After her bath, Xie Mingzhu had just opened her bedroom door when Huo Xuan, who was sitting in the courtyard, caught sight of her. He stood up and came over to help empty the wash tub.
Xie Mingzhu quickly reached out to stop him. “There’s no need—I can do it myself.”
In the past, when she was still recovering from her injuries, she would have thought nothing of Huo Xuan helping her with this. But things felt different now.
Huo Xuan glanced up at her, trying to sound casual. “Don’t take what I said earlier to heart. I was just talking off the top of my head.”
The words had barely left his mouth when he wanted to bite his own tongue. Those had been his true feelings, yet now he was dismissing them as empty words—making it sound as if he had been teasing her on purpose.
His explanation only made Xie Mingzhu grow even more flustered. They stood there looking at each other, the awkwardness between them thick enough to cut with a knife.
Huo Xuan was the first to break. He picked up the tub and hurried outside. After pouring the water onto the vegetable patch behind the house, he did not return right away.
Outside, the air grew even heavier and hotter, and the thunder rumbled louder and louder. Before long, rain began to pour down in sheets. It fell like water being dumped from buckets, crashing onto the ground with a loud patter, sending up sprays that reached right up to the doorways.
Xie Mingzhu shut both her door and windows tight to keep the rain out. Sitting by the window and watching the water stream down the glass, her mind drifted back to countless memories from the past. The more she thought, the more tangled her thoughts became, so she gave up trying to make sense of them, lay down on the bed, and prepared to sleep.
She drifted in and out of consciousness, half-asleep and half-awake, when suddenly a deafening crack of thunder jolted her fully awake. She sat bolt upright.
The rain was still hammering down hard, and thunder rumbled faintly in the distance. There were no other sounds—making it seem as though the loud crash had been nothing more than a dream.
She threw on a coat and stood by the window to peer out, but the glass was streaked with rain, and she could barely see anything beyond it.
Just as she was wondering whether she should go out to check, heavy knocking suddenly shook her door.
She started and instinctively took a step back. Then, over the noise of the rain, she heard Huo Xuan’s voice call out, “Mingzhu?”
Relief washed over her. She stepped forward and opened the door.
Huo Xuan stood there completely soaked through. His thin white shirt clung to his body, clearly outlining his strong, muscular frame. For a split second, Xie Mingzhu wondered if he had dressed this way on purpose, knowing she would notice.
Huo Xuan, however, paid no attention to her gaze. He glanced quickly around her room before letting out a quiet breath.
“The roof of the room next door collapsed under the rain,” he said softly.
His words brought her back to her senses. She stared at him in surprise. “What?”
“The rain is too heavy,” he explained. “The old roof couldn’t hold it, and it gave way.”
Hearing this, Xie Mingzhu suddenly remembered something similar happening in her past life. Not long after she got married, she had heard that the roof of the educated youths’ quarters had collapsed. Back then, everyone had said she was lucky to have moved out just before it happened—otherwise, who knew what might have become of her!
But at that time, she was no longer living there and had paid it no mind, nor had she bothered to ask for details.
Most of the houses here still had thatched roofs. Every so often, they needed to be reinforced and coated with a layer of mud mixed with straw to prevent leaks or collapse. Yet as more and more educated youths left the village over time, only Xie Mingzhu remained. Living alone, she had never thought to check or maintain the roof herself.
“Are you hurt?” she asked quickly.
Huo Xuan shook his head. “No.” Fortunately, the section that fell was in the corner of the room; if it had come down right over his head, he would certainly have been injured.
“Good, as long as you’re safe.”
Xie Mingzhu glanced out at the unrelenting downpour. Knowing he could no longer stay in his own room, she hesitated, unsure if she should invite him to spend the night in hers.
Huo Xuan did not notice her uncertainty. “I’m glad you’re all right. Tomorrow, once the rain stops, I’ll fix the roof properly.”
Seeing him turn to leave again, Xie Mingzhu called after him, “If your room is uninhabitable, where will you sleep tonight?”
Huo Xuan smiled faintly. “There’s still the kitchen. I’ll make do there for the night.”
Xie Mingzhu lowered her eyes. She wanted to speak, yet found herself unable to say the words. Watching him step back out into the rain and head toward the kitchen, she swallowed back the invitation that had almost slipped out.
She closed her door and lay back down on the bed. Though she felt exhausted, once she closed her eyes, sleep refused to come. She forced herself to relax, but it was no use.
Finally, she gave up and sat up. Looking outside, she saw the night was pitch black, and the rain only seemed to be growing heavier.
After a long internal struggle, she got up, grabbed an umbrella, opened her door, and stepped out.
When she reached the kitchen, the door was slightly ajar, and a faint glow of light seeped through the crack.
Huo Xuan heard her footsteps and opened the door. Seeing her standing there in the pouring rain, he frowned. “What are you doing out here in this weather? You’ll catch a cold if you get wet.”
Xie Mingzhu noticed he had just changed out of his soaked clothes and was now preparing to wash them.
“You can’t possibly sleep properly in the kitchen,” she said, pressing her lips together before speaking gently. “Come stay in my room tonight.”
The kitchen only had small wooden stools—for someone as tall and broad-shouldered as Huo Xuan, sitting on one for a few hours would be uncomfortable enough; sitting there the whole night would surely leave him aching all over by morning.
At her words, Huo Xuan froze and stared at her in surprise.
Xie Mingzhu already felt awkward enough, and the way he looked at her made her flush and speak sharply, “Hurry up! Don’t make me wait.”
Just then, a gust of wind blew through the doorway, making the candle flame flicker wildly before it went out completely. The kitchen plunged into darkness.
All that could be heard was the drumming of rain; no other sound reached their ears. If they had not just been speaking, they would hardly have realized someone else was standing right there.
Huo Xuan felt around on the stove shelf until he found a box of matches and lit the candle again. In the dim, wavering light, the faint flush rising up his cheeks was clearly visible.
“You should go back to bed,” he said. “I’ll be fine here.”
Though his voice sounded steady, his heart was racing. He did not dare raise his eyes to look at her as he spoke.
Xie Mingzhu looked straight at him and said firmly, “If I’m not afraid, what are you scared of?”
Before he could say anything else, she urged him again, “Come on, I’m getting cold standing here.”
Huo Xuan said no more. He simply nodded in agreement.