“!”
Wen Shuyu suddenly pressed his forehead against her palm, feeling the delayed warmth rising from her skin.
His shoulders trembled as he let out a muffled whimper like a wounded little animal. Then he abruptly lifted his head again, cupping Tang Li’s face as if confirming whether she was real or just an illusion.
“Please… Li’er, blink once more and tell me this isn’t a dream.”
“…”
Tang Li obediently blinked.
The man’s pupils contracted sharply. His lips first froze, then curled upward in an almost frantic arc.
Wen Shuyu was smiling like he was crying, and crying like he was smiling. He leaned forward, resting his forehead against hers, nose brushing against nose. His breath of overwhelming joy was completely disordered.
“It’s real… Li’er… I’m not dreaming…”
“?”
What on earth was he doing?
Tang Li was caught off guard by this display and felt completely at a loss.
It was the first time she had seen this fool’s emotions fluctuate so violently.
“Alright, you’re not dreaming. I’m really fine now…”
As she spoke, she gently patted his shoulder, subtly trying to increase the distance between them.
But Wen Shuyu suddenly pulled her into a tight embrace. His eyes were red as he raised his voice, almost bordering on madness.
“Tang Li!”
“I told you, why do you never listen!”
Before she could even argue, Wen Shuyu buried his face in her neck and bit down hard on her collarbone, leaving a clear mark.
“!”
“Hiss…”
Tang Li gasped in pain and pushed him away, but he only tightened his hold around her shoulders.
She struggled hard but could not break free, instantly becoming furious.
“A’Niu, are you insane! Let go of me—”
Her words were cut off halfway when she suddenly felt something warm and wet on her neck.
Tears the size of beans rolled down her collarbone, burning her skin.
“Can you… please take care of your life properly? I… I really can’t bear seeing you die in front of me again…”
Tang Li: “!”
What the hell?
This fool… was crying?
She froze in place, completely at a loss, even instinctively patting his back to comfort him, as if he were the more fragile one.
“Alright, alright, I’m fine now.”
She did not know how to calm him, so she looked at him seriously.
“I promise, I won’t do it again…”
Wen Shuyu still carried lingering anger in his eyes, but under her soft voice, it gradually calmed down.
He lowered his head slightly, muttering with a bit of stubborn emotion.
“You always say that… and always lie to me…”
“50 coins.”
“10 coins.”
The property broker grabbed Wang Cuihua’s sleeve.
“Please, madam, raise it a bit more, I still need to report back!”
“This isn’t even the house we agreed on. Look at how abandoned it is, even repairs would cost a fortune. I say we should change brokers instead.”
Tang Li and Wang Cuihua pretended to leave. The broker behind them was so anxious he kept stomping his feet.
“20 coins! That’s the lowest I can go!”
At last, he called out his final price.
The two who had nearly reached the gate exchanged a glance and turned back smiling.
A few days ago, the shabby hut they had been temporarily staying in collapsed under snow. Truly, misfortune came one after another.
To survive, and for the sake of the little child, the two reached a peaceful agreement to move.
Wang Cuihua pulled out her last broken tael of silver from her shoe and rented a rundown courtyard. She even made full use of every resource, ordering the broker’s men to carry the unconscious man over and place him in the side room to recover.
After receiving the keys, Wang Cuihua immediately rolled up her sleeves and began cleaning the dusty main hall.
“You young people are so careless. Your cleaning isn’t even as good as an old woman like me.”
She kept muttering as she wiped the tables. The furniture was so worn that it wobbled slightly when touched.
“…”
Tang Li was too tired to argue, silently sweeping cobwebs from the window frame.
“Mom… be careful up there…”
“I don’t need your reminders! I’ve eaten more salt than you’ve eaten rice!”
“…”
Tang Li wisely shut up.
Just as she continued cleaning, a sudden shout came from behind.
“Mom! Watch out!”
“!”
Wang Cuihua barely had time to react before a broom came swinging straight at her face.
“Ah—!”
She fell to the ground, clutching her aching backside as she pushed the broom away.
A furious old woman in farmer’s clothes stood in the hall, eyes blazing, hands on her hips.
“Who are you?! What are you doing?!”
But the woman ignored her entirely and swung the broom again.
“Stop hitting me!”
“Stop it!”
Tang Li stepped forward to intervene, but the woman only kept repeating one line.
“This is my home! Don’t take my things…”
“What nonsense! This is our house!”
Wang Cuihua stood up angrily.
“Look clearly! We have the deed!”
The woman raised her head. Her face was deeply wrinkled, eyes clouded and lifeless, as if her soul had been drained by time.
She only repeated in a hollow voice.
“This is my home… don’t take my things…”
“What’s wrong with her eyes?” Tang Li asked.
The farmer sighed heavily.
“She’s my sister-in-law. Her mind isn’t right. Ever since she lost her child and husband, she has gone mad…”
He explained how the family had suffered loss after loss, how grief had broken her mind, until she became like this.
Tang Li and Wang Cuihua fell silent.
She was clearly insane, yet behind that madness lay unbearable tragedy.
Under the grapevine in the courtyard, Divine Doctor Chai tended to Tang Li’s wounds.
“Hiss…”
“It’ll be fine soon.”
He cleaned the wound and applied medicine.
“It’s not deep. Change the dressing twice a day, keep it dry, and it’ll heal in three days.”
“Thank you, Doctor Chai…”
Tang Li lightly touched the bandaged area.
She did not want A’Niu to see it. That fool sometimes acted as if possessed and said incomprehensible things.
Instinctively, she kept her distance from him.
Yet she could not forget that day when Wen Shuyu, with damp eyes, had asked her to take better care of herself.
She admitted she had always only cared about achieving her goals, never whether she was hurt along the way.
In her mind, only results mattered. Only the hundred taels mattered.
Wen Shuyu was just a fictional character in a melodramatic novel. Just an NPC.
He was not important at all.
Tang Li closed her eyes and repeated this silently in her heart.