The ox cart stopped at the entrance of the village, and the young man driving it smiled as he struck up a conversation: "You live here… I see you have a lot of things. How about I help you carry them inside?"
Perhaps because not many people had gone to town that day, Su Wei was the only passenger on the ox cart. The young man was quite talkative, chattering endlessly about his own family matters along the way—his intentions were as obvious as Sima Zhao's.
Now hearing his offer, Su Wei quickly waved her hand: "No need."
She jumped off the cart, promptly paid the fare, and hurried away.
One Young Master Dong of Ximen was already more than enough trouble. Su Wei had no desire to attract any more unwanted romantic entanglements.
The young man driving the cart sighed, but soon cheered up—at least he now knew which village she lived in.
The village remained quiet and still, cold wind rolling dead leaves across the ground.
Su Wei quickly returned home. She set the basket down on the kitchen floor and let out a heavy breath. Subconsciously, she glanced toward the west room. Even through the wall, Su Wei felt as though Shen Yan were hiding in the shadows, staring at her.
Just thinking about it made the air feel heavier.
She busied herself in the kitchen, and soon a pot of steaming noodles was ready. Carrying the bowl and chopsticks, she entered Shen Yan's room.
The moment she stepped inside, Su Wei sensed something was off. She felt as though Shen Yan was radiating dark energy—his resentment seemed far greater than in the morning.
Why on earth was that?
Su Wei didn't know why. She set the noodles on the table, took a bite as usual, and without saying a word, turned and bolted out of the room.
Back in her own room, she patted her chest to calm herself, but before she could even breathe a sigh of relief, she spotted something by the door.
A patch of plaster on the doorframe had been scraped off—a very fresh mark. Su Wei couldn't remember whether it had been there before. If it had been there previously, it meant the original owner had scraped it off. But if it hadn't been there before, then who could have done it?
Shen Yan?
A chill shot straight through Su Wei's skull.
Could it be… that Shen Yan had entered her room after she left?
Wasn't his leg broken? How could he walk?
No, wait—Shen Yan's broken leg was from the original owner's memory. It had been broken for a long time now. Couldn't it have healed by now?
Good heavens. If it was true, if he really could walk again, then what was he planning to do, hiding behind the door while she was away?
Su Wei's skin crawled with goosebumps, layer after layer. Staring at the shabby door, she felt cold sweat trickling down her body.
She didn't know how much Shen Yan had recovered, nor whether she might be silently killed by him in her sleep. Given the relationship between the original owner and this man, it was entirely possible.
Su Wei had no appetite anymore. She paced back and forth in the room, wondering whether she should just run away. But she quickly dismissed that thought.
The original owner's memories contained experiences of fleeing famine. In this era, if you ran out recklessly, you became a refugee. In ancient times with underdeveloped transportation and communication, such people could be sold or killed by anyone on the road, buried in some remote mountain forest, never to see the light of day again.
And she was a weak woman, in the dead of winter at that. Even with money, going out would only lead to death.
She couldn't leave the Shen household. Her only option was to find ways to save up money and figure out the situation before making any plans.
She ate the noodles without tasting them, then cleaned up her own bowl and chopsticks. As for Shen Yan's—she left them where they were. She didn't want to see him at all right now.
Though Shen Yan was pitiable, Su Wei had to feel sorry for herself first. Her head might very well be cut off by Shen Yan while she slept tonight.
Su Wei pondered for a long while, then went to grab a lock. Before going to sleep, she snuck over to Shen Yan's room and quietly locked it. Before she could even breathe a sigh of relief, she turned her head and noticed that the dilapidated window beside her had somehow opened at some point. Beneath Shen Yan's disheveled hair, those beautiful, cold eyes had been staring at her—who knew for how long…
Su Wei: "…"