Cheng Ying fastened the golden shackles inlaid with gemstones and agates around Yu Jiao's slender ankles. The mechanism locked with a "click" sound. Cheng Ying put away the key, which was strung with a thin golden chain. He put the key in the sachet that held Yu Jiao's small portrait and hung it around his waist.
Cheng Ying helped her put on her shoes and socks, and adjusted her skirt, then she stood up and held out her hand to Yu Jiao: "Let's go."
Yu Jiao looked at the shackles on her feet with numb eyes and was unwilling to pay any attention to Cheng Ying.
Cheng Ying seemed to see through her thoughts. He said, "No one dares to laugh at you for this."
Seeing that Yu Jiao still refused to move, he leaned over and picked her up from the bed.
"Put me down, I'll walk by myself." Yu Jiao resisted very much and struggled hard in his arms, but Cheng Ying's arms were like shackles and she couldn't break free at all.
Cheng Ying lowered her head slightly, the hot air from her nose blowing on Yu Jiao's neck, and she said to her lightly: "It's too late, I gave you a chance just now, since you don't want to hear the sound of the shackles, then let me do it for you."
Yu Jiao glared at him angrily and wanted to kick him on the knee, but the chain held her back. She had no choice but to give up and simply closed her eyes and stopped looking at Cheng Ying. Out of sight, out of mind.
Cheng Ying lowered his eyes and glanced at her. Jiaojiao with her eyes closed gave him the illusion that she was very obedient, but he knew clearly that it was all an illusion.
Cheng Ying carried Yu Jiao out of the courtyard and got on the carriage.
The driver was still Cheng Qi. He turned the horse around without saying a word and drove along the mountain road to the top of Bodhi Mountain.
As soon as she got into the carriage, Yu Jiao broke away from Cheng Ying and sat far away from him.
Cheng Ying deliberately reduced her strength and let go. Soon they would reach the top of the mountain. He felt a little confused and simply let her go.
Looking at the trees flying backwards outside the car window, Cheng Ying took off the sandalwood Buddhist beads on his wrist without knowing when, and gently moved them with his fingertips. He was very uneasy and panicked, but he finally took this step.
He hesitated and avoided telling Jiaojiao countless times that he was Fu Chuan, because he could not face the embarrassment Jiaojiao would feel when she knew he was Fu Chuan. Ultimately, he found it difficult to face his former self.
During these years as Cheng Ying, he almost abandoned the self called Fu Chuan, but the only person he was reluctant to give up was Jiaojiao.
Yu Jiao was disturbed by the sound of him fiddling with the beads. The whole carriage was filled with the simple scent of sandalwood from Cheng Ying. She was so annoyed that she felt a little breathless. Her delicate brows unconsciously knitted together. When Cheng Ying looked at her, she pretended to ignore him and looked outside the car.
Cheng Ying paused slightly as she fiddled with the Buddhist beads, then put the beads back on her wrist and stopped touching them.
Half an hour later, Cheng Qi stopped the carriage and lifted the curtain. Cheng Ying got off the carriage, turned around and stretched out her hand to Yu Jiao and said, "The carriage can't go up. We need to walk to go up."
Yu Jiao knew that if she didn't obey, Cheng Ying would probably carry her out of the carriage again. She didn't want to be touched by him, so she got out of the carriage obediently.
Cheng Ying held her hand. Yu Jiao struggled but couldn't get free, so she could only let him go.
"You don't have to follow. Just wait here." After Cheng Ying and Cheng Qi finished speaking, they took Yu Jiao's hand and walked up the mountain.
Yu Jiao was wearing golden shackles and took very small steps. The chains collided with each other when she walked, making a crisp sound. Yu Jiao found the sound irritating and became very angry.
Cheng Ying walked very slowly with each step, always walking side by side with her. She seemed to know that she was tired of the chains on her feet, so she said, "There is no one in the mountains, no one will see it."
Yu Jiao ignored him. After a long while, she became distracted by the mountain scenery and her mood improved a little.
As she got closer to the top of the mountain, Yu Jiao suddenly realized that the surrounding mountains and forests gave her a very familiar feeling.
She glanced sideways at Cheng Ying's shoulder and realized that Cheng Ying was accommodating her walking pace, which made her a little dazed. She remembered when she lived with her senior brother in the Qinling Mountains, the two of them went to dig herbs together. He was always like this. His steps were obviously much bigger than hers, but he always followed her closely.
Every time she told her senior brother not to bother with her, he would joke, "There are many snakes and rats in the mountains. If I don't follow you closely, you might be taken away by the immortal. When the teacher asks me for you, I will have to ask the teacher to come out of the mountains and fight the immortal for a few rounds before I can get back such a well-behaved and lovely junior sister of mine."
Later, when her senior brother had an operation, she went up the mountain alone to look for herbs. She walked too deep without realizing it and was bitten by a snake. Fortunately, the poison was not strong and only her legs and feet were paralyzed, making her unable to move.
After receiving her call, her senior brother rushed over, sweating profusely as he carried a medical box full of snake venom serum. She was still leisurely joking with her senior brother, saying that the venom was not strong and she would not die even if she held on for a few hours, so she asked her senior brother not to rush up the mountain in such a hurry.
The senior brother injected the serum for her without saying a word, carried her down the mountain, and went to the hospital to deal with the remaining poison.
After finishing all the things, he changed his gentle expression and got very angry at her.
She felt quite aggrieved at the time, until later she noticed that her senior brother's eyes were red and his voice was trembling and choking, only then did she realize that he was scared by the snake bite.
She remembered that her senior brother said, "Jiaojiao, if something really happens to you, what do you want me to do? I promised the teacher that I would take good care of you."
Only then did she realize that her senior brother's promise to Grandpa to take care of her was not just a promise, but something he cherished and put into practice.
Later, after she graduated, she entered the same hospital as her senior. Her senior used his connections to get her into his department. He always kept her by his side and protected her, always worried that she would be bullied.
There were people in the hospital who were dissatisfied with her and would say some sarcastic words, saying that she was just Fu Chuan's follower, like a child who was not weaned and always stuck to Fu Chuan. Yu Jiao never cared because she knew that her senior brother was protecting her under his wings.
Although she lost her grandfather, as long as her senior brother was around, she could still be a child who was cared for and never had to grow up.
Cheng Ying stopped, and Yu Jiao came to her senses, only to realize that they had reached the top of the mountain. Seeing the bamboo house not far away, Yu Jiao's heart trembled, her eyes widened, and she turned to look at Cheng Ying in disbelief.
Her heart almost jumped out of her chest at this moment, and her throat was so tight that she couldn't utter a word.
Cheng Ying led her to the bamboo house, released her hand, took a deep breath with her back to her, turned her head, and said to her in a calm tone after trying hard to restrain herself, "Jiaojiao, go open the door."
Yu Jiao's palms felt cold, and her legs and feet began to feel weak. She seemed to have suddenly developed Wernicke's area aphasia. She could hear every word Cheng Ying said, but could not understand what he meant.
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