Song Yunfei had no answer. She could only turn away in a fluster, ending the confrontation in a hurry with her silence.
In the end, Chu Jinhan slept on the straw couch in the outer room.
The night passed without a word, but Song Yunfei tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
She kept her ears pricked all night, listening for any movement. The steady sound of the man’s breathing in the outer room never changed, but her mind was filled with Chu Jinhan’s eyes, full of confusion, and the three feet of white silk that lingered around her neck.
It wasn’t until the sky outside the window began to lighten that she finally sank into a deep sleep, utterly exhausted.
When she woke with a start, it was already broad daylight. The wooden bed still dug painfully into her body, but the bone-deep exhaustion had eased considerably.
Song Yunfei sat up and rubbed her temples, which ached faintly. When she turned to look, she realized the straw couch in the outer room was empty.
Chu Jinhan… had left?
Her heart tightening, Song Yunfei hurried out of bed.
The house was quiet, though she could hear a faint crackling from the stove.
Following the sound, she found a pot of rice porridge warming over the little earthen stove. Unlike yesterday’s thin gruel, today’s porridge was much thicker, with a round egg nestled on top.
Their rice was almost gone. Where had he gotten an egg?
Song Yunfei was puzzled, but the hunger gnawing at her was too strong to ignore. She didn’t dwell on it and ate every last bit of porridge and egg.
As warmth spread through her stomach, her thoughts grew clearer too.
Last night, she had managed to bluff her way through with vague answers, but she had certainly planted a deep seed of doubt in Chu Jinhan’s mind.
If she wanted to escape the nightmare of that three-foot strip of white silk, she had to put her plan into action as soon as possible.
But running away required money.
And where was she supposed to get any?
Song Yunfei began surveying the thatched cottage, bare of almost everything. Her gaze was suddenly drawn to a battered sewing basket in the corner.
It had belonged to the original owner. Inside were a few odds and ends of thread and a piece of half-worn hemp cloth.
In her memories, the original owner’s needlework could only be described as atrocious.
But Song Yunfei was different.
Before coming here, she had graduated from a proper art academy. She had even studied Suzhou embroidery under an inheritor of the tradition.
Perfect.
She could earn money with embroidery.
Song Yunfei decided she would make embroidery unlike anything else and take it to town to sell.
No sooner thought than done. She emptied out the original owner’s sewing things and carefully sorted through the usable threads.
Their colors were a little plain, but that wouldn’t stop her. With a good design, they could still make something striking.
Song Yunfei was bent over the table, deep in thought as she worked out a design for her embroidery, when the courtyard gate creaked open from outside.
Chu Jinhan was back.
A bundle of freshly cut firewood rested on his shoulder, and in his other hand he carried a wild chicken, its wings flapping.
Song Yunfei stared at the chicken, stunned.
“W-where did you get that?” she blurted out.
“I set a snare on the back hill. Got lucky.” Chu Jinhan carefully stacked the firewood in the corner by the wall and answered without inflection.
Then he ladled water from the stove to wash his hands and began dressing the chicken with practiced ease.
His movements were clean and efficient, without a trace of arrogance.
Watching him, Song Yunfei felt her unease deepen.
Judging by his skill, had he really remembered something?
Or was his memory slowly coming back?
It seemed she would have to speed up her original plan.
Song Yunfei took a deep breath, suppressed her questions, and pretended not to notice that anything about Chu Jinhan was unusual.
“Cousin, you’ve worked hard.” She stood and hurried over to him. “Wonderful—we’ll be able to have chicken soup.”
Chu Jinhan’s hands paused. He looked up at Song Yunfei. In the morning light, her face was a little pale, but her bright, lovely eyes were sparkling.
She was this happy over a bowl of chicken soup?
“Mm,” he replied, then carried on with what he was doing, only noticeably faster now. “You look unwell. Did you sleep badly last night?”
“No.” Song Yunfei denied it at once, then worried she sounded too abrupt and quickly added, “I just… had some things on my mind.”
“What things?” Chu Jinhan asked as if casually, but he stopped and turned to look at her seriously.
“I was thinking that I can’t keep letting you do all the hard work by yourself.” Song Yunfei lowered her eyes and picked up the sewing basket, laying out her plan. “I thought… I could make some embroidery and have you take it to town to sell.”
“It probably won’t earn much, but at least… I could help lighten your burden.”
“We have to make some plans for the future.”
Song Yunfei deliberately stressed the words “we” and “future.”
Whatever else she did, she first had to completely change her public image. Being a “supportive wife” was the safest approach.
Chu Jinhan didn’t answer right away. He simply watched her quietly, as if trying to see into her heart.
After a long pause, he finally said, “That would be fine.”
Chu Jinhan dried his hands, then took a few copper coins from inside his robe and held them out to Song Yunfei. “Take these and buy some better thread and cloth in town.”
Song Yunfei looked at the coins in his palm, each one saved through hard labor and selling firewood, and shook her head.
“No need.” She lifted the half-worn hemp cloth in her hand. “I’ll use this to practice first. Once I’ve made a sample, I’ll see if anyone’s willing to put down a deposit. Then I can buy better thread.”
When Chu Jinhan made no comment, she added, “This household… can’t rely on you alone.”
Chu Jinhan looked at her, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly, though the confusion in his eyes only deepened.
Why did it feel as though she had become a different person overnight?
“As you wish.” He withdrew his hand and said mildly, “Call me when the chicken soup is ready.”
With that, Chu Jinhan picked up the ax and left the courtyard.
Song Yunfei watched him walk away, then finally let out a quiet breath of relief.
Over the next few days, the two of them fell into a strange sort of tacit understanding.
Chu Jinhan left early and returned late each day, but he always brought back something to eat. Their life was hard, but at least they wouldn’t starve to death.
Song Yunfei, meanwhile, devoted all her energy to the embroidery she had titled “Mountain Dwelling Beneath the Moon.”
“Oh, Young Lady Li, are you home?” Auntie Wang from the eastern end of the village was passing by with an empty bowl. Seeing that Song Yunfei hadn’t shut the courtyard gate, she poked her head inside to greet her.
Song Yunfei usually had little to do with the neighbors. Auntie Wang was the only one who was particularly friendly, often bringing her little things, so the two of them were on closer terms.
“Auntie Wang, is something the matter?” Song Yunfei set down her work and got up to meet her.
“Oh, no, nothing… I just wanted to see how you were.” Auntie Wang’s eyes darted around the courtyard before settling on Song Yunfei. She clicked her tongue in amazement. “Well, look at you! You’re looking so much better than you did a few days ago.”
As she spoke, she glanced inside the house, then gave Song Yunfei a knowing wink.
Song Yunfei remembered that the original owner had gotten those potent aphrodisiacs for Chu Jinhan through Auntie Wang.
Her face immediately flushed. She gave an awkward laugh. “I have you to thank for that.”
“Where’s your Scholar Li?” Auntie Wang lowered her voice and asked conspiratorially. “Let me tell you something. Yesterday, I saw your Scholar Li heading toward the back hill. That place is pretty eerie, so you’d better talk him out of going there…”
Song Yunfei continued to humor her. “Mm, thank you for the warning, Auntie. I’ll talk to him.”
“By the way,” Auntie Wang said with a satisfied nod, then seemed to remember something. “Does your Scholar Li know a bit of martial arts?”
Song Yunfei frowned. “He’s a scholar, nothing more. He couldn’t hurt a fly. How would he know martial arts?”
“Oh, don’t try to hide it from me,” Auntie Wang said with a laugh. “The other day, those thugs in town were bullying Butcher Zhang’s daughter, weren’t they? I saw with my own eyes how your Scholar Li knocked them all flat in just a few moves.”
“My, he was so nimble. Nothing like a scholar!”
Auntie Wang spoke animatedly, but Song Yunfei felt her hands and feet turn cold.
He really had remembered something.
But what, exactly, had he remembered?
Song Yunfei could no longer make out what Auntie Wang said after that. Her fingers trembled, and only when the embroidery needle stabbed deep into her fingertip did she snap back to her senses.
After forcing a smile as she saw Auntie Wang off, she turned and found Chu Jinhan standing behind her. She hadn’t noticed when he’d come back.
“C-Cousin, you’re back?”
“Mm.” Chu Jinhan set down the firewood on his shoulder, his gaze falling on the embroidery hoop in Song Yunfei’s hands. “Finished?”
“N-not quite…”
“When you’re done, I’ll go with you to town to sell it. What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”