Chapter 15
15.
Guan Yue coughed twice and said, "Taking a... taking a walk."
"Really?" Cheng Lingjun looked unconvinced, but said, "Then why do you insist on taking a walk in front of my door? Is there some special scenery here?"
"Cough! Cough..." Guan Yue seemed to be infected with some kind of lung disease, coughing and turning her back. For some reason, she vaguely felt that Cheng Lingjun's words seemed to have a hint of gunpowder.
Cheng Lingjun had been watching Guan Yue's embarrassment with amusement, but his gaze was drawn to her hand, which she had placed to her lips. His expression tightened, and he took a step forward, saying, "Your hand..."
Guan Yue held out her hand, "What... Oh, you mean the strips of cloth wrapped around it? It's nothing, just a few blisters."
Guan Yue shook her hand to indicate that nothing was wrong, but Cheng Lingjun frowned and said in a deep voice, "Blisters? Let me see."
Guan Yue didn't want to, so she put her hands behind her back, but Cheng Lingjun wouldn't let her go. He lowered his eyebrows and stared at her with a very oppressive look, which was completely different from his usual gentle temperament.
Guan Yue hesitated for a while before reluctantly extending her hand, muttering to herself, "It's really nothing, I'll just wash up when I get back."
Cheng Lingjun said, "Open it."
"Oh, really, there's no need to look," Guan Yue insisted. "It's getting late, I'll head back now..."
Just as Guan Yue took a step back, Cheng Lingjun swiftly grabbed Guan Yue's wrist—he deliberately avoided Guan Yue's palm, and somehow his eyesight was impeccable. With his other hand, he hooked the edge of the cloth strip and ripped it off with a single pull.
Both sides gasped in shock.
Guan Yue was in pain, while Cheng Lingjun was frightened.
Guan Yue had several blisters on her palms, some of which had ruptured, and the skin of the blisters was stuck to the strips of cloth she used to bandage them—perhaps the blisters were torn open by the violence.
"Sorry..." Cheng Lingjun immediately let go, "I just wanted to take a look, but I accidentally used too much force."
Cheng Lingjun refused to let Guan Yue go back directly. He grabbed Guan Yue's sleeve and pulled her inside to get her bandaged.
It wouldn't look good if they were still pulling and tugging at each other, so Guan Yue shook her head to tell the other person not to be nervous. "I'll go in with you, and you can loosen your grip a bit."
Cheng Lingjun loosened his grip, but his eyes remained fixed on her, as if afraid she would run away. Guan Yue had no choice but to enter his home under his watchful gaze, acting as if she had done something wrong.
Guan Yueban walked with her head down, her eyes darting around, and asked, "Where is your... child?"
Cheng Lingjun closed the door behind her and said, "He's tired from playing all afternoon, so let him go to bed early after dinner."
Guan Yue breathed a sigh of relief, "Really..."
Cheng Lingjun's courtyard was different from hers. It was surrounded by earth and stones, and a circle of mud was enclosed by granite stones, on which some green vegetables were planted. In the center of the courtyard, there was a stone table, with several stone stools placed next to it, which served as a dining table.
...It's better than her overgrown, overgrown weeds.
Guan Yue thought to herself.
Cheng Lingjun made her sit on the stone stool, raised her eyes and asked, "You seem to be very afraid of Xiao Guang?"
Cheng Lingjun pondered for a moment, feeling that Guan Yue's expression could only be described as fear. If he hadn't already noticed, he couldn't have imagined that someone would be afraid of a five-year-old child. He didn't believe it at first, but after his tentative question, Guan Yue couldn't help but tremble slightly. Even though she tried her best to hide it, Cheng Lingjun still noticed.
Guan Yue smiled. "How could that be?"
"You dare not look at me, am I right?" Cheng Lingjun walked into the house without looking at Guan Yue's expression. When he came out again, he was carrying an oil lamp in one hand and a small bamboo basket in the other.
Guan Yue watched as he placed the oil lamp on the stone table, took out needles and thread from the bamboo basket, where there was still unfinished embroidery work. It was clearly an unfinished mandarin duck. He pulled out the thread and held a needle, twirling it in the oil lamp.
"What are you doing?" Guan Yue was drawn to his actions. He was exceptionally gentle and patient as he did so, and under the dim light, his face was as beautiful as a goddess in a painting.
Guan Yue watched this scene with bated breath, her eyes fixed on it.
Cheng Lingjun took out the needle, the tip of which was hot from being burned. He said softly, "It might hurt a little, just bear with it."
As he spoke, he took Guan Yue's hand. Guan Yue already knew what he was going to do, so she cooperated by opening her palm and letting Cheng Lingjun pop the blisters on her palm, letting out a clear liquid.
Cheng Lingjun took a clean cloth from the bamboo basket and carefully wiped Guan Yue's hands clean. He treated Guan Yue's hands carefully and slowly. After removing the blisters from both hands, he took a small white porcelain bottle from the house and poured some white powder into Guan Yue's palms.
"This is Angelica dahurica powder. It will help you recover quickly. You can't get your hand wet." Cheng Lingjun finished bandaging Guan Yue's hand before stopping.
Guan Yue then realized that he had been squatting in front of her, treating her blisters, and only sat down now that he was done.
"Thank you, but I'm really sorry..."
Cheng Lingjun shook her head. "I was partly to blame too."
“How can that be your fault?” Guan Yue was about to argue when Cheng Lingjun interrupted her, saying, “Alright, alright, let’s not worry about that. Your injury… was it from cutting rice?”
“Yes,” Guan Yue nodded, then asked in confusion, “How did you know?”
“I guessed it,” Cheng Lingjun said while packing her things. “I saw you outside all day, only coming back once, and you were carrying a sickle. I guessed it.”
"Oh," Guan Yue said with an understanding look, then realized that she didn't have a sickle with her either. She had returned the sickle to Rui Xi and came back empty-handed. Cheng Lingjun must have seen it at noon, since she did take it home with her.
"You saw me at noon? I did have a sickle with me then, but I didn't see you. You just went home?" Guan Yue muttered to herself.
Cheng Lingjun gave a mumbled "hmm," finished packing his things, and extinguished the oil lamp. The clear moonlight once again bathed the two of them. Guan Yue looked at Cheng Lingjun's back and didn't know what to say for a moment.
Her hand injury had been treated, and the embarrassment that had been hidden resurfaced: "How come my hand is so hard to blister?"
How about we exchange a few pleasantries and then I take my leave? Wouldn't it be impolite to just walk away? What did I ask? Have you eaten? But didn't he just say he finished eating? Well, well…
Guan Yue was still racking her brains for a topic when Cheng Lingjun returned. He looked at Guan Yue silently for a while before saying, "Actually, I didn't see you at noon. Of course, I heard you when you came back."
"ah?"
Guan Yue suddenly looked up. Cheng Lingjun was facing away from the moonlight, his gaze as deep as a still pool.
What... what does this mean? Guan Yue felt her heart pounding, unsure whether it was fear, nervousness, or both.
But Cheng Lingjun seemed oblivious. He just frowned in confusion and asked, "Why are you avoiding me?"
Guan Yue opened her mouth, "I...I didn't."
“You do have it, you don’t need to lie to me,” Cheng Lingjun sighed. “I didn’t want to ask you, but you were lingering in front of my door just now…you must have something to ask me, right? You’re finally not hiding it anymore?”
"Nothing's wrong... I didn't knock on the door..." Guan Yue's voice trailed off, and for some reason, she felt very guilty.
Cheng Lingjun remained silent.
Guan Yue looked at the straight line at the corner of his mouth, which carried a hint of forbearance. She remained silent, but he also remained silent, as if waiting for her to speak.
Guan Yue scratched her head. "Actually, I just wanted to ask you if something happened?"
"Something wrong? What could possibly be wrong with me?" Cheng Lingjun raised an eyebrow. "Where did you hear that I'm in trouble?"
“Village Chief Rui Xi mentioned you when I came back, but didn’t say what happened to you, so I was a little… a little curious,” Guan Yue glanced at him, “but now it seems that nothing really happened.”
Cheng Lingjun paused for a moment. Village Chief Rui mentioned him? It must be because he went to the rice paddies during the day. She hadn't meant to bother her.
Cheng Lingjun said, "I was just passing by the village chief's field during the day, and I didn't expect to be seen by him. Perhaps that's why he's overthinking things. I'll visit him in a few days when you're all done with your work."
"Oh, oh, just passing by..." Guan Yue pondered these words, sensing something was amiss.
But Cheng Lingjun didn't give her time to think about it, and waved his hand, saying, "Since there's nothing else, you can go back if you want."
"Then, then..." Guan Yue stood up, wanting to leave but not daring to. She looked at the other person's back and thought to herself, "Didn't you say you were going to ask me why I was avoiding you? Why aren't you asking now?"
"Now that Miss Guan has left, please remember the difference between men and women. I am not entirely useless or weak, and I do not need Miss Guan to meddle in my affairs. Please do not forget that."
Guan Yue stopped in her tracks after taking just one step.
Isn't this still being asked?
He kept calling her "Miss Guan," which made him seem quite angry.
Actually, it wasn't her... Guan Yue rubbed her hair in frustration. She was just... a little embarrassed to admit it.
For Guan Yue, she grew up in a single-parent family. From childhood, she disliked any men around her mother, even if they were just her mother's colleagues or ordinary friends. Even as her biological father gradually disappeared from their world, and later, an uncle who often drove her mother home appeared, the more she saw him, the more she resented her mother's betrayal. At that time, she was too young to understand adult matters and only felt that her mother should not have done such a thing.
As she grew up, she gradually came to understand her mother's hardships, but due to the long-term estrangement, the two found it difficult to get along harmoniously and always treated each other awkwardly. It was hard to say whether her childhood resentment led to her autism and sensitivity, or whether her isolation and introversion led to her resentment towards her mother, but in any case, it was inseparable from that special living environment.
So when she saw Cheng Lingjun's family, although it was partly because Cheng Lingjun had saved her, she knew in her heart that she saw the shadows of herself and her mother in them, which made her look at him again and again, and made her want to help him involuntarily.
That's why she was afraid—afraid to see the same look in Li Guang's eyes as she had before.
She feared that her presence would cause their family to fall apart.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
