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墨書 Inktalez
It was now late summer. Although the heat had not completely faded, the mornings and evenings were cool enough that even Mother wore two layers of clothing.
At this moment, I was dressed in a long-sleeved top and pants, rather than a simple summer shirt. However, Zhou Cailian was dressed unusually lightly; thankfully, she wore a light-colored undergarment underneath her semi-transparent outer garment, or else she would have been revealing more than intended.
I couldn't help but notice that Zhou Cailian was only a few months older than Xia Muxin, yet her figure had developed quite well. Not only was she taller, but her curves were also more pronounced, which she took great pride in.
After glancing at her, Xia Muxin lowered her head to continue washing clothes. After all, the Xia family could never become relatives with the Zhou family. It wasn't that Xia Muxin held a grudge; it was just that she deeply disliked their ugly demeanor and style of doing things, not to mention their jealousy towards others.
Zhou Cailian hadn't been outside for some time and seemed to have lost her spirit. Yet, the more she sulked, the more it aroused suspicion. She absolutely could not let anyone know that she had lost her purity. Moreover, with her elder sister having married well and her second sister destined to be the wife of a top scholar, she could not allow herself to fall behind them. After some contemplation, she finally came to terms with it.
This morning, she got out of bed with renewed energy and even took the initiative to wash some clothes.
However, what she didn't expect upon stepping outside was to see Xia Muxin there. She hated her to the core; if it weren't for Xia Muxin's birthday and her cunning ways, Young Master Shen would never have looked down on her.
Thinking about this made her blood boil. In a few strides, she walked over and kicked the wooden basin next to Xia Muxin into the river.
Xia Muxin was startled by this sudden action and couldn't react in time to stop the basin from falling. She could only watch helplessly as it sank along with the clothes.
"Have you gone mad?"
Xia Muxin shot Zhou Cailian an annoyed glance. Seeing some clothes floating up and threatening to drift away with the current, she grumbled and rolled up her pant legs to wade into the water to retrieve them.
"What’s wrong with you? Did Muxin provoke you? Why do you have to learn your grandmother's and mother's bad temper?"
"What’s going on? Why kick someone else's things? It's early in the morning; the water is cold! Be careful not to slip!"
"Muxin! Quickly get those clothes out of the water before you catch a chill!"
It was early, not just the time for laundry, but also for the villagers to get to work. At that moment, a group of people was carrying tools to start their tasks. Xia Muxin had become quite the celebrity in the village; everyone she had hired, regardless of age or gender, praised her with thumbs up. Her reputation had spread beyond the village.
As they passed by, before they could greet her, Zhou Cailian suddenly kicked out for no reason, causing everyone to stop and defend Xia Muxin.
The crowd began to accuse Zhou Cailian one after another. Zhou Cailian, known for her beauty and smooth demeanor, had always been favored by her family and had never faced such public scorn before. At that moment, her mind was filled with the harsh words of the old villagers, making her head buzz.
The source of her frustration stood right in front of her; at that moment, she wished nothing more than for Xia Muxin to disappear.
It was all her fault. If Xia Muxin hadn’t taken the position of concubine in the Wang family, none of this would have happened. As these thoughts raced through her mind, a cold murderous intent flashed in her eyes as she hurled the wooden basin at Xia Muxin, who was bent over retrieving clothes.
Xia Muxin was unaware of the impending danger; she was focused on pulling up the clothes that her mother had painstakingly sewn together during her illness.
Just as she retrieved the last piece of clothing and turned to head back to shore with the wooden basin in hand, a massive object flew toward her. She was caught off guard and couldn’t dodge in time. A scream erupted from the shore as it seemed she would be struck. Suddenly, a chilling gust of wind swept through, causing the wooden basin to spin in mid-air before it flew out into the center of the river with a loud crash.
The basin shattered into several pieces along with the clothes that fell onto the water's surface and were quickly swept away by the current.
Shen Muhan approached with an icy expression and pulled Xia Muxin up from where she stood dazed in the water. He bent down to take off her wet trousers and then turned to face Zhou Cailian, who looked horrified.
“Don’t let me see this again,” he said coldly. “Otherwise…”
As he spoke, a stone suddenly flew into his palm from the ground. He clenched his fist, turning it into dust that slipped through his fingers.
Zhou Cailian trembled as she took several steps back, pointing an accusing finger at Shen Muhan with tears streaming down her face. “Why do you treat me like this? Why? She’s not as pretty as I am, doesn’t have my figure or knowledge. All she has are hands that can only do rough work—what makes her worthy of your kindness?”
By the end, her voice broke into heart-wrenching sobs.
“What I see in her is precisely what you deem worthless. No matter how good you are, you cannot catch my eye; what use is that?”
Shen Muhan showed no sympathy for Zhou Cailian's accusations, his grip on Xia Muxin's hand tightening as he pierced through Zhou Cailian's words like ice, leaving her utterly wounded.
"Ah... I hate you all, I hate you all!"
Zhou Cailian could no longer suppress the resentment within her. Clutching her head with both hands, she let out a mournful cry and ran frantically back home.
The other villagers were stunned by Shen Muhan's earlier display until Xia Muxin awkwardly nodded at them, prompting everyone to snap back to reality and flee with their tools as if they had seen a ghost.
Once everyone had left, Xia Muxin bent down slightly, absently scrubbing the clothes in her hands.
Shen Muhan sighed helplessly and squatted beside her, observing her fierce movements as she worked. He pinched the bridge of his nose and said, "If there's something on your mind, just say it. Don't keep it bottled up; it makes me uneasy."
At his words, Xia Muxin forcefully tossed the clothes into the Wooden Basin and glared at Shen Muhan, her tone sharp. "You’ve known about me all along; you’ve been plotting against me."
She vividly remembered the first time she cooked at Fushou Tower when Zhao Qiushui's maid had splashed soup on her during an argument. At that moment, a chilling wind had swept through, sparing her from the scalding broth.
Since he had intervened then and was likely familiar with Su Yan-Chu, why did he always avoid her whenever she visited Fushou Tower? Why pretend not to know her from the very beginning?
And yet he had stayed in her home for so long.
Shen Muhan rubbed his forehead in frustration, knowing this girl would cling to this matter. Out of all the things she could forget, she chose to remember this one.
After a pause, he replied, "I was afraid of scaring you."
"What about you would scare me?"
Xia Muxin would never listen to his nonsense; he was clearly approaching her with ulterior motives.
"Are you sure you want me to say it?"
"Of course!"
"Can I say that I fell in love with you at first sight and then schemed my way into living at your house just to wait for you to grow up?"
Upon hearing this, Xia Muxin was stunned. After a long pause, she finally shouted, "Uncle, if you want to chase after young grass, you should at least check if this young cow is suitable, okay? I'm only twelve!"
Xia Muxin was perceptive and had long understood Shen Muhan's intentions. Moreover, he had always protected her, ensuring she wouldn't suffer even the slightest harm. Yet, she was determined to stand against him.
"Now I'm thirteen, and besides, I'm not that old of a cow; we match quite well."
"That's nonsense!"
Xia Muxin shot him a glare and huffed out two words through her nose before getting back to her tasks.
Shen Muhan suddenly felt relieved; after all, this girl hadn't outright rejected him. He took the clothes she had washed and wrung them out.
The two of them worked together in a surprisingly harmonious manner.
"You see, we're a perfect match; even washing clothes shows our connection!"
After finishing the laundry, Shen Muhan held the wooden basin in one hand and took Xia Muxin's small hand with the other. Teasingly, he said, noticing her hand was cold, "Was it cold after you put your hands in the water?"
Xia Muxin felt a bit cold, after all, the water was icy this early in the morning, chilling her to the bone. Even after a while, her legs remained cold, and she could feel a draft against her back.
When Shen Muhan asked her how she was doing, she shook her head and replied, "It's fine!"
"Fine" meant it was cold. Shen Muhan's gaze deepened as he quickly pulled her back home and immediately set about making her a bowl of ginger soup.
He had learned quite a bit during this time. Although he wasn't skilled enough to cook a meal like Xia Muxin could, he could manage boiling water and cooking porridge.
"Here, drink it while it's hot. You'll sweat it out," he said.
Xia Muxin felt a surge of emotion as she took the ginger soup and began to sip it slowly. Suddenly, she spoke up, "Uncle, your status must be quite extraordinary. You will have many women in the future, and I—"
"What women? In this lifetime, I, Shen Muhan, will only marry one woman—it's you, Xia Muxin. I will only treat one woman well, and that’s you too, Xia Muxin. So you need to grow up quickly; I’m afraid I won’t be able to wait until you turn sixteen. And also, don’t say you don’t want to!"
Shen Muhan's domineering expression left Xia Muxin momentarily stunned. As she spoke, her throat tightened, and her gaze unconsciously drifted toward Xia Muxin's chest.
- End of Chapter -
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