Chapter 17.3

The next second, she cried out in pain, her tears welling up again. “It hurts, it really hurts! Let go of me…”

Wen Yue struggled to pull her foot back, but she was no match for Zhou Yao’s strength, who easily pressed it back down.

“Fortunately, no bones were broken.”

Zhou Yao said this and then released his grip. Wen Yue curled up in the blanket, peering at him from the edge of the bed with vigilant, red-rimmed eyes.

She looked like a frightened little rabbit.

Zhou Yao couldn’t help but smile at her appearance, but he quickly suppressed it, feeling a strange bitterness in his heart.

“I’ll get some medicinal wine to rub on it.”

Zhou Yao took a deep breath, turning to the next room to grab a bottle of medicinal wine.

He poured some into his palm, warming it up, and then walked back to the bed, tilting his head to indicate that Wen Yue should come closer.

Wen Yue shook her head vigorously. “It hurts! I don’t want to rub it.”

“If you rub it, it’ll heal faster. Do you want to hurt for just a little while or hurt for several days?” Zhou Yao raised an eyebrow, urging her. “Be good, come here.”

His low, husky voice carried a hint of tenderness.

Wen Yue felt her ears tingle and her cheeks heat up.

She pouted, feeling wronged, and used her hands to push herself little by little away from the bed. “Then… then be gentle. It really hurts.”

Zhou Yao responded softly, “Okay, I’ll be gentle.”

He sat on the edge of the bed, easily holding Wen Yue’s ankle with one hand while using the other to massage the swollen area.

A sharp pain shot from the swollen spot, and tears spilled from Wen Yue’s already puffy eyes. She pushed against Zhou Yao’s arm. “It hurts, it hurts too much.”

Zhou Yao’s arm was solid, and she couldn’t push him away at all.

“Bear with it.” He remained unmoved, even increasing the pressure of his grip.

Wen Yue was crying so hard that she felt a bit dizzy from lack of oxygen, her little face flushed, tear streaks visible, looking quite pitiful.

Zhou Yao sighed. “Did you eat dinner?”

“No.” Wen Yue sobbed. She had been crying all day, so how could she have the heart to cook?

Zhou Yao stood up. “Are you hungry? I can cook some noodles for you.”

If he hadn’t, Wen Yue wouldn’t have realized how hungry she was, but when he asked, her stomach began to grumble.

She felt a bit embarrassed. “I’m hungry.”

“Alright, wait here.”

Zhou Yao turned and exited the room, and within a minute, he was back, holding a damp towel and handing it to Wen Yue. “Wipe your face.”

Wen Yue reached out to take it. “Thank you.”

Her voice was nasal, softer than usual.

Zhou Yao remained silent, waiting for her to finish wiping her face before taking the towel back, dampening it with cold water, wringing it out slightly, and bringing it back for her to place over her eyes to relieve the soreness.

Wen Yue felt a bit moved.

Zhou Yao was quite thoughtful.

Today, she just couldn’t hold her emotions in.

The helplessness and sense of injustice from being thrown into a strange world had been triggered, and all her emotions erupted at once. After crying, she felt much better, but now she felt a bit embarrassed.

Crying like this, she didn’t need to look in the mirror to know she must look awful…

Wen Yue shifted to the edge of the bed, closed her eyes, and placed the damp, cold towel over her eyes, soothing the soreness and stinging.

The room was filled with the strong scent of medicinal wine, a bit pungent but not unpleasant. In the sensory darkness, Wen Yue couldn’t control her thoughts and began to daydream, thinking about how she should try to stay home more in the future while also considering how to get Zhou Yao to help her take revenge.

By the time Zhou Yao returned with the cooked noodles, Wen Yue had already forgotten about the earlier incident. She wanted to put on her shoes and sit at the table, but he stopped her.

Zhou Yao casually dragged a stool to the bedside and sat down confidently, holding the steaming bowl of noodles in one hand and stirring it with chopsticks. “I’ll feed you.”

“Ah?” Wen Yue was taken aback, softly saying, “My hands are fine, I can eat by myself.”

Zhou Yao shot her a sideways glance, his dark, deep-set eyes strikingly noticeable. “The bowl is hot. Try not to get out of bed for the next couple of days. Just rest.”

Wen Yue blinked her watery eyes. “Oh.”

She didn’t insist further.

This was Zhou Yao’s first time feeding someone, so his movements were a bit clumsy. The veins on the back of his hand were quite pronounced as he gripped the chopsticks.

Wen Yue, on the other hand, was experiencing being fed by a man for the first time. She watched Zhou Yao with her sparkling eyes.

She ate slowly.

Her rosy lips could barely fit the few strands of noodles she slurped, and she began to chew them slowly, her cheeks puffing out as she did.

When she slurped the noodles, a glimpse of her red, moist tongue could be seen brushing lightly against the chopsticks.

Zhou Yao felt his throat go dry suddenly, his muscles tensing as he gripped the chopsticks a bit harder.

“I’m full.” Wen Yue said after eating a small bowl.

Zhou Yao frowned at the half-empty bowl of noodles. “Eat a bit more.”

Wen Yue’s little face scrunched up. “I really can’t eat anymore.”

Zhou Yao clicked his tongue, then quickly finished the remaining noodles with a few bites using the same chopsticks.

Wen Yue’s eyes widened.

Those were the chopsticks she had used!

Didn’t this count as… an indirect kiss?

Zhou Yao didn’t think much of it. After finishing, he stood up and reminded her, “Rest well. I’ll wash your clothes tomorrow. I’ll ask Grandma Fang to bring you lunch and dinner. Don’t go into the kitchen.”

Wen Yue obediently replied, “You have to wash them properly, scrub with soap for a while, and rinse them three times with clean water…”

Zhou Yao felt a bit overwhelmed listening to her, but he gritted his teeth and promised.

“Go to bed early.”

“You too. Good night.”

Zhou Yao turned off the light and closed the door. As he stood under the eaves, his expression darkened and turned cold.

– – –

The only elementary school teachers’ dormitory in the county.

Wen Hua smiled and greeted the teachers he met on his way out.

The sky was dimly lit, and the gray-white hue made the streets dark.

There were two breakfast shops outside the school, but Wen Hua felt that neither compared to those on another street.

Recently, a young and beautiful female teacher had joined the school, rumored to come from a well-off family. Her father worked in the city government, and her mother worked at a newspaper publication. She was an only child.

Most importantly, this female teacher also loved the breakfast from that other street.

Wen Hua thought about buying two portions to bring over.

Lost in thought, he didn’t notice what was happening around him. At a certain street corner, two figures suddenly jumped out from a dark alley, pulling a sack over his head and dragging him into the alley.

They moved quickly, and with the early hour and few people on the street, no one witnessed the scene.

Wen Hua was momentarily stunned.

Just as he came to his senses and tried to scream for help, he was hit in the stomach, and his cry turned into a gasp, causing him to collapse to the ground, groaning.

His vision was completely blocked by the sack, plunging him into darkness.

Fear began to swell inside him.

Wen Hua trembled as he clutched his stomach and asked, “Wh-who are you? I haven’t offended you, have I? Did you get the wrong person…?”

“We’re looking for you, Wen Hua.” The man’s voice was low and powerful, somewhat familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere.

After saying this, Wen Hua received a harsh kick to his ribs.

He yelped, trembling, “W-what do you want? If I’ve offended you in any way, I can apologize right here. It’s all my fault! Let’s talk this out, don’t be impulsive!”

Zhou Yao smirked, looking down at the crumpled figure on the ground. He crouched down and casually patted the sack-covered head of Wen Hua. “Go back and tell your mother that this is just a small warning. Next time, let her handle it herself.”

Wen Hua was stunned. “M-my mother? What does she have to do with this?”

He wasn’t stupid. It didn’t take long to figure it out.

So this was all because of his mother?

Then why not go find her? Why drag him into this?!

Wen Hua was on the verge of a breakdown.

What was even worse was that after the man said this, he was met with a series of punches that didn’t target his face but focused on his body, landing blows where it hurt most.

The legs took the most hits.

At first, Wen Hua could still beg for mercy, but soon he was reduced to groans.

He didn’t know when the punches stopped, and when he tentatively pulled off the sack from his head, he found that the surroundings were already empty.

Wen Hua gritted his teeth as he got up, limping out of the alley and asking for a sick leave from school.

He needed to go back and ask his mother what the heck she had done!

How could she do this to him!?

“Brother, won’t we get in trouble for beating Wen Hua?” Ren Yeliang glanced worriedly at Zhou Yao, who wore a grim expression. He recalled how his brother had looked cold this morning.

The last time Ren Yeliang saw Zhou Yao with such a face was when Grandma Zhou was hospitalized due to the combined pressure from Zhou family’s second and third uncles.

He remembered that his brother had just sent Grandma Zhou to the hospital and immediately went back to the village to beat the Zhou family’s second and third uncles until they couldn’t get out of bed for half a month.

This time, who was the unfortunate target? It couldn’t be the sister-in-law, could it?

After asking a few questions, he found out.

Oh boy, it turned out that his sister-in-law had been bullied.

No wonder he hadn’t seen his brother this angry in a long time.

Zhou Yao replied coolly, “No.”

“Since our brother said it’s fine, it must be fine.” Fang Shitao was very convinced of Zhou Yao and indignantly said, “That old woman from the Wen family is too despicable! How can she treat our sister-in-law like that? Luckily the slope behind our mountain isn’t too steep, if it were steeper…”

Ren Yeliang quickly covered Fang Shitao’s mouth. “Pah, pah, what are you saying? Our sister-in-law is blessed and has good fortune. Nothing will happen to her.”

Oh dear, Fang Shitao, if you keep talking, our brother might turn around and beat Wen Hua again.

Sometimes, it’s best to just keep quiet.

Fang Shitao realized this and awkwardly scratched his head, explaining, “Brother, I didn’t mean to curse our sister-in-law.”

Zhou Yao replied with an “Mm,” “I know. You’re just a bit of a simpleton.”

Fang Shitao chuckled foolishly. “But is beating Wen Hua really useful?”

Ren Yeliang responded, “Of course it is! Don’t you know how much Li Huahong cares about her promising son? It’s a pity we have to go to the city. Otherwise, I’d love to see how Wen Hua cries while going back to find his mother, haha!”

Fang Shitao couldn’t help but laugh at Ren Yeliang’s words.

Zhou Yao maintained his cold demeanor, his expression unchanged, and coldly said, “Don’t waste time; the sooner we leave, the sooner we’ll return.”

Ren Yeliang and Fang Shitao immediately fell silent and closely followed behind.