Tang Ning has been gone for a full forty minutes.
During those forty minutes, Lu Chen didn't hear any sound from outside, and his suspicion that Tang Ning might have simply left in a fit of anger became an involuntary thing.
But he seemed to be competing with someone. Even though he was uneasy about Tang Ning's movements, he gritted his teeth and didn't make a sound. Instead, he kept telling himself that if she wanted to leave, then let her leave. Just pretend that he never saved her from beginning to end...
Thinking this to himself, Lu Chen gripped the blanket tighter and tighter, his heart growing colder and colder, as if he couldn't feel a trace of warmth at all.
until--
"Knock knock".
A knock came from the door.
Upon hearing the noise, Lu Chen's first reaction was to pull the blanket over his head and lie down with his back to the door.
"Knock knock knock".
The knocking continued relentlessly, but Lu Chen showed no intention of letting the person outside in.
"Lu Chen, Lu Chen..."
Tang Ning's steady voice rang out along with the knocking, "If you don't object, I'll come in..."
After saying this, Tang Ning waited for two more seconds before slowly pushing open the door. The wind outside carried in the aroma of food and the bitter smell of Chinese medicine.
Almost as soon as he smelled the scent, Lu Chen's tightly furrowed brows relaxed slightly.
As soon as Tang Ning entered the room, she saw a bulging blanket on the bed.
She frowned slightly, took a deep breath, and began, "I bought the medicine with some silver dollars from selling a bracelet to someone in the village. I only went out for coffee before, and I didn't have much money on me or wear any jewelry. It's best not to waste it. The medicine can cure your eyes, so don't delay your treatment because you're angry with me..."
"I cooked these noodles while I was preparing the medicine. My cooking skills aren't great, so please bear with them. If you don't like me, I can leave the room and not be in your way. Just call me if you need anything at night. I live outside, so don't worry. I promise I won't bother you unless absolutely necessary. Now, I've put the medicine and noodles by your bedside. Remember to take them."
After saying this, Tang Ning, who did not receive any response from Lu Chen, gently put down the two bowls, paused for a moment, and then got up and walked out.
When the sound of the door closing suddenly rang out behind Lu Chen, he slowly peeked out, staring blankly at the dim and hazy scene before him. After a long while, he suddenly chuckled.
That's all.
If Xu Sinian were here today, would Tang Ning do the same?
No, it won't.
According to the information he had previously investigated from the Xu family, Xu Sinian's leg had been broken for many years. It was said that Tang Ning had always been concerned about his leg, so she specially found a traditional Chinese medicine prescription and used all sorts of coaxing and deception, as well as acting cute and silly, to make Xu Sinian soak his feet in her company every night to treat his injury.
You have to understand, Xu Sinian's leg wasn't broken because of her. She went to such lengths for him, and now his eyes are clearly blinded because of this woman. He only lost his temper once, and she wants to stay as far away from him as possible. She's even hiding outside now...
Oh.
The more he brooded over this, the more an inexplicable sense of grievance welled up in Lu Chen's heart.
Why……
Why is it always so unfair to him?
It was Lu Chen who got together with her first. They had long ago promised to be together for life, and neither of them would let go of the other's hand.
It was Xu Sinian who used those shady methods to break them up. It was he who, in the moment of crisis, acted like a fool and protected her without a second thought. But why...?
Sometimes, he really wanted to cut open that woman's chest and see what her heart was made of.
Lu Chen's eyes were stinging and painful, and his fists had been clenched tightly for a long time.
If we could do it again...
If he could do it all over again, Lu Chen felt that he would still be so pathetic and cowardly as to end up like this.
The mere thought of such a possibility made Lu Chen want to laugh, a genuine, heartfelt laugh.
He sat up abruptly, his eyes blurry as he looked at the things placed beside his bed. The man was about to carelessly overturn them, but stopped abruptly when he touched the slightly warm rim of the medicine bowl.
He remained in that position for an unknown amount of time before Lu Chen groped around, picked up the medicine bowl, tilted his head back, and drank it all in one gulp.
As for the food Tang Ning had placed aside, he had no desire to eat it.
After drinking the medicine, Lu Chen lay back down.
It can only be said that the medicine may contain sleeping pills, or perhaps he hadn't been able to get a proper rest since falling into the water. In just a moment, Lu Chen couldn't help but fall into a deep sleep.
The night deepened.
Because of his injuries, Lu Chen did not sleep soundly. In his half-awake state, he suddenly heard a conversation coming from outside the house.
Who are you?
"Hahahaha, who are we? We're the kind of people who can make you, my little beauty, happy to the heavens!"
One of them laughed loudly.
They had already noticed the beautiful woman when she was washed ashore, but they didn't expect that there would be a mad dog surrounding her. Helpless, they had to make other plans.
So they painstakingly scouted the location that night and managed to pry open the broken lock hanging on Aunt Han's door in the middle of the night.
They had originally planned to finish their business quickly under the cover of night. After all, it would be a piece of cake for two grown men to subdue a delicate young woman. They figured that this woman with a blind husband wouldn't dare to make a fuss after they did it to her, and who knows, they might even be able to enjoy themselves together in the future.
Unexpectedly, this woman was incredibly perceptive. The moment they pried open the door, she lit the oil lamp and looked at them with a cold expression.
Being stared at by such a rare beauty almost made their bones melt.
What he wasn't worried about was the little beauty shouting or anything. After all, most of the people in this Dayu Village shared the same surname as them, and they were all related. If something really happened, most people would still choose to stand on their side.
They thought that this beauty was already pretty enough during the day when she was all dirty, but now that she was clean and tidy, and with the dim light of the oil lamp, she was so beautiful that they couldn't find the words to describe her.
In an instant, the two exchanged a glance. One of them, the shorter one with the bald head, almost drooled as he looked at Tang Ning. "My goodness, Fifth Brother, I, Han the Bald, have never seen such a beautiful girl in my life. Look at her, her skin is as white as a cloud. I wonder what it feels like to touch it..."
The man with the scabies swallowed hard.
Another tall, thin man grinned lewdly, revealing his large, yellowed teeth. "Anyway, it's definitely more exciting than the girls in the brothel, hehe. Beauty, what future do you have following that blind man? If you choose to follow Han Laowu, I guarantee you'll live a life of luxury. From now on, if you tell me to go east, I'll never go west. How about it?"
The three had barely finished their conversation when Lu Chen stumbled open the door and immediately saw Tang Ning's blurry shadow under the oil lamp.
"Tang Ning, are you... alright? Who are you people? What do you want?"
"Oh, beautiful lady, your husband has woken up. It's a pity he's blind, otherwise... hehehe."
The tall, thin man's expression grew increasingly lewd and disgusting, as if he were conjuring up some unsettling image in his mind.
The bald-headed man pointed his nostrils directly at Lu Chen and said, "You blind bastard, this is none of your business. Go back to sleep, or you'll regret it!"
Just then, Tang Ning seized the opportunity and ran towards Lu Chen.
But halfway there, the tall, thin man blocked her way. "Hey, little beauty, where do you think you're going?"
Tang Ning directly avoided his embrace, her expression turning even colder. "Just look at our clothes and you can tell we're not people you can mess with. Aren't you afraid that if we're found in a few days, you'll be in deep trouble!"
"Pah! Heh, I'm really going to take this risk today. As the saying goes, dying under a peony is still a romantic death!"
The tall, thin man persisted, and after finishing his sentence, he lunged at Tang Ning again.
"Tang Ning!"
Seeing the swaying shadows in front of him, Lu Chen knew without a doubt that Tang Ning was hiding from these two scoundrels. In a moment of urgency, Lu Chen hurriedly spoke up, "You can't hurt her. My father is Commander Lu of Fengcheng. I already informed my family when she fell into the water. They should be able to find us here soon, and then..."
The title of Commander Lu did indeed startle the two scoundrels. They exchanged a glance with serious faces, deciding it was better to believe it than not.
Actually, if it weren't for Commander Lu, they might have just had some fun tonight. But knowing that the blind man was actually Commander Lu's son, they might have to kill the couple after they were done with them. After all, these important figures are extremely petty; killing them might be the only way to avoid getting into trouble. Otherwise…
"What? Commander Lu! We've been blind to your greatness! We've been blind to your greatness! Young Commander Lu, we two brothers have offended you today..."
"Tang Ning, watch out!"
From the moment he heard their foreign accents, Lu Chen knew that these two scumbags were unlikely to let the matter rest. When he heard the sudden rise in their tone when they said "I've offended you," Lu Chen immediately warned them without thinking, while grabbing the chair beside him and throwing it at the dark figure.
"ah!"
"Bang!"
"ah!!!!"
In an instant, two screams and a sudden gunshot rang out.
The bald-headed guy who was only hit by Lu Chen's chair was alright, as he was only hit on the arm. However, he was so frightened by the black thing that Tang Ning was holding that he almost lost his mind. He didn't even have time to look at his tall, thin companion who was screaming in pain. He knelt down in front of Tang Ning.
"Grandma...Grandma, I was wrong! Please forgive me, please spare my life! Please spare my life, I beg you, please..."
Truly terrified, the bald-headed man began to kowtow repeatedly towards Tang Ning, making a loud thud.
"Tang Ning!"
Lu Chen immediately reached out to Tang Ning's side and grabbed her other hand, which was icy cold and somewhat frightening.
Although Tang Ning hadn't said a word, the moment Lu Chen took her hand, she immediately gripped it tightly as if it were a lifeline, but even so, her hand was still trembling uncontrollably.
This filled Lu Chen with regret and pain. He couldn't understand what had gotten into him before. Why did he have to get angry with Tang Ning? Putting everything else aside, in this chaotic situation, he could still remember that Tang Ning's face might cause trouble. How could he forget everything and not care about anything when he got angry?
He actually allowed Tang Ning to live separately from him in this unfamiliar place. Today, Tang Ning was alert and escaped a disaster. But if she had been even slightly careless, he simply couldn't believe what kind of Tang Ning he would see when he woke up the next day.
The more Lu Chen thought about it, the more he regretted it, to the point that he wished he could raise his hand and slap himself a few times.
The commotion finally attracted the first wave of villagers.
As these people rushed in, disheveled, they looked up and saw a bald-headed man kowtowing and pleading, and a tall, thin man who had stopped screaming and was unconscious to the side, his life hanging in the balance.
"this……"
Seeing this, one of the elderly men with gray hair quickly asked.
Before the man could finish speaking, Lu Chen stepped forward and said in a deep voice, "I was sleeping soundly in the middle of the night when I unexpectedly encountered these two thieves who broke into my house. In the dark, I was not paying attention and they got hurt. I am truly sorry."
Lu Chen apologized, but his face was full of threats.
"However, this time it's just a leg injury. Who knows where it might get hurt next time? My wife and I won't be staying here for long, and we won't be in any way of bothering anyone. We hope you can be accommodating, otherwise..."
Lu Chen didn't mention sending them to the police station. It was such a remote place, and they were from the same village. Whether or not to send them was not just a matter of a word, so there was no point in bringing it up.
"This...it's only right, it's only right. Those two bastards..."
The old man tentatively asked a question.
"Do as you please. I believe Lantau Village is a fair and friendly village and will certainly handle this impartially. But now, my wife and I need to rest, so please take them away as soon as possible."
As he spoke, Lu Chen forcefully took Tang Ning's hand and led her into his room, shutting her out from the outside noise.
Almost as soon as she entered the door, Tang Ning's eyes turned red, and her body trembled more and more violently.
“He’s not moving anymore, I killed him… Lu Chen, I killed him… I killed him, I really…”
As she said this, Tang Ning's tears immediately fell.
"No, no, he was yelling the whole time, so he probably wasn't seriously injured, otherwise he wouldn't have been yelling so loudly. Besides, what's the harm in killing him? That kind of scum deserves to die, you should kill him!"
Lu Chen immediately hugged Tang Ning tightly and patted her back soothingly.
"But……"
“No buts. You did the right thing, Ningning. You did very well, really very well. There are no buts. Don’t think about it anymore. It’s late. You should rest. Go to sleep. When you wake up, everything will be fine… Don’t think about it anymore. Sleep. I’ll stay here with you. I won’t go anywhere. I’ll always be by your side…”
Lu Chen kept speaking softly to comfort them, but his ears were distracted as he heard the noise outside gradually subside. He figured that the two scoundrels must have been carried away by the villagers.
Lu Chen didn't know how long he coaxed Tang Ning before she finally closed her eyes and slowly fell asleep, her breathing becoming steady.
Even when I do fall asleep, I sleep restlessly, startling myself every now and then.
"It's alright, it's alright, Ningning, it's alright, I'm here..."
Almost as soon as Tang Ning moved, Lu Chen reflexively offered this comforting remark.
Meanwhile, all sorts of random thoughts were running through my mind. One moment I was thinking about just leaving, but the next I was thinking that at least I knew this place inside and out. The outside world was chaotic, and who knew what kind of things I would encounter if I really went somewhere else...
As he pondered, sleepiness overcame him, and Lu Chen held Tang Ning in his arms, inhaling her faint fragrance, and fell asleep as well.
Completely oblivious to the slight upturn of Tang Ning's lips after he fell asleep.
The next day, just as dawn broke, Tang Ning groggily opened her eyes and was startled when she saw Lu Chen's sleeping face so close to hers.
But soon, recalling what happened last night, Tang Ning held her breath and quietly nestled in Lu Chen's arms, gazing intently at his innocent sleeping face. She didn't know how long she had been watching, but suddenly, as if possessed, she raised her hand and touched Lu Chen's thick eyebrows, just a light touch. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she quickly withdrew her hand, gently breaking free from Lu Chen's still-closed arms, got out of bed, quietly pushed open the door, and went out.
As soon as Tang Ning left, Lu Chen immediately opened his clear eyes.
Yes, he had already woken up long before Tang Ning woke up. He pretended to be asleep simply to find out what Tang Ning would do.
Thinking of this, Lu Chen slowly raised his hand and touched his eyebrows, his eyes flickering with emotion.
Meanwhile, Tang Ning, standing in the courtyard, was annoyed by the system's fluctuating, positive and negative alerts about Lu Chen's favorability towards her. She asked 54088 to turn it off for her.
Let Lu Chen worry about it all by himself; it'll eventually turn into three digits anyway.
Tang Ning smiled, her eyes crinkling.
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