“Honestly, neither of you writes particularly well. It doesn’t even resemble the book’s script—just fooling someone like me who can’t read.”
Guanxin, too lazy to argue with ignorance, smugly asked, “So, mine’s better, right?”
Nanshan shot him a pointed look.
“You’ve got all this fresh paper, but you’re writing on the same sheet as Ji Yue?”
Suddenly, Guanxin’s cheeks turned bright red.
Nanshan clicked her tongue, her gaze making his face even redder.
After a grueling day of learning just four characters, Nanshan was so tired she went straight to sleep after dinner.
When she woke, the sky was still bright, though there seemed to be a dark spot on the blood-red sun.
Strictly speaking, the spot had been there for a while, but she hadn’t noticed it earlier.
Now, it looked bigger.
“Awake?” The brat waved his bamboo stick excitedly.
“Ji Yue came by earlier and praised you for finishing your homework, and even said I’m a good teacher.”
Nanshan raised an eyebrow, “So where is Ji Yue?”
Guanxin frowned, “I’ve noticed you’ve been addressing him so casually lately. That’s pretty rude.”
Nanshan smiled slyly. “I’m his fiancée.”
Guanxin froze.
“If things go smoothly, I should be sleeping in his bed soon…”
Nanshan began, then paused abruptly, seeing the shock on Guanxin’s face.
Satisfied, she added, “In his bed.”
Even though she had corrected herself, Guanxin still looked horrified.
“How could you say that to a kid?”
“Tch, little demon.” Nanshan rolled her eyes. “Answer me: where’s Ji Yue?”
Guanxin smirked.
“He handed the task of teaching you to me. Now, I’m in charge.”
Nanshan eyed the bamboo stick in his hand, her intuition telling her the next few days wouldn’t be pleasant.
Sure enough, she was right.
Compared to Ji Yue’s calm and soft-spoken manner, this little demon was a total menace.
Though he never hit her with the stick, he would tap it on the desk occasionally as a warning, taunting her to get back to work.
It was nothing like Ji Yue’s gentle guidance.
Adding to the frustration, it was clear that Guanxin was trying to earn credit for himself.
The pace of learning four characters per meal no longer satisfied him.
As the workload increased, so did Nanshan’s resentment.
She tried protesting, but Guanxin held her food hostage.
If she resisted, she got plain vegetables; if she worked hard, it was meat and fish.
After enduring a few meals of bland food, she reluctantly learned to obey.
In this strange situation, she found herself missing Ji Yue…
When would he come back to deal with Guanxin?
She was going to complain to him!
Nanshan waited eagerly, but no matter how many meals passed, Ji Yue didn’t show up.
Instead, the dark spot in the sky grew larger, and the brightness of the day dimmed a little.
Since East Yi Island was always in daylight, Nanshan could never tell the difference between naps and nighttime.
Slowly, she lost track of time.
All she knew was when she was hungry, she ate; when she was sleepy, she slept.
Gradually, everything outside the island seemed like a distant memory.
Thanks to the small mischievous spirits, her literacy efficiency shot up.
The book, already thin, was soon finished in just a few pages.
Shouxin was full of determination, resolute in teaching the remaining characters within the time it took to finish a meal.
However, after taking a nap, Nanshan found herself unable to get out of bed.
“How are you acting this way again? You’re so old, and still trying to get out of learning by being sneaky! Isn’t that just too childish?”
Shouxin stood by the bed, holding a bamboo stick, looking at her in exasperation.
Nanshan let out a weak sigh, looking at him with a tired gaze.
“Help me find a few sanitary pads.”
“What are those?” Shouxin asked, confused.
If it weren’t for the sharp pains in her stomach, Nanshan would have rolled her eyes at him.
“They’re for me. If you really don’t understand, go ask someone else. I don’t have the energy to explain this to you.”
“Your attitude is so bad.”
Shouxin mumbled under his breath, but seeing how pale she was, he left to go find what she needed.
Alone, Nanshan curled up in bed, letting out a soft hum.
She usually had irregular cycles, but it had been months since her last one, possibly even since before her twentieth birthday.
When it came, it always caused excruciating pain, but this time, it was so bad she almost passed out from the agony.
Shouxin left the door open, and a draft swept in, making her stomach pain worse.
She wrapped herself tightly in the blanket, looking the same as always, but only she knew how miserable she felt underneath it.
Right then, she wished for a bowl of hot brown sugar water.
For the impoverished Sun family village, brown sugar was a rare treat.
Her mother always kept some stored up, knowing how badly Nanshan suffered during her period.
Besides giving it to her at those times, her mother would sometimes give her a small bowl just to satisfy her cravings.
But her family couldn’t always afford it.
Luckily, her third aunt knew about her condition, so whenever they had some brown sugar, they’d give her a little—enough for a couple of cups.
Where was Shouxin?
Had he gone out and forgotten about her?
Kids were so unreliable.
Nanshan huffed, burying her face into the pillow.
She waited too long, only to fall into a heavy sleep.
In her dream, Sun family village was peaceful and quiet.
Erpang and the others were running and playing in the fields, so loud that they trampled some wheat seedlings, earning scoldings from the elders working nearby.
“Why are you all so troublesome! Look at how well-behaved Nanshan is, she even helps out around the house!”
Third Aunt, hands on her hips, scolded them.
Sitting in the sun by the field, Nanshan suddenly felt guilty.
“I… I didn’t do much.”
“Not doing much is still helping. So well-behaved,” Third Aunt smiled kindly at her, but when she looked back at Erpang and the others, her face turned stern.
“Behave yourselves. The sun is about to set. We need to finish the work before it gets dark.”
Is it really about to get dark?
Nanshan thought, looking up at the sky to see a blood-red sun.
Suddenly, she jolted awake, her gaze meeting a pair of gentle eyes.
“Jiyue…” she murmured, only to realize that the blanket had been pulled back, and Jiyue’s slender hand was resting gently on her abdomen.
She froze for a moment, instinctively trying to push him away.
But as her hand touched his, she felt a warm flow spreading through her stomach.
Jiyue explained slowly, “The pain you’re feeling is due to blocked meridians. I’ve helped unblock them, which should relieve the pain.”
Nanshan stared at him, still silent, before looking up into his eyes.
After a long moment, Jiyue gently reached out and covered her with the blanket again.
“Does it still hurt?”
Nanshan continued to gaze at him, but Jiyue hesitated before asking if she felt any discomfort.
Before he could speak again, she suddenly buried her face in her pillow and began to cry softly.
Jiyue, usually unflappable, showed an unexpected look of helplessness.
He reached out to comfort her, but after a few tries, he withdrew, repeatedly asking her what was wrong.
The more he asked, the louder she cried, her face flushed with tears.
She cried for a long time, her eyes swollen.
Finally, she managed to speak through her sobs, “I… I want some brown sugar water.”
“Is that why you’re crying?” Jiyue asked with a helpless sigh.
Nanshan sniffled, pouting her lips, almost ready to cry again.
Jiyue quickly stood up, moving so fast that his chair scraped loudly against the floor.
“I’ll go get it right now,” he said hurriedly.
Nanshan’s sadness deepened.
“My clothes are dirty.”
Jiyue stopped dead in his tracks.
“I don’t want to use a cleaning spell. I want my mother to wash them and hang them in the yard to dry. I don’t like cleaning spells! I don’t like cleaning balls! Why do I, a mortal, have to use them!” Nanshan complained, tears threatening again.
Jiyue said nothing and quietly left the room.
Nanshan remained alone, crying for a while before gradually calming down.
Her emotions during this time were always unstable, and even the smallest things could set her off.
Her mother had always said it was normal.
After all, who wouldn’t feel upset when bleeding, sweating, and in pain?
As long as she didn’t overdo it, there was no need to be embarrassed by her sudden outbursts.
She had just wanted a bowl of brown sugar water…
Was crying really too much?
Lost in thought, she heard Shouxin come back, holding a bowl of brown sugar water and a bulging bundle on his back.
“Drink,” he said, handing it over.
Nanshan took the bowl, which was still a bit hot, and sipped at the edge.
Once she finished, Shouxin handed her the bundle.
“This has some clean clothes and the sanitary pads you needed.”
“Where did you find them?” Nanshan asked, grumbling.
“Don’t worry about it. The kitchen has plenty of brown sugar. Just let me know next time if you want more,” Shouxin said.
Then he paused, noticing her red eyes.
“You were crying?”
“No!” Nanshan quickly turned away.
“By the way, there’s a kitchen here too?”
“Of course, how else would we eat?” Shouxin replied.
Nanshan thought to herself, I’ve never seen you eat anything.
Shouxin gave her a sideways glance.
From his observation, the people here seemed to live in a kind of timeless stasis, where long days felt like nothing more than a regular one.
Only she still kept to a normal routine—sleeping and eating.
Strangely, Shouxin didn’t find her unusual, nor did he seem to think that his own habits were strange.
Nanshan rubbed her eyes, and after Shouxin left, she changed into the fresh clothes, tossing the dirty ones into a basin without using any cleaning spell, just letting them sit in the corner.
Jiyue was indeed skilled; after he had helped clear her meridians, the pain had subsided, though she still felt weak.
It seemed that he had convinced Shouxin to be more lenient with her, as the usually strict teacher didn’t press her to get up and practice her writing.
She ate another meal, feeling exhausted as another day passed, then crawled into bed, pulling the covers tight and falling into a restless sleep.
But after not long, she was woken by a sharp sensation in her abdomen.
She reluctantly opened her eyes, reached for a sanitary pad, and was about to get out of bed when she noticed that the basin in the corner was gone.
The sun was still high in the sky, but dark spots had spread across it, and the light wasn’t as bright as before.
“Do you need to soak this first?” she wondered.
“Just toss it in the water,” came the reply.
“Ah! There’s foam! It’s slippery too,” she murmured.
She slowly walked out of the room, only to see Shouxin and Jiyue sitting side by side, their backs to her, engaged in a heated discussion.
Well, it seemed like only Shouxin was the one really passionate about it.
“What are you doing?” Nanshan asked, hesitating.
Both turned around at the same time, revealing a small wooden basin between them, filled with foam.
Below the foam, she could just make out some clothes.
Her face turned bright red as she rushed forward, shoving them apart.
Jiyue and Shouxin had clearly not expected her to suddenly do that, and both were knocked off their small stools, staring at her in shock.
“W-what are you two doing?!” Nanshan’s cheeks burned.
Although she hadn’t been taught many formalities, she knew that undergarments weren’t something a man should touch, especially when they had been in contact with… well, that time of the month.
While she was scolding them, Jiyue had already stood up, and Shouxin was still sitting on the ground, gripping his ankle and accusing her.
“What’s wrong with you? We were just helping you wash your clothes!”
“When did I ask you to wash my clothes?!” Nanshan was speechless.
“It was what the Immortal Lord said!” Shouxin replied.
Nanshan immediately turned to Jiyue.
Jiyue didn’t deny it.
“I couldn’t bring your mother here, so I had to do it myself.”
Nanshan froze, staring at him with a blank expression.
His face was so calm, even to the point of being unaware, and for a moment, she couldn’t find the words to respond.