In the east room, Lin Peiru listened to the dull thud from the courtyard, followed by a suppressed groan of pain, and finally couldn’t hold it in any longer.
“Pfft—” She covered her mouth, laughing so hard her shoulders trembled.
This Huo Yunshen—when he was in his forties he was already so secretly flirtatious and restrained, so how was he so innocent at eighteen or nineteen?
Tease him a little and he’d blush; tease him a bit more and he’d flee in embarrassment. And now he had even knocked his face right into the doorframe.
Really… a little too adorable.
The smile on her face hadn’t even faded when a loud “bang” came from the west room, as if the door panel had been slammed hard enough to break it. Her lips curved even higher.
This man was clearly embarrassed out of anger.
Lin Peiru shook her head, but her mood was as sweet as honey.
She turned back into the room and placed the basin of still-steaming hot water beside the bed on the floor.
After all that fuss, it was finally time to take care of herself.
First, she went to the courtyard water vat and scooped some cold water, carefully washing her face and brushing her teeth.
The icy water brushed over her cheeks, finally cooling down the heat from teasing Huo Yunshen.
Once everything was done, she carried the basin of hot water back into the east room.
She took off her shoes and socks, and when she slowly immersed her feet into the warm water, a sharp sting shot up from the soles.
“Hiss—” Lin Peiru gasped in pain, her whole face scrunching up.
She hadn’t made a sound all day, but that didn’t mean she was fine.
The long, bumpy mountain road from town to Huo family village—several hours of it—was pure torture for feet that were used to smooth city pavements.
She didn’t even need to look to know her soles were covered in blisters.
Hot water made it worse—numb, stinging pain, extremely “refreshing.”
But she couldn’t ignore it.
Tomorrow she would be going to work in the fields to earn work points. If she didn’t deal with the blisters, she might not even be able to walk, let alone work.
She gritted her teeth, enduring the pain. Once her feet had soaked until red and the skin had softened, she carefully lifted them out and dried them with a cloth.
Then she reached into her small luggage bundle and pulled out a carefully wrapped item in a handkerchief.
Inside was a sewing needle and a small bottle of medicinal ointment bought from a city hospital.
She had long anticipated this.
In her previous life, when her father mentioned coming here to take a look, she had walked until she wanted to cry, then walked back and stayed a night at the county guesthouse, crying from the pain all night.
Now that she had been reborn, she naturally wouldn’t let herself be so miserable again.
She held the needle over the flame of a kerosene lamp, heating it until it turned red-hot as a form of disinfection.
Then she took a deep breath, aimed at the largest blister on the sole of her foot, closed her eyes, and with a decisive motion, stabbed down hard!
“Mm!”
A wave of intense pain hit her. Lin Peiru let out a muffled groan, cold sweat instantly breaking out on her forehead.
She grimaced, tears almost spilling out.
At that moment, the door of the west room creaked open.
Huo Yunqiao had finished washing up, but still felt a little worried about Lin Peiru.
After all, she was a city girl. It was her first day staying in such a simple rural house—who knew if she was used to it or if she needed anything.
After thinking it over, she decided to come check on her.
But just as she reached the door of the east room and before she could knock, she saw something that shocked her through the crack in the door.
Lin Peiru was sitting by the bed, one hand holding her foot, the other holding a needle, her face twisted in pain as she stabbed the sole of her foot.
Huo Yunqiao froze.
Her mind buzzed, and she immediately understood.
Right—Sister Peiru, a delicate city girl with such fair, tender skin, had walked so far on mountain roads today. How could her feet possibly be fine?
Blisters were inevitable!
But… she had acted like nothing was wrong all day.
Not only did she not complain even once, she even helped clean the house, and even took out such precious meat canned food to improve the family’s meal.
During dinner, she even smiled and praised the food as delicious.
Huo Yunqiao felt something tug hard at her heart—sour and aching.
Her eyes reddened, and admiration for Lin Peiru surged instantly.
This Sister Peiru, who looked delicate on the outside, was actually far stronger than anyone.
She couldn’t hold back anymore, pushed the door open, and stepped inside quickly.
“Peiru sister!” she said urgently, her voice carrying a tenderness and worry even she didn’t notice. “What’s wrong with your feet? Did you get blisters?”
“Oh no, don’t mess with it yourself, it might get infected! I’ll go get some herbs!”
Lin Peiru, in the middle of intense pain, was startled by her voice. Her hand slipped, and the needle went in even deeper.
“Hiss—pain, pain, pain!” she teared up and looked up.
Seeing it was Huo Yunqiao, she relaxed slightly, then forced out a smile that looked worse than crying.
“It’s fine, it’s fine, just a small issue,” she said while skillfully squeezing out the fluid from the blister and carefully applying red medicinal liquid with a cotton swab.
“See? It’s already fine.”
She waved the ointment in her hand with a slightly proud smile. “I was prepared. Medicine from the city—works great!”
Huo Yunqiao looked at her pretending-to-be-calm expression and felt even worse.
She squatted down and carefully examined the red, swollen blisters on Lin Peiru’s sole, her voice full of concern.
“It’s like this and you still say it’s fine! It must hurt a lot, right?”
“You should’ve said something earlier! If you had, my brother would definitely…”
Halfway through, Huo Yunqiao stopped.
Her brother, that wooden block—he would probably only say a few sarcastic words even if he knew.
Lin Peiru smiled instead, bright and warm.
“I didn’t want to worry you all.”
“Besides, it’s just a small injury. I can handle it myself.”
She gently patted Huo Yunqiao’s hand. “See? It’s already taken care of. After a night’s sleep, I’ll be back to normal tomorrow.”
“Go back and rest. You still have to get up early tomorrow.”
Huo Yunqiao looked at her, lips moving as if she wanted to say more.
But seeing Lin Peiru’s clear, smiling eyes, she swallowed the words back.
She knew Peiru sister didn’t want to worry her.
“Then… are you really okay?” she asked again, still uneasy.
“Really okay!” Lin Peiru nodded firmly. To prove it, she even wiggled her toes—only to immediately freeze as a sharp pain shot through her.
She quickly pulled them back, forcing a smile. “See? Very flexible!”
Huo Yunqiao was both amused and heartbroken.
In the end, she could only nod helplessly.
“Alright then, Peiru sister, if you feel unwell at night or need anything, just call me loudly. I’ll be in the west room.”
“Got it,” Lin Peiru smiled. “I’ll definitely call you if I need anything!”
Huo Yunqiao stood up and walked out step by step, constantly turning back with every few steps.
“Don’t press on your foot when you sleep.”
“I’ll boil some mugwort water for you tomorrow morning—it’ll help.”
“If anything happens, you must call me!”
Only after Lin Peiru repeatedly nodded did she finally leave the east room reluctantly.
Even after stepping into the courtyard, she was still uneasy.
As she was about to return to her west room, she bumped into Huo Yunshen coming out of the kitchen.