Chapter 11

As Han Shu climbed the steps using all four limbs, he had already decided where to bury the dismembered body of Wen Zhiyu.

He's tall, cunning, and has plenty of nutrients. Bury him under the banyan tree where you found the two kittens, and I guarantee he'll grow into a towering tree in a year!

Wen Zhiyu quickly helped her up, his tone changing as he felt guilty, "Are you alright?"

You're alright? How could you be alright!

Han Shu flung his hand away and angrily ripped the plastic bag off her body.

A homemade raincoat can keep out the rain, but it can't prevent you from getting soaked in water. Once your clothes are soaked, even a simple action like standing up will cause you to experience a dramatic increase in the force of gravity.

So when she took off the plastic bag from her head, she lost her balance and sat down on her bottom.

I didn't sit down.

Wen Zhiyu reacted quickly, catching her under her arms and saying, "Be careful."

"..." Han Shu slowly raised his head, his dull gaze falling on the upside-down face.

She saw concern, but that concern felt so out of place. Rather than direct mockery, concern was a more subtle form of humiliation.

She was being manipulated by Wen Zhiyu like a rag doll, utterly humiliated and heartbroken.

He's completely dead.

It wasn't until I stood under the showerhead and was rinsed with hot water for a while that I could barely feel any relief.

Through the steamy glass partition, Han Shu saw three kittens sitting on the toilet as if they were pasted together, staring with their six round eyes.

After a brief stare, she tapped her fingers together and said fiercely, "What are you looking at!"

Big Mimi arched its back slightly, but quickly relaxed after realizing there was no danger, lazily licking its paws. Little Mimi continued to stare at her with its round eyes.

Han Shu: ...

Well, even the cat isn't afraid of her anymore.

Sure enough, he lost face, felt inferior, and even the cat looked down on him.

Han Shu sadly rubbed his hair.

It's all Wen Zhiyu's fault!

It's one thing for her to fall on her own—it's because she's less skilled—but he clearly caught her, so why did he push her down?! The force of that slap on the shoulder was enough to send Sun Wukong flying!

"Have you practiced Iron Palm or something?!" she roared.

The man, who appeared to have practiced Iron Palm, was standing in front of the health-preserving kettle, pulling open his collar to look inside. On his left pectoral muscle, three bright red finger marks resembled inkpads.

"You've practiced the Nine Yin White Bone Claw, haven't you..." he muttered to himself, moving his left arm, which still ached.

Wen Zhiyu sighed and rubbed his burning ear tips.

This mushroom-headed girl, she's been pulling his hand, throwing herself into his arms, and now she's even touching his chest muscles... Doesn't she have any sense of boundaries as a married woman? He's such a grown woman, and she's been taken advantage of like this without any clear understanding of the situation.

How hateful! Absolutely hateful!

"Beep! Beep! Beep!"

The electric kettle's light is flashing; the food is ready.

Wen Zhiyu poured the jujube and ginger tea into a thermos and carefully carried it to room number 1 where the hateful person was. After thinking for a moment, he placed it by the door, went to the living room to find a note, wrote "Please drink the ginger tea at the door," and slipped it under the door.

The steaming hot ginger tea that he brewed himself to ward off the cold is like a campfire on a cold night, a clear spring in the desert, and the elixir of immortality that emperors throughout history have sought. It will be her most urgent expectation and also represent his most sincere apology.

Although the incident started because she grabbed his pectoral muscle, he didn't shirk his responsibility. That's just how responsible he is.

Wen Zhiyu nodded in satisfaction and turned to go to his study.

Although being taken advantage of was unpleasant, and my chest still ached slightly, playing a game I never imagined made me feel much better, and I seemed to have some inspiration. Time to get started.

"Cough cough cough cough cough!"

Han Shu burst into a violent cough, so loud that even his hair towel fell to the ground.

This ginger tea is way too spicy!

She opened the thermos lid incredulously, and then... fell silent.

Three large dates floated on the water's surface. When blown away, three large, whole, peeled pieces of ginger came into view.

Han Shu: ... speechless.

You know how to peel it, but why don't you know how to slice it?

Are you planning to kill her with three pieces of ginger to silence her?

But Han Shu gritted her teeth and drank it anyway. She pinched her nose and drank it all in one gulp, then felt an empty stomach for half a day. When she came out of the water, she was shivering from the cold, and even after taking a hot shower, she still hadn't recovered. Ginger tea can prevent colds.

She collapsed onto the bed, intending to get a good night's sleep and then settle the score with Wen Zhiyu for the Iron Sand Palm technique and the killer ginger tea. Unexpectedly, when she woke up again, she was still chilled, accompanied by a splitting headache.

These symptoms seem familiar...

Han Shu, feeling dizzy, picked up his phone, opened the guestbook on the bedside table, found the WeChat QR code, scanned it, and was accepted almost instantly.

She closed her eyes and pressed her hand to speak, "Wen Zhiyu, do you have any fever reducers or cold medicine... I'm not feeling well."

After sending the message, she switched to ringtone mode and fell asleep again.

Completely unaware of this, Wen Zhiyu was still sitting blankly in front of the computer, lamenting the loss of his inspiration. That is, until he received a call from Qin Jianling.

"It seems you're getting along well with your tenants?"

Without any context, Wen Zhiyu took off his glasses, rubbed his temples, and said unhappily, "I'm busy. Is there something you need on the phone?"

Qin Jianling didn't mince words, "The guest sent a WeChat message to your guesthouse's customer service—which is me—asking for cold and fever medicine. He sounded a little weak."

Wen Zhiyu froze, remaining silent for a long time.

"Did you hear that? Your weird tenant is sick." Qin Jianling muttered to herself, "Did I mention this service in the guestbook? She said it as if it were perfectly normal..."

Wen Zhiyu slammed the laptop shut, his voice tight and muffled as he spoke, “Because it has something to do with me.”

"What's the meaning?"

“Well…” Wen Zhiyu hesitated to say it, “I pushed her into the water.”

"..." Qin Jianling was stunned. "Huh?"

Despite the shame, Wen Zhiyu still wanted to defend himself, saying, "The reason I pushed her was because she grabbed my chest."

Qin Jianling was struck dumb, "Huh???"

After clearing himself of the stigma, Wen Zhiyu honestly recounted the whole story: "The reason she grabbed my chest was because we were playing a game, and she lost her balance on a paper boat made of cardboard boxes. It wasn't intentional."

—It shouldn't be..., right?

Qin Jianling's mind was in complete chaos, and she could no longer utter a sound; she could only express her complex emotions through silence.

Wen Zhiyu resignedly went downstairs to rummage through the TV cabinet for medicine, not forgetting to seek a third-party assessment: "What percentage of responsibility do you think I bear in this matter?"

After sorting through his thoughts for a while, Qin Jianling finally realized what was going on. "You better confess honestly! Is there something going on between you and her...?"

Wen Zhiyu thought for a moment, "It seems so."

Qin Jianling was overjoyed, "Holy crap! Teacher Wen has finally blossomed?! I knew it, birds of a feather flock together! One person being strange is idiotic, but two strange people are a perfect match! She's only been here a few days, two and a half? And you two are already—"

"What kind of logic is this?" Wen Zhiyu, who was checking the expiration date of the medicine, was furious upon hearing this. "The tenant is married and has children!"

"..." Qin Jianling's spark of CP shipping was extinguished as soon as it ignited, and he collapsed on the spot, "Married and with children?! You're a mistress?! No, I have to prepare a PR statement right now. It's the promotion period for 'Eating Bones' right now. If it gets exposed that you're a mistress for love, it'll be a real problem! Why didn't you tell me sooner?!"

"Shut up!" Wen Zhiyu couldn't help but curse after being sprayed with machine gun fire. "We are both innocent, as clear as day and night!"

—Is he innocent...?

She took his hand, lay down in his arms, and touched his chest muscles... Was she innocent?

He's innocent! At least as the one who was coerced, he had absolutely no intention of being innocent. Innocent!

"..." After the dramatic turn of events, Qin Jianling was speechless. "Then tell me, what's between you and her?!"

"An interesting soul," Wen Zhiyu said seriously. "The games she came up with are really interesting."

"………………roll."

The call was abruptly disconnected.

Wen Zhiyu tossed his phone aside, looking completely bewildered.

Being a mistress for love? Never in this lifetime! How could Qin Jianling even think of that?

After preparing the medicine, he knocked on room number 1. No one answered.

He increased the force of his tapping, "Um..."

I've never called this person by their name before, it feels strange.

"Cough! Han, Han—Han Shu? Han Shu! Wake up, take your medicine first!"

Still, no one answered.

Has she fainted?

Wen Zhiyu clutched the spare key, hesitating as he knocked on the door. It was highly inappropriate for him to enter a woman's room; the woman inside could easily mistake him for Hannibal Lecter, or even a pervert. But what if she really fainted? Could a fever kill someone? What if she died?

Just as his left and right brains were struggling with each other, the door clicked open a crack, revealing Han Shu's flushed face.

She leaned against the door frame and said weakly, "It's so noisy."

Wen Zhiyu breathed a sigh of relief, "Take your medicine."

Han Shu, wrapped in a blanket, stumbled into the living room and collapsed onto the sofa. "I'm a little hungry. Is there anything to eat?"

When Wen Zhiyu's shoulder was pushed aside, their forearms made brief contact. He noticed the burning heat and immediately picked up the thermometer and went over, saying, "Put your head out."

Han Shu slowly peeked out his narrowed eyes. "What are you doing? Killing me and eating my brains?"

“…Take my temperature,” he said with difficulty.

Han Shu pulled down the blanket and tilted her forehead toward him. Perhaps the high temperature affected her brain, she said whatever came to mind, muttering, "You culprit, are you feeling guilty now? You pushed me down... I heard there are a lot of bacteria in this kind of stagnant water, if I get a skin disease you'll have to pay for my medical expenses."

"Beep—38.7 degrees Celsius."

"I never shirk my responsibility." Wen Zhiyu put down the thermometer, picked up a corner of the blanket that had fallen from the edge of the sofa with two fingers, moved it above Han Shu's stomach, and let go, the blanket falling vertically.

Han Shu thought for a moment but didn't understand. "What do you mean by that? You grabbed me and then pushed me for no reason. Isn't that entirely your fault? It's outrageous!"

Wen Zhiyu paused in his steps toward the kitchen. "Why is this happening?"

Han Shu struggled to change positions, but none of them were comfortable. "Tell me the truth, are you planning to kill me to cover it up?"

Wen Zhiyu turned around completely.

The woman on the sofa looked sickly, so weak she could barely breathe, yet her almond-shaped eyes still gleamed with a suspicious light.

What a story of the farmer and the snake.

So he swallowed his pride and said clearly, "You grabbed my chest first."

"What did you say?!" Han Shu sat bolt upright, his pupils dilating violently, his voice nearly shattering the roof, "You're slandering me!"

Wen Zhiyu had considered whether she did it on purpose, whether their relationship was still innocent, and how much responsibility he bore. But he never imagined that this lecherous woman would touch him and then deny it!

Han Shu grew increasingly angry. "Let me tell you, this is defamation, and you'll be held legally responsible! How could you say such a thing? Are you trying to shirk your responsibility? Wen Zhiyu, you're truly heartless! People like you are wasting food; you should be buried under that banyan tree so that your blood and flesh can nourish heaven and earth to atone for your sins—"

Seeing her spouting nonsense incoherently, Wen Zhiyu decided to set the record straight.

He ripped off his T-shirt, pointed to his left pectoral muscle, and asked, "Tell me, what's this?"