ChapterChapter 6: Can’t Wait
Lin An Yuan?!
Ye Wan hadn’t expected to run into him here. In her surprise, her wrist was seized in a tight grip.
“Where do you think you’re running? Believe it or not, I’ll break your legs!”
Lin An Yuan’s face was grim, a clear fury blazing in his dark eyes.
“I…”
Just as Ye Wan was about to say, “Big brother, I think you’ve misunderstood,” she saw the men behind her catching up. With no time to explain, she quickly hid behind Lin An Yuan.
“Lin An Yuan, they saw that I was beautiful and wanted to capture and sell me. I’m your woman, you have to save me.”
A great person knows when to yield and when to stand firm. She couldn’t take on four burly men.
Hearing her words, Lin An Yuan couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow, but his expression immediately turned cold when he saw the approaching men.
The lackey was about to teach the pretty boy who had stepped forward a lesson when he realized it was an acquaintance. He squeezed out a smile. “Well, if it isn’t Lin An Yuan. The Master was just asking about you this morning. Perfect, you can bring this woman along to see him. The Master will surely be pleased.”
The moment he finished speaking, he saw Lin An Yuan about to leave and hurriedly had his men block the way. “Where are you taking her? The Master is waiting at the teahouse.”
Lin An Yuan pulled Ye Wan along, his expression impatient. “I don’t have time today. I’m in a hurry to get home and make a son. Go tell Master Zhang for me!”
The lackey froze for a moment, the smile vanishing from his face. He sized up Ye Wan, his tone suspicious. “This is your woman? Stop lying, Lin An Yuan. Would a woman this beautiful live a poor life with you? She’d run off sooner or later.”
He knew that Lin An Yuan’s previous woman had run away precisely because she couldn’t stand the poverty.
“To tell you the truth, Master Zhang…”
Lin An Yuan snorted coldly, cutting the lackey off before he could finish. “She’s the one who fell for me, willing to die for it. She just loves living a poor life with me. Now get out of my way!”
Ye Wan lowered her head and grumbled internally. Only a fool would like living a poor life. Such a handsome man, what a shame he had to have a mouth.
After taking just two steps, they were blocked again.
Lin An Yuan’s face darkened. “Are you blocking me because you want to steal my woman? You’re one of Master Zhang’s men, after all. Won’t doing something like this ruin Master Zhang’s reputation?”
“This… You can’t just leave like this. It’ll be hard for me to explain to the Master.”
The lackey did indeed want to snatch her, but not for himself. Master Zhang was not picky; as long as he took a fancy to someone, he had been known to dally with other men’s wives.
But this Lin An Yuan was truly difficult to deal with, and for some reason, the Master seemed to value him highly. What was he to do?
Lin An Yuan sneered. “Explain it with your mouth. Or are you going to use your ass to explain it?”
Without waiting for the lackey to react, he pulled Ye Wan away.
The lackey spat in the direction Lin An Yuan had left.
When he got back to Master Zhang, he was going to lodge a serious complaint against Lin An Yuan.
“Let go, you’re hurting me.”
After they had walked some distance and saw no one was following, Ye Wan, whose wrist was aching from being dragged, couldn’t help but speak up.
Lin An Yuan looked down at her and snorted. “With this little strength, you dared to run away?”
“Father, you’re back!”
Just as Ye Wan was about to speak, they arrived at the clinic’s entrance, and Er Ya ran out from inside.
When Er Ya saw Ye Wan, she froze, then her expression turned to one of anger. “Didn’t you run away? Why are you back?”
“Father, why did you bring her back? Just sell her to a human trafficker and get some money for her.”
Ye Wan instantly knew that Er Ya had misunderstood her intentions and had tattled to Lin An Yuan. She said, “Didn’t I tell you to go inside first while I figured out a way to earn money? When did I ever run away?”
“Where’s the money you earned? Show it to us!” Er Ya held out her hand.
Ye Wan was about to take out the ten taels of silver, but on second thought, she decided against it.
Ten taels was no small sum, and she had no way to explain its origin. She couldn’t just say she’d found it.
“I knew you couldn’t produce it! You liar.”
Er Ya huffed, her tone sharp. “Father, look at her! Her mouth is full of lies! Sell her!”
Ye Wan gritted her teeth. Damn, this dark-skinned girl is not cute at all.
“Let’s go home.”
Lin An Yuan had already paid the clinic’s fee and picked up the bag left at the entrance.
“Father.”
Da Ya came out of the clinic. Her head was injured, but it didn’t look too serious and had already been bandaged. Her face was pale. She glanced at Ye Wan but said nothing.
Passing through the market, Lin An Yuan took some money from his robes. “Er Ya, go buy four steamed buns.”
Er Ya took the money and quickly returned with four buns.
“You each get half. Leave half for San Ya,” Lin An Yuan said.
Er Ya pouted, shooting a sideways glance at Ye Wan. “Why does a servant like her get to eat a steamed bun? Is she worthy?”
Lin An Yuan clicked his tongue. “Are you the father or am I? Just do as I say. What’s with all the chirping?”
Er Ya pouted defiantly but ultimately gave half a bun to Ye Wan.
However, the half she handed over was noticeably smaller.
“Father, I’m not hungry. You eat it,” Da Ya said, offering her bun to Lin An Yuan.
“I already ate on my way here,” Lin An Yuan said impatiently. “You have a head injury. You’re not allowed to give it to anyone else. Eat it yourself. If you don’t listen to me, believe it or not, I’ll hit you.”
Da Ya, who had been about to give her bun to Er Ya, froze and silently stuffed a small piece into her mouth.
A domestic abuser! Ye Wan secretly observed Lin An Yuan being fierce with the two girls.
It seemed that in the original owner’s memory, there wasn’t a man from this era who didn’t hit his wife and children.
Good looks didn’t change that; she couldn’t view him through a filter.
Even after eating half a bun, she still craved the bone broth noodles. But seeing the grim expressions on the faces of the father and his two daughters, she kept quiet.
She would save the money and see if she could buy her indenture contract back from Lin An Yuan. That would count as repaying his kindness.
On the way back, Lin An Yuan walked at a blistering pace, with Ye Wan, Da Ya, and Er Ya practically jogging to keep up.
Da Ya was injured, her face ghastly pale, and she really couldn’t keep up.
From behind, Ye Wan was about to call out to Lin An Yuan when she saw he had already stopped under a tree.
Ye Wan and Da Ya also stood in the shade. Ye Wan took out a small bamboo tube of spiritual spring water from her robes and handed it to Da Ya.
“Have some water. I asked a kind lady on the street for it.”
In reality, she had taken the opportunity to fill it from her space on the way there, but it hadn’t been needed until now.
Looking at the small bamboo tube, which was barely thicker than a finger, Da Ya hesitated for a moment before accepting it with a word of thanks.
Er Ya raised her chin and muttered, “So fake. Now that she knows she can’t run away, she’s trying to suck up to my big sister?”
Ye Wan raised an eyebrow. “You don’t get any. It’s not like I’m trying to suck up to you, anyway.”
Dark-skinned girl, neener neener.
“You…”
Er Ya stomped her foot in anger, but after glancing at Lin An Yuan not far away, she held her tongue.
After drinking the water, Da Ya’s complexion improved noticeably. She didn’t know if it was because she was extremely thirsty, but the water felt exceptionally clear and sweet.
She wanted to let Er Ya have a taste of what was left, but Er Ya turned her head away, refusing to drink it.
“Father, Mother, Big Sister, Second Sister, you’re back!”
When they finally reached the small courtyard gate, San Ya came flying out the moment it opened.
“Mother, I missed you.”
The little girl hugged Ye Wan’s leg. Feeling slightly awkward, Ye Wan still squatted down and asked, “San Ya, does your stomach still hurt?”
She was kicked so hard she coughed up blood. Are there any lasting effects?
They were at the clinic, why didn’t Lin An Yuan ask a doctor to come back and check on her? Although the spiritual spring water was effective, having a doctor look would be safer.
“It doesn’t hurt anymore, Mother. I’m all better. Father came back right after you left and got a doctor to check on me.”
On San Ya’s dark, thin face, her two large eyes blinked as she looked at Ye Wan.
Aunt Wang, seeing Lin An Yuan enter the courtyard, left in a great hurry without saying a word, as if a dog were chasing her from behind.
Ye Wan took note of this.
San Ya took a steamed bun from Er Ya’s hand and was about to feed it to Ye Wan. “Mother, for you to eat.”
Seeing this, Er Ya snatched the bun back. “San Ya, don’t call her Mother. If it weren’t for her last night, you wouldn’t have gotten hurt. And today, she tried to use the chance to run away.”
San Ya looked at Ye Wan, and tears immediately started to fall. “Mother, you don’t want San Ya anymore?”
Seeing a child cry gave Ye Wan a headache. She said, “No, I went to town to see your big sister. Your second sister misunderstood.”
“You eat first. I’m feeling dizzy, so I’m going to lie down in the room for a bit.”
Ye Wan wiped San Ya’s tears, coaxed her a little, and then made an excuse to head into the house.
The moment she entered, she saw Lin An Yuan sitting on the kang bed.
His collar was slightly open, revealing a hint of his collarbone. His long hair was tied back casually, giving him an indescribably roguish and handsome air.
Ye Wan stared, stunned for a moment. She hadn’t noticed him go into the room earlier. Now, she was stuck, unable to advance or retreat.
She could only brace herself and explain, “I’m sorry about what happened to San Ya, and also… today I…”
“I know you wanted to consummate our marriage today. The sky isn’t even dark yet, and you already can’t wait?”