“What?”
Fu Shimo leaned closer, only to be suddenly shoved hard by a pair of soft hands.
Completely unprepared, his body tilted backward, and he nearly fell off the tractor.
At the last second, his fingers grabbed the railing in time, barely steadying himself.
Frowning, he looked up, but before he could speak, the person beside him suddenly gagged.
“Urgh—”
A strong sour stench spread through the already foul-smelling vehicle.
The people crowded around them immediately recoiled in disgust and squeezed farther away.
Fu Shimo’s face darkened. Without even lowering his head, he could already feel the dampness soaking the hem of his coat.
Covering her mouth, Su Wanyin looked at the gloomy expression on the man’s face. Her gaze landed on the colorful mess staining his black coat, and her heart skipped nervously.
Embarrassed, she opened her mouth to apologize.
Before she could speak, the man coldly ordered,
“Stop the vehicle!”
Su Wanyin’s throat tightened, and she looked at him anxiously.
He wasn’t going to throw her off the vehicle, was he?!
“The trip isn’t far. If you need the toilet, wait until we get to town. Don’t waste everyone’s time!” the elderly driver in front said impatiently.
Fu Shimo closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
“I’m getting off. No need to wait for me.”
Only then did the driver stop the vehicle.
Watching Fu Shimo silently get off with a dark expression, Su Wanyin hesitated for a moment before climbing down after him.
Hearing her footsteps behind him, Fu Shimo didn’t turn around. His voice remained cold and stiff.
“You can just go wait for him in town.”
Su Wanyin paused briefly. Following the direction he was heading, she spotted a small river and immediately understood why he got off.
“I’ll help wash it clean,” she said softly.
“No need.”
Fu Shimo rubbed his throbbing temples and kept walking, only to realize the footsteps behind him hadn’t stopped.
Frowning, he turned around.
The girl’s frail body was struggling under the weight of two large bags, making every step difficult.
Her pale little face was covered in cold sweat, and even her dazzling peach blossom eyes looked weak and exhausted.
Fu Shimo raised a hand to his forehead, then walked over with a cold face.
Suddenly feeling the weight lifted from her back, Su Wanyin looked up and met an icy, emotionless face still clouded with irritation.
“Maybe I should carry them myself after all,” she said awkwardly.
“Stop pretending.”
His sharp eyes were like icy arrows that seemed to pierce straight through her little schemes.
After saying that, he effortlessly picked up both cloth bags and turned away.
Su Wanyin glared at his clean, decisive back with narrowed fox-like eyes and punched the air angrily.
What exactly was she pretending?!
Though she really did want to leave a better impression on “Fu Shimo” so that their future married life could at least be harmonious, even if they were only partners in name.
Freed from the two heavy burdens, Su Wanyin felt much lighter and quickly caught up with him at the riverbank.
She watched as the man placed her bags on a rock by the river and began unbuttoning his coat.
Too lazy to offer help washing it again, she was about to turn away when she unexpectedly caught sight of a flash of red.
She froze for a moment.
The next second, she met a pair of sharp, vigilant eyes.
Su Wanyin withdrew her gaze from the blood seeping through his chest and quickly turned around.
For a long while afterward, she could still feel that scorching stare fixed on her back.
Recalling the bloody hole she had just seen, her heart pounded wildly.
If she guessed correctly, it was a gunshot wound.
After an unknown amount of time, the intense gaze behind her finally disappeared, replaced by the sound of splashing water.
Unable to resist, Su Wanyin glanced back.
The man was washing the coat over and over again, yet still frowned in disgust as he continued scrubbing.
As she withdrew her gaze, it casually swept across a distant hillside, and her eyes suddenly brightened.
“I’m going to take a walk over there. You can keep washing slowly.”
She called out before heading toward the small hill.
But she failed to notice the pair of deep black eyes behind her darkening as they watched her retreating figure.
…
After wandering around the hillside for a while, Su Wanyin returned holding a handful of medicinal herbs.
Since she had nothing to carry them in, she could only hold them in her hands.
On the way back, she lost her footing and fell heavily onto the grass.
The herbs scattered everywhere, and several cuts appeared on her palm, beads of blood forming instantly.
Su Wanyin sucked in a breath of pain and slowly pushed herself up from the ground.
Suddenly, her neck felt strangely light.
She reached down and picked up the pendant that had fallen to the ground. Instantly, a cool sensation flowed from her palm through her entire body.
Then a huge space, as large as a house, suddenly appeared in her mind.
Looking around, the space was divided into two areas.
One section was fertile black soil. A small portion already contained several unknown medicinal herbs, while the rest lay empty.
The other section was a blank area filled with white mist, its purpose impossible to determine for now.
Beside that area was a small pond filled with crystal-clear water shrouded in faint mist.
Curious, Su Wanyin scooped up a handful and drank it.
Instantly, her body felt lighter. The pain and nausea from motion sickness vanished completely, and even her vision became clearer.
Her eyes widened in shock as overwhelming joy surged through her heart.
Then she noticed a small house in the distance.
Pushing open the door, she entered.
The living room inside was enormous, yet completely empty.
There was also a locked room.
After inspecting the entire space, Su Wanyin willed herself back into reality.
Looking at the medicinal herbs in her hand, she closed her eyes again and entered the space while carrying them.
She experimented by planting several herbs into the black soil before returning to reality once more.
Clutching the green pendant tightly in her hand, she tucked it into her inner clothing and suppressed her excitement as she headed back toward the riverbank.
She never imagined she would possess a magical necklace like the peasant girl from her previous life.
Thinking as she walked, she arrived at the riverbank only to discover it completely empty.
“So ungentlemanly, just leaving me behind like that—”
Su Wanyin muttered softly, only for her words to abruptly stop in her throat.
Something cold suddenly pressed against her temple.
Her whole body froze as a chill shot up her spine.
“D-Don’t shoot!”
Her face pale, lips trembling, she struggled several times before managing to force out the words.
“Speak. Who sent you?”
A strange male voice came from behind her, rough and grating like sand scraping in a throat.
“What do you mean who sent me? I’m just an ordinary civilian.”
Cold sweat covered Su Wanyin’s forehead. She licked her dry lips and answered innocently.
But the moment she finished speaking, a click sounded beside her ear—the sound of a bullet being loaded.
“If you won’t tell the truth, then there’s no need for you to stay alive.”
The man’s ruthless voice was like a knife pressed against her heart, gleaming with sinister coldness.
“I really am telling the truth. If you don’t believe me, I can show you my household registration papers. I’ve lived here my whole life. Everyone in the village knows me…”
Su Wanyin spoke with a trembling voice while silently clenching her right hand into a fist.
Then her eyes turned cold, and she suddenly drove her elbow sharply backward.