As soon as he opened the gate, Jiang Wangchuan woke up completely.
He recognized the young girl standing outside.
She was the daughter of Lin Da, the man he had rescued a few days ago. Her name seemed to be Lin Suhe.
A few days earlier, she had come to him with tears in her eyes, begging to borrow money so she could hire a doctor for her poor father.
Feeling sorry for her, Jiang Wangchuan had given her the last ten copper coins he had.
But later, he heard that Lin Da had still died.
So why did this girl come here tonight?
It was the middle of the night, and she was knocking on the door of an unmarried man.
Did she no longer care about her reputation?
Jiang Wangchuan looked at her coldly and replied in an unfriendly tone,
“I don’t need one. And no.”
After saying that, he raised his hand to close the gate.
But suddenly, a dusty little cloth shoe slipped into the doorway.
“Ah!”
Jiang Wangchuan quickly opened the gate again.
Lin Suhe was squatting on the ground, holding the foot she had just stretched into the doorway. Tears filled her eyes as she looked up at him.
“Brother Jiang, my foot hurts. I can’t walk anymore.”
Jiang Wangchuan frowned.
What a poor trick.
He clearly hadn’t even used any force.
He looked down the mountain.
The moonlight shone over the dark, rough mountain path.
The girl looked determined to stay with him.
It wasn’t safe to make her walk home alone at this hour.
He sighed, stepped aside, and made room for her.
The moment she saw this, Lin Suhe quickly stood up and hopped into the yard.
Seeing how lively she was, Jiang Wangchuan decided not to argue about her fake injury.
Lin Suhe hugged her small bundle tightly as she stood in the courtyard.
The yard was very simple.
There were only two small houses with low roofs.
Several animal hides hung under the roof.
Near the west room was a tiny wooden shed that seemed to be the toilet.
A wooden shelter covered a simple outdoor stove made from stones and mud.
Firewood was stacked neatly in one corner.
Besides that, there was only a large water jar and a flat stone used as a stool.
Although the yard was simple, it was clean and tidy.
Jiang Wangchuan deliberately left the gate open.
He sat casually on the stone and looked at Lin Suhe in the moonlight.
She was thin and small, only reaching his chest.
Her soft hair had turned slightly yellow from years of poor nutrition.
But her small face was very beautiful.
Even with dust covering it, her fair and delicate skin was easy to see.
Feeling his eyes on her, Lin Suhe became nervous.
Her large, deer-like eyes looked around helplessly.
Her pale fingers twisted the cloth bundle in her hands until the rough fabric almost tore.
She swallowed hard before speaking.
“I… I want to be your wife.”
Jiang Wangchuan laughed softly.
“You little girl, do you even know what it means to be someone’s wife?”
Although she was frightened, Lin Suhe nodded firmly.
“I… I do.”
Smiling, Jiang Wangchuan teased her again.
“Then do you know what a wife is supposed to do?”
Lin Suhe had been an adult in the twenty-first century.
Of course she understood what he meant.
But she had never experienced anything like that herself.
Under his gaze, her face turned bright red.
She lowered her head shyly and rubbed the tip of her shoe against the ground.
“I… I know.”
Looking at her embarrassed face, Jiang Wangchuan couldn’t tell whether she truly understood or not.
He sighed and stood up.
“Stop making trouble. I’ll take you home.”
He turned toward the gate.
After taking only a few steps, he felt someone gently tugging at the corner of his clothes.
He looked back.
Lin Suhe was holding onto his sleeve with one hand.
She kept her head down and refused to look at him.
But she also refused to let go.
“I’m not going back.”
“My second uncle and second aunt want to sell me to a slave trader.”
“I don’t want to be sold.”
“I want to be your wife.”
Her voice was soft, but every word was clear in the quiet night.
Large tears rolled from her eyes and fell onto the ground.
For some reason, Jiang Wangchuan felt his own heart soften.
He let out another long sigh.
Then he turned around, crouched in front of her, and looked up at her tear-stained face.
“My last ten copper coins were already lent to you.”
“I’m so poor that I can barely afford to eat.”
“If you stay with me, are you ready to starve with me?”
Lin Suhe sniffled.
“I… I have money.”
She quickly opened her bundle and took out a string of copper coins.
There were about twenty or thirty of them.
This was the money left over after the original Lin Suhe sold the family’s land and paid for her father’s funeral.
Jiang Wangchuan glanced at the coins.
“That little money isn’t enough to feed both of us.”
“I… I can work.”
“I can earn money.”
“I don’t need you to support me.”
Jiang Wangchuan looked at her thin arms and legs.
He seriously doubted she could do what she claimed.
Suddenly, he grabbed one of her hands and opened her palm on his own.
Lin Suhe was startled.
She tried to pull her hand back, but she couldn’t move it at all.
She looked at him in panic.
Jiang Wangchuan carefully examined her tiny hand.
It wasn’t even half the size of his palm.
It was soft, fair, and smooth.
It didn’t look like the hand of a village woman who worked every day.
“Tsk.”
“There isn’t even a single callus.”
“What kind of work can you do?”
His large hand completely covered hers.
The thick calluses on his palm rubbed against her skin, making it sting a little.
But the warmth from his hand somehow made her feel safe.
She looked up at him timidly.
“I can learn.”
Still crouching in front of her, Jiang Wangchuan smiled.
“You’re so afraid of me.”
“How can you be my wife?”
Even while crouching, he was still much taller than Lin Suhe.
He held her hand tightly enough to make her bones ache.
But she could tell he meant her no harm.
He was the only person she could depend on now.
No matter what, she couldn’t let herself run away.
She pouted her soft lips and muttered quietly,
“I’m not afraid of you.”
Then, before he could react, she leaned forward.
Smack.
She kissed him on the cheek.
Jiang Wangchuan froze completely.
He had been single for twenty years.
It was the first time he had ever learned that a girl’s lips could be so soft.
He quickly let go of her hand, stood up, and cleared his throat.
Then he deliberately put on a stern face.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“Can you just kiss any man like that?”
Lin Suhe grabbed his rough hand again.
Looking up at him stubbornly, she said,
“I won’t do that with any other man.”
“I’ll only do it with you.”