Zhong Li held the Chuan Xin Lian, her face flushed as she chopped it listlessly.
Lu Wuxie, standing behind her, had been like a charged beast since he kissed her an hour ago, simultaneously brewing fish soup and roasting the two plump fish she had caught.
“The fish is almost ready, Li’er. How long do you plan on chopping the medicine?” Lu Wuxie walked over to Zhong Li, holding a fish. He casually circled a perfectly browned, roasted fish in front of her.
Zhong Li felt awkward and turned away, refusing to engage with him.
If it were her usual self, Lu Wuxie would have been thrown out to freeze by the door by now, with no fish to eat. But now…
She sighed. She knew her own heart, but she never expected things to develop so quickly.
“Li’er,” Lu Wuxie sighed, walking to face her and squatting down. He looked at the Chuan Xin Lian, which had been chopped until no juice remained. He casually stuck the fish into the ground, took the stone she was using to grind herbs, and wiped the herbal juice from her fingertips as he spoke, “I know what you’re thinking.”
Zhong Li remained silent.
“In my previous life, I was betrothed,” Lu Wuxie said, being completely upfront.
Although Zhong Li knew this was a possibility, her heart still skipped a beat.
Lu Wuxie looked at the woman’s slightly trembling fingertips in his hand and quickly held them tighter. “However, I died before the wedding was completed.”
Zhong Li raised her eyes to look at the handsome young man’s face opposite her.
When he said ‘I died,’ his expression was as indifferent as if he were talking about someone else, but she knew the immense torment his heart had endured. Otherwise, why would he have such a psychological shadow of fearing the cold in this life?
“In this life, I thought I wouldn’t feel anything for anyone, just like in my previous life, until I met you,” he said sincerely, his gaze unwavering.
Zhong Li’s cheeks flushed. She appeared indifferent, but in reality, she was exceptionally easily embarrassed.
“I know you think my behavior is too forward. It’s alright. Afterwards, you can slowly get to know me anew,” he said. He then picked up the fish stuck in the ground and placed it in front of her. “The fish you caught has many bones. This is one I caught myself, with fewer bones. Try it.”
With that, he got up and went to the soup pot, busying himself.
Zhong Li looked at the roasted fish in her hand, then at the man busy in the distance. She bit her lip, lost in thought.
Three days later.
Zhong Li changed the dressing on Lu Wuxie’s wound and then walked to the front of the cave alone, beginning to gaze out.
Lu Wuxie was tidying up the charcoal, preparing to leave some for use that night. He glanced at the woman nearby, his brows furrowing. Zhong Li had been like this for three days, seemingly waiting for someone.
He put down the fire poker, casually picked up an outer coat, and walked to her side, draping it over her. “Li’er, who are you waiting for?”
Zhong Li looked at the clothes on her shoulders, tightening them. “Does the Prince still remember the little girl who saved our lives on the first day I told you?”
Lu Wuxie nodded. Of course, he remembered. He had been thinking of properly thanking the little girl when she arrived.
“She hasn’t come for three or four days,” Zhong Li said worriedly.
Lu Wuxie comforted her, “So that’s it. Perhaps something happened at her home, and she’s unable to get away these past few days…”
“No,” Zhong Li interrupted Lu Wuxie. She didn’t know Youyou well, but she just felt that Youyou wouldn’t be someone who would leave without a word.
“I see,” Lu Wuxie said. He couldn’t bear to see her worrying day after day. “Do you remember where the little girl came from?”
Zhong Li nodded.
“You wait here for me. I’ll tidy up the charcoal and accompany you to look for her.”
Zhong Li nodded.
Lu Wuxie, having received her reply, quickly walked back into the cave. By the time he finished his tasks and came out again, she was already gone.
-------------------------------------
Zhong Li hadn’t intended to not wait for Lu Wuxie. She just wanted to walk towards the fishing village from memory. Who would have thought that as she walked, she would completely forget about waiting for Lu Wuxie?
The reason was simple: the village entrance was surrounded by many villagers, and it looked like something had happened. Everyone had an unhappy expression on their faces.
“How tragic!”
“Yes, the child was so young, and now… alas…”
“What a cruel fate!”
...
Zhong Li walked towards the crowd, listening to the conversations of a few villagers passing by her. When she heard the word ‘child,’ her heart involuntarily tightened.
There were many people gathered at the village entrance. Being frail and disliking crowds, she grabbed a burly man near the most densely packed area and asked, “Young man, what happened inside? Why are so many people gathered here?”
The burly man was carrying a shoulder pole with several salted fish in his baskets. He said, “Don’t you know, miss?”
Zhong Li frowned, looking bewildered.
The burly man sighed, pointing inside. “A little girl from the village died. There wasn’t a single intact part of her body. It’s quite pitiful.”
“A little girl?” Zhong Li’s heart skipped a beat, and she pressed, “Young man, do you know what the little girl’s name was?”
The burly man thought for a moment. “I think it was something like Kang Youyou? I’m not sure…”
He said this, waving his hand, seemingly in a hurry to sell his salted fish, and turned to leave.
Hearing the name, Zhong Li’s worry about Youyou lessened slightly. However, to confirm accurately, she endured the crowd and walked into the throng. Finally, just as she felt she was about to be squeezed flat, she found herself at the very front of the crowd.
By the well at the village entrance lay a corpse. Zhong Li judged from experience that the corpse was about four feet tall, a female child, completely soaked. It seemed she had only just been pulled from the well.
Such a young child, truly pitiful.
As she lamented, her gaze swept over the little girl’s neck. When she saw the two still-fading palm prints on the barefooted girl’s neck and a familiar small bottle rolling beside the corpse’s hand, her heart suddenly clenched. Wasn’t it Kang Youyou? Why was it Youyou?
No!
Zhong Li reacted quickly. If that little fellow had spoken with a slight accent just now, then he should have said Kang Youyou!
Thinking of this, she could no longer hold back. She rushed to Youyou’s side, holding onto the last sliver of hope, and turned the child’s corpse over.
Youyou’s face, etched with a hint of pain, appeared before her eyes. Zhong Li felt a prickling sensation on her scalp, and she nearly fainted.
How could a child who was so lively just a few days ago be gone just like that?
Thinking this, she looked at the well beside them and quickly opened Youyou’s mouth and nose to check.
“What are you doing?”
Before Zhong Li could finish her examination, a hand suddenly lunged from above, intending to push her away. Fortunately, she reacted quickly and quickly retreated a step, dodging it.
Then she raised her eyes to look at the person who had made such an unreasonable move. It was a pregnant woman, and beside her stood a man, large and robust, appearing particularly strong.
“You…”
“Was it you? Did you push Youyou into the well and kill her!”
Before Zhong Li could utter her confused question, the pregnant woman pointed at her and roared accusingly.