A flicker of awkwardness crossed the depths of Zhou Zexi’s eyes. “Didn’t you lend me a book last time? Courtesy demands reciprocity, so consider this my way of thanking you.”
Only then did Sheng Xia recall what he was talking about.
A while back, Zhou Zexi had been asking around for an imported foreign book, which happened to be in the original host’s possession.
To curry favor with him, the original host had offered the book to Zhou Zexi without a second thought.
Likely unwilling to owe any favors, the male lead had decided to return the kindness upon hearing that she was “sick.”
If the original host were still here, she would have been beside herself with joy.
Unfortunately, the soul inhabiting this body had already changed.
“No need.”
She had no desire to be caught in a compromising scene of entanglement with the male lead.
Zhou Zexi had not anticipated that Sheng Xia would refuse so flatly.
He pressed his lips together and stuffed the bowl directly into Sheng Xia’s hands.
“If you don’t want to eat it, dump it out!”
Without giving Sheng Xia a chance to decline, he turned on his heel and left.
Staring at the bowl in her hands, Sheng Xia laughed out of sheer annoyance.
Just as she was about to take the bowl back to Zhou Zexi, she raised her eyes and spotted Jiang Han standing not far away.
He was holding two cloth bags, stuffed to bursting.
Standing right beneath the base of the wall, he was looking at her expressionlessly.
His gaze was deep and inscrutable.
For some reason, under that stare of his, a sudden wave of unprovoked guilt rushed over Sheng Xia.
She had the uncanny illusion of being caught red-handed in an act of infidelity by her own husband.
Just as Sheng Xia opened her mouth to break the awkward silence, Jiang Han raised his foot and began striding toward her.
He had a sturdy build, with long, straight legs that exuded an indescribable wildness and strength.
“Here.”
Sheng Xia tilted her head up—this man was truly tall!
Sheng Xia was a native of the south, and back home, her height was considered above average.
Yet compared to Jiang Han’s towering, powerful frame, she looked like a little chick beside a soaring eagle.
“What’s this?”
“Food.”
Sheng Xia was speechless.
She obviously knew it was food.
Jiang Han gave a light cough. “The medicine is tucked at the very bottom. Keep everything else and nourish yourself well over the next few days.”
Taking that kind of medicine was bound to take a heavy toll on the body.
She was so thin, small, delicate, and fragile.
What if something went wrong?
Unsure of what to buy, Jiang Han had simply bought according to the standards of city women doing their postpartum confinement.
As long as it was good and expensive, buying it couldn’t go wrong.
Sheng Xia hadn’t expected him to be so thoughtful and attentive.
Just as she was about to thank him, Jiang Han spoke again in a low, earnest voice: “I’m sorry.”
Regardless of how it started, it was still his fault that such a thing had transpired.
It was because he failed to control himself.
If only he had held out for just a tiny bit longer…
At the memory of Sheng Xia’s soft, tender red lips, Jiang Han’s ears turned red without a sound.
A flame flickered in his heart, burning him until a wave of dry heat coursed through his body.
Panicking inside, Jiang Han didn’t even dare to look at Sheng Xia.
He stood obediently in place, staring down at the tips of his shoes.
A burly guy over six feet tall was standing there at a complete loss, looking like a child who had made a mistake.
Listening to his sincere apology, the very last trace of gloomy frustration in Sheng Xia’s heart dissolved completely.
She waved her hand with a smile. “It’s alright! It wasn’t your fault alone.”
She remembered clearly that Jiang Han had sternly stopped her at the time.
It was she herself who couldn’t control her urges, actively leaning in to kiss him and tackling him to the bed.
At the thought of this, Sheng Xia’s face flushed crimson.
“Don’t take this matter to heart. What’s done is done.”
Seeing that Sheng Xia truly didn’t care, Jiang Han’s eyes turned dark and heavy.
After a couple of seconds, he suddenly asked, “Is it because of Zhou Zexi?”
“Huh?”
“You don’t want to have anything to do with me—is it because you’re worried Zhou Zexi will misunderstand?”
“What kind of nonsense are you talking about?!”
Where on earth did that come from?!
“Isn’t that so? You fell in love with him from the very first day you arrived in Wang Village, even declaring to everyone that you were definitely going to marry him. Besides, he just brought you food, and you didn’t refuse him either.”
Sheng Xia choked on her words.
Right!
The entire village knew that the original host was head over heels for Zhou Zexi.
But wasn’t she the one here now?
Unable to deny the past, Sheng Xia could only give a vague response: “Like you said, that was in the past. Back then I was young, foolish, and talking nonsense… In any case, I have absolutely nothing to do with him now.”
Jiang Han didn’t buy it.
Meeting his probing gaze, Sheng Xia said with total seriousness, “In short, don’t you ever lump me together with him again!”
Jiang Han stared at her for two seconds.
His expression was hard to describe with words.
At any rate, it made Sheng Xia feel strange inside.
“Alright, I understand,” Jiang Han finally said after a long pause.
Only then did Sheng Xia breathe a sigh of relief.
“Let me know when you finish these. I’ll buy more for you.”
Just as Sheng Xia was about to say there was no need, a chatter of voices drifted over from up ahead.
The educated youths were returning from work.
Sheng Xia reached out and pushed Jiang Han. “Hurry, go!”
It would be a disaster if someone caught them together.
Jiang Han didn’t hesitate either. In two strides, he reached the base of the wall, vaulted over the top with a swift leap, and vanished from sight.
His movements were crisp and effortless.
Sheng Xia was stunned.
Has this guy trained in martial arts or something?
He was practically giving the military guys on social media a run for their money!
With the educated youths back, it was no longer convenient for Sheng Xia to carry the food back to Zhou Zexi.
If someone saw them and misunderstood, it would only make things harder to explain.
She went back inside her room, opened the bags Jiang Han had brought, and emptied everything onto the kang.
After digging out the contraceptive pills and taking them, she finally turned her attention to the rest of the stash.
There was a surprisingly large pile of goodies.
Peach crisp cookies, White Rabbit creamy candies, red sugar, goji berries, big red dates, as well as malted milk extract and milk powder!
None of these were worth much in modern times, but in the material-scarce 1970s, every single one of them was top-tier luxury!
Not only were they expensive, but more importantly, they were nearly impossible to buy without connections and coupons.
Especially the milk powder.
No wonder Jiang Han told her to nourish herself well.
Sheng Xia couldn’t help sighing with emotion—this rough guy looked taciturn and quiet, but he was truly generous when spending money!
Unfortunately, he was merely a background character in the book.
In the novel, Jiang Han had shared a fate similar to hers: after being caught in the act of illicit relations, he was to be sent down to a labor farm for re-education.
Who could have foreseen that his younger brother would suddenly fall gravely ill? His younger sister was too young to handle anything, and there were no elders in their family. Seeing how truly pitiful he was, and with the villagers interceding on his behalf, the village chief allowed Jiang Han to leave Wang Village with his younger siblings.
From then on, he vanished without a trace.
Only in the side stories did the author mention him briefly through the mouth of the villagers.
Some said he had fled overseas and made a fortune trading antiques.
Others said he died shortly after leaving Wang Village.
As for the exact truth, nobody ever knew.
At any rate, anyone who went against the female lead never met a good end.
However, now that she had transmigrated here, neither of them had been caught in the act, which meant they could both survive, right?
Sheng Xia let out a sigh.
When she was reading the novel back then, she had been so enraged by her namesake character dying after barely two chapters that she dropped the book on the spot.
It was her cousin who insisted that the cardinal rule of reading web novels was: Whenever you encounter a character with your exact name, you must read and memorize the entire text word for word.
Seeing that Sheng Xia stubbornly refused to read it, her cousin had no choice but to recount the plot orally, just in case she actually transmigrated.
Sheng Xia had scoffed at the idea at the time.
It was the twenty-first century—who believed in such absurd nonsense?!
And so, everything her cousin said went in through one ear and right out the other.
Now, Sheng Xia was beating her chest in sheer regret.
If she had known that reality would slap her in the face so quickly, she would have stayed up all night without eating or drinking just to push through to the end of that book!
Just as Sheng Xia was wallowing in self-reproach, someone began pounding loudly on her door.
“Open the door!”