Chapter 111 The Stranger Woman is Angry
Xu Zhiheng's body trembled. He subconsciously looked at Lin Yao and saw her standing there, her gaze fixed on him and Bai Li.
Lin Yao's expression was unreadable, but her eyes were full of inquiry, as if she, like the others, was very curious about their relationship.
Xu Zhiheng felt a little flustered and immediately forced a flattering smile at her before striding forward to pull Bai Li away.
Unexpectedly, Bai Li anticipated Xu Zhiheng's reaction and skillfully dodged him with a serpentine movement.
Bai Li didn't look at Xu Zhiheng again. With a faint smile in her eyes, she swayed gracefully, her every step exuding charm and confidence as she walked towards Lin Yao.
Upon approaching Lin Yao, Bai Li first carefully examined her, her gaze lingering on her bandaged arm. She then exclaimed in a affected, low voice, "Miss Lin, this injury looks really painful. Why wasn't it properly bandaged? The cloth used for bandaging is far too rough."
Su Niang was immediately displeased by Bai Li's words, which were both open and veiled. She pushed forward and stood beside Lin Yao, her smile polite but distant: "Thank you for your concern, Miss. This cloth is a bit rough, but it is woven from cotton thread that we used to spin. It is absorbent and soft, and it is just right for wrapping wounds."
Bai Li wasn't bothered by the blunt retort and changed the subject, saying, "Aheng is really something. I used to tell him that if he encounters a young woman in distress, it's always good to take care of her. After all, it's not easy for women to be out in the world."
Bai Li pursed her lips and sighed: "Not everyone is as lucky as me to be able to stay with Aheng for a long time. Most people get injured and don't even have a caring person by their side to comfort them. It's so heartbreaking."
Upon hearing this, even the children surrounding them sensed that something was wrong and fell silent.
Su Niang quietly moved closer to Lin Yao, her eyes now filled with scrutiny.
Bai Li, seemingly oblivious, grinned at Lin Yao again. If one ignored the smile that came from her mouth, it was truly an extremely beautiful one.
“Miss Lin, please don’t take it to heart. Ah Heng and I have just spent a lot of time together. He has always been very considerate of me. I only mentioned it because I saw that you were injured. If you don’t mind, I will go and get some ointment later. It was specially prepared for me by my brother. It’s the most effective for treating external injuries. Ah Heng used this when he was injured on his chest before.”
Lin Yao maintained a polite smile, but felt a bittersweet feeling in her heart.
This girl is really strange. She started by spouting nonsense without any sense of right or wrong, speaking incoherently, as if she just wanted to put her relationship with Xu Zhiheng in front of her.
Lin Yao suppressed her unease for the time being and changed the subject, asking, "How should I address you, young lady?"
"My name is Bai Li, you can just call me Ali." Bai Li's eyes darted around. "Speaking of which, I've been able to survive in this chaotic world until now entirely thanks to Aheng's care."
Bai Li looked at Xu Zhiheng reproachfully: "Aheng, you too, the night we set off you promised me that you would pay more attention to the safety of those around you, how come you let Miss Lin stand here with injuries today? Did you forget what I said as soon as you turned around?"
After saying that, she flicked her handkerchief lightly across Xu Zhiheng's face, revealing an ambiguous smile: "Come to my room tonight, and I'll continue to talk to you in detail."
Xu Zhiheng was truly speechless with bitterness; this guy was trying to kill him!
As expected, the smile on Lin Yao's face gradually faded.
She shifted her gaze from Xu Zhiheng and turned to General Yang, who was standing aside watching the scene, saying, "General Yang, I apologize for disturbing you. May I ask where our fellow villagers' lodgings are arranged? After traveling for half a day, everyone should put down their things and rest for a while."
Xu Zhiheng hurriedly took two steps forward, wanting to explain, "Ayao, it's not what you think, we're not..."
"General Xu," Lin Yao interrupted him, turning her face slightly away, "the most important thing right now is to settle the villagers. Let's talk about other things after everyone has rested."
Upon hearing this, Xu Zhiheng's words caught in his throat, neither coming out nor going out.
He looked at Lin Yao's profile. She didn't frown or show any anger, but it was this indifferent attitude that made him more uneasy than if she had directly lost her temper.
Bai Li watched from the side, her eyes full of amusement that seemed to thrive on chaos, but she still feigned innocence and tugged at Xu Zhiheng's sleeve: "Aheng, do you think I said something wrong? Did I upset Miss Lin? Should I go and apologize to her?"
"Don't make things worse!" Xu Zhiheng finally couldn't help but whisper.
Seeing this, General Yang quickly smoothed things over, stepping forward with a smile and saying, "Don't worry, Miss Lin, the accommodations have been prepared! They're in the row of wooden houses at the west end of the village. Each room can accommodate three or four people, and the kang (heated brick bed) is nice and warm. I'll take you there now!" As he spoke, he called to two soldiers behind him, "Come on, help the villagers move their things over there!"
As Lin Yao followed General Yang toward the west end of the village, she remained mostly silent.
Zhang Dashan's children originally wanted to tell her interesting stories about the village, but seeing her indifferent expression, they wisely kept quiet.
Upon arriving at the prepared wooden cabin, the soldiers helped carry the bundles inside. General Yang then instructed them to call for help if needed before turning to leave.
The wooden house wasn't big; there was a kang (a heated brick bed) on the inside. Su Niang first put her bundle at the end of the kang, and when she turned around, she saw Lin Yao sitting on the edge of the kang, her eyes fixed on the window, clearly lost in thought.
"What kind of person is she! She looks so delicate and gentle, but she doesn't say a single nice word. Does she really think she's some kind of rich young lady?" Wang Xiaoyu was even angrier at her appearance and said angrily, "General Xu, since you already have that Miss Bai, why did you care so much about Master before? And now you're letting her say those ambiguous things in front of you. Isn't that just disgusting?"
“Exactly!” Su Niang immediately chimed in, her tone full of indignation. “That Miss Bai is so shameless, talking so intimately. If General Xu already had a lover, he shouldn’t have bothered with the shopkeeper in the first place!”
Lin Yao was brought back to her senses by their words. She shook her head gently and said helplessly, "Don't talk nonsense."
“But before him…” Su Niang wanted to say more.
Lin Yao interrupted her, trying to keep her tone calm, "It's his business if he has a lover. We should already thank him for having a place to stay. Besides, when has he ever bothered me? General Xu and I are just friends."
"I'm just a little tired." Lin Yao gave a faint smile, stood up, walked to the door, pushed open the wooden door and looked outside. "We've been traveling for half a day, everyone is exhausted, let's rest for a while."
Xu Zhiheng wanted to explain, but for several days in a row, Lin Yao seemed to be deliberately avoiding him, and he couldn't find an opportunity to be alone with her.
Xu Zhiheng, feeling utterly frustrated, went to the wooden house where Bai Li lived.
He pushed open the door and went in. He immediately saw the "White Girl" who was originally ethereal and fairy-like, now sitting on a wooden stool with her legs crossed. She had taken off her white clothes and was only wearing a fitted outfit.
He had already torn off his hairpin, and his long, black hair was casually tied into a high ponytail that hung down his back. He was also holding a wine jar in his hand and was pouring wine into his mouth.
"Look what you've done, she's ignoring me now." Xu Zhiheng pulled up a stool and sat down, his tone full of complaint.
In the past few days, he had tried to explain to Lin Yao several times, but either she was surrounded by villagers, or as soon as he approached her, she would make excuses to help Su Niang cook or to visit the injured Liu Dazhuang. In short, she refused to speak to him alone and even avoided making eye contact with him.
Bai Li put the wine jar on the table, wiped his mouth, and his voice, which had lost its previous softness, sounded quite cheerful. "Isn't this perfect? If she really didn't care about you, no matter who you were close to, she would have been eating and drinking as usual, instead of avoiding you."
Xu Zhiheng's eyes sparkled as he leaned forward: "Really? You mean she has feelings for me?"
"Otherwise what?" Bai Li rolled her eyes at him, annoyed. "You're just too indecisive. Back then, the old general kept urging you to find a wife, but you always said you were too busy with military affairs or that you hadn't found anyone you liked. Now that you've finally met someone you care about, aren't you going to hurry up and take advantage of it?"
As he spoke, he picked up the wine jar again and took a sip, his tone becoming even more direct: "I'm a perfectly normal spy, and all that pretentious acting was just to help you test her feelings, wasn't it? If she had no feelings for you at all, why would she care about those ambiguous things I said to you that day? At most, she would just think we were weird. Why would she wear her emotions on her sleeve and deliberately avoid you?"
Xu Zhiheng twisted and turned in the chair, feeling both happy and anxious.
Bai Li looked at him with disdain: "If you have fleas on you, go take a shower. Don't wriggle around here."
He put down the wine jar and said with exasperation, "You'll be going back to the barracks in a few days, and then we won't see each other for another year or two. If you keep dawdling, and when you come back victorious next time, if some other young man has taken a liking to Miss Lin, you'll have nowhere to cry! If the old general finds out you let such a good girl go, he'll skin you alive!"
These words struck a nerve with Xu Zhiheng.
He received military orders yesterday that the war in the north was about to begin, and the old general ordered him to return to his unit after handling all the affairs.
If you think about it carefully, he will have to lead his troops back to the camp in five days. Not to mention, he will also have to prepare food and military supplies in the days to come. He will probably be so busy that he won't have time to rest.
This parting means a journey across mountains and rivers, with no return date in sight.
He couldn't protect Lin Yao every moment, nor could he know if someone else would appear in her life.
Xu Zhiheng was a clueless and clueless young man, not knowing what to do. He stared at Bai Li with wide, confused eyes and asked, "Then what should I do?"
Bai Li rolled her eyes and patted his shoulder: "What else can we do? If you're a man, don't keep things to yourself. Just tell me what you're thinking!"
Xu Zhiheng was awakened by Bai Li's words and tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep well, his mind filled with thoughts of how to tell Lin Yao what was on his mind.
As dawn broke, with his heart pounding, he went around to the kitchen in the village and waited.
Sure enough, it didn't take long before Lin Yao came over carrying a cloth bag filled with grains she had brought from the valley the day before.
She wore a light blue coarse cloth dress, her hair was simply tied into a bun, and her face was free of makeup, making her look fresh and neat.
Xu Zhiheng quickly stood up and blocked her way.
Lin Yao paused when she saw him, a hint of surprise flashing across her face, before she nodded politely, "Good morning, General Xu." She then turned to walk around him into the kitchen.
"A-Yao, wait a minute!" Xu Zhiheng quickly reached out to stop her, his voice a little louder than usual, carrying a hint of nervousness he himself didn't realize. "I have something to say to you, just a few words."
Lin Yao frowned and pointed towards the kitchen: "I need to make breakfast first. Why don't we talk after we've eaten?"
Whenever she thought of Bai Li's words, she felt somewhat uncomfortable facing Xu Zhiheng, and therefore did not want to say much to him.
"You don't need to cook!" Xu Zhiheng immediately replied, then waved his hand toward the side of the kitchen.
Two figures immediately emerged from the corner of the wall; it was Jin Yu and Mantang.
"Good morning, Miss Lin!" Jin Yu spoke first. "The general told us a long time ago that we'd make breakfast today! We often cook porridge and steam buns when we're on the march, so we'll make sure the villagers eat well!"
Mantang nodded in agreement, still carrying a bucket of water: "That's right! We'll go fetch water and start a fire right away. Miss Lin, you can go talk to the general without worry. We'll take care of things here!"
Lin Yao was full of doubt and couldn't help but ask, "Are you sure you can make it? Don't burn the kitchen down."
Jin Yu patted her chest and assured them, "Don't worry! Last time at the military camp, we even helped the cooks prepare meals for a hundred people, so there's absolutely no problem!"
In truth, they weren't sure either, but for the sake of the general's lifelong happiness, they had no choice but to bite the bullet and agree.
Seeing that Lin Yao was still hesitating, Xu Zhiheng quickly added, "Look, they've all assured me there won't be any problems. What I'm talking about is really important, so come with me." As he spoke, his tone was pleading, and his eyes were fixed on Lin Yao, full of expectation.
Looking at his appearance, and then at Jin Yu and Mantang who had already rolled up their sleeves to fetch water, Lin Yao knew that it would be inappropriate to refuse any longer.
She sighed helplessly and handed the cloth bag to Jin Yu: "The grains need to be rinsed clean first. When cooking the porridge, use less firewood so it doesn't burn."
"Okay! I've got it!" Jin Yu quickly took the cloth bag, afraid that she would change her mind, and slipped away as fast as she could.
Lin Yao nodded and said, "Let's go."
Xu Zhiheng breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that she had finally agreed, and a big smile appeared on his face. "Come with me, I know a place with a great view." He then led the way towards the back mountain of the village, his steps becoming much lighter.
Lin Yao followed behind him, watching his back as he couldn't hide his excitement, and her heart inexplicably raced.
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