“Hey, hey, hey!”
Yingran patted his back repeatedly, “What are you doing? Go to Yuehong!”
Xu Liling didn’t speak or turn around.
Seeing they were about to fly out of Yunshui County, Yingran helplessly compromised, “Even if I go home, I need to tell the manager first. Take me back to say hi to the manager, then I’ll go home.”
She fidgeted behind him, forcing Xu Liling to stop the flying steed mid-air, turning to look at her, clearly not believing her.
Yingran hugged his waist, rubbing against his back and acting coy, “If I leave without saying anything, and my dad finds out, he’ll kill me next time I visit home. Do you dare fight my dad?”
Xu Liling: “I can.”
Yingran glared at him, “You dare! That’s my dad!”
Xu Liling, too lazy to argue, spurred the flying steed to move again.
Yingran kept calling “Aiya, aiya” behind him, tugging his robe to make him turn, swearing solemnly, “I’m really just going to say hi. Why don’t you trust me? Is there no trust between us at all?”
At this point, Xu Liling paused silently, then turned the steed back.
When he dropped Yingran off at Yuehong Tavern, he held the steed’s reins at the entrance, “I’m only trusting you this once.”
His dark eyes were intense, almost intimidating.
Yingran pouted, grabbed her mung bean soup, and ran into Yuehong Tavern. Entering the rest room, she opened the window, waving at him smugly, “Huai Zhen, you can go. Come pick me up tonight.
Fifteen spirit stones, how could I just give that up?”
Xu Liling, unsurprised, stared at her silently, making her wonder if he’d rush in and drag her out, her heart racing.
If he really did that, how embarrassing would it be!
Other ladies in the room crowded over to see what was happening.
He pointed at her, then rode the steed away.
Madam Zhao, feeling his demeanor unsettling, clutched her chest and asked Yingran, “What’s going on? Did you fight with your husband? When you go home tonight, he won’t hit you, will he?”
Yingran: “No fight. It’s just…”
She briefly explained the situation, making the ladies giggle.
“Your husband is so good to you.”
“When I get home from work, complaining I’m tired, my man just says he’s tired too, that everyone’s like that.”
“Mine’s decent if he helps cook a bit.”
“But yours, the moment you say you’re tired, he’s ready to take you away without a word. And he’s unhappy if you don’t go.”
The ladies teased, and Yingran sat aside, pretending not to notice, though her ears burned.
Madam Zhao added, “But your husband’s scary when he’s mad. I can’t explain it—he doesn’t seem angry, but it makes you break out in a cold sweat.”
Yingran nodded in agreement, “He just looks scary. He’s got a good temper, doesn’t hit, and doesn’t like arguing with me.”
“That’s great…”
The ladies started chatting about their own lives.
Talk turned to the cultivator who dragged Yingran to wander the county.
Madam Wang suggested, “Don’t go this afternoon. If the manager asks, I’ll say you got overheated this morning and caught a fever.”
“That cultivator, treating us like slaves. Doesn’t even think—how can mortals like us compare to them? In this heat, who can handle that kind of torture…”
Yingran sat with them, chatting like it was a past life’s lunch break, gossiping about clients and bosses with colleagues.
After noon, Ning Fei knocked on the door.
Yingran stood to open it, but Madam Zhao stopped her. Madam Wang pushed her to the inner room, shushing her.
Yingran wanted to say something, but Madam Zhao opened the door.
Ning Fei scanned the room, frowning, “Where’s Madam Qin?”
Madam Zhao: “It’s too hot. She got dizzy from wandering this morning and caught a fever. If the cultivator has something to say, tell me.”
Ning Fei’s frown deepened, not even glancing at Madam Zhao before turning to leave.
Madam Zhao closed the door, muttering, “Why do I feel like she’s specifically targeting Madam Qin?”
“She’s unhappy herself, so she picks on others.”
Madam Wang pulled Yingran back to the table to keep chatting, “This morning, when you went with her, she didn’t bully you too much, did she?”
Yingran honestly replied, “No. She was okay to me, just kept asking about my family, saying she wanted to be friends. But I figured cultivators like her will leave eventually, so we can’t really be friends, and I didn’t say much.”
Now she realized Ning Fei wasn’t that friendly toward her.
But she didn’t care, smiling and thanking the ladies in the room.
The afternoon passed happily, eating sunflower seeds and peanuts, drinking tea, and chatting.
Yingran, grateful for their help, ordered two plates of snacks for them.
When Xu Liling came to pick her up that evening, Yingran sat on the flying steed, sharing amusing stories she’d heard from the ladies.
Xu Liling responded as usual, and Yingran thought he probably wasn’t mad anymore.
At home, after bathing and getting into bed, Xu Liling lay beside her, pulling her into his arms, his hand gently stroking her back, casually lifting her nightclothes.
Yingran tensed, pushing him lightly, “No, Huai Zhen… I have to go to the county tomorrow.”
Xu Liling buried his face in her neck, “Just once.”
Thinking of how she’d tricked him earlier, Yingran felt a bit guilty and hugged him, “Just once…”
“Mm.”
Xu Liling leaned over her.
Yingran cooperatively helped undo his belt.
“…ABO…”
Late into the night, still not resting, Yingran weakly pushed him.
Swaying, she saw Xu Liling looking down at her with a smile, “Cursing yourself?”
Yingran struggled to bite him, but he pressed her down with one hand on her chest, keeping her from getting up.
His hand slid upward, gently gripping her neck.
Yingran turned to bite his hand, but he lightly pinched her chin, forcing her to look up at him.
His tone showed no anger, his breath uneven with a faint smile, yet it was somehow frightening.
“I told you long ago, once isn’t enough.”
“You don’t listen to me, nor remember my words.”
“Only you…”
Yingran, dazed, couldn’t make out his last words, pleading coquettishly, “Huai Zhen, no more… no more…”
But he didn’t listen.
Until she drifted off into a groggy sleep, unaware of when he finally stopped.
Yingran’s mind was preoccupied with going to Yunshui County, so exhausted she couldn’t sleep soundly.
The next morning, Xu Liling got up, and hearing the noise, Yingran forced herself to rise too.
Xu Liling leaned over, “Not resting more?”
Yingran huffed irritably, ignoring him, and after washing up, waited by the flying steed.
Xu Liling didn’t stop her, riding the steed to take her to Yuehong Tavern. Neither spoke the whole way.
When the steed landed in the back alley of Yuehong, Xu Liling dismounted to help her down. Suddenly, she reached out and hugged him.
Xu Liling paused, asking, “What’s wrong?”
Then he felt a sharp pain at the back of his head.
Yingran slapped his head, “Xu Liling, if you do that again, don’t even think about touching me in the future.”
Xu Liling didn’t respond, helping her down as usual.
The past few days, she’d linger in his arms after dismounting.
Today, she just huffed at him and turned to enter Yuehong Tavern.
Xu Liling found it amusing, mounted the steed, and left.
Yingran routinely greeted the cultivators, but Ning Fei wanted her to go out again.
Yingran politely declined.
Ning Fei frowned, “Still not feeling well today?”
Knowing Ning Fei was targeting her, Yingran had no intention of going along anymore.
Yingran nodded, hearing Ning Fei mutter a curse under her breath.
She ignored it, returned to the rest room, and lay on the bed.
Madam Liu returned first, seeing her listless and asking with concern, “What’s wrong? Really caught a fever?”
Yingran vaguely replied, “Maybe I overdid it yesterday. I’m worn out today.”
“Then rest more.”
Madam Liu sat quietly sewing children’s clothes. When Madams Wang, Zhao, and Liu returned, they shushed each other, pointing to the bed, whispering, “She’s not feeling well…”
The four ladies kept their voices low, occasionally laughing too loudly, then glancing at the bed and hushing again.
Yingran slept deeply but, being at work, didn’t dare sleep too long.
Waking, she felt her waist and abdomen ache, thinking Xu Liling must’ve been too rough yesterday. She cursed him silently.
At noon, during lunch, Yingran went downstairs. Xu Liling was waiting at the entrance.
She gave him a cold look and walked to the back alley.
Xu Liling followed, suddenly stepping close, wrapping an arm around her waist.
Yingran, startled, glanced at the passersby and glared at him, “What are you doing?”
Xu Liling whispered, “Keep walking, into the alley.”
If he weren’t her husband, she’d have thought he was some knife-wielding robber.
Yingran inwardly grumbled but entered the alley.
Xu Liling stayed close behind her.
In the alley, as she was about to sit, he stopped her, laying out a handkerchief and handing her a lunchbox, “Eat first. I’ll be back later.”
Yingran asked, “Where are you going?”
He was acting oddly today.
Xu Liling: “To get you something.”
Yingran assumed he was making up for earlier, said “Oh,” and opened the lunchbox to eat.
Halfway through, Xu Liling returned, empty-handed.
Yingran, slightly disappointed, asked, “Where’s the thing you got?”
Xu Liling pulled out a cloth-wrapped item from his chest, “Take it and change.”
Yingran, confused, opened it, then quickly closed it.
Her eyes widened, and she touched the back of her skirt, feeling a small damp bloodstain.
Her period had come.
No wonder her stomach felt off this morning.
Yingran’s face scrunched up, panicking, “What do I do? I slept in the rest room this morning—did I stain the bed?”
Xu Liling: “I’ll handle it later. Change first.”
Yingran: “What about my skirt?”
Xu Liling: “Go straight home later.”
Yingran looked at him, feeling inexplicably aggrieved.
If she was just going home, why did she drag herself here this morning, and why bother arguing with him?
Her eyes reddened, lips trembling as tears threatened to fall.
Xu Liling looked at her for a moment, expressionless, “Wait here.”
Yingran sat waiting, watching him leave with teary eyes.
Soon, Xu Liling returned with a basin of water and a porcelain bottle.
He had Yingran stand and turn around, and she complied.
He knelt, using a cloth dipped in water and the bottle’s medicine to gently clean the bloodstain on her skirt.
It was hot, and Yingran wore thin clothing—a skirt and pants.
After cleaning the skirt, Yingran started to lift it to make it easier for him to clean her pants.
Xu Liling glanced up, his look stopping her, “Careful, someone might see.”
He knelt on one knee, ducking under her skirt to clean her pants.
Yingran looked down at him kneeling and bending, her eyes and nose stinging again.
“Huai Zhen,” she called softly.
“Hm?”
Yingran didn’t know what to say, just wanted to call his name.
Xu Liling didn’t press, finished cleaning, stood, and brushed dust off his robe, “The stain on your skirt is faint, barely noticeable. There’s new underwear and a menstrual cloth in the wrap. Go change and rest in the room.”
Yingran turned and hugged him, nestling sweetly against his chest, “What about you?”
He hadn’t eaten yet, and she wouldn’t be able to see him off later.
Xu Liling stroked her back, “I’ll pick you up tonight.”
Yingran looked up at him from his arms.
He leaned down, kissing her forehead lightly.
Leaving the items in the alley, Xu Liling carried the lunchbox and escorted Yingran back to Yuehong Tavern.
Worried about staining the bed, Yingran checked anxiously but was relieved to find it clean.
Still, Xu Liling negotiated with the tavern, bought the bedding, and arranged another room for Yingran to rest in. He gave her the lunchbox, telling her to eat and rest.
Her periods were irregular and sometimes painful, sensitive to noise.
Yingran felt okay today, but Xu Liling still ensured everything was arranged.
Yingran went to the back window, looking down to see Xu Liling in the alley, packing up to leave.
He sensed her gaze and looked up at her.
Yingran leaned on the windowsill, waving at him.
Xu Liling waved at her, signaling her to rest.
Yingran shook her head, her eyes telling him: Go, I’ll watch from here.
Xu Liling looked at her for a moment, then led the flying steed out of the back alley.
Once he was out of sight, Yingran finally went to lie down.
She rested on the bed for a while when the door was suddenly knocked.
She got up to open it.
Outside was Xu Liling, holding a bowl of sweet red date soup for her.