Taohua Town was not far from the capital. Though it was only a small town, it was more prosperous than many county seats. The market was bustling with people coming and going, and shops lined both sides of the road, selling all manner of things.
Xie Zhi first went to the carpenter's shop and bought two wooden beds, a small square table, two low stools, and two wooden basins. Then he went to the cloth shop and purchased two sets of bedding and two towels. Finally, he stopped by the general store to buy toothbrushes, crude salt, and some daily necessities.
After finishing these purchases, Xie Zhi stood in the street market, thinking about whether he had missed anything. He thought for a moment and confirmed that he had bought everything.
These were the things he normally used—nothing had been left out.
The two packets of silver he had gotten from selling the horse carriage last night were now down to one. He put the remaining packet away, hired a donkey cart, and had all his purchases transported back to the courtyard.
The square table and stools were placed in the main room, and the two wooden beds were put in the east and west rooms, one each. Xie Zhi even kindly helped Yuan Yingti make her bed.
As he busied himself, his gaze would drift toward the courtyard from time to time. The young lady had probably finally grown tired of sitting and had stood up.
But even standing, she was proper and composed. Her slender, snow-white neck was slightly bowed, her willowy waist curved inward in a graceful arc, and she stood motionless, like a painting of a court lady.
When Xie Zhi finished, he walked over to her.
"Young lady, everything is ready."
Yuan Yingti raised her head. Though she could not see, she still turned her face toward the sound of his voice. She managed a faint smile and gave a slight nod.
Xie Zhi's gaze swept over the sesame flatbread resting beside the grape trellis. She had not eaten much—more than half the flatbread remained.
It was already noon, and Xie Zhi had also gone two meals without eating. So he picked up the leftover flatbread and finished it in a few bites.
Yuan Yingti could not see and did not know what he was doing.
With his hunger no longer gnawing at him, Xie Zhi asked her, "Young lady, would you like to go inside and rest?"
"Mm." Yuan Yingti's eyes had long been aching from the sunlight. She raised her hand, and Xie Zhi extended his arm. This time, her slender, scallion-like fingers gripped his arm firmly.
Xie Zhi gave Yuan Yingti the east bedroom. The bed was placed against the wall, opposite a wide-open carved window that faced the grape trellis directly.
Yuan Yingti felt her way to sit on the bed. For some reason, the moment she sat down, Xie Zhi suddenly felt that this room was too empty, as though it were missing a great many things. But what exactly was missing, he could not quite place.
Yuan Yingti sat there blankly. This was the first time she had sat on a bed that let in drafts from all sides, without even a bed canopy. It was a narrow space—she reached out and immediately touched the wall.
Sleeping on a bed like this, she would probably fall off at night.
Yuan Yingti thought uneasily, but she said nothing aloud. This escape had been too rushed—she did not have a single copper coin on her. A-Nu was, after all, a household servant and would not have much money either. That he had managed to arrange even this much was already doing his utmost. She should not be picky.
She suppressed her discomfort and sat on the edge of the bed, intending to discuss proper matters with him first.
"A-Nu, I would like to discuss a few things with you."
Xie Zhi stood directly across from her. The room was empty, with nowhere to sit. He crossed his arms and looked down at her as though admiring prey, yet his tone was exceedingly gentle: "Young lady, what is it?"
"A-Nu, I know you are very worried about your mother right now. Would you like to send a letter to the capital and ask how your mother is doing?"
Xie Zhi's lips curved: "Alright."
Yuan Yingti nodded, her hands folded on her knees, and gently reassured him again: "Mama Fang should be fine. I hid her away at the time—it was a very secluded spot. Don't worry, A-Nu…"
"I'm not worried. My mother is blessed by heaven; I trust she'll be all right." His tone was casual, with no hint of blame whatsoever.
Yuan Yingti let out a quiet sigh of relief. She had left in such haste that day that there had been no chance to rescue Mama Fang, and she had always feared A-Nu might harbor resentment toward her. Fortunately, he did not.
She lifted her head and added, "A-Nu, while you're inquiring about Mama Fang's safety, could you also help me look into something else?"
"Please speak, miss."
"I want to know why Prince Qi ordered the raid on our estate."
"Alright." Xie Zhi agreed. "I have a few friends in the capital. I'll write to them and ask."
"I'm counting on you, A-Nu."
She was this courteous even to a servant. Xie Zhi pressed his tongue against his teeth and gave an unreadable smile.
Writing a letter required paper and a brush—things Xie Zhi hadn't thought to purchase earlier. He would need to make another trip to the market.
Before leaving, he paused at the door, looking at Yuan Yingti's bare room. "Miss, is there anything in the room that doesn't suit you? Should I get you anything else?" He couldn't think of what she might be missing—perhaps she knew.
Yuan Yingti was dissatisfied with everything. Take the bed, for instance—not only did it let in drafts, but it was so hard it hurt her backside. But she couldn't be as picky as she'd been in the Marquis's residence. She'd make do.
Yuan Yingti decided to endure it. Some things she could tolerate, but others were simply beyond bearing.
She touched her tangled hair, then her grimy arm, and said in a small voice, "A-Nu, I'd like a bathing tub. I want to take a bath."
A bath? Xie Zhi paused. He himself bathed by wiping down with a cloth and rinsing with a couple of basins of cold water—he'd completely overlooked that this noble young lady was delicate and required a proper bathing tub.
"I'll go get one for you right away." He responded. "Miss, anything else?"
Yuan Yingti did have something else, but it was rather embarrassing to say. A-Nu was a man, after all—how could she possibly bring it up?
"Um… there's also that…" Yuan Yingti stammered, her face slowly turning red.
Xie Zhi watched with amused interest as her petal-like cheeks flushed crimson. "Miss, what else?"
"It's just… that…" Yuan Yingti knew that even if she didn't say it now, she'd have to eventually. Better to say it now than to lose control later. Her face burning, she steeled herself. "I also need a chamber pot."
Xie Zhi laughed silently. His fault—he'd forgotten something so important.
There was a latrine outside the small courtyard, suitable for him, but hardly appropriate for this blind young lady.
"I'll go buy one right away." He replied, his voice perfectly serious, in stark contrast to the teasing look on his face.
Yuan Yingti kept her face buried low, pressing two fingers together, and mumbled a soft "mm-hmm" in acknowledgment.
Xie Zhi returned to the market. He mailed the letter first, then bought some steamed buns, and finally purchased the bathing tub and chamber pot. He also picked up bathing beans for washing and two large bundles of firewood.
That delicate young lady—she'd topple over in a gust of wind—couldn't possibly bathe in cold water. He'd prepared the firewood to heat water for her.
With everything bought, Xie Zhi headed back, but halfway there he turned around again—he'd forgotten to buy toilet paper.
The toilet paper seller looked at his attire and directly brought over a thick stack of straw paper. This kind of straw paper, also called coarse paper, is made from wood pulp and grass pulp—cheap and durable. But Xie Zhi thought of Yuan Yingti's delicate, fair skin, and his fingers moved away from that stack of straw paper, pointing instead to the soft, white fine paper on the counter.
"I want this."
Xie Zhi returned fully laden.
Back at the courtyard, Xie Zhi gave the steaming hot buns to Yuan Yingti, then went to tidy up the west wing rooms. It took him half an hour to clean the two wing rooms spotlessly—one for the chamber pot, one for Yuan Yingti to bathe in.
By the time he finished all this, the sky had gone completely dark.
A crescent moon on a spring night, its clear radiance faint, insects chirping softly.
A fire burned under the stove, and Yuan Yingti sat quietly on a small stool nearby. She couldn't see anything, but she could feel the blurred, dancing light coming from the stove's opening.
Xie Zhi added firewood to the stove, and the wood crackled as it burned.
Yuan Yingti thought to herself, A-Nu is really capable.
Since the two of them had met, he hadn't rested for a single moment. He had carried her on his back and fled for an entire night, cleaned the whole courtyard, bought so many things, and now he was still boiling water for her. He had done so much, yet hadn't uttered a single complaint of tiredness.
His constitution was truly good. Unlike her—after yesterday's fright, she still hadn't recovered, and everything felt like a dream.
Yuan Yingti was spacing out, while Xie Zhi was counting his silver with his head down.
From that trip just now, he had only half a pouch of silver left.
He weighed it in his palm and hissed inwardly.
Money really does flow away like water.
He lifted his eyes to glance at Yuan Yingti. She sat quietly, the flames from the stove casting an interwoven pattern of light and shadow in orange-red across her face. Her long eyelashes were curled and upturned, and those eyes were bright and watery, as if she were staring right at him.
Xie Zhi rested his elbow on his knee and leaned his tall frame forward, tilting toward her.
He soundlessly drew closer, held his breath, and reached out to wave his hand in front of her eyes.
She was completely unaware, not even blinking.
He had thought she could see him just now, but it turned out she wasn't staring at him—she was gazing into emptiness.
Little blind girl.
Xie Zhi chuckled softly, slowly straightened up, put away his silver, and regarded Yuan Yingti with a measuring gaze.
He had done so much work for this young miss, spent so much money, and waited on her so painstakingly—it wasn't out of the goodness of his heart.
In the future, he was going to extract benefits from her, collect interest. However much he spent on her, he would definitely earn back tenfold, a hundredfold.
He never did business at a loss.
It was just that for now, he hadn't figured out—how should he deal with her in order to make his money back?
Xie Zhi's gaze weighed her for a long time, as if appraising an expensive piece of goods. The water on the stove chose this moment to bubble and boil over.
He stood up and lifted the pot lid, and white steam spread through the small main room.
"Is it ready?" Yuan Yingti stood up as well.
Xie Zhi said it was, bent down to ladle the hot water into a wooden bucket, and carried it single-handedly to the wing room. In no time, the bathwater was ready.
Yuan Yingti walked into the wing room holding his arm.
Bathing was such a private matter—she could only rely on herself.
Xie Zhi left, and the door closed with a faint creak. It became quiet all around her. Yuan Yingti took small, slow steps and felt her way to the damp, warm edge of the bathtub.
This was the first time in her life she had bathed by herself, without a maid's help.
She could do it.
Yuan Yingti removed her hair ornaments, letting her dark locks cascade down, then slowly unfastened her garments, shedding them one by one and draping them aside. Lifting her smooth calf, she carefully stepped into the water.