By evening, the sky had turned so dark it looked like a black pot flipped upside down. Violent winds swept dead leaves into spirals across the courtyard, and the window frames rattled loudly in the gusts.
The air was hot and damp, the pressure so low it felt hard to breathe.
Something was very wrong with Lu Si.
Since the afternoon, he had locked himself in the room without saying a word.
When Su Ci knocked on the door to bring him food, all she heard from inside was a suppressed growl:
“Don’t come in!”
Standing outside the door, Su Ci frowned deeply.
She remembered that the novel mentioned it before—Lu Si’s leg injury was worst on rainy days.
The damp pain that seeped deep into the bones, combined with phantom pain from the surgery, could torture even the toughest man until he wished for death.
And when the weather was like this, his old injury often came with a high fever.
“BOOM—!”
A thunderclap exploded across the sky, and moments later rain poured down in torrents.
The lightbulb in the room flickered twice—then went out completely.
The power was gone.
In the darkness, Su Ci heard the dull thud of something heavy hitting the floor inside the room.
Ignoring Lu Si’s warning, she kicked the door open.
By the flash of lightning outside the window, she saw the scene inside.
Lu Si had fallen beside the bed. The wheelchair lay overturned nearby.
He was curled up on the floor, clutching his useless leg with both hands. His entire body was soaked with cold sweat, like someone who had just been pulled from water.
His lips were bitten bloody, yet he hadn’t let out a single cry of pain.
Worst of all, a faint unpleasant smell lingered in the air.
The muscle spasms from the pain had caused him to lose control of his bladder.
Sensing someone enter, Lu Si suddenly lifted his head. Under the flash of lightning, his eyes were blood-red, filled with despair, rage, and unbearable humiliation.
“Get out! Su Ci! Get out!”
Like a dying beast, he roared, trying to preserve the last shred of his dignity.
He wasn’t afraid of pain.
But he was terrified of Su Ci seeing him in such a filthy, humiliating state.
Su Ci didn’t leave.
She didn’t even pause her steps.
In the darkness, she walked to the washstand, poured some water, grabbed a towel, and then crouched beside Lu Si.
“Can’t you understand human speech? I’m filthy…” Lu Si’s voice trembled as he tried to shrink away.
“Shut up.”
Su Ci’s voice was unusually calm—almost commanding.
She pressed down on his struggling shoulders with surprising strength.
“Lu Si, I’m your wife, not a stranger. What part of your body haven’t I seen? So you wet yourself—so what? Even three-year-olds wet themselves. You’re a patient right now. It’s the same as getting a runny nose when you catch a cold—it’s just a physical reaction.”
She cleaned up the mess quickly and skillfully, her movements efficient and gentle.
Not even for a second did she show disgust or pinch her nose.
The darkness hid Lu Si’s expression, but his rigid body slowly relaxed.
Biting his teeth tightly, tears silently mixed with the cold sweat running down his face.
After cleaning everything, Su Ci struggled with all her strength to lift Lu Si back onto the bed.
Outside, the storm still raged, and his leg continued to spasm.
“Does it hurt badly?” Su Ci asked, touching his forehead.
It was burning hot.
Lu Si nodded weakly. At that moment, he had shed all his defenses, fragile like a child.
After thinking for a moment, Su Ci kicked off her shoes and climbed onto the bed.
“What are you doing?” Lu Si asked hoarsely.
“Be quiet. Don’t move.”
Su Ci slipped under the blanket and pulled the cold, trembling body into her arms.
Her warm body pressed against his back as her hands covered his legs, gently massaging them.
“When I had stomachaches as a kid, my grandpa used to rub my belly like this. I’m only half a doctor at best, but body heat is the best painkiller.”
Her body was soft and warm, carrying the faint scent of soapberry—an aroma full of life.
Su Ci’s fingers skillfully pressed the Weizhong and Chengshan acupuncture points. Even though he couldn’t feel the pressure directly, the warmth of her body passed through his back, each movement bringing a wave of warmth.
“Su Ci…”
“Mm?”
“Why didn’t you leave?” Lu Si buried his face into the pillow, his voice muffled. “Being with me is like living as a widow… and you still have to take care of a useless cripple.”
Su Ci didn’t stop her movements. Resting her chin on his shoulder, she chuckled softly.
“Because you’re handsome. And also… you gave me a home. Lu Si, I don’t have anywhere else to go either. If you drive me away, I’ll really become a wandering ghost.”
Lu Si’s heart tightened sharply.
He turned around and, in the darkness, accurately grasped Su Ci’s hand.
“I won’t drive you away.”
“As long as I’m alive, this will always be your home.”
That night, the storm outside raged like the end of the world.
Inside the small room, two lonely souls clung tightly together on the narrow bed.
For the first time during a thunderstorm, Lu Si fell into deep sleep without relying on painkillers, lulled by the steady rhythm of Su Ci’s breathing.
..
The sky after the storm was washed clean and blue, the air carrying the earthy scent of wet soil.
“Old Lu, lend me your guard Xiao Zhang for a bit.”
Early in the morning, Su Ci pushed Lu Si into the courtyard to enjoy the sun. Holding a measuring tape, she measured his leg again and again while muttering to herself.
Lu Si felt a little uncomfortable under the touch of her soft hands and frowned.
“What are you doing?”
“Going to the scrap collection station,” Su Ci replied matter-of-factly, putting away the measuring tape. “I want to make you a wooden foot-soaking tub. Your leg hurts whenever it rains—you need to soak it in mugwort water to drive out the cold. The basins at the supply store are too shallow—they can’t cover your knees.”
Lu Si’s heart stirred slightly.
So that was why she had been measuring his lower leg just now.
“Do whatever you want,” he said, turning his head away to hide the warmth flickering in his eyes. “Just don’t bring back a pile of junk.”
Su Ci took Xiao Zhang and headed straight for the scrap collection station in the west of the city.
In those special times, scrap stations were actually great places to hunt for hidden treasures.
Of course, Su Ci wasn’t really there just for wood.
She was there to strike gold.
As a transmigrator, she had a built-in “treasure-detecting radar”—which in reality meant she had watched too many antique appraisal shows in her previous life, plus a bit of mysterious luck.
Who knew? Maybe she’d find an antique. It could become a family heirloom in the future.
The old man who ran the scrap station sat at the entrance smoking a dry tobacco pipe. Seeing Su Ci dressed neatly, he rolled his eyes.
“Books over there are sold by weight. Wood’s over there—pick it yourself. Don’t mess around too much. If you break something, you pay.”
Su Ci smiled and slipped him a pack of Daqianmen cigarettes.
“Take it easy, Grandpa. I’m just looking for a few planks.”
Then she began rummaging through the mountains of old furniture piled up in the yard.