Xue Dongting frowned. Did Song Yuming have a mistress? Through the window she saw the woman put a bundle of something in Song Yuming's hands. For some reason, it made Xue Dongting a bit angry. She had seen a lot of fickle men. Third Prince back in her previous life fooled around a lot as well, but she had never gotten angry about like she was now. Then she only cared about Third Prince's status, she didn't care about him. But now, she couldn't bear to see Song Yuming with a strange woman.
She suddenly felt shocked. What was the matter with her? Had she fallen for him? All because he gave her a string of cash?
While Xue Dongting stood there dumbfounded, Song Yuming had already come back inside, carrying the bundle. She glanced outside but the gates were shut tight. The woman was gone.
The bundle in his hands was wrapped with cloth. She couldn't tell what it was.
Song Yuming seemed somewhat embarrassed. He held it up. "Shoes. From the widow on the west end of Longxi." He tossed the bundle on a shelf, didn't even open it to take a look.
The widow on the west end? So she's a widow, now Xue Dongting understood what was going on between them. After all, he was in his thirties and still unmarried, which was not all that normal.
Xue Dongting said "Mm" in response and looked down at the old, worn-out shoes on his feet. She didn't say any more.
She went to the kitchen and fried up some pickled cabbage and cooked a pot of congee. Next to her, Song Yuming added some firewood to the stove to increase the heat, not saying a word.
After they ate, she set about arranging the bedroom. There wasn't much in the room. It was a bit messy, but the room was still clean. At first she didn't even want to see what that widow had brought, but when she walked past the shelf she set the bundle on the floor.
She undid the cloth, revealing a pair of cotton-padded shoes. She stopped down and snatched them up and gave them a good once-over. They were a bit garish was all. The stitching was fine and closely wove, clearly excellent workmanship.
Song Yuming walked in just then. Xue Dongting placed the shoes on the shelf, not even looking at him.
But she was surprised at herself. What was wrong with her? Back then with Third Prince she could always control her anger, so how come she couldn't keep from getting all worked up now?
She was somewhat out of sorts. But Song Yuming came over and wrapped his arms around her. She looked up at him and couldn't hold in what was on her mind. "I don't want you wearing another woman's shoes."
Song Yuming gave her a wan smile, and to her surprise asked, "Then what will I wear?"
"I can make shoes too! It's just a pair of shoes, what's so hard about that?" Xue Dongting looked up at him. She had said it so determined, but in fact she was not confident at all. She had never sewn shoes before and had no idea where to start.
She saw a hint of a smile flash across the fisherman's face. Her heart skipped. She suddenly felt this fisherman did not really fisherman-like. Every action he made seemed to have a noble quality to like someone from the imperial family. She couldn't help but be shocked by the thought of it, even thought she had no idea why the thought had occurred to her. Likely it was because she was always afraid back when she was with Third Prince so that now she was overly suspicious. She immediately shook her head. There was no way. Song Yuming was just a fisherman, that's all.
That night when they went to bed, Song Yuming still held her, gave her warmth, but he didn't make a move on her. Actually, Xue Dongting had already prepared herself to take it. She lay quietly in his arms, looking at his face, somewhat disappointed, making it even harder to sleep.