"And then you came down, holding her hair ornament."
As she reached the end, Xue Niang's voice trembled slightly. She hated herself for being so weak, for being able to appear indifferent, for having rehearsed this so many times in her heart.
She thought she could calmly ask about it.
"So? What do you think happened?" Xiao Shan moved closer to her, staring into her eyes until she was forced to look down.
"I don't know." Xue Niang's eyes welled up with tears again. "I don't know..."
"Then let me tell you. She was bullied on the mountain, and I happened to come across it. I dealt with the person. Later, I saw she dropped a hair ornament and, fearing trouble, I chased after her a few steps to return it, but I didn't catch up, so I destroyed the hair ornament."
Xue Niang's tears fell, splattering onto the quilt.
Xiao Shan sighed. "Do you think I'm such a despicable person in your heart? I also saw you come down the mountain with that scholar, and he even touched your hand. Don't you think I was angry? But I trusted you, and immediately thought you met him because you were looking for me on the mountain. And you? When you saw me coming down, why didn't you call out to me? Did you think I had done something bad and were hiding?"
"I didn't..."
"Then why are you crying?"
"I, I, I think you've changed. When did you become so kind? Before, when I was beaten in the marketplace, you didn't even turn your head."
She wasn't blaming him for saving someone; perhaps she just cared that it was that particular woman.
Xiao Shan was speechless.
It wasn't that he had changed, but that he detested ruining someone's reputation more than anything, which was related to his childhood experiences.
He had once watched a woman being insulted. He was too young then, beaten so badly by the scoundrel that he couldn't get up. By the time the scoundrel left, the woman had jumped into the river.
That woman was his neighbor, Auntie, who would secretly slip him candy whenever she saw him.
For a long time afterward, he couldn't eat candy. Every time he ate it, he remembered those heart-wrenching, desperate cries, and he hated himself for not being able to save her.
Over the years, he could barely remember the faces of his parents or sister, but he remembered that auntie clearly.
He didn't want to tell Xue Niang about these disgusting things.
He had already crippled the scoundrel on the mountain today and would hand him over to the authorities tomorrow, lest he cause more harm.
As for that woman, he had been a step too late. He could only hope she wouldn't be as despairing as his neighbor, Auntie, and make a rash decision!
"I regret it too. If I had known it was you, I would have beaten that human trafficker to death and rescued you. Xue Niang, can you try to trust me a little?"
Xue Niang felt his mood was rather low, was it because of what she had said?
"I, I believe you."
Xiao Shan smiled slightly. "Good, I'll carry you to bathe. The water is getting cold."
Xiao Shan wrapped Xue Niang in the quilt and carried her horizontally to the kitchen.
After a short while, Xue Niang cried out.
"What's wrong? Is the water cold?" Xiao Shan came in, reached out to test the bath, the temperature was fine. "Is something wrong?"
"My stomach hurts, hurry and carry me back."
Xue Niang stood up and opened her arms.
Xiao Shan's eyes widened, and a surge of heat rushed to his head. He quickly carried Xue Niang out of the bath, grabbed the quilt draped nearby, and covered her. "Be careful not to catch a cold."
Xue Niang was tossed onto the bed. She struggled to climb out of the damp quilt. Xiao Shan was already fumbling to find her clothes from the cabinet and put them on the bed.
"Put on your clothes and wrap yourself in the quilt. I'll go see if anyone has ginger to make some ginger water for you to drink." Xiao Shan frowned and was about to leave.
"Xiao Shan!" Xue Niang's lips were pale. "I think, I think my period is coming. Go ask Sister Xiulan if she's finished making a sanitary napkin. I told her this morning."
Upon hearing that her period was coming, Xiao Shan's expression became solemn, as if facing a great enemy. "Alright, you rest, I'll go right away."
He quickly changed his clothes, grabbed the umbrella, and went out.
Only after leaving did he vaguely wonder who Sister Xiulan was.
Perhaps it was Meng Youliang's wife? He seemed to recall calling her that.
This was Xue Niang's second period, with an interval of nearly two months since the last. Ling Long had said it would gradually become regular, and the pain was bearable now, unlike the first time when it felt like life was worse than death.
Xiao Shan returned quickly, braving the rain. Seeing his clothes were wet again, he knew the rain outside was still heavy. The sanitary napkin was tucked inside his chest, well protected. When he took it out, it was still warm from his body. Xue Niang was utterly embarrassed.
She hadn't expected her period to come at this exact moment, causing a grown man like Xiao Shan to inquire about it. She didn't know how he had managed to ask.
"Did Sister Xiulan laugh at you?"
"Laugh at me for what? Hmm, her expression was a little strange." Xiao Shan tilted his head, thought for a moment, then dismissed it. "I also asked for some ginger and will boil it with brown sugar water for you to drink. You caught a chill today, and I'm afraid you'll suffer a bit more."
After Xiao Shan left, Xue Niang changed into the sanitary napkin. As soon as she fastened it, she felt a rush of warmth, startling her into lying down quickly, afraid to move.
Because of the terrifying experience before, she nervously bit her lip, waiting for the pain to arrive.
However, after waiting for a long time, it never came.
Her body had truly recovered.
It had been nurtured back to health by Xiao Shan, bit by bit.
"Xiao Shan..." she called out unconsciously.
"Yes, what is it? Does it hurt?" Xiao Shan came over with the bowl, placing his hand on Xue Niang's forehead to feel her temperature.
Xue Niang opened her eyes hazily. "Xiao Shan, I don't want you to look at other people."
"Mm, I won't look. Get up and drink the brown sugar water before you sleep." Xiao Shan frowned with concern, then felt the temperature of her hand. "Do you feel cold?"
"Xiao Shan."
"Mm?"
"You don't need to look at others. Actually, I'm very beautiful. Qing He said that being beautiful isn't a good thing, so she told me to drink the medicine."
"What medicine? Is it harmful to your body?" Xiao Shan sat up straight, his expression serious.
"No, she said, she told me to go to Xiangshan Water Pavilion, that it was very safe. She pushed me away, I shouldn't have gone. It was all fire, it caught fire. Am I very selfish? If that person had found me, they would all die. No, no, even if they weren't found, they would die. They died for me..."
"No, they won't die."
"Xiao Shan!" Xue Niang's eyes suddenly widened, and Xiao Shan's face came into view. She blurted out, "Xiao Qi Shan!"
Xiao Shan looked at Xue Niang in shock. "Xue Niang, what did you call me?"
Xue Niang's wide eyes gradually relaxed. She seemed to have just woken up, and asked in confusion, "Is the soup ready? Did I just fall asleep? What's wrong with you, your eyes are so wide open."
"No, nothing." Xiao Shan quickly picked up the bowl, some of the soup spilling onto the back of his hand.
"Slow down, what's the hurry?"
Xue Niang chided him, picked up the bowl, and drank the brown sugar ginger water sip by sip.