The wind from the closing door brushed over the candle and almost blew it out. Yan Mu didn’t notice Yu Yuan’s abnormality. She was afraid that the melted candle wax would fall on her hand, so she let go of his hand and hurriedly protected the pea-sized flame.
Yu Yuan stared at the hand that Yan Mu had held in shock. The young girl’s hand was very tender, and as soft as the clouds in the sky. Unfortunately, because of her frailty, her hand was a little cold, which formed a strong contrast to the soft touch.
Yu Yuan slowly clenched his hand, as if doing so could hold that touch in his palm. He quietly hid his hand behind his back.
By the time Yan Mu turned around, Yu Yuan’s expression had already returned to being calm.
“There’s no spare rooms in the house, so you’ll have to make do by sleeping on the table.” Yan Mu said somewhat apologetically.
“I can sleep in the woodshed.” Yu Yuan said faintly and lowered his head.
“How can that be!” The young girl acted like her tail had been stepped on, and she almost jumped up in shock, “You are my benefactor who saved me from harm, so how can I let you sleep in the woodshed.”
”If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have been pestered by Zhang Goudan.” Yu Yuan’s tone was a little stiff.
“Nonsense.” Yan Mu fiercely glared at Hunter Zhang’s house next door across the mud wall.
As the cool air poured into Yan Mu’s throat, it itched a little and she couldn’t help but start coughing again. Originally, Yu Yuan wanted to say something, but seeing Yan Mu’s coughing face, crimson and full of tears, he swallowed the words back into his stomach.
After coughing, Yan Mu patted her chest to smooth her breathing, then opened the wooden door and led Yu Yuan into the house[1].
The cold moonlight and noisy sound of frogs seemed to disappear, leaving only the warm yellow night and the comforting smell of food. Yan Mu saw Yu Yuan gulped.
“We still haven’t had dinner yet. Yu Yuan, come and eat with us,” Yan Mu said with a smile. Yan Mu didn’t phrase her words as a question, because she knew that if she did, Yu Yuan would surely decline.
As expected, a hint of surprise flashed across Yu Yuan’s face. He was about to refuse, but was interrupted by Yan Mu.
“This is the rabbit that you sent over, so we need to finish it as soon as possible. Otherwise, if Hunter Zhang finds out, he will definitely come to our house to cause trouble.” Yan Mu pretended to be distressed and said, “This rabbit is a little too much for me and my father to finish. Yu Yuan, you’ll help us with this, right?”
As expected, once she mentioned that Hunter Zhang would be looking for trouble, Yu Yuan fell silent. He opened his mouth, but in the end, he didn’t refuse.
Father Yan brought out the freshly steamed vegetable millet dumplings from the kitchen, and when he looked up, he saw Yu Yuan.
Yan Mu stood beside Yu Yuan and felt Yu Yuan’s body suddenly tense up.
“Hello Uncle Yan.” The teenager’s face was calm, but his slightly trembling hands exposed his inner nervousness.
Father Yan nodded. Yu Yuan and Yan Mu were about the same age, and both of them were children in his eyes.
Father Yan flashed a kind smile at Yu Yuan. Yu Yuan’s body was still tense, but his eyes didn’t seem that nervous anymore.
“The rabbit stew will take a while. Daughter, accompany Yu Yuan to take a stroll first.” Father Yan took a glance at Yan Mu’s fractured leg, and added, “Don’t walk too far, your leg wouldn’t be able to take it.”
Yu Yuan’s gaze turned to look at Yan Mu’s leg.
As the person who had been at the scene, Yu Yuan clearly knew how Yan Mu had injured her leg.
—— It was because he had watched with folded arms[2] that her leg had gotten fractured. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
Thinking about this, Yu Yuan’s lips pursed tighter and tighter. Someone as dark and selfish as him definitely didn’t fit in with such a warm family.
Yan Mu was oblivious to Yu Yuan’s conflicted thoughts. She smiled at Father Yan and said, “Yu Yuan’s hand is injured, I’ll help him clean it up.”
“Alright.” Father Yan nodded his head, “Dad will be in the kitchen to look over the rabbit stew. If you and Yu Yuan are hungry, you can eat the vegetable millet dumplings first.”
After speaking, he turned and left. Yan Mu could vaguely hear his mumbling, “This Hunter Zhang is really sinful, how can he abuse a good child like this.”
Apparently, Yu Yuan also heard his words. He stood inside the house expressionlessly, and seemed to be thinking about something with his eyes down.
The atmosphere became slightly awkward for a while. Yan Mu took the lead and spoke up, “Is your hand…… alright?”
Her body was extremely afraid of pain. If her palm was burned by a smoking pipe…… Yan Mu couldn’t even imagine it.
Yu Yuan looked at Yan Mu and remained silent. She thought that he was in so much pain that he couldn’t speak, so she was a little anxious.
“Let me have a look.” Yan Mu said and tried to grab Yu Yuan’s hand, but he dodged sideways.
“How did you know that I was injured?” Yu Yu suddenly asked.
“Uh……” Yan Mu was dumbfounded.
“I, I……” Maybe it was because her sickly body limited her brain speed, but Yan Mu stammered for half a day[3] and still couldn’t come up with an excuse.
It’s over. Last time, when she had been caught peeping directly by Yu Yuan, he had immediately blocked off all the cracks in the mud wall. This time she was directly exposed.
Yan Mu was grieving incessantly[4] in her heart. What if Yu Yuan thinks that she’s a perverted peeping tom, avoids her and refuses to be in contact with her in the future, then how will she rely on Yu Yuan’s kiss to replenish her lifespan?
Yan Mu only felt that something bad had happened. Even her pale face was flushed red from foreboding. Her vividly dark eyes had become watery too.
“I’m sorry.” Yan Mu gave up thinking of a reason, so she lowered her head, and shamefully confessed, “I heard Hunter Zhang scold you, so I was a little worried about you……”
“You’re worried about me?” Yu Yuan’s tone was a bit subtle.
Yan Mu secretly raised her head and took a glance at Yu Yuan. Although his expression was somewhat strange, no anger could be seen on his face, so she heavily nodded her head.
Yu Yuan stopped talking again.
Although he was a character that she had created, once Yu Yuan was silent, at this moment, even Yan Mu as his true mother couldn’t understand his thoughts.
Yan Mu opened her mouth and was about to speak, but she heard Yu Yuan’s cold voice, “It’s not worth it.”
“Ah?” Yan Mu was stunned.
“People like me don’t deserve your attention.” Yu Yuan lowered his gaze and his expression suddenly turned bad. This chapter is updated first at g.com.
Yan Mu didn’t understand what he meant, so after a moment she could only lower her head in grievance and say, “I’m sorry, I won’t peep on you anymore. Don’t…… be angry.”
Yu Yuan didn’t say anything but Yan Mu felt that his expression had worsened.
“Don’t be angry anymore. Apply medicine on your hand first.” Yan Mu carefully said, “The ointment that I gave you last time is very effective, you won’t feel pain anymore after you use it.”
Who knew that it was okay before she mentioned it, but once she did, Yu Yuan immediately pulled out that ointment.
“Here, I’ll give it back to you.” Yu Yuan’s tone was cold and stiff. He stuffed the ointment into Yan Mu’s hand and walked towards the courtyard without even looking back.
Yan Mu was at a loss, and only when Yu Yuan’s silhouette disappeared into the night did she react.
Did she say something wrong……
Yan Mu was a little aggrieved.
She carefully recalled her conversation with Yu Yuan, and once again felt that her apology was quite sincere and did not offend Yu Yuan in any way.
But Yu Yuan had even become furious. Yan Mu curled into a ball on the chair and tears dripped down from her eyes.
She felt somewhat useless. Her apology had made the situation even worse. If this went on, how could she depend on Yu Yuan’s kiss to continue living?
Yan Mu felt her sorrow welling up, and her pearly white teeth bit her lips, causing them to turn white. She lowered her head and looked at the ointment that was given back by him.
The ointment was as good as new. It was clear that the original owner had cherished it well. Yan Mu was a little doubtful and opened the ointment, but found that there was no sign of it having been used.
Yu Yuan didn’t use it at all! Yan Mu’s eyes widened as she remembered the criss-crossing scars on his body and suddenly became a little angry.
Previously, when Yu Yuan had fainted, she had seen those scars. New and old wounds were intermingled together and very serious, some were even on the verge of becoming infected.
There were no antibiotics in ancient times. If Yu Yuan died because of his wounds becoming infected…… then her “Accompany the Male Lead to Finish the Plot” mission would be done for and she would die together with Yu Yuan! A chill ran down Yan Mu’s spine, and she instantly realised the seriousness of the situation.
She stood up, holding the ointment while she made up her mind.
She had decided! She will go to Yu Yuan and ask for clarification.
Translator’s Note: Hello everyone!!! Posting this today instead of tomorrow because it’s my sister’s birthday (7/12)!!! ~(￣▽￣)~*
[1] It was the courtyard just now. Now it’s the inside of the house.
[2] 袖手旁观 (xiùshǒu-pángguān) – look without lifting a finger/look but didn’t help
[3] a figure of speech in great exaggeration for ‘long time’
[4] 叫苦不迭 (jiàokǔ-bùdié) – pour out endless grievances/complain without stopping/ to b*tch endlessly