Chapter 3

"You little bastard! Just wait, I'll have your uncle beat you to death when we get back!" Xia Yutian spat, his face flushed with humiliation and rage. He reached down and pulled a thin women's belt from his waist.

Holding it in his hand, he muttered in defensive embarrassment, "I wasn't trying to do anything. This is a belt I bought for you in town last time. I was just afraid someone would see me with it, so I tucked it inside my own waistband to bring it here."

Su Liuhe remained silent for a long time, her eyes fixed on the youth who stood with his back to her. Through his loose, short tunic, she could see a lean, muscular back crisscrossed with old scars. There were fresh whip welts on it, which instantly reminded her of what Butcher Hu, who had come to propose marriage yesterday, had mentioned.

So, the one who had been beaten was him.

The youth tilted his neck, looking askance at Su Liuhe. "Hey," he drawled, "a man is giving you his belt."

Su Liuhe noticed that his pupils were much darker and deeper than normal, like a calm pool hiding the raw, untamed power of a wild beast.

"What smelly man? Why on earth would I want his belt!" Su Liuhe said, riding on the boy's coat-tails to sound bold. "Stop putting on an act, Xia Yutian. Get lost. I don't want to see you ever again."

Xia Yutian seemed somewhat afraid of the boy. He paced around him warily, like a jackal eyeing prey it couldn't touch. By contrast, the boy stood rooted to the spot, radiating the cold, commanding presence of a lion king.

Xia Yutian tucked the women's belt back into his waistband. Regaining his facade of a refined gentleman, he asked Su Liuhe, "Shall I walk you down the mountain?"

"Still here?" The boy's eyes swept coldly over him.

Terrified, Xia Yutian scrambled down the mountain, cursing over his shoulder, "Mad dog raised in a kennel!"

The north wind swept through the mountains, sending fallen leaves rustling through the air. Crouched on the ground, Su Liuhe shivered.

She did not notice the boy's gaze sweep over the collar of her cotton coat before shifting down to her slender, porcelain-white ankle.

*Did she sprain her ankle?* he thought. *She grew up climbing these mountains; how could she still sprain her ankle?*

"Thank you for today. It looks like it's going to rain, so you should head back. I'll make my way down slowly."

"No need."

The boy crouched down in front of Su Liuhe. He patted his back and said, like coaxing a child, "Get on."

"No, really, I'm very heavy." Su Liuhe had lived twenty-four years in her previous life, after all. How could she let a minor carry her on his back?

"There are wolves in these mountains," the boy said flatly. "I'm leaving, then."

Su Liuhe instantly grabbed the hem of his trousers. "Carry me, please," she squeaked. "Sorry to trouble you."

As her soft, delicate body pressed against his burning-hot back, the boy stood up effortlessly, lifting the nearby basket with one hand.

Fearing she might fall, Su Liuhe wrapped both arms tightly around his neck. Pressed so closely against a body that was already exuding male hormones, Su Liuhe—a lifelong single in her past life—blushed despite herself.

But when she remembered he was still a minor, one who was whipped and abused by his uncle's family, her romantic notions instantly vanished.

The boy placed her small bamboo basket inside his larger carrying basket and made his way down the mountain. Looking at the scenery passing by, Su Liuhe realized only now just how secluded this part of the mountain was.

"It's fine to let men do your chores, but don't follow them deep into the mountains," the boy said with maturity beyond his years. "There are plenty of places in these deep woods where you go in and never come out."

Feeling the fair, soft arms around his neck tighten slightly, the boy heard Su Liuhe ask, "You saw them helping me with my work?"

He fell silent for a moment before replying honestly, "Yeah. They started early this morning."

"Never again," Su Liuhe promised.

"I thought that was just your thing," the boy remarked.

Su Liuhe retorted, "...I am a very decent person."

Feeling the warmth of the thin cotton coat through his back, the boy thought, *You literally stole my coat to wear, and you call yourself decent?*

It was his own fault for being careless. He had used that abandoned log cabin as his secret hideout and stashed his new coat there, only for her to get the bargain.

Oh well. Delicate as she was, she would definitely fall ill without a warm coat. It was better she had it than his uncle stealing it away.

Su Liuhe had been somewhat tense, keeping a wary eye on their surroundings for fear of a sneak attack from Xia Yutian. But once she spotted the plumes of cooking smoke rising from the village below, her anxiety eased, replaced by the throbbing pain in her ankle.

To distract herself, she asked, "What's your name?"

Her warm breath brushed against his ear. The boy paused for a beat. "Auntie, you have a terrible memory."

"...Auntie?" Su Liuhe echoed.

She hadn't realized her generational status in the village was so high. Thank goodness he hadn't called her "Grandma," or she would have had to prepare red envelopes.

The boy did not elaborate. "Gu Yiren. That's my name."

After a brief pause, he added, "I wasn't born in a kennel. My uncle found me in a wolf's den in these mountains."

"No wonder your eyes are so striking. Your gaze is so sharp and resolute, like a treasured blade waiting to be drawn."

Gu Yiren had never heard anyone praise him like this. His ears twitched slightly. "Don't praise me."

Normally, anyone who spoke kindly to him only wanted him to do hard labor. And once the work was done, they would go right back to calling him a bastard.

"At times like this, you're supposed to say, 'Thank you for the compliment,'" Su Liuhe said softly, feeling a pang of sympathy. "I'll call you Gu Yiren from now on."

He liked being called by his proper name. But the villagers only ever called him "bastard," "whelp," or "orphan." Hearing his actual name spoken so naturally by Su Liuhe felt strangely foreign.

"...Okay."

He was tall and powerfully built, possessing boundless strength. Even carrying her all the way from the deep woods to the dirt paths bordering the fields, he didn't seem to tire at all.

Armed with both the original host's memories and her own memories from a modern future, Su Liuhe didn't think twice about being carried.

However, the gossiping village women working along the ridges began exchanging knowing looks, stealing furtive glances in their direction.

"I heard she got kicked out of her house," one sharp-tongued woman muttered. "How is she still so lazy? She can't even walk down a hill by herself. Has she hooked up with another one?"

"That wretched boy. My family was in a rush to pickle cabbage, and when I asked him to help chop them, he refused. Turns out he was up in the mountains with a woman. He's barely grown, and he's already thinking about *that*?"

"You're the blind one. The other day, Xiangcai's mother and I went down to the river to wash clothes and caught him bathing. I tell you, there isn't a man in this village built like him. Whoever marries him is going to have her hands full, haha!"

"No wonder Xiangcai's mother was so eager to stop his uncle from beating him. She was trying to get on his good side! His uncle got drunk because of it and gave him another thrashing yesterday. But look at him, up and working today as if nothing happened, while his uncle is still hungover on the brick bed. Xiangcai's mother is shameless—probably wants to taste the fresh crop first! Hahaha!"

"Do you women have no sense of decency or law? He's a minor! He's just a kid!"

Clinging to Gu Yiren's back, Su Liuhe covered his ears to shield him from the filth. Seeing that their gossip was getting cruder by the second, she began to struggle, trying to slide down.

Gu Yiren knew exactly how vicious these village women could be. He locked his arms around her legs, refusing to let go no matter how much she squirmed and kicked behind him.

Left with no choice, Su Liuhe shouted back from his shoulders. But she was no match for them; their vulgar retorts quickly descended into crude, below-the-belt insults.

Instead of defending Gu Yiren's honor, she only succeeded in working herself up into a fit of rage.

By the time Gu Yiren safely carried her back to her house and set her down, the little aunt's eyes were rimmed with red. He couldn't tell if it was from anger or humiliation.

"Want some chestnuts?" he asked.

"No."

"Suit yourself."

Gu Yiren walked into the kitchen with practiced familiarity, pulled out a bottle of safflower oil from a loose brick in the wall, and handed it to her. "Rub it in yourself."

Su Liuhe immediately deflected, "Why didn't you let me down to fight them?"

Gu Yiren stared at his delicate, soft-skinned "aunt." Without a word, he crouched down and rolled up her trouser leg.

Su Liuhe gasped, "What do you think you're doing?"

Uncapping the bottle, Gu Yiren countered, "What could a minor like me possibly do?"

Thoroughly shut down, Su Liuhe felt her anger flare up again.

He took her ankle in his grip to inspect the swelling. Rubbing his heavily calloused hands together until they were warm, he began to massage the sprain.

Su Liuhe whimpered, "Ow, that hurts!"

"Hold still." He pulled her foot back into his palm, continuing to knead. Looking up, he remarked, "Nice coat, by the way."

Su Liuhe said defensively, "I don't know whose old coat it is. I was cold, so I took it. Ow! Gentler, please, it really hurts!"

"Do you have no common sense at all? You can't tell the difference between old cotton and brand-new cotton?"

Gu Yiren closed his eyes in exasperation. *Unbelievable.* The new coat he had painstakingly saved up for was now deemed an "old coat."

He hadn't even applied any real pressure yet, and the sprained ankle was already flushing red. "They weren't wrong about you," he muttered. "You really are delicate."

This was Gu Yiren's first impression of his "little aunt."

Su Liuhe admitted it without shame. "Being delicate just means I'm blessed with people to pamper me."

Gu Yiren looked around her bare, impoverished home. He wondered how she could make such a shameless claim with a straight face.

Suddenly, he reached out and measured her face with his hand.

Su Liuhe flinched back. "What are you doing?" She thought he was going to slap her with that massive hand of his.

Gu Yiren remarked, "Your face is tiny."

Su Liuhe replied dryly, "Doesn't stop me from being thick-skinned."

Gu Yiren: "...Fair point."

After a brief silence, Su Liuhe cleared her throat and said, "I'll find my own work. I can support myself."

*The sun must have risen from the west,* he thought.

Once he finished massaging her ankle, his stomach suddenly let out a loud rumble. Standing up as if nothing had happened, he said, "I'm heading out."

Su Liuhe grabbed his wrist. "Don't go. Auntie will make some porridge for you."

Gu Yiren glanced at the makeshift red-brick stove and the half-pot of stale rice porridge sitting on it, then turned on his heel to leave.

Su Liuhe was speechless. *What an impolite kid.*

She stood up and limped into the kitchen. The warmth in her ankle was still spreading, bringing a welcome sense of relief.

Just when she thought he had gone for good, he reappeared a moment later. He was carrying a small clay stove in his left hand and holding four or five sweet potatoes in his right.

Setting the clay stove down in the bedroom, he washed and chopped the sweet potatoes, tossing them into the thin, stale rice porridge to boil. "Red-brick stoves crack and explode easily," he said. "I'll throw that one out for you later."

Su Liuhe thought the clay stove was a wonderful addition. It could be brought indoors to keep the room warm, which was much better than cooking out in the yard. Without hesitation, she agreed, "Alright!"

"Not angry anymore?" he asked.

Su Liuhe was puzzled. "About what?"

*Carefree and forgetful.* This was Gu Yiren's second impression of her.

Once the sweet potato porridge was cooked, Su Liuhe, taking her place as the elder, sat on the edge of the brick bed. She held a chipped bowl and delicately scooped up the porridge with a small spoon, blowing on it gently before taking a bite.

Her cherry-red lips were soft and glossy. The refined way she ate reminded Gu Yiren of the disgraced landlord heiresses he had seen in old movies.

He sat on the threshold, gulping down the boiling-hot food as if his mouth were made of iron. In the blink of an eye, he had polished off three bowls of sweet potato porridge.

Su Liuhe watched him for a moment before finally snapping, "Eat slower. Use a spoon. And stop smacking your lips."

*High-maintenance.* This was Gu Yiren's third impression of his little aunt.

Still, he muttered a quiet protest, "I wasn't smacking my lips."

Su Liuhe reasoned stubbornly, "I'm just preventing it from happening."

Gu Yiren didn't understand her fancy words, but he slowed down anyway, taking two delicate bites in imitation of her.

*What a pain,* he thought.

While Su Liuhe was focused on her food, Gu Yiren quickly gulped down the rest of his bowl, stood up, and went to wash the dishes.

Su Liuhe watched him with narrowed eyes, no longer expecting him to say polite things like, "I'm done, take your time."

After Gu Yiren left, Su Liuhe noticed a small pile of chestnuts left on the kitchen counter.

Gu Yiren had left them for her.

*Well...* she thought, *he must have pitied how poor I am.*

She didn't dwell on it. Worried that the mice might get to them if left out, she gathered them up and stored them in a cracked pickle jar, filling it to the brim.