The midday meal left Su Zhi feeling very full. It had been a long time since she’d felt this satisfied; her stomach was slightly rounded, bringing a sense of comfortable contentment.
The midday sun was bright. Yue Tiantian was lying inside, ready for a nap. Su Zhi thought about tidying up the clothes the original host had brought and changing out of the clothes she was currently wearing.
She had been wearing this white woolen sweater for two days already and hadn’t had a chance to change or wash it. Taking advantage of Yue Chunhan’s absence, she could tidy up properly.
The original host had actually brought quite a few clothes, but they were all in flashy, brightly colored styles that Su Zhi felt were inappropriate to wear outside. After picking and choosing for a long time, she finally found two pieces to change into.
A red polka-dot top, loose-fitting and revealing her collarbones slightly, paired with a pair of beautiful blue jeans that highlighted her figure. Su Zhi, with her seaweed-like dark hair cascading down, looked almost like a model for a fashion magazine.
Sure enough, when she stepped out wearing this outfit, she received an exaggerated gasp from Yue Tiantian: “Auntie, you’re so beautiful! Wow!”
Su Zhi blushed from the compliment. She rummaged in Yue Chunhan’s shed for a long time before finding a large basin suitable for washing clothes. But she didn’t have many clothes to wash, only the set she had just taken off.
Su Zhi washed quickly, hoping to take advantage of the strong midday sun to dry the clothes soon. She finally found a bit of laundry detergent, rubbed the clothes, scrubbing the thick woolen sweater. Although it wasn’t very dirty, the scrubbing still made her hands ache.
After rinsing with several basins of clean water, Su Zhi stretched a long rope between two corners of the shed and the chicken coop, creating a clothesline right in the middle of the yard. She hung the freshly washed, clean clothes on it.
Without a spin dryer and with Su Zhi’s limited strength, the woolen sweater hadn’t been wrung out properly and was still dripping water, quickly dampening the ground below and creating a few small puddles.
Su Zhi wiped her hands and looked at the row of clothes on the line, feeling a great sense of security.
Great, just leave them there to dry and collect them in the afternoon.
Su Zhi was also feeling a bit drowsy. Since there wasn’t much else to do, she tidied up the basin and laundry detergent, stretched her body, and went inside to lie down with Yue Tiantian, ready for a nap.
The sunlight outside was perfect, warm and comforting. On the kang bed, Su Zhi covered herself with a quilt and lay with Yue Tiantian. Yue Tiantian slept soundly in her arms, but Su Zhi felt as if someone was watching her.
Half-asleep and bleary-eyed, she opened her eyes and looked towards the window, her heart suddenly leaping.
———There was a face pressed against the window glass, eyes fixed intently on her.
Su Zhi instantly got goosebumps, shivering all over, and instinctively wanted to scream. But remembering that Yue Tiantian was still fast asleep, she covered her mouth, not daring to make a sound, and scrambled up from the kang bed.
The figure outside was unclear, but she could vaguely tell it was a thin man. Terrified he might break in, Su Zhi went down, bolted the door from the inside, and cautiously hid inside the room, not daring to go out.
The person outside paced restlessly back and forth by the window, occasionally pressing a pair of frightening eyes against it to spy on Su Zhi’s every move. Su Zhi was scared out of her wits, her mind blank, only thinking of one name.
…When would Yue Chunhan return to save her?
There was a layer of condensation on the glass, making the other person’s face somewhat unclear. But Su Zhi guessed the other person was likely from this village and even familiar with Yue Chunhan. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have figured out Yue Chunhan’s routine, knowing he was out, before coming to spy on her.
But Su Zhi wasn’t the original host and couldn’t know exactly who the other person was. She had no impression of villagers who didn’t appear in the original story.
Su Zhi hid in a corner piled with quilts, out of sight from the window, her heart pounding loudly. There were faint, rustling sounds continuously. After a while, as if realizing she wasn’t coming out, the man’s noises also disappeared.
Su Zhi tentatively peeked out to see if he had left, only to find him standing where she had hung the laundry.
Su Zhi was startled.
The man stood there, stroking the white, close-fitting woolen sweater she had just taken off and washed, pressing his face against it and sniffing her scent in a disgustingly lewd manner.
Su Zhi felt her scalp go numb; she knew she could never wear that sweater again.
But to her horror, the man’s next move was to take the sweater off the clothesline, stuff it inside his own clothes, and stroke it occasionally, while his lower body swayed in a disgusting, lewd manner.
Su Zhi almost gagged, but alarm bells were also ringing loudly in her mind.
The original host already had a bad reputation. If clothes she wore during her wedding were found in another man’s possession, wouldn’t she be left speechless again, just like last time?
Would Yue Chunhan and the villagers instinctively think she was immoral and had seduced the man? Or would this be seen as evidence of their affair?
Even if Su Zhi would never be interested in such a man, villages were full of gossipy people who loved drama. Especially with so many aunties and busybodies, the slightest rumor could be blown out of proportion, let alone a scandal like this.
Su Zhi took several deep breaths to calm her nerves and bolster her courage. Left with no choice, she quietly opened the door and, taking advantage of the man’s distraction, picked up a kitchen knife from the cutting board and stealthily followed him out. She wanted to see who this man was.
Moreover, she had to get that sweater back. Even if she couldn’t, she at least needed to make a scene to let everyone know she hadn’t willingly given the sweater away—it had been stolen.
The man, with the sweater tucked inside his clothes, seemed afraid of being caught stealing. He didn’t take the main road but instead went along a side path. Perhaps noticing Su Zhi’s footsteps behind him, he walked faster and faster, eventually breaking into a run.
Su Zhi knew that if he really got away, she would be left with no way to defend herself. She absolutely had to find out his identity now. So, she ran after him as hard as she could, trying to catch him. “Stop! Halt!”
The man covered his face and ran swiftly. Su Zhi’s current body wasn’t very athletic, and she was out of breath after just a few steps. Just as she was about to lose him, a burst of determination surged within her. Summoning all her strength, she managed to catch up, grabbing the man’s shoulder and forcing him to turn around.
The man covered his face, desperately trying to hide, seemingly unwilling to let Su Zhi see him. But Su Zhi saw him anyway—an unfamiliar face, as expected. His cheeks were gaunt and dry, his features rough and unattractive: a flat nose, small eyes, with a thoroughly lecherous expression.
Su Zhi didn’t recognize him. Since she wasn’t the original host and didn’t have the original’s memories, she only knew characters from the original story. But the man thought differently.
The thin man and the original Su Zhi had met before, even exchanged greetings, since they lived in the same village. Now that Su Zhi had seen his face, his expression instantly turned grim.
He could easily imagine the consequences if Yue Chunhan found out about this. If not for Su Zhi’s captivating beauty, he wouldn’t have risked Yue Chunhan’s wrath to sneak into his home and spy on her.
At that moment, the only thing the man could think of was escape. If he got away and hid the sweater, Su Zhi would have no proof he had entered the yard. So, without hesitation, he shoved Su Zhi hard.
He was surprisingly strong. Caught off guard, Su Zhi stumbled and fell to the ground, her ankle making a clear, painful twisting sound. Seizing the opportunity, the thin man darted forward, trying to flee.
Su Zhi groaned, her palms scraping against the gravel on the ground. Her smooth, long hair was now disheveled over her shoulders. Gritting her teeth, she looked in the direction the man had fled, trying to stand and continue the chase, but her ankle throbbed painfully.
As he ran, the man glanced back at Su Zhi’s disheveled state, lingering on her beautiful face. He felt a deep regret. If he hadn’t been seen today, he might have had more chances to sneak into Yue Chunhan’s house to spy on her, maybe even…
His mind was filled with indecent thoughts when his body suddenly collided with a solid wall of flesh. The impact made him see stars. Covering his face, he looked up and saw the cold, grim face behind him. His courage instantly shattered, and he screamed.
“—Y-Yue Chunhan?!!!”