Chapter 5: Leaning on each other, relying on the flickering lamplight, they stayed together until dawn.
When Wen Shiqin returned home, he bent down to gather firewood on the ground. In that moment of slight bending at the waist, Su Jinxiu inadvertently caught a glimpse of the skin beneath his collar.
The boy had clean lines on his shoulders and back, with firm muscles, but from the side of his neck down, mottled bruises spread along his shoulder blades, which were particularly glaring against his fair skin.
Her heart sank, and she instinctively grabbed his sleeve, pulling him close: "What happened to your injury?"
Wen Shiqin simply lowered his eyelashes and pursed his lips, neither answering nor avoiding the question.
"Could it be that arrogant young master bullied you just now?" Su Jinxiu was both anxious and angry. She was about to rush out the door to settle scores when Wen Shiqin reached out and pulled her back firmly.
Unable to get out, Su Jinxiu reached out to try and pull open his clothes to get a closer look. Wen Shiqin was startled by this action and momentarily blocked her, then struggled loosely with only 30% of his strength.
Seeing him trying to hide something, Su Jinxiu became even more certain that he was hiding something. So she made up her mind, avoided his hand that was blocking his clothes, and went straight down to grab his belt and pull it in front of her.
The two suddenly closed the distance between them, their breaths mingling, and her voice softened: "Aqin, be good, let me see..."
Wen Shiqin stiffened, awkwardly shifting his gaze. His previous stubbornness vanished instantly, like a scolded puppy with drooping ears. His Adam's apple bobbed, and he finally lowered his hand, his eyelashes drooping as he stopped struggling, obediently letting her tear open his clothes.
Old marks were layered with new wounds, and bruises covered the boy's chest and shoulders. Among the crisscrossing marks, there were also signs of blunt force trauma. It was not the appearance of someone who had done something wrong; it was clearly the result of being bullied.
She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.
"Sister, have you finished reading?" Wen Shiqin's voice sounded softly as he reached out and pulled his clothes back together.
Su Jinxiu snapped back to reality, and when she looked up again, her voice was trembling: "Who did this?"
Wen Shiqin stiffened: "I accidentally fell on the way back."
But the crescent-shaped bruise on her neck was too conspicuous, clearly caused by someone pinching her with their knuckles.
The more he tried to cover it up, the more Su Jinxiu felt pain and anger surge in her heart: "How could a fall cause such serious injury? Tell your older sister the truth."
The two sides were locked in a stalemate, but in the end, Wen Shiqin was the first to be defeated.
He lowered his head, his bangs obscuring his bright eyes and the bloodshot veins in them: "No one bullied me. I went to the martial arts arena after school... I can learn martial arts from the instructor and earn some travel expenses."
After speaking, Wen Shiqin suddenly grabbed Su Jinxiu's hand and pressed it onto his arm. His eyes were deep and his muscles there were much firmer than those of other boys his age, a result of his daily practice of wielding a spear.
"Sister, feel it, isn't it much stronger now?"
"Once I've mastered my skills, no one will be able to bully us anymore!" He suddenly raised his voice as he said the last few words, but tears unexpectedly fell onto Su Jinxiu's hand.
“I don’t want to be like before… I can’t even protect my older sister… I can only watch you… I can only watch you…” His voice choked with emotion, his shoulders trembling slightly, he could only prove himself in an awkward way.
Su Jinxiu's heart was in turmoil. All her past suspicions about him turned into a prickling guilt at this moment.
"Sister, I'm so sorry..." Su Jinxiu felt utterly ashamed.
“Sister, what nonsense are you talking about? It’s my fault for being useless. I used to make you stay up all night embroidering, and your fingers were full of needle marks.” Wen Shiqin wiped away her tears with his fingertips. “Now, as long as you’re well, eat on time and don’t overwork yourself, that’s enough for you.”
"This little injury is nothing to worry about. Once I've mastered martial arts, I can become your bodyguard. If anyone dares to upset you, I'll..." Wen Shiqin finished speaking and made a throat-slitting gesture. Su Jinxiu looked at his feigned fierceness but still childish appearance, and her heart was filled with a mixture of warmth and sorrow. Her red eyes turned into a tearful laugh.
From this perspective, he is still a pure and innocent young man, untouched by the dust of time. Even if there are some sparks of malice flickering in his heart, they have not yet ignited into a raging fire, and there is still room for redemption.
In that case, it would be better to put aside those unfounded speculations and guide him back to the right path, teaching him to restrain his mind. It would be better than letting this little bit of evil thought grow into a poisonous vine that devours people in the future.
After they finished crying, the two had a late-night snack, which was poached eggs in sweet soup cooked by Wen Shiqin.
Wen Shiqin was exhausted. After tidying up the room, Su Jinxiu turned around and saw that he was fast asleep on her bed. She took a thin blanket and gently covered him with it. Without lingering, she turned and walked to the embroidery frame in the corner of the room. Her fingertips touched the cool embroidery fabric, and thinking about her mission to become the number one embroiderer in Bianjing, she couldn't help but feel worried again.
But then she thought that picking up her embroidery skills again wouldn't be a bad thing. Holding a needle and thread herself, she could at least have a skill to make a living. Besides, in modern times, she had given up Suzhou embroidery for the sake of livelihood, and that regret had been like a thorn stuck in her heart for many years. Now, with this new life, it was a good time to settle down and try her luck.
Thinking this, a light rekindled in her eyes, and she began to examine the unfinished little items spread out on the table: a plain fan with delicate bamboo ribs, a crescent-shaped sachet that had not yet been filled, and a purse embroidered with half a mandarin duck.
In Suzhou embroidery, flat stitches are orderly, while random stitches are lively. Su Jinxiu paused on the plain silk of the round fan with her needle, and suddenly wanted to try the extremely difficult gold thread embroidery.
She took the gold thread from the box and first coiled it along the curve of the camellia petals. The gold thread was soft and brittle, so she had to hold her breath and twist it gently when turning it, as it would break if she used too much force. The threading also required skill, as the needle had to be inserted diagonally into the gaps in the gold thread.
She had pricked her fingertips countless times while practicing gold embroidery, practicing late into the night by candlelight until her eyes ached, yet she always lost her balance when picking up the needle. But now, holding the needle, the arc of twisting the needle and threading the needle suddenly became clear in her memory. It was Su Qiaoniang's talent etched into her bones, mixed with her past tireless practice day and night. Her thoughts were like a long-blocked ditch suddenly clearing.
The needle moves nimbly across the plain silk, its movements as delicate as a spider's web, embroidering the thin, translucent edges of the petals; its presses as weights as waves and sand, creating the rich, solid center of the flower. In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, a cluster of crabapple blossoms has been embroidered on the fan, shimmering and lifelike in the candlelight.
Su Jinxiu smiled and gently placed the fan on the table. She would take it to Huayun Pavilion tomorrow to sell it for some money and then explore other avenues.
Just then, a muffled pant came from behind me, followed by the rustling sound of fabric rubbing together.
She tiptoed to the edge of the bed and sat down. She saw that Wen Shiqin's brows were tightly furrowed, and his forehead was covered in a fine sweat, as if he were having a nightmare. He was muttering something incoherently.
After a moment, the murmur became clearer, and it was a trembling "Don't go..."
As soon as he finished speaking, Wen Shiqin's brows furrowed even more, and sweat trickled down his temples.
Su Jinxiu felt uncomfortable seeing him so dazed, so she reached out and gently pushed his arm: "Aqin? Aqin, wake up."
Wen Shiqin woke up with a start, sat up abruptly, panting heavily, his dark eyes still filled with lingering fear, and beads of sweat dripped from his forehead onto the mattress.
His chest heaved violently as he stared intently at Su Jinxiu, as if trying to confirm whether the person in front of him was really there.
Su Jinxiu felt a tightness in her chest under his gaze and frowned, asking, "Are you having a nightmare?"
Wen Shiqin did not respond, but lowered his head, his black hair falling down, covering most of his face, adding a touch of composure to his handsome appearance. The plain white nightgown he wore hung loosely, and the straight lines of his shoulders and back could be vaguely seen, giving him a clear and neat appearance unique to young people.
He remained silent for a while before looking up, his eyes swirling with complex emotions.
Finally, he spoke in a hoarse voice: "Sister, if one day... a person in fine clothes wants to take you away, don't go with him."
Su Jinxiu was taken aback.
"Even if he says he can make me rich and powerful and give you mountains of gold and silver, don't believe him."
“Those are all fake,” he said, his eyes filled with pleading and fervor. “Only I am real…only I wouldn’t hurt you…”
Su Jinxiu was completely stunned, assuming he was still reeling from a nightmare, and nodded in response, softly replying:
"Okay, I won't go with him."
A note from the author:
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