Un cœur pur dans un pot de jade

Chapitre 24

He used a little force to turn me over, and I went from lying on my side to lying on my back, staring wide-eyed at his face.

"What are you doing?" I asked him in a harsh tone.

He squeezed a small bottle in his hand a couple of times, then leaned closer to me, dipped his fingers in the substance, and applied it to my face.

"What is it?" I have a ton of skincare products, a ton of them unscented ones. In the dark, and honestly, in my anger, I really didn't know what he was putting on me. What if he was putting erythromycin eye ointment on my face? Would I wake up tomorrow with a face full of closed comedones?

However, this possibility is zero, because erythromycin is not packaged in bottles.

"What is it?" I asked impatiently. The savage was applying the sap from my forehead to my nose, and at close range, he and I were looking at each other.

I could finally see his eyes clearly. They were like a hazy mist. When he looked at me, I wasn't sure if he was looking at me. When he wasn't looking at me, I had no idea where he was looking.

Finally forced to look at me for a while, the savage's fingers moved again, smearing my entire face with paint.

He withdrew his hand, sat up straight, and only then did he take my hand, which was resting beside him, and write in my palm: overnight peel.

I know I've been making unfounded suspicions about him again, and I no longer want to doubt his competence.

But the savage didn't let go of my hand immediately. A moment later, he wrote again: Three times in seven days... The timing is just right. Don't worry, it won't ruin the effect.

I really want to punch him—is this really such a big deal?! Before he came along, I'd forget to use it after showering, and I never thought much of it. Maybe I'd reminded him before, but I'm sure I'd never made exfoliation a top priority and lecture him about it so much—but why is he doing this? He'd rather talk to me about this trivial stuff than tell me about our past together, those are the important things! This idiot, can't he even prioritize?!

The savage released my hand and got up to leave.

"Don't go!" I reached out and grabbed the hem of his clothes.

He turned around, and I pressed further: "Sleep with me... I'm not used to sleeping alone!"

The savage shook his head and removed my hand.

"You bastard savage!"

He finally turned around again. In the dimly lit room, I was half-lying down, the blanket had already slipped down to my chest. He stood not far from the bed, in a place where the candlelight could still shine. He spoke slowly and deliberately, “I am dirty,” he said matter-of-factly, “I cannot sleep with you.”

I grabbed a pillow and threw it at him. Luckily, I deliberately threw it off target, otherwise, I don't know what kind of stone the pillow was made of, it would have smashed a big hole in that savage's thin and frail body.

The pillow fell to the ground, and surprisingly, apart from a crisp sound, it didn't break.

The savage sighed, bent down to pick up the pillow, then went to his travel bag and rummaged through it. After a while, he found a small blanket. He folded the blanket neatly, came over, lifted my head, and placed the small blanket, which was of a decent size, height, and softness, under my head. He let go of me, took my hand, sat back on the edge of the bed, and never left again.

Life or death...

I woke up from a wonderful dream, but the wild man by my bedside was gone.

I sat up abruptly, let out a long sigh of relief, then frowned and looked at the wild man in the corner, who was holding my travel bag, head drooping, fast asleep.

I'm standing here all alone, and instead of hugging him and rolling around together, he goes and hugs my bag?!

There was a perfectly good bed right in front of him to sleep on, and instead of sleeping on it, he chose to sleep on the floor?!

He started acting out, so I got out of bed and went to his side, and couldn't help but want to kick him a couple of times.

But when I get close, I can't bear to leave.

How much suffering he must have endured—I knelt down beside him, reaching out to pull the travel bag out of his arms so I could put myself inside, but he held on so tightly, even in my dream, his arms wrapped around it, the somewhat loose bag pressed tightly against his chest, his face pressed against the bag, unwilling to let go no matter what—did he really treat the bag like a person? Seeing his fingers embedded in the folds of the bag, his knuckles turning white, my heart ached and my chest tightened.

Then, reaching out to help him adjust his position, she finally realized a problem. The savage's body was trembling and burning hot; he wasn't just sleeping soundly, he was unconscious!

"Savage!" I lifted his head and slapped his face hard. "Savage, savage, wake up!"

The other person's head wobbled, and as if without any support, it slipped from my hand.

"Savage!" I finally realized the seriousness of the situation. My knees buckled and I knelt on the ground. I lifted his face, and with my other hand, I stepped forward and patted him hard. I had to wake him up before I could feel at ease.

But—"Savage! Savage!" He remained unconscious.

This was serious. I pulled the wild man forward, bag and all, into my arms, then tilted my head back and shouted at the top of my lungs, "Yan Chaohong—! Xu Xiaoming—! Is anyone there—help me!!!"

...

When the wild man fell ill, I completely transformed into someone who was mentally challenged, which finally made me realize that he was actually very important to me.

Yan Chaohong went out and brought back a traveling doctor, but no, no, the doctor had just finished taking her pulse and said the first thing he said was "the disease is incurable." I kicked him out, and half a minute later, after venting my anger, I threw his medicine box out the front door.

"Take him to the hospital! Take him to the hospital!" I shouted.

"Stop it for a minute." Unable to communicate with me, Yan Chaohong simply grabbed my shoulder. "What good will your yelling do?" He glared at me. "Why don't you hurry up and get him to the hospital and put him on my back? Do you think yelling will bring him here?!"

“Yan Chaohong…” I said with a bitter face.

"Don't cry, don't cry!" Yan Chaohong panicked. "Crying won't help. I, a dignified assassin, have already helped you carry people. What more do you want?!"

"Who said I was going to cry?!" I glared back at Yan Chaohong, then turned around and carefully helped the wild man up.

"Why does this guy smell so bad?!" Yan Chaohong muttered as she dragged the savage's buttocks. "He hasn't bathed in days. Sun Qingshan, what kind of taste do you have? You can treat this kind of strange person like a treasure?"

"Enough with the nonsense!" I urged Yan Chaohong on from behind. "Hurry up and use your lightness skill, fly faster, fly faster, fly faster!"

Yan Chaohong, carrying the savage on her back, spun around in a big circle, then turned around with a face full of black lines. "Do you think lightness skill is some kind of divine skill? Try flying with such a big living person on your back!"

"You, you, you—" I felt like I was about to grind all my teeth to dust and spit them in his face. "Get out of here right now!"

...

In the pharmacy, I turned left, turned right, hesitated, turned left again, turned right again, then forward, then backward...

Beside the bed, the goatee-bearded doctor who was taking the pulse of the savage turned his head and glared at me fiercely. I stopped in my tracks and refused to move.

Unexpectedly, after taking his pulse, the quack doctor said, "He's beyond saving, beyond saving. Either find Xu Yi, or go prepare a coffin and make funeral arrangements right now."

I jumped up suddenly, but Yan Chaohong was more agile than me. She pulled her goatee aside first, avoiding my two rows of sharp teeth, and pounced on me like a ravenous wolf.

However, the wild man was sweating profusely on the bed, and I was too weak to make a fuss anymore. Actually, I already had a premonition that his headache and fever were not ordinary. I had given him aspirin, but it was completely useless. That's why I was worried. My worries were not unfounded. The wild man was really going to die!

...

In front of the fireworks shop that didn't live up to its name, Yan Chaohong led me, and Mingming carried the wild man, as we climbed over the wall and went inside.

Then I ignored his steward and uncle and charged straight in—"Xu Yi! Xu Yi!" I called this name with almost the same devotion as calling my father. I thought I would definitely rush straight to him when I saw him. I was willing to accept him as my godfather if he wanted me to recognize him, and I was also willing to accept him as my concubine if he wanted to marry me—I would do whatever he wanted, as long as he cured the savage first.

However, I never expected that after overcoming all difficulties—actually, I only managed to eliminate an old man and a little girl—I would finally face an uncle who was even more wretched than a savage. The uncle was awake with his eyes open, but his living soul was nowhere to be found, and his face was covered in dirt, which reminded me of the phrase: "to be buried in peace."

"Uncle!" I rushed to Xu Yi's bedside. His goddaughter was being pulled gently by Yan Chaohong. "Uncle!" I cried out, "Open your eyes and look! Your goddaughter is being molested! Wake up and look!! Wake up—wake up—wake up—wake up!!!" Involuntarily, I reached out and rubbed Xu Yi's face, rubbing it left and right. I almost turned Xu Yi's skinny face into clay, but his eyes remained fixed on the top of his head, unblinking and unmoving. Even a dead person would be better off than him; at least a dead person could be warmed up by my rubbing.

"Is he blind?!" I wanted to cry, and turned to ask Yan Chaohong, "Why is there no light in his eyes? Look, look—there's no focus! Is he dead?!"

After I asked my question, Yan Chaohong loosened her grip on Xu Yi's goddaughter, whom she was holding and had her mouth covered. The little girl, freed from her grasp, immediately started flailing her arms and legs, yelling at me, "You're the one who's dead!!! You wicked devil! You've ruined my godfather like this, and you still dare to come here, you—"

"You—" The little girl gasped for breath and started to tormenting Yan Chaohong again. Yan Chaohong twisted her hands and turned her around. The little girl screamed and rolled her eyes, unable to speak.

And right now I feel like hitting someone!

Mingming was holding the savage, who had stopped breathing. How could this be? If he died, I didn't want to live either!

"It's my fault! It's my fault!" I turned around and started rubbing the uncle's face again. "I'm wrong, I've hurt you, I'm bad, I'm a jinx, but get up! My savage needs you, get up—get up—get up—get up!"

Looks like that won't work. I stood up and looked around—"Find a feather duster!! A rolling pin will do, I'm going to beat this Xu Yi awake!!!"

Yan Chaohong, with her sharp eyes, pointed to the corner and shouted at me, "There! There's a big broom!!"

"What are you trying to do?!" The little girl's voice was like a needle slicing through a whetstone, piercing straight to the roof.

I grabbed a large broom and stomped down to Xu Yi's bedside—"I'll beat you to death this time!" With that, I swept the broom across Xu Yi's face. "You deserve to be beaten to death! You good-for-nothing!! Playing dead for me?! Acting melancholic?! At your age, still trying to commit suicide?! Aren't you ashamed?! Aren't you ashamed?! Aren't you ashamed of yourself?!"

"My godfather didn't want to kill himself!!" The little girl in Yan Chaohong's arms struggled desperately, her neck red as she yelled at me, "Why did you hit him?! Why did you hit him?! If my godfather wanted to die, he would have died long ago. Why would he be left to cause trouble for you, you wicked devil—put down the broom, put down the broom right now!!"

Is that so? I finally stopped whipping Xu Yi from head to toe, thought for a moment, and continued whipping him—"Look how good your goddaughter is to you! Look, she doesn't even want her husband anymore, she just wants you, a good-for-nothing lying around—look, she's even pregnant with her son and can't get on the bridal sedan chair—look at the sins you've committed—you might as well get up and prescribe an abortion pill for your godchild! Did you hear me—did you hear me at all—?!"

I abandoned the broom and grabbed Xu Yi instead, but he was so withered and frail. When I pulled his hair, a clump of it fell and piled up in my hand. Wherever I pulled, he swayed and staggered in that direction. "I said your goddaughter is going to take abortion pills!!" I yelled in his ear. His long hair covered half his face, and his eyes, visible through the strands, were completely lifeless.

What happened to the savage in those two minutes? I didn't have time to think about it. The little girl in Yan Chaohong's arms was crying and screaming. "Who said I was pregnant?! Who said I was going to drink abortion pills?! You robbers—bandits—liars—I, I, I..." The little girl started to charge towards the south wall. I signaled Yan Chaohong to let go quickly. Yan Chaohong let go with both hands, and sure enough, the little girl's forehead hit the south wall.

"Quick, quick, quick!" I waved to Yan Chaohong, "Quickly bring that young lady over for Xu Yi to see, his goddaughter is not breathing—your goddaughter is dying!!"

I yelled at Xu Yi, even though my morality and conscience were condemning my selfish and unscrupulous behavior. But hitting a wall won't kill me, but the savage will.

Right under Xu Yi's nose, his goddaughter kept her eyes tightly closed.

I slapped Xu Yi across the face, forcing his head down so he could see the person. "If you don't save her, I'll let her die in your bed with you! Don't think that just because I, Sun Qingshan, am all bark and no bite, I won't do bad things! Let me tell you, I'll not only sleep with her, but after she dies, I'll strip her naked, hang her on the city tower for all the people in the streets to see, and tell them that this daughter was raped and murdered by Xu Yi—"

"Slap—!" A crisp slap rang out. I was prepared; the person who hit me was weak, but this slap was delivered with all their might. Thus, after the last slap I received when I was twelve, I was slapped hard across the face by a middle-aged man I didn't know at all.

“Sun Qingshan?!” Yan Chaohong, standing next to me, exclaimed in shock.

I turned around, sniffed, and nodded at him.

Yes, I'm having a nosebleed, and it's a massive, gushing flow.

This is why after I turned twelve, my mom stopped slapping me for no reason. She never left herself any way out. Before I turned twelve, she broke the small cartilage in my nose with a slap. Since then, I have refused to be slapped in person because I have to go to the hospital for a blood transfusion after bleeding heavily.

Xu Yi's dead hand then touched my face.

His vision was still blurry and unfocused, but he was already able to focus the light.

Of course it needs to be focused, otherwise how could it slap me like that?

However, Mingming, who was further away, shouted, "He's not breathing! Come quick! This person is dead!"

I was startled and shook my head violently, sending a spray of warm, fresh human blood flying from one end to the other. I ignored Xu Yi and let the blood splatter all the way, from the little girl to Yan Chaohong's feet, then onto Mingming's body and the savage's face—"Savage, don't scare me!!" Nosebleeds dripped and splattered all the way, landing on the savage's eyelashes, lips, and cheeks...

"Flatten it! Flatten it!" I shouted at Mingming.

I carefully laid the savage flat on the ground and rushed over to perform CPR, but all I got was a large pool of blood flowing onto the savage's face. Then someone grabbed my shoulder from behind.

I turned around and saw Yan Chaohong supporting Xu Yi, a barefoot and disfigured man. Xu Yi was helped to kneel down by two people in front of the savage. Instead of taking the savage's pulse, he shakily took a needle and stuck it into the savage's head.

Is he really a miracle doctor? I looked around with pleading eyes, first glancing at Yan Chaohong's face, then at Mingming, and finally decided to wipe my nose.

"Help him to bed," Xu Yi suddenly spoke, and I was taken aback.

He had a very standard, mature, and melancholic voice typical of middle-aged men, but it was also weak, blocked, hoarse, and lacked confidence.

So Mingming carried the wild man, and Yan Chaohong wanted to help Xu Yi, but she had no patience. She simply carried the old man in a princess carry, and followed Mingming, carrying the two equally weak and dying men to Xu Yi's king-size bed.

I was left standing there alone, pinching my nose between my hands, blood gushing out.

appeasement policy...

I lay half-reclined in Xu Yi's spacious and bright guest room. Yan Chaohong sat by my bedside, clumsily feeding me red date, longan, and goji berry porridge. Next to me was a plate of that dreaded spinach stir-fried with pork liver. Xu Yi said: "It's to replenish your blood."

The bell on the inside of the bed rang. I turned my head and saw that the savage had opened his eyes and was looking at me with the spoon in Yan Chaohong's hand. Yan Chaohong was holding the spoon handle. The two of us were holding a spoon and looking at him at the same time.

The savage turned his head to look at the roof, and the bell around his neck rang again, but he ignored it and just closed his eyes.

"Pah—!" I spat out the spoon. "Quick, get the medicine!" I pushed Yan Chaohong hard. "Hurry up and bring over the medicine that Xu Yi brewed!"

Yan Chaohong glared at me, and muttered under her breath as she stood up, "She's practically become your servant girl..."