Unlike Xie Fangzhu’s frustration, Shen Yingying, who had just won the negotiation, felt refreshed and invigorated. She was so excited she could have jumped three feet in the air.
Although Xie Fangzhu was ruthless and cruel, when it came to matters of the heart, he was still a novice.
With just a little effort, she could easily handle him without even needing to think.
She felt that life was full of hope, and her future was bright!
But life always has a way of disappointing people. In the middle of the night, Shen Yingying’s bright future came to an abrupt end.
At that time, she was sleeping soundly when something crawled onto her body, moving from her arm to her neck.
Half-asleep, Shen Yingying instinctively reached out to grab it, and the thing coiled around her hand.
Cold and slippery.
Shen Yingying jolted awake, her drowsiness instantly gone.
A snake!
The moment she realized it, she nearly went mad. She leaped out of bed, screaming and frantically shaking her hand until she finally flung the snake off.
Shen Yingying had always been a brave girl, but the one thing she truly feared was snakes.
She still remembered when she was in the orphanage, before she had experienced the harshness of society, her personality was unpleasant, and she was often bullied.
The worst incident was when someone grabbed her by the collar and forced two wriggling snakes into her clothes.
The snakes, frightened, slithered and struggled against her skin.
The terrifying sensation of their cold, slippery bodies almost made her faint, a memory she could never forget.
Her fear of snakes was deeply ingrained in her bones.
The window of the wooden hut was small, and the moonlight outside couldn’t penetrate the darkness. In the pitch black, she couldn’t see where the snake she had flung off had gone.
Shen Yingying huddled in the corner of the bed, her usually proud composure completely shattered. Her mind was in chaos.
Why was there a snake in the room?
Why did a snake crawl onto her bed in the middle of the night?
Was the snake still lurking nearby?
Was there one snake or several?
Cold sweat poured down her back as she hugged herself, crouching in the corner of the bed, not daring to move an inch.
Just as she was about to break down, two knocks suddenly came from next door, as if someone was tapping on the wooden wall.
Then, Xie Fangzhu’s voice came through: “Shen Yingying, what’s wrong?”
Shen Yingying remembered that Xie Fangzhu was next door and felt a surge of relief, as if she had grabbed a lifeline. She called out his name loudly: “Xie Fangzhu! Xie Fangzhu!”
Her voice was frantic and urgent: “Come quickly, there’s a snake! There’s a snake in the room. It just crawled on me. I’m so scared!”
As soon as she finished speaking, she heard the creaking sound of a door opening next door, followed by a knock on her door: “Shen Yingying, open the door.”
“Wah, I don’t dare!” Shen Yingying hugged herself tightly, not daring to move, afraid that even the slightest movement would bring her into close contact with the snake.
She stared longingly toward the door, her heart pounding in her throat. “Xie Fangzhu, what should I do?”
There was a moment of silence outside the door, followed by a loud crash as the door was forced open, letting in a sliver of light.
At that moment, in Shen Yingying’s eyes, Xie Fangzhu was like a heroic savior descending from the clouds to rescue her.
He quickly walked to the bedside with an oil lamp in hand. “Were you bitten?”
“No,” she replied, nervously grabbing his hand, her voice trembling with fear. “But it just crawled on my neck… I grabbed it. It was cold and coiled around my hand. It was so disgusting… I’m so scared…”
Her hand holding his was ice-cold, as if she had just emerged from an ice cellar.Xie Fangzhu was startled and looked at her by the light of the kerosene lamp.
He saw fine beads of sweat covering her forehead, her face completely drained of color, deathly pale. Her body trembled incessantly, as if she had suffered an immense fright.
Xie Fangzhu was puzzled. Their house was built halfway up the hillside, and in summer, there were many snakes and insects in the mountains. It was normal for one or two snakes to occasionally crawl inside. He remembered that snakes had entered the house before.
Back then, Shen Yingying had also been frightened, but her reaction then was completely different from now.
At that time, Shen Yingying had grabbed a broom and frantically chased the snake, beating it while cursing him loudly, calling him useless for building the house in such a wretched place.
Why was she so terrified today? Was it because it was nighttime?
Xie Fangzhu glanced around, fell silent for a moment, then reached out to shield her in his arms. He gently patted her back and comforted her, “Don’t be afraid. There aren’t many venomous snakes on this mountain, and the one that came in is probably harmless. Besides, you’re afraid of it, but it’s even more afraid of you. Usually—”
“I’m scared!!” Shen Yingying interrupted him. The tightly wound string in her mind had snapped, and she completely broke down. “It just crawled onto my neck! What if it tries to slither into my clothes?!”
Xie Fangzhu wanted to say that snakes weren’t bold enough to crawl into her clothes.
But feeling her trembling body, he swallowed his words and spoke softly, “I’ll go find that snake. Once I find it and kill it, you won’t have to be afraid.”
After saying this, he picked up the lamp, intending to search high and low. But Shen Yingying clung tightly to his hand, refusing to let go. Helpless, he softened his voice and coaxed her, “Be good, let go.”
“No!” Shen Yingying flatly refused. Struggling to her feet, she wrapped her arms around his neck, having long forgotten the smugness she felt when insisting on sleeping in separate rooms. Pressing her body tightly against his, her trembling voice carried a plea:
“I don’t want to stay here anymore, Xie Fangzhu. Take me away. I want to be with you…”
Xie Fangzhu was taken aback. Although he knew she was only saying this out of fear and meant nothing more, hearing those words still made his heart tremble.
At that moment, all thoughts of standing his ground and his bold declarations about not letting her walk all over him were tossed to the back of his mind.
Without hesitation, he picked up the kerosene lamp with one hand and supported her waist with the other, lifting her effortlessly as he strode toward his small room.
Once in his room, Shen Yingying still clung to him, unwilling to let go. Tears glistened in her eyes as she asked uncertainly, “There aren’t any here, right?”
Xie Fangzhu placed the kerosene lamp on the nearby cabinet and sat on the bed with her in his arms. “They probably wouldn’t dare come in here. I sprinkled realgar before bed. Did you forget to do that on your side?”
Hearing this, Shen Yingying remembered that the original owner used to sprinkle realgar in the room every night.
However, the original owner’s memories were so vast that she usually only recalled things when she saw, heard, or actively thought about them.
In the world she came from, snakes crawling into houses simply didn’t happen, so she had no concept of it and naturally never thought about sprinkling realgar.
Shen Yingying buried her face in the crook of his neck, her voice soft and small. “I forgot.”
“It’s fine. They won’t come in here.”
Xie Fangzhu gently supported the back of her head and laid her down on the bed. Just as he was about to withdraw his hand, Shen Yingying grabbed it tightly, her voice full of wariness. “Where are you going?”Xie Fangzhu lowered his head to glance at her. Under the dim light of the kerosene lamp, her beautiful face was filled with panic, and her reliance on him was unmistakable.
Xie Fangzhu was momentarily stunned, reminded of his days as an ordinary worker in the mine, when he would form small teams with others to work together.
Whenever they encountered unknown dangers, his teammates would always look terrified, placing all their hopes on him and relying on him completely—a feeling he deeply disliked.
But when the person relying on him was Shen Yingying, the feeling changed entirely.
Though the lingering rationality within him kept urging him to despise himself, his heart was uncontrollable, wishing he could shield her in his embrace and protect her well.
He whispered softly, “Don’t be afraid. I’m just blowing out the lamp.” His voice carried a tenderness he had never known before.