingmao, Li Yuwen, and Pei Shenyan.

Pei Shenyan’s servants ate in the kitchen.

Aunt Zhou had eaten first and stood to the side, ladling hot soup for them.

Li Yuwen looked at the dishes on the breakfast table and realized they were all her favorites.

Pei Shenyan quietly glanced at her, seeing her smile at the food on the table, eyes filled with joy. A faint smile appeared on Pei Shenyan’s lips.

.

During the days of the new marriage, if the newlywed couple is intimately connected, the days pass swiftly, much like Li Yuzhu and Mu Yuanxiu.

The two always thought of ways to dodge Li Xing’an and Li Lixing, the two shadows trailing behind them, to hide away and enjoy their own world.

They wished they could stretch one day into two.

But for Li Yuwen, the days were torturous.

She couldn’t just start sewing on the second day of marriage to make money, nor could she run to the market to watch people trade goods on the second day. None of these seemed appropriate.

Seeing her walk from inside the house to outside, then back inside to the bedroom out of boredom.

Pei Shenyan thought for a moment and took her to his study, telling her there was fun inside.

"These are books I’ve been collecting since I was a child. Some are unique copies; there are picture albums and storybooks. You can take whatever you want to read. There’s also a guqin here that my mother used before she passed away, it’s said to be an ancient instrument. I don’t really understand guqin, would you like to take a look?"

"..."

"This is a pipa, gifted by a friend. I’m not skilled with the pipa, only know a little bit. I’m best at playing the flute. Lately, my health has been poor, and I haven’t played it for a while, it’s gathering dust."

"..."

"There’s a Go board here. If you want to play, I’ll accompany you, but I’m not very skilled at Go, so don’t mind me if I’m slow."

Pei Shenyan pointed at the pieces in his room, introducing them one by one to Li Yuwen.

Li Yuwen’s eyes lit up at the familiar items.

Her guqin skills were unrivaled in the Capital, partly because her instrument was always excellent. She never played with poor instruments, as they would lower her skill level.

And a fine guqin could cost hundreds or thousands of taels. But given her current ability, she could only think about it as she couldn’t afford one.

As for the storybooks and picture albums she loved, those would require time to search through book societies all over the place.

She spent each day working on needlework to earn money, leaving no time to go out in search of books.

Coming to this mountain village, she had only seen three or five uninteresting storybooks, some brought by Chai Eying and some bought by Li Yuzhu from the county town.

The stories were also uninteresting, only suitable for children like Li Jingguoguo.

Yet, in Pei Shenyan’s study, there was an entire bookshelf filled with storybooks and picture albums. She estimated there were one or two hundred books. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

What surprised her was that most of these picture books she had not read before.

Given her reading speed, she could finish a thin book in three days, and a thick book in five days, providing her with reading material for one or two years.

Li Yuwen was enchanted, not knowing which one to read first.

She simply closed her eyes and reached out to touch the bookshelf, picking whichever book she found.

Unexpectedly, she grabbed Pei Shenyan’s hand.

Li Yuwen opened her eyes, darkened her face, and released his hand, "Can’t you step aside a bit?"

"You suddenly grabbed over, how can I avoid it?" Pei Shenyan looked at his hand, his face innocent.

Li Yuwen, "..." She gave him an angry glare, snatched two books, and walked away.

Due to being too angry, Li Yuwen walked too fast and stumbled at the threshold, the cloak on her body too long and wide. Her foot stepped on one corner, causing her to trip and fall to the ground.

Despite wearing multiple layers in winter, the fall was too hard, and she bumped right into the threshold, causing her to cry out in pain.

Pei Shenyan was startled and quickly went to help her.

"I don’t want you helping." Li Yuwen was on the verge of tears, in such bitter luck.

"Aunt Zhou is washing dishes, Cui Ya went shopping, Big Brother said he was going for a walk, and Fusheng went out with Big Brother. Pei Ji went to Zhen Fang’s house to deliver wine. It’s just you and me in this courtyard, if I don’t help you, who will? You can’t sit there forever."

Li Yuwen, "..." How come there are so few people in Pei Shenyan’s house?

When she was at the Li Family, people were everywhere, and sometimes she even found it too noisy.

Here, it was so quiet that it felt uncomfortable.

"Let me help you up, no one else can see us right now." Pei Shenyan reached out his hand, slipped it under her arms, and helped her up.

Sitting on the ground for too long wasn’t good and could lead to catching a cold.

Besides, it wasn’t an elegant thing to do.

Li Yuwen thought for a moment and didn’t resist, allowing him to help her up.

Although Pei Shenyan was slender, he was still a man, taller and stronger than Li Yuwen.

Pei Shenyan half carried, half supported her as they walked, without much effort.

"Should I help you back to the bedroom?" Pei Shenyan asked her.

It seemed she had truly hurt herself; Li Yuwen was limping as she walked.

"Yes." There was nowhere else to go anyway, Li Yuwen sighed inwardly, how she missed home.

Pei Shenyan, as if sensing her thoughts, added, "Tomorrow is the third day of our marriage, according to tradition, it’s the day to return to your parents’ home. I’ll prepare the gifts in a bit, and we’ll leave early in the morning to visit your parents in the village."

Li Yuwen liked hearing that.

She nudged Pei Shenyan, "We’re at the bedroom, you don’t need to support me anymore, go prepare the gifts."

"We’re just a few steps away from the lounge chair, preparing can wait a bit." Pei Shenyan insisted, helping Li Yuwen to the lounge chair by the window.

Worried she might get cold, he fetched a wool blanket to cover her legs and lit a brazier in the room, moving it beside her lounge chair.

Watching him bustle around, Li Yuwen felt a bit embarrassed.

It’s just holding hands, what’s the big deal?

Besides, she was the one who benefited, not him.

Thinking this way, Li Yuwen felt less annoyed.

Seeing her constantly rubbing her lower back, Pei Shenyan frowned and asked, "Does it hurt a lot? Do you want to see a doctor?"

Seeing a doctor for injuries on the second day of marriage—it would only lead to rumors, making people think they did something. Li Yuwen’s face turned all red.

She glared at him, "It’s fine, go on with your work, I’ll read here for a bit." Li Yuwen waved him off.

Pei Shenyan smiled, "Alright."

He used to think she was aloof and hard to get along with, but now he realized it wasn’t the case; she was just easily embarrassed.

After Pei Shenyan left, Li Yuwen exhaled a breath, turning to her book.

The light in this bedroom was nice, with a pane of bright tiles on the roof above the window, allowing sunlight to warm her.

She moved the book to the shade to avoid direct sunlight and leisurely flipped through it.

Pei Shenyan went to the storehouse, took paper and pen, and noted down the gifts to bring for the homecoming visit tomorrow.

Prince Luling loved wine, so they couldn’t omit drinks.

Princess Consort Luling loved sweets, so some candied fruit would be needed.

The eldest sister-in-law of the Li Family was pregnant and couldn’t eat randomly; Pei Shenyan increased the quantity of candied fruits and pastries, as these common foods were suitable for pregnant women.

The gifts for the two children included some toys, as he had many in his study, so bringing out some new ones would suffice.

Additionally, Pei Shenyan noted down a piece of venison.

He would bring it back to the Li Family, where everyone could gather and roast the venison together.

He also included the deerskin on the list. Once cleaned and sun-dried, it could be made into cloaks or shoes for Guoguo and Li Jing.

Having listed the gifts, Pei Shenyan held the list and went to the bedroom to show Li Yuwen, "These are the gifts for tomorrow’s visit. Do you think it’s adequate? I saved two venison legs for you, and the rest are coming with us."

Li Yuwen turned her head, took the list to review, and found them to be items loved by family members.

Especially the twenty jins of wine, which would make her father ecstatic.

The venison was a favorite of her brothers, and deerskin was a good material too.

Guoguo already had a leopard skin cloak, so this deerskin could make a cloak for Jingjing.

"Alright, this will do." Li Yuwen had no objections, handing the list back to Pei Shenyan.

Pei Shenyan said, "We’ll set off at 7:45 AM tomorrow morning."

"Alright, you decide." Li Yuwen said, her mood brightening, evident by the upward curve of her lips as she spoke.

When she smiled, Pei Shenyan’s mood lifted as well.

He glanced at her, smiled, and left the bedroom to prepare the gifts.

.

After the awkwardness of last night, the second night, Li Yuwen and Pei Shenyan felt much more at ease with each other.

Both were familiar with each other’s temperaments and avoided provoking each other.

Li Yuwen still slept in the bed, while Pei Shenyan slept on the footrest.