“I’ll make sure that from now on, no one will ever bully you again.”
Qin Jizhi looked at the thin, weak-looking girl in front of him. Just a moment ago she had still been acting a bit like a mischievous street tough, teasing him. Now, she was boldly declaring that as long as she was here, no one would be allowed to bully Qin Jizhi.
If it had been the old Qin Jizhi, he would have just laughed it off and not taken a young girl’s words seriously. But for some reason now, looking at her determined eyes, he found himself almost wanting to believe her.
However, thinking about the rumors in the village about Yu Qiaoqiao, Qin Jizhi couldn’t help but feel a pang in his heart. His mother had been willing to find a woman who might have questionable rumors attached to her just to hand him off to someone else to take care of. Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but let out a self-mocking smile inwardly.
After all, he couldn’t move at all—whoever married him would just be wasting a young woman’s life.
Yu Qiaoqiao didn’t know what he was thinking. She rummaged through the room for a long time, flipping things upside down. Finally Qin Jizhi couldn’t help but ask, “What are you looking for?”
“A washbasin.”
“There isn’t one in this house,” Qin Jizhi replied somewhat awkwardly.
For his mother and sister-in-law, it was already generous enough to give him food. There was no way they would provide things like a washbasin, let alone help him wash his face or wipe his body.
Qin Jizhi knew he smelled. He could smell it himself. He glanced at Yu Qiaoqiao—this woman must be disgusted by him.
Yu Qiaoqiao glanced at him, then took the military coat she had just been flipping through and carried it outside to the yard, hanging it on a wire before slapping it a few times to shake off the dust.
She looked toward the other rooms. The courtyard wasn’t big, with three main rooms. Qin Jizhi’s parents had one room, his elder brother, sister-in-law, and their two children had another, while Qin Jizhi himself was squeezed into a small, shabby room. Outside the rooms was something like a living area, now filled with clutter by his mother, leaving almost no space to walk.
Yu Qiaoqiao sighed, glanced at Qin Jizhi again, and then walked out quickly.
Qin Jizhi couldn’t move, but his hearing was sharp. He heard her open the courtyard door and leave.
Was she leaving because she disliked how poor his home was and wanted to break off the engagement?
Or was she disgusted by his disability and running away?
No matter which it was, Qin Jizhi wouldn’t blame her. With someone like him, what young woman would be willing to stay?
But understanding it didn’t stop the discomfort in his heart.
However, not long after, Yu Qiaoqiao came running back, out of breath, carrying a small bundle and… a washbasin.
“Why did you come back again?” Qin Jizhi looked at her.
Yu Qiaoqiao set things down and said matter-of-factly, “What do you mean? We’re husband and wife. I’m going to live with you. If I don’t come back, where else would I go?”
Earlier she had gone back to her family home and brought out whatever clothes and useful things she had, along with the tickets she had secretly saved for someone named Zhao Lijie. She also brought her washbasin and towel.
The Qin family hadn’t provided anything for Qin Jizhi. If she didn’t bring her own things, they would be in real trouble.
Seeing her run back so breathlessly, Qin Jizhi felt something in his chest shift uncontrollably. So she hadn’t disliked him. She actually intended to live with him?
Yu Qiaoqiao poured water outside, wet a towel, and walked up to him, wiping his face. “Such a handsome face, and you’ve been left to turn into a little dirty cat.”
After wiping his face, she reached to lift his clothes. Qin Jizhi instinctively grabbed her hand. “Don’t!”
Yu Qiaoqiao laughed. “I’m a girl and I’m not afraid—what are you afraid of? It’s not like I’m going to eat you.”
Qin Jizhi’s face flushed instantly, spreading all the way to his ears. His back broke out in a sweat—he had never been this nervous, not even when lying in ambush in enemy territory.
Yu Qiaoqiao slowly lifted his shirt. When she saw his well-defined, solid abdominal muscles, her heart suddenly started pounding wildly. How could a man who was injured and bedridden still have such a good body? This didn’t make sense at all!
Her hand unconsciously slid over his chest muscles, and Qin Jizhi coughed awkwardly, his body trembling slightly.
But she didn’t notice at all, continuing downward to his abs as if she had no intention of stopping. Qin Jizhi frowned and grabbed her arm.
Only then did Yu Qiaoqiao realize she had gone too far.
From her perspective, it wasn’t just awkward—it looked borderline indecent, with her hand slowly sliding and her expression looking oddly pleased.
But Yu Qiaoqiao, sticking to her “as long as I’m not embarrassed, the embarrassment is someone else’s” philosophy, calmly took the towel and, under Qin Jizhi’s somewhat stunned gaze, seriously wiped his body clean.
Her heart was racing, but her face remained perfectly composed.
After finishing, Qin Jizhi felt more comfortable than he had in a long time.
Ever since he became paralyzed in bed, only in the first few days had his family pretended to care in order to collect his benefits. Later, once they got the money, they didn’t even bother pretending anymore—just threw him some leftovers and ignored everything else.
But now, this woman—his nominal wife—didn’t seem to mind his filth at all. She had wiped him clean from head to toe.
He hadn’t felt this comfortable in a long time.
Yu Qiaoqiao then cleaned the small room as well, using the second bucket of relatively clean water. Dust was everywhere. On her way from her family home, she had secretly taken an old piece of clothing from her grandmother, which she now tore into strips to use as rags.
Higher spots she couldn’t reach, so she jumped up and wiped them.
She also took apart the bedding and clothes. To be honest, they were extremely dirty—beyond exaggeration.
After finishing cleaning, she gathered the dirty clothes and bedding into a basin. “You should sleep for a bit. I’ll go to the river to wash these. The weather is good today; they’ll dry by evening and I can sew them back together.”
Having gone through her proactive cleaning spree, Qin Jizhi had gradually adjusted to the presence of a woman in his room. He nodded slowly. “Be careful.”
His words were subtle, but Yu Qiaoqiao still felt a bit embarrassed. After thinking for a moment, she decided to explain, “Also… whether you believe me or not, I wasn’t desperately trying to die over Zhao Lijie. This morning by the river, I fell in by accident. I wasn’t trying to commit suicide.”