The more you want ti to slow down, the faster it seems to go by; before long, they were almost there.
Suddenly, the carriage stopped. Li Chuntao looked up and saw that they hadn’t reached Yang Village yet. Why had they stopped?
Could it be that sothing happened again?
Her eyes looked at Yang Dong in confusion. Just as she was about to ask, she saw Yang Dong turn his head and said to her, "Get off here. I’ll have my sisters-in-law from ho bring your things over later."
Upon hearing this, Li Chuntao widened her eyes. He was actually letting her get off now?
Seeing Li Chuntao so surprised, Yang Dong feared she would misunderstand, so he hastily explained, "I’m worried about the villagers gossiping, which would be bad for you. That’s why I’m asking you to get off now. It’s not far from the village entrance; you just need to walk a bit to get there. You go into the village first; I’ll follow after you."
Yang Dong was truly afraid of causing more trouble. If the villagers saw the two of them returning together, gossip would surely follow. While he didn’t mind being talked about as a man, Li Chuntao was a woman, an unmarried girl, and he couldn’t let others spread rumors about her casually.
All along the way, he had been thinking about this. After much consideration, he decided they should separate before entering the village, to avoid any gossip.
Hearing Yang Dong’s explanation, Li Chuntao felt deeply disappointed. It turned out Yang Dong was afraid the villagers would misunderstand them, so he wanted her to get off before entering the village.
Now that she thought about it, he had seed quite hesitant while they were together today. She knew he was unwilling, but he couldn’t refuse because she had asked.
A bitter smile appeared on her lips as she moved to get out of the carriage. She extended one foot from the carriage but then paused and sat back down.
This action left Yang Dong puzzled. Why wasn’t she getting off but instead sat back down?
He felt a bit anxious and looked at Li Chuntao with concern, "What’s wrong?"
Li Chuntao sat there and smiled at Yang Dong, "There’s really nothing between us. If I got off here and the villagers found out, then I’d really have no way to explain."
Her words left Yang Dong speechless, for Li Chuntao made a valid point. If the villagers found out she had gotten off before entering the village just to distance herself from him, that would indeed be hard to explain.
"You’re right. I didn’t think it through. Sit tight then," Yang Dong said as he wielded the whip.
In no ti, the carriage entered Yang Village.
Just as Yang Dong expected, as soon as the carriage entered Yang Village, the villagers saw them.
Everyone cast curious looks at Yang Dong and Li Chuntao, wondering how the wealthy family’s lady ended up returning with Yang Dong.
Yang Dong felt he should explain to everyone; otherwise, they would surely make up stories.
But before he could say anything, he heard Li Chuntao’s voice. Li Chuntao cheerfully greeted everyone, "Everybody busy?"
With Li Chuntao initiating the conversation, a few people gathered around, forcing Yang Dong to stop the carriage.
"Miss Li, where are you coming from, returning with Yang Dong?"
Indeed, everyone was very interested in why Li Chuntao returned with Yang Dong. If Li Chuntao were a man or Yang Dong a woman, there wouldn’t be any wild guesses. But the difference lay precisely in that Li Chuntao and Yang Dong were of different genders, and that inevitably led to speculation.
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