Chapter 217: Chapter 217: Seeing the Heart Clearly, Preparations Before Departure

Everyone cherished these final days together, and they tacitly gave Xu Huaian and Gu Qinghuan some space, letting the couple spend quality time with each other. After all, once they parted, it might be for a whole year—or even longer.

Ever since the decision was made for him to leave, Xu Huaian had treasured every moment with Gu Qinghuan. Apart from working and spending time with the children, he followed Gu Qinghuan everywhere, always at her beck and call.

The two of them were getting along better and better—so well that it was as if only a thin layer of paper separated them from truly baring their hearts. Xu Huaian was deeply reluctant to leave, and Gu Qinghuan felt just as melancholy.

When it comes to matters of the heart, there’s only so much one can control.

Without even realizing it, Xu Huaian had become an inseparable part of her life. During the half month he’d been away before, she’d already come to terms with her feelings.

She cared for him.

For the first time in two lifetimes, a man had broken through the ice around her heart, moved in, and made her think of him day and night, tugging at her heartstrings.

Gu Qinghuan had also come to accept it. Since she liked him, she might as well throw caution to the wind and be with him wholeheartedly. No matter how things ended, at least she would have tried.

But just when their feelings were at their most intense, they had to face separation. It was truly cruel.

Still, Gu Qinghuan encouraged him to go out and find his own path.

A man who stays at home all day, squandering great opportunities, refusing to work, and revolving his whole life around romance and the kitchen—such a man was not someone Gu Qinghuan could respect.

To put it bluntly, when you like someone, it’s because they have qualities that attract you—something that shines.

What first drew her to Xu Huaian, what made her willing to save him, was actually that bundle of medals. She wanted to save a man of true grit and strength.

It might sound pragmatic, but that’s the truth. If Xu Huaian were just an ordinary country bumpkin, she might have saved him out of kindness, but she would never have fallen for someone like that.

The same applied to her. If she were just a timid, useless village girl, Xu Huaian wouldn’t have cared so much about her either.

So, there’s no such thing as love at first sight. If you want to attract someone, it’s because you have enough strengths.

Of course, having attractive qualities is good, but the hard part is maintaining them and continuing to grow together.

Whether you’re a man or a woman, you must first love yourself, become the best version of yourself, realize your own value, and shine. Only then will someone truly love you.

When you bloom, the butterflies will come.

Before loving each other, she and Xu Huaian both needed to become better people. Only then could their relationship last and remain stable.

Even if storms came, there would be nothing to fear.

The best relationships are between equals—“you’re great, and I’m not bad either.”

This separation now was for the sake of being together better in the future.

Xu Huaian clearly understood this too.

If he remained a simple villager in Xujiatun all his life, he and Gu Qinghuan would have no future.

So, no matter how reluctant he was to part from her, he had to make this painful decision.

His trip to the capital had taught him a lot and opened his eyes.

Gu Qinghuan was destined for an extraordinary life. If he wanted to walk by her side and protect her, he still had a long way to go.

But in life, every step counts.

He refused to be someone who could only admire her from afar, feeling small and insignificant.

He wanted to be Gu Qinghuan’s man openly and confidently, someone truly worthy of her.

That’s why he couldn’t let this opportunity slip by.

Still, he felt guilty for leaving all the household mess for Gu Qinghuan to handle.

So he did everything he could to take care of whatever chores he could think of, hoping to make things easier for her in the days ahead.

He reorganized the livestock area in the space. Previously, everything was kept in pens for convenience, but feeding them that way was a hassle.

Xu Huaian came up with a new idea: birds like pheasants and flying quails would all be moved to the woods.

The various fruit trees, hazelnut trees, and Korean pines they’d transplanted before had now formed a sizable forest, more than enough for the pheasants to roam freely.

Pheasants and flying quails are omnivores. Their diet includes insects, small amphibians, grains, beans, grass seeds, tender leaves, and shoots. Insects are a staple for pheasants, so the forest was a much better environment for them.

All Gu Qinghuan needed to do was occasionally toss in some extra food.

For goats, deer, roe deer, hares, and other herbivores, Xu Huaian set aside a vast pasture.

He sowed the entire area densely with grass seeds, so soon there would be an endless supply of grass for them to graze on. Once they finished one patch, it would regrow, creating a self-sustaining cycle.

Roe deer and musk deer could all eat the pasture grass.

Hares are also herbivores, so Xu Huaian even planted a large patch of carrots for them to choose from. The rabbits could dig burrows and make homes, while the goats roamed in herds, free and happy.

Compared to the previous small pens, this was much more comfortable and convenient for Gu Qinghuan to manage.

Again, she only needed to feed them occasionally; most of the time, the animals could find food and water themselves.

Both the woods and the pasture had designated water sources for the animals.

The water was melted snow that Gu Qinghuan had collected from outside—clean and hygienic.

Now, the original livestock area only had a group of wild boars and a dozen piglets left.

Xu Huaian kept them separate. With all the other animals moved out, there was plenty of space—enough for twenty more pigs if needed.

Wild boars are hard to tame and not suitable for the woods or pasture, as they’d harm the other animals, so they had to stay penned up for now.

Wild boars eat almost anything—grass, vegetables, tender corn, winter melon, potatoes, sweet potato vines, peanut vines, pumpkins, and so on.

In summer, wild boars like to live near water, eating grass and earthworms. Sometimes they even steal bird eggs, especially those of grouse and pheasants.

Acorns are a favorite winter food for wild boars. On sunny hillsides, under the fallen leaves of oak forests, there are plenty of acorns for them to survive the winter.

If there’s a bad acorn harvest, many wild boars starve to death the following spring—nature’s way of culling the population.

Xu Huaian brought in several huge automatic feeders and filled them with all sorts of food wild boars could eat—acorns, pumpkins, potatoes, greens, and more. Each load would last over a week without needing to be refilled.

Once he’d sorted out the animals, he set aside a huge new planting area, at least several hundred acres.

Whenever he had time, he worked on planting in the space. With Gu Qinghuan’s absolute control over the space, she helped him turn all the soil, so all he had to do was sow the seeds."