A splashing of water came from outside the door. Yuan Yingti did not understand what was happening, but she was too embarrassed to urge him again. She shifted her sore, swollen legs and lay quietly on the bed, waiting for him to return.
A quarter of an hour later, Xie Zhi came back.
He had changed his clothes. His body still carried the moisture of water not yet dried, and the hair on his forehead hung down damply. His eyes were dark and deep, and his thick, black lashes cast a similarly damp shadow at the corners of his eyes.
Hearing his footsteps, Yuan Yingti sat up. Her long black hair spread across her entire back. She craned her neck to look toward him. "A-Nu, you're back?"
Xie Zhi gave a grunt and walked to the bedside with a blank expression.
"Does the young lady still want to continue?"
Yuan Yingti nodded hurriedly. She was in so much pain she could not even sleep. She quickly extended her legs to him once more.
Xie Zhi kept his gaze lowered, pulled over the blanket, and covered her legs with it.
The bedding completely concealed her curves. Xie Zhi rolled up his sleeves, revealing a section of his damp wrist.
"Young lady, lie still."
Yuan Yingti obediently lay flat on her back on the bed.
Xie Zhi's hands landed on her calves. Through the thick bedding, his strength was clearly transmitted to her.
Yuan Yingti felt pain, but after the pain, the places he had kneaded grew hot and burning, quickly relieving the soreness and swelling, making her extremely comfortable.
Yuan Yingti could not help but let out a few muffled hums.
Xie Zhi maintained his indifferent expression and said to her, "Young lady, do not make a sound."
Yuan Yingti did not understand, but she had always been obedient. Since he did not let her make a sound, she raised a hand to cover her mouth.
Xie Zhi lowered his eyes and continued the movements of his hands.
His fingertips moved up along her ankles, kneading past her calves, then rubbing toward the bends of her legs. He did not press any higher.
It hurt so much, it tickled so much. Yuan Yingti tried her utmost to endure, but still uncontrollably let out a few muffled groans.
Immediately after, she felt the pair of hands on her legs stop again.
Through her palm, Yuan Yingti said in an embarrassed, buzzing voice, "Sorry, but… but you, be gentler."
Her voice was both delicate and trembling.
Xie Zhi stared at her, wanting to find something to stuff her mouth with.
But he saw that she had already consciously covered her mouth with her other hand as well. Her two hands overlapped, covering her lips even more tightly.
Seeing her obedient, well-behaved appearance, the inexplicable fire in Xie Zhi's heart gradually died out. He ground his teeth and continued rubbing her legs.
Yuan Yingti was still tightly covering her mouth. Xie Zhi watched her from the corner of his eye. "Young lady will go out with me again tomorrow."
"Where to." Yuan Yingti's voice came out buzzing from behind her palm. "I do not want to climb the mountain anymore. My legs hurt so much. I want to rest."
"If the young lady is unwilling to climb the mountain, we will not go. Tomorrow I will take the young lady to the market."
The market? The market was full of people everywhere. How could she go there? Yuan Yingti hurriedly shook her head and lowered her hands. "I am not going. There are too many people there."
"If the young lady is afraid of Prince Qi, I will put a veiled hat on the young lady. No one will recognize you."
It was not only Prince Qi. Yuan Yingti had grown up so big and had never come into contact with the crowds outside. She had heard that the market was packed with people, one pressed against another. She was blind. If she bumped into someone or was bumped into by someone else…
Yuan Yingti did not dare to go.
"I am not going. I am afraid. I cannot see anything."
"I will be the young lady's eyes."
He spoke calmly and composedly, and Yuan Yingti's heart inexplicably settled for a moment. But upon further thought, she still shook her head. "No, I can't see. How could I go shopping? I'll just stay home and behave myself."
"And besides," she bit her lip, "Father said… ah!"
Yuan Yingti cried out in pain. His hand had been a bit heavy just now, cutting off her words. Her voice trembled as she spoke, "Be gentler, it hurts."
Xie Zhi switched from kneading to patting her leg, his hand tapping lightly against her calf in a steady rhythm.
"Does it still hurt like this, miss?"
The taut flesh was struck by his pats, and the pain seemed to dissipate. It was so comfortable that Yuan Yingti's hands slowly spread out on the bed. "It doesn't hurt anymore."
"Good. Miss, don't speak. If you want to sleep, rest for a while."
"Mhm." Yuan Yingti curled her toes, lay down obediently, and closed her eyes.
…
Early the next morning, Yuan Yingti sat in the courtyard, dazedly listening to Xie Zhi pack their things.
In a while, he was going to take her to the market.
Just now, she had followed behind him, refusing many times, but he turned a deaf ear. It seemed this matter was already set in stone.
Yuan Yingti didn't know what to do.
A-Nu wouldn't listen to her, so she could only listen to A-Nu.
Going out was going out, then.
Anyway, refusing was useless. A-Nu was so strong that he could easily carry her out, and she couldn't resist at all.
Accept her fate.
Yuan Yingti tried hard to convince herself.
As Xie Zhi packed, his gaze occasionally drifted toward her.
The young miss seemed to have accepted the fact, her eyes looking straight ahead as she sat perfectly upright.
As if she could rise and depart at any moment.
Xie Zhi handed the veiled hat to her.
"Miss, put this on."
The veil of the hat was very long, reaching about her shoulders. Yuan Yingti was about to put it on when she remembered something and looked up at Xie Zhi. "A-Nu, I haven't tied up my hair yet."
Xie Zhi held her veiled hat. "Then miss should tie her hair first."
Yuan Yingti looked up in confusion. "I do it myself?"
Xie Zhi: "…You want me to do it?"
"A-Nu, I don't know how to tie my hair."
Xie Zhi looked at her hair. That head of jet-black long hair hung down to her waist, with only a single hair ribbon tied at the bottom.
Ever since Yuan Yingti had come to this small courtyard, she had always loosely tied her hair with a single ribbon. He had always thought she styled it that way for comfort, never expecting it was because she didn't know how to do otherwise.
Women these days all wore their hair in buns. Such loose hair was only suitable for staying at home. Yesterday, when the two had gone hiking, since they hadn't seen anyone, neither of them had paid attention to her hairstyle. But today, the market they were going to would be bustling with people, and her current appearance was truly unsuitable for being seen.
"A-Nu, you know how, right?" Yuan Yingti looked up at Xie Zhi with a face full of hope.
"…"
A quarter of an hour later, Yuan Yingti's hair was done.
A black, thick, long braid hung down from the back of her round head. Xie Zhi's fingertips danced as he tied a bow at the end of her hair.
Xie Zhi didn't know how to braid hair, but he knew how to braid rope. The two skills were connected.
He admired his work, quite satisfied with the hairstyle he had created.
Yuan Yingti reached out and touched the heavy hair behind her. The loose, flowing locks had become neat and tight. She had never worn her hair this way, but she felt it looked very dignified.
Yuan Yingti was also very satisfied.
The two were fully prepared. Xie Zhi helped Yuan Yingti fasten her veiled hat, and together they went out the door, locking the gate behind them.
Once she was actually standing outside, Yuan Yingti suddenly became nervous and uneasy again.
She clutched tightly at Xie Zhi's sleeve. When he raised his hand to lock the door, her hand rose along with it.
He was the only one beside her. She did not dare separate from him at all, relying on him completely.
A smile played at the corners of Xie Zhi's lips. He let her grip his sleeve tightly and guided her slowly forward.
Morning light spilled down, gently covering the two of them.
Usually, the courtyard where the two of them stayed was remote, and they saw almost no one. But the closer they got to the market, the more people they encountered.
Yuan Yingti heard many footsteps passing by her side.
All unfamiliar sounds, making her so uneasy she felt panicked.
Afraid of being scattered apart by the crowd.
Afraid of being left alone.
Her hand began to slide slowly down along Xie Zhi's sleeve, and then, quietly, she took hold of his hand.
Xie Zhi was briefly startled. He looked down.
He saw her slender, fair fingers slip between his and interlace tightly with his five fingers.
"A-Nu, hold on to me tightly." She rose on her tiptoes and whispered the instruction by his ear.
Xie Zhi gave a low "mm" in response, the corners of his eyes lifting as he tightened his grip on her hand.
……
The sun rose to mid-sky. The sunlight was bright, golden rays spilling down. This was the busiest time at the market.
Yuan Yingti followed closely at Xie Zhi's side.
The air was mixed with all kinds of smells and filled with clamorous, noisy sounds. She heard the rumbling of cart wheels, the haggling of pedestrians. She even heard a child's wailing, a dog's barking, and a kitten's meowing.
Smells and sounds from all directions surrounded her. She gripped Xie Zhi's hand tightly, her eyes wide open, like a rabbit that might take fright and flee at any moment.
Xie Zhi lowered his head and said by her ear, "Don't be afraid, young lady. I'm here."
Yuan Yingti nodded and pressed even closer to him. She knew she was sticking to him like a plaster right now, but she could not be bothered about dignity anymore.
Inside the veiled hat, Yuan Yingti pricked up her ears and followed him forward step by step.
The market was full of people coming and going. Xie Zhi shielded her, not letting anyone's sleeve brush against her in the slightest.
"Is there anything you'd like to eat, young lady?" Seeing her nervousness, he lowered his head and asked her.
Yuan Yingti asked in a stealthy little voice, "What is there to eat here?"
Xie Zhi smiled and said, "To your left is a pastry shop, to your right is a griddle-cake stall, and up ahead there is an old man selling candied hawthorns."
"Candied hawthorns," Yuan Yingti said. She had never eaten candied hawthorns, but she had heard of them in storybooks. It was said that candied hawthorns were sweet-and-sour and very tasty.
So Xie Zhi led her by the hand to the candied hawthorn stall.
The old man selling candied hawthorns was very old, yet dressed very cleanly. Seeing the two of them walk over, he spoke warmly: "Customers, would you like to buy candied hawthorns for your wife?"
Xie Zhi gave a sound of assent, and the old man nimbly picked out a skewer of large, red candied hawthorns. But as he was wrapping them up, his eyes kept glancing toward Xie Zhi's face.
After handing him the candied hawthorns, the old man suddenly clapped his hands together and pointed at Xie Zhi, saying, "Ah, I remember now, you're that one, that one…"
Xie Zhi raised his eyes and looked at him.
The old man looked excited: "You're the one who jumped into the Peach Blossom River that day and saved Young Master Wang!"
Xie Zhi narrowed his eyes and did not say whether it was so or not.
The old man knew about this matter, and Xie Zhi could not help but guard against him bringing up the business of extorting money from people in front of Yuan Yingti.
But that day, the old man had only seen him save someone; he didn't know what happened afterward. Seeing that he didn't deny it, the old man looked at him with eyes full of admiration: "I wasn't mistaken, it's you! Sir, you're truly remarkable. That day the water was so swift, no one dared to go in, only you—you jumped into the river to save someone without regard for your own life. You're truly a great benefactor!"
Hearing him say this, it seemed he knew nothing. Xie Zhi felt relieved and merely smiled and nodded, placing the candied hawthorn in Yuan Yingti's hand.
At this moment, the old man looked toward Yuan Yingti and praised with a smile: "Madam, you've married such a fine husband—what good fortune! Your husband is a great benefactor who saved a life! Today's candied hawthorns are on the house, no charge!"
Behind her veiled hat, Yuan Yingti's mouth hung slightly open.
A-Nu had actually saved someone, and he had never told her.
With one hand holding Xie Zhi's and the other holding the free candied hawthorn, she stood there dumbly.
"Madam's husband is righteous, a great benefactor, a living Bodhisattva!"
The old man's voice kept drifting past her ears.
As she listened, her face began to flush, and her back actually started to straighten bit by bit.
The old man praising him was like praising her.
Her A-Nu was actually this impressive.
Amid his praise, one sentence after another, Yuan Yingti's back grew straighter and straighter, the corners of her lips couldn't help but curl upward, and the tension that had been wound tight through her body inexplicably vanished.
She held tightly onto Xie Zhi, nodding repeatedly with shared honor, continuously responding: "Yes, right, mm-hmm, my husband A-Nu, he really is a great person."