Chapter 99

In the courtyard next door, Zhao Auntie was crouched beneath the window, listening carefully.

She heard no arguing from inside.

Nor did she hear any other suspicious sounds.

The silence left her somewhat puzzled.

When Xie Wu and Xie Qi stepped outside and saw the scene, they quietly withdrew their feet and closed the door again.

Standing beneath the eaves, Zhao Carpenter coughed twice to attract Zhao Auntie’s attention before returning to his room as well.

Zhao Auntie glanced once more toward the main house, which remained completely silent, then tiptoed back to her room.

As she closed the door, she shot Zhao Carpenter a glare.

“You think I was eavesdropping? I was worried those two weren’t getting along and might start arguing.”

Zhao Carpenter wasn’t entirely sure what was going on between Fan Changyu and Xie Zheng either.

He said, “When Changyu was taken away to work on the dam and later found me, she told me she’d already divorced Yan Zheng.”

The news startled Zhao Auntie so much that she immediately blurted out,

“Nonsense!”

Realizing she had forgotten to lower her voice, she hurriedly glanced outside before sitting down by the bed.

“When Yan Zheng was dragged away by the military draft, Changyu was depressed for days. She prepared so many things for him too. How does that look like a divorced couple?

“Besides, when I talked to them earlier, didn’t they end up sleeping in the same room?”

So Zhao Carpenter repeated everything Fan Changyu had previously told him.

Hearing that the two had originally only entered into a fake marriage, Zhao Auntie was stunned.

But after thinking about it, Yan Zheng was literate, handsome, and clearly not the sort of man who would willingly marry into another family under normal circumstances.

It really did sound as Zhao Carpenter described.

She sat by the bed worrying for a while before speaking again.

“Even if the marriage wasn’t entered into willingly at first, they genuinely bowed before the ancestral tablets and completed the ceremony. How can they not count as husband and wife?

“A man and woman living under the same roof every day… and both of them are so good-looking. How could feelings not develop?

“Look at what happened when Yan Zheng was bedridden from his injuries. Even though Changyu’s own life was difficult, she still bought him candy because she worried medicine would taste too bitter.

“That kind of bond forged through hardship can’t be faked.”

Zhao Carpenter glanced at Changning, who was quietly listening with her ears perked up.

Then he sighed.

“Alright, alright. Those two have probably made up by now. Ningning is still here. Let’s not talk about such things.”

Changning blinked her large, bright eyes.

As Zhao Auntie removed the silk flowers from the little girl’s hair buns, she pinched her chubby cheeks and smiled.

“Our Ningning is blessed too. Your sister is now an officer in the army and commands many people. In the future, your husband won’t dare bully you.”

Changning grinned, revealing a row of little white teeth.

After thinking for a moment, she began counting on her fingers.

“Brother-in-law is strong. Uncle Xiao Qi is strong. Falcon is strong too! Nobody can bully Ningning!”

Zhao Auntie burst out laughing.

“What a clever little rascal.”

After putting Changning to bed, Zhao Auntie lay down as well.

Yet another concern suddenly entered her mind.

According to what her old husband had said…

Had that young couple still not consummated their marriage?

On one hand, Zhao Auntie desperately hoped they would live happily together.

On the other hand, Fan Changyu was currently serving in the army. If she became pregnant, it would be extremely troublesome.

The more she thought about it, the more worried she became.

She tossed and turned the entire night, unable to sleep.

Several times, she nearly got up to eavesdrop next door.


—

Early the next morning, Zhao Auntie immediately dragged Fan Changyu to a secluded corner.

Fan Changyu had slept soundly.

For some unknown reason, however, the dark circles beneath Zhao Auntie’s already puffy eyes looked alarmingly severe.

Confused, Fan Changyu asked,

“Auntie, did you stay awake all night?”

Zhao Auntie looked around before lowering her voice.

“Changyu, your mother passed away early, and you don’t have any elder women around to teach you certain things.

“Auntie treats you like one of her own children, so I’ll speak plainly.

“You’re serving in the army now. If you were to have a child, it would be very inconvenient.

“Would you like Auntie to find a doctor and have a contraceptive herbal medicine prepared for you?”

Fan Changyu had not expected that to be Zhao Auntie’s concern.

Her face instantly flushed all the way to her neck.

“No need.”

Hearing that answer, Zhao Auntie suddenly didn’t know whether she should feel relieved or continue worrying.

While she remained conflicted, Fan Changyu had already gone into the courtyard to draw water and wash her face.

Although summer had arrived, the well water was still somewhat cold in the morning.

Seeing her use cold water, Zhao Auntie immediately began lecturing again, saying it would leave coldness trapped in her body and insisting she fetch hot water from the kitchen.

Fan Changyu had always been physically robust and paid little attention to such warnings.

Meanwhile, Changning had stuck her hands into the basin too, clearly intending to wash with the cold water as well.

That, however, Fan Changyu refused to allow.

She made Changning take her hands out and obediently go fetch warm water from the kitchen.

After washing Changning’s face, Fan Changyu yawned and began tying the girl’s hair buns largely by feel.

The child who once accepted whatever hairstyle she was given now stared at her reflection in the water basin and pouted.

“I want Uncle Xiao Qi to do it.”

Looking at the lopsided, messy hair buns she’d created, even Fan Changyu felt a little guilty.

Children grew up.

They learned what looked good and what didn’t.

They weren’t as easy to fool anymore.

“Alright then. Go ask Uncle Xiao Qi to do it.”

Holding a comb, Changning trotted off on her short legs and crossed the threshold.

She searched room after room but couldn’t find Xie Qi.

Hearing faint voices coming from the main room, she ran over and pushed the door open.

The next second, she let out a loud wail.

Inside the room, Xie Zheng sat with his back toward the door, bare to the waist.

Bloodstained bandages lay scattered at his feet.

A vicious crimson wound stretched across most of his back.

Xie Qi was applying medicine to it.

The moment he heard Changning cry, Xie Qi knew things had gone badly.

His master had specifically waited until Madam had left before asking for help with the treatment.

Now the secret was clearly impossible to keep.

Sure enough, although Xie Zheng hastily pulled on a robe, Fan Changyu arrived at the doorway almost immediately after hearing Changning’s cries.

The moment she saw the bloodstained bandages on the floor, her expression changed.

Looking directly at Xie Zheng, she asked,

“You’re injured?”

As he tied his robe, he answered,

“Just a minor wound.”

Fan Changyu’s brows knit tightly together.

Judging from the amount of blood-soaked bandages, the injury was clearly not minor.

No wonder he had relied almost entirely on technique during their sparring match last night instead of meeting strength with strength.

After crouching down and comforting Changning for a few moments, she said to Xie Qi,

“Brother Xiao Qi, please take my sister outside first. She was frightened badly last time and is still afraid of blood.”

Xie Qi promptly coaxed Changning out of the room.

Fan Changyu closed the door.

When she turned around, her expression remained blank.

Looking directly at Xie Zheng, she said,

“Let me see the wound on your back.”

His handsome brows drew together slightly.

He had not expected her to discover it.

Instead of answering, he said,

“The medicine’s already been applied.”

Fan Changyu stared at him.

Word by word, she repeated,

“I said, let me see it.”

The two faced each other in silence.

When Xie Zheng still refused to move, Fan Changyu walked directly toward him and began undoing his robe.

He caught her wrist.

Afraid of reopening his wound, she didn’t struggle forcefully.

But her expression had become extremely unpleasant.

Her almond-shaped eyes were cold and sharp.

Her tone was unusually forceful.

“Either take off the robe, or leave right now and never appear before me again.”

Xie Zheng did not release her wrist.

His phoenix eyes lowered slightly.

Long lashes cast elegant shadows.

Morning light filtered through the window paper, making his jawline appear somewhat pale.

Lazily, he smiled.

“That tone of yours sounds like you’re forcing an innocent man into prostitution.”

Fan Changyu’s lips tightened.

“I am forcing you.”

The two stared at each other.

It was the first time Xie Zheng had ever seen her like this.

The harmless clarity usually present in her eyes had vanished.

Her gaze was sharp and aggressive.

Like a lazy cat suddenly transforming into a predator capable of tearing apart its prey.

And somehow, those eyes felt like hooks sinking directly into his heart.

His Adam’s apple bobbed.

Lowering his gaze, he suppressed the sudden urge to seize her chin and kiss her deeply.

Then, obediently, he untied his robe once more.

When he lifted his eyes again, the blackness of his pupils seemed lighter beneath the morning sun.

They looked extraordinarily beautiful.

Soft light even seemed to surround his profile.

His fingers were long and elegant, marked by faint scars.

The body hidden beneath the robes was nothing like the refined beauty suggested by his face.

It was powerful.

Lean.

Strong.

Almost intimidating.

This was not the first time Fan Changyu had seen him bare-chested.

But previously he had either been bedridden with injuries or partially obscured by moonlight.

She had never seen him so clearly before.

The moment their eyes met and she encountered the aggression lurking within his gaze, her own momentum weakened considerably.

Pressing her lips together, she forced herself to look away from his taut abdomen and moved behind him to examine the wound.

The moment she saw the long slash crossing his back amid numerous old scars, she fell silent for quite some time.

Finally, she asked in a hoarse voice,

“How did this happen?”

Xie Zheng did not answer.

“It doesn’t hurt.”

Her eyes reddened immediately.

“I asked how it happened.”

Still he remained silent.

So Fan Changyu voiced her own suspicion.

“Was it that damned bastard Sui who did this?”

She could say many things, but hearing her mistakenly assume Sui Yuanqing had injured him finally forced Xie Zheng to speak.

“I did it myself.”

The look she gave him was exactly how one might look at a madman.

For some reason, he found himself unable to explain his thoughts.

His dark eyes simply remained fixed on her.

“I used the blood to consecrate your blade.”

Fan Changyu immediately cursed him.

“Madman!”

Yet the redness in her eyes deepened further.

Pressing him back into the chair, she picked up the remaining medicine and began applying it again.

Keeping her voice deliberately hard, she said,

“If there’s a next time, I won’t care even if you die from the pain!

“And I won’t take that stupid blade either!”

The medicine burned fiercely upon contact with the wound, like salt rubbed into fire.

Listening to her scolding, Xie Zheng rested both hands on the chair’s armrests.

Yet he couldn’t stop himself from smiling.

All those dark, obsessive thoughts he carried.

All those feelings that differed from ordinary people.

They hadn’t made her afraid.

Nor had they disgusted her.

They had only earned her sympathy.

He was like moss hidden in a dark alley.

Damp.

Cold.

Clinging.

And yet his sun still chose to shine upon him.

The gloom that had long settled over his heart suddenly seemed much lighter.

After finishing the medicine and rewrapping the bandages, Fan Changyu noticed he was still smiling.

Mercilessly, she said,

“Has the pain made you stupid?”

Taking advantage of the moment she reached behind him to secure the bandages, Xie Zheng suddenly wrapped an arm around her.

Resting his chin on her shoulder, he lazily replied,

“I was thinking about how you’re going to give me a doll. It makes me happy.”

After tying off the final knot, Fan Changyu shot him a glare.


—

As for what kind of doll she should make for Xie Zheng, Fan Changyu spent quite some time considering it.

At first, she planned to make a pair of clay figures.

But thinking about how much he seemed to look forward to them—and how fragile clay dolls were—she changed her mind after watching Zhao Carpenter at work.

Why not carve wooden dolls instead?

Not only could Zhao Carpenter build furniture and household items, but the decorative carvings on his cabinets and chests were also astonishingly lifelike.

Unfortunately, Fan Changyu had no woodworking experience whatsoever.

Producing anything decent in a short period of time was impossible.

Fortunately, years of butchering had given her exceptionally steady knife control.

The military granted only a single day of leave.

She had returned yesterday afternoon and needed to head back to camp this afternoon.

That left only half a day to learn carving from Zhao Carpenter.

While Fan Changyu sat in her room practicing with leftover wood scraps from Zhao Carpenter’s furniture projects, Xie Zheng frowned at the stack of blank paper on the table.

His fingers tapped lightly against the desk.

“Are you asking me to copy books for you?”

Without lifting her head, Fan Changyu replied,

“Last time my adoptive father tested me on Zhuangzi. I recited one sentence incorrectly, so he punished me by making me copy the entire passage ten times.”

Picking up the stack of fresh paper, Xie Zheng noticed only the first page contained a few lines of writing.

Slowly raising his eyes, he asked,

“So you haven’t even finished copying it once?”

Before their gazes even met, Fan Changyu already felt guilty.

Keeping her head lowered while carving wood, she tried to sound confident.

“I’ve already memorized it. It’s just that my adoptive father says my handwriting is ugly and insists I copy it neatly ten times. That’s why it’s taking so long.”

Holding the top page between his fingers, Xie Zheng examined it carefully before commenting,

“Your handwriting… is rather ugly.”

Fan Changyu immediately became annoyed.

“Are you helping me or not?”

Xie Zheng replied,

“My handwriting is different from yours. Replicating your style would be difficult.”

She instantly understood the hidden meaning.

He couldn’t write that badly.

Her grip tightened around the carving knife.

After taking a deep breath and accepting reality, she said,

“Forget it. I’ll copy it myself. I won’t finish these wooden carvings anytime soon anyway. I’ll just practice when I have time.”

She set down the wood and butcher’s knife and reached for the stack of paper.

Several elegant fingers pressed down on it before she could take it.

Looking up, she was unsurprised to find Xie Zheng wearing a dark expression.

Pressing a hand to his forehead as though utterly helpless, he said,

“Fine. Your handwriting won’t improve in a day or two. I’ll do it for you.”

Her scheme having succeeded, Fan Changyu’s eyes narrowed with delight.

The corners of her lips curled upward.

She looked exactly like a cat that had stolen a fish.

Picking up her carving knife again, she resumed practicing with the wood.

Dipping his brush into dark ink, Xie Zheng glanced at the cross-legged figure sitting opposite him, completely focused on her carving.

Sunlight streamed through the window paper.

It seemed to cloak even her hair in a soft glow.

Looking at her, then at the characters on the page before him…

The disparity between the owner’s appearance and her handwriting was truly astonishing.

With a helpless twitch of his lips, he continued writing, carefully imitating her script.

Even he himself did not realize how gentle his gaze had become.