Un cœur pur dans un pot de jade

Chapitre 18

The one who said this was none other than Xiao Chenchen.

Everyone sighed, "I knew Xiao Chenchen was up to no good. I heard that the beauty was famous for her fiery temper back then. Xu Yi, that fiend, offended her, sigh..." After a sigh, everyone opened their eyes wide, eager to see the show.

"How did you become like this?!" Xiao Chenchen walked up behind the uncle, her voice filled with regret, and asked a question with a very literary tone.

The uncle's back was stiff. Even without him turning his head, I could imagine the white powder mask that had just been rolled out of the flour vat.

"What do you think their relationship is?" I turned to ask the wild man.

The few drops of blood on the savage's lips were completely wiped away, but a few finger marks remained on his cheek. I couldn't help but reach out to rub his cheek, and he smiled slightly, then shook his head, indicating that I should mind my own business.

“Savage,” I pouted, “you’ve been dragged into this mess by me so many times, why aren’t you angry with me at all?”

The savage's eyebrows relaxed, and he laughed even more heartily. He raised his hand and gently pulled the corners of my mouth upwards, then silently uttered a joke that left me feeling helpless: "I'm happy."

"What's there to be happy about?" I retorted. "Happy to have been beaten up? Or to have been beaten senseless?"

The savage smiled, but this time he didn't say anything.

"By the way," I continued, "what exactly happened just now? Why did Xiao Chenchen hit you?"

The person in front of me had a change in his clear eyes in an instant, but the smile on his face didn't change. I told him that his smile was fake. He looked at me with a smile, but there was no smile in his eyes. He was just pretending to be sincere.

I extended my hand, and the savage hesitated for a second before finally writing on my palm with his index finger: "Just now, I was afraid she would hurt you, so in a moment of panic..."

"What happened in a panic?" I pressed.

In his haste... he touched her chest.

The savage's fingertip traced the final stroke in my palm—then he tensed up, watching me intently, as if afraid I would turn on him like a flipping through a book. He didn't dare blink or breathe, his hand hovering in mid-air, slowly clenching into a fist. He was like a cheating husband facing his wife who had caught him in the act, cautiously, obsequiously, panicked, helpless, and resignedly observing my reaction.

Do I look like such a petty person? The savage's actions made me both laugh and cry. "What are you doing?" I asked with a smile. "It was just a little touch on a woman's chest. You didn't do it on purpose. Are you afraid I'll be jealous? Do you think I'm such an unreasonable person?"

After I finished laughing, I realized that the savage's expression was still stiff. He stared at me and waited patiently for me to finish laughing. Then he took my hand with one hand and slowly wrote in my palm with the other: I did it on purpose.

"What?" I didn't react.

So he wrote: I couldn't beat her, therefore, touching her chest was intentional.

"You groped my breasts?!" This time I finally realized what was happening. "Are you even a man? How can you be so shameless?!"

After he finished speaking, the savage's face turned pale on the spot.

I immediately regretted it. Who was he doing this for? Wasn't it for me?

"Savage, savage..."

The savage slowly lowered his eyes and stopped looking at me. Although this was his reaction whenever he admitted his mistake, there are many kinds of admissions, not to mention that he reacted this way when he felt uncomfortable or inexplicably desperate.

He used to tremble occasionally when he lowered his head, but this time he didn't tremble. However, his fist, hanging by his side, was clenched so tightly that it was terrifying. The crisscrossing veins looked as if they were about to burst and gush. His protruding, white joints and bones were covered with a thin, completely transparent layer of skin. To be honest, to me, his fist was almost deformed.

“Savage!” I stepped forward and grabbed his fists with both hands. “I didn’t mean that, I…”

He kept his head down, his fist still clenched. I felt it was pointless to say anything more, so I leaned down to look at his face. I found his eyes were almost closed; I couldn't see his expression, let alone read anything from his blank face—"Savage, I know I was wrong..." I released his fist and looked around to make sure no one was watching. I reached out and hugged his waist tightly, feeling him stiffen completely. Being unreasonable, I buried my head in his shoulder and rubbed against him. "Savage, don't do that, it's scary. I was wrong, I'll never do it again, please don't be angry..."

He still ignored me, so I withdrew my hand, feeling helpless...

"Savage, raise your head."

I didn't have any expectations for this statement, nor did I try to be cute or unreasonable, but it worked.

The savage slowly raised his head, his face pale and bearing a handprint on his cheek. His eyes were illuminated by the sunset, but the light in them was unlike anything I had ever seen before. Or rather, if the sunset hadn't been there, the light in the savage's eyes would have been deep, profound, and restrained. He was no longer as pure as he had been in Savage Valley. Ever since he learned to smile without batting an eye, he had changed little by little. I felt like I could hardly guess what he was thinking anymore. We used to have such a tacit understanding, but now I had the strange feeling of watching him walk further and further away.

"Why are you angry?" I asked very seriously, feeling that my expression was more serious than ever before.

He shook his head, meaning he wasn't angry.

"What did you say that made you uncomfortable?" I remained very serious, so serious that... it felt like our roles had been temporarily reversed. I was the one apologizing, but in the end, it was him who was being interrogated by me.

He lowered his eyes but did not bow his head. His clenched fist slowly relaxed, and suddenly he opened his mouth. The savage spoke a sentence silently and very quickly.

"What did you say?" He never did this before. If he had to speak to me, the savage would always pronounce each word slowly and deliberately, making his mouth movements incredibly full, as if afraid I wouldn't understand. So this was the first time. He didn't care about me at all. There was no sound, and the words he uttered as his lips moved were completely unpredictable to me.

We can't continue like this, otherwise the problem will only get bigger and bigger.

However, I was surrounded by people, and the sounds of two people confronting each other reached my ears. I couldn't concentrate on figuring out the savage at all. When I turned around, I heard Xiao Chenchen ask, "You wanted to kill him just now, so why are you saving him now?"

The assassin retorted, "You wanted to save him before, so why are you hurting him now?"

Why did these two plagiarize Gu Long? I admit, before I could even grasp the essence of the matter, I lost focus again.

Xiao Chenchen, who was not far away, said, "This is between him and me, it has nothing to do with you!"

The assassin replied, "He's the man I'm going to kill. Before I make my move, nobody can touch him!"

The woman in the wheelchair leaned forward to mediate: "Gentlemen, may I ask what trouble my brother has caused to make you both so angry?"

"Brother?!" Xiao Chenchen sneered. "Don't try to claim kinship with him. Your brother's surname is Li, his surname is Wang, he—"

"Shut up!" Uncle Xu finally lost his temper, taking two steps to stand in front of Xiao Chenchen. The fierce light in his eyes was unsettling, and his usually hunched back straightened up. Standing in front of Xiao Chenchen, Xu Yi made people completely ignore his naturally thin and bony figure. On the contrary, I suddenly felt that he was very tall and manly.

"Wild man, wild man..." I forgot myself and reached out to pull the wild man. When I turned around, I saw the wild man's gentle eyes waiting for me to continue. I was startled to realize that, just a moment ago, the problem between the two of us had not been resolved in any substantial way.

At this moment, however, he had already avoided the question.

This can't be! I've forgotten what I was going to say. I turned around, very angry, angry at myself.

When I turned around, I saw the aunt grabbing the uncle's sleeve, hissing, "Tell me...who...who are you? Tell me...tell me!!"

The woman's illness flared up, and she was in so much pain that she fell off her wheelchair and spun around on the ground, in excruciating pain.

The uncle knelt on the ground, trying to feed the auntie a pill, but she forcefully pushed his hand away, refusing to take it even at the cost of her life… The previously buzzing crowd fell silent as they watched the uncle suddenly leap to his feet, appearing before the assassin in the blink of an eye. “Kill her!” The uncle grabbed the assassin’s wrist with lightning speed. The assassin, gripping his sword, was startled and tried to pull away immediately, but the uncle coughed violently, much more violently than the Second Young Master Nangong. He held on tightly, his words broken and fragmented: “You didn’t… want to… kill me? Cough cough… As long as you kill her now… cough… I’m willing to commit suicide… In the future, no one will avenge me… cough cough cough…”

"Who are you going to kill?!" The young assassin cried, while the middle-aged man pointed at the middle-aged woman.

"Are you crazy?!" Xiao Chenchen stepped forward.

"Get out of the way!!" the uncle yelled at Xiao Chenchen. Who had ever seen Xu Yi so out of control? The crowd began to stir again.

"Fine!" The assassin shoved the man aside. "I'll kill her. Don't forget what you said!"

The assassin swung his blade down with a clang, and a shadow flashed past many people's eyes. I saw it too, but in the blink of an eye, the shadow vanished, leaving only the assassin standing in the middle of the courtyard, his face sullen as he stared at the broken sword in his hand: "It's broken again!!" The assassin threw down the broken sword and cursed: "I don't want you anymore!! I have plenty of swords, I'll get that God-Weeping Sword one day, I'll..."

The man was completely stunned and slumped to the ground in a daze.

The woman was still curled up in pain.

As the last rays of the setting sun shone on the banks of Dujiangyan, the beautiful Xiao Chenchen slowly closed her eyes, a faint glow sliding down her cheek.

Never follow the rules

The aunt is having a funeral.

The fireworks shop was deserted, because everyone who had seen Xu Yi recently said that he couldn't even heal himself, let alone save others.

Sunlight streamed in from my window seat at the Xiaoxiaoxiao Teahouse in Chengdu, and steam rose from every cup of tea. I leaned over the table, sighing softly.

The savage sat down beside me, patted me, and when I looked up, he casually stuffed a peeled roasted chestnut into my mouth.

"Utterly tasteless..." I commented as I chewed.

The savage smiled, somewhat helplessly.

“Savage…” I leaned forward and put my arm around the savage’s neck. The savage, who was sitting far away, quickly moved his head closer and caught me. He was still helpless. People at the next few tables saw us like this and made all sorts of comments, such as gasps, contempt, and eye rolls. But the savage put his hand on my back and patted me a couple of times. He maintained a very twisted and painful posture, but he never thought of pushing me away.

“Savage,” I asked him, “I’ve done such a terrible thing, what should I do?”

The savage dared not let go of me, but freed one hand, reaching towards the table. He dipped his fingertips in tea and wrote on the table: You did not mean to do this, I do not blame you.

"Why aren't you blaming me?" I started wriggling in the wild man's arms. "I was the one who led those people to Auntie's house. Auntie was so angry with me that she died. Why aren't you blaming me? I wonder how the transvestite uncle is doing. Auntie is dead. Uncle must be very sad. Will he try to kill himself? What should I do?"

The savage remained completely silent, listening to me complain in his arms. He simply placed his hand on my back, patting it every now and then.

“Wild man…” My back cramped up a bit, so I let go of the wild man. Seeing that the wild man was absent-minded and lost in thought, I got excited.

"This isn't over yet!" I slammed my hand on the table, startling the savage. He turned to look at me, his face full of confusion.

"Don't you think the two of us..." I thought for a moment and came up with a word, "We need to talk."

The savage continued to look at me with confusion. I had spoiled him with my teachings. I think the first thought that popped into his head right now was: What are we talking about? Dating?

When he finally understood what I was talking about, his eyes, which had been warm like steaming tea, slowly dimmed.

You're mistaken... Before I could ask, he poured a drop of tea and wrote on the vermilion table: I was being unreasonable that day, you didn't say anything wrong to me... I'm not angry with you.

"Are you being unreasonable?!" I picked up a chestnut from the table and smashed it over the savage's head. "You know I don't think before I speak. So what if you groped my breasts? Why should I say you have no character? Why aren't you angry? — That's the point. If you're not angry with me, then why were you so agitated, gripping my hand so tightly? Were you angry with yourself? Do you really think I'm an idiot? Why don't you blame me when I do something wrong? Why don't you tell me when you're upset? You make me feel very insecure, you know that? — Do you even know that?!"

In my agitation, I grabbed a handful of chestnuts and, in my excitement, threw them all at the savage's face.

The savage neither dodged nor flinched, staring intently at me. Seeing that I was deflated, he leaned down, placed his hand on my face, and began to vigorously rub my cheek with his palm.

If he had acted like this before, I would have definitely found him disgusting and avoided him. But this time, I didn't dare to move, because as he gently stroked my face, his eyes revealed a deep sorrow. Perhaps I was mistaken at first, but gradually, it became more and more sorrowful...

"What's wrong?" I asked cautiously, sensing that the wild man was in a bad mood. In fact, he was often in a bad mood, but he played along, putting on a smiling act in front of me when I was in a good mood.

“Savage,” I raised my hand and grasped his, “do you know why Martians and Venusians can live together? Do you know what’s most important for people from two different planets to get along?”

He nodded. He understood. The most important thing for a man and a woman to be together is honesty.

Be honest when you're happy together, and be honest when you separate when you're unhappy.

"Am I being honest with you?" I asked him.

He smiled wryly and nodded.

"Are you honest with me?"

He looked away.

Finally, the savage's hand slid off my face, but I clung to him, unwilling to let go.

He smiled, gestured to the table with his eyes, indicating that he wanted to write and told me to let go.

"How annoying!" I let go. "Who was grabbing you?"

The savage smiled helplessly, then dipped his finger in tea and wrote on the table: If I were utterly wicked, what would you do?

"Heinous crimes?" I asked, puzzled, then exclaimed, "Savage, you've regained your memories?!"

The savage shook his head.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness..." After uttering those two words, I felt completely relieved.

The savage waited for me quietly, without writing anything more; he was waiting for my answer.

"What kind of ridiculous question is that!" I glared at him. "Is that how you use an analogy? It scared me to death!"