Chapter 7: Time to Come Clean

Xie Jiu’er wiped the blood from her fingertips and told a bald-faced lie with her eyes wide open. “Of course I can sew. I do it all the time.”

Xiao Jinyu immediately shut his eyes, unable to bear the sight of her mangled fingers. Stubborn as a mule. Weren’t villagers supposed to be honest and simple folk? How come he’d never seen a girl who could lie so shamelessly right to someone’s face?

Her stitches wandered east and west, crooked and uneven, but she somehow managed to patch up the torn trouser leg. Then she tossed the pants behind her at Xiao Jinyu and picked up a bucket and ladle, heading down the village path toward the salt lake at the foot of the mountain.

Xiao Jinyu looked at the jagged stitchwork and thought of last night’s dream. After confirming she had left, he lifted his robe and carefully examined the wound she had sewn shut. Sure enough, the needlework was just as lopsided and ghastly as what he’d seen on the pants. The realization hit him like a bucket of cold water—it hadn’t been a dream. She had actually stitched up his wound in real life.

This place was the barren northwest. There was no sea, so making salt wasn’t easy. Thankfully, Xie Jiu’er’s village, Xiejia Jue, was located at the edge of a vast, towering mountain range.

At the top of the mountains lay snow that never melted, likely due to the elevation. Even at the height of summer, the peaks remained blanketed in pristine white.

The melting snow trickled down the mountains and collected near the base, forming a lifeless lake with no tributaries. The trapped lake water would evaporate, seep into the ground, and be replenished by fresh snowmelt in a constant yearly cycle. Over time, the water became saturated with salt, forming a high-salinity saltwater lake.

Because it was a dead lake, the water wasn’t abundant. But after years of accumulation, the salt content was extremely high. When Xie Jiu’er dipped her hand into the lake and let it dry, a thin layer of white residue clung to her fingers—dry and uncomfortable. It was salt.

She had discovered the salt lake by chance, while scouting the distant mountains out of curiosity and hope. When she realized what she’d found, she came up with the idea of making her own salt to season their food.

That morning, Zhou shi had taken Wuyang into the mountains to gather foxtail grass. She was worried that once heavy snow sealed off the mountains, the grass would become buried and useless.

Xie Jiu’er planned to start by boiling salt. Their meals were nothing more than a pot of porridge anyway, and it wouldn’t take much time. Before she started the fire, she used a bamboo basket to strain the water repeatedly, removing any impurities.

Before officially boiling the salt, she glanced at the pot and grew concerned it might get damaged. It was her first time attempting this, and she wasn’t confident. She figured it’d be better to use their usual medicine pot instead. It was smaller, easier to manage, and even if she wasted some saltwater, she could afford a few failed experiments.

But then again, if she were going to use the medicine pot, she could’ve brought it directly to the lake instead of hauling water all the way back. Ugh.

Annoyed at her own oversight, she started mixing mud outside the Courtyard, her fingers numb from the cold. She used the mud to build a two-tiered round pit. Twigs were wedged in between the layers, then coated in mud again, with several small holes poked through. A vent was carved at the lower layer’s side for airflow. The bottom chamber would hold fuel, while the top would house the clay pot, with just enough space left for the fire to escape. Just like that, a makeshift stove was ready.

Xiao Jinyu lay lazily on the heated kang bed, peering through the drafty window. He saw Xie Jiu’er crouching by the door, plastering mud in the bitter cold. He had no idea what she was up to, but she certainly knew how to keep herself busy. Still, after witnessing so much bloodshed in his life, and bearing serious injuries, he had no intention of offering help. He’d torn open his wound just stepping outside earlier that morning—now it hurt like hell. He needed to focus on recovery.

The freshly plastered stove was still wet and needed to dry before use. That meant today’s lunch would be saltless. In the meantime, she started cooking porridge for the family, tossing in some black nightshade leaves.

When Zhou shi and Wuyang returned, the porridge was just ready.

“We gathered a whole load of foxtail grass today,” Zhou shi said cheerfully. “It should be enough to get us through winter. We can even store more for later use.”

Xie Jiu’er nodded. “It’s been several days since the villagers left. Who knows when an army might pass through. We have to be ready for anything. This afternoon, I’ll make some charcoal.”

Wuyang kept his head down, focused on eating. But Zhou shi stared at her, surprised. “Charcoal? That’s something only wealthy families use! It’s worth a fortune—how would we even make it?”

“I know how,” Xie Jiu’er replied with a scoff. “And we have to. If enemy troops storm the village, we’ll need to hide and still be able to cook and stay warm. Otherwise, we’ll freeze to death in the underground cellar. The foxtail seeds, the bedding, cooking tools—we need to store everything together. Depending on the situation, we may need to flee the village at any time. The cellar isn’t completely safe.”

As she said this, Xie Jiu’er glanced at Xiao Jinyu’s room and suddenly remembered how she’d found him—by following the trail of blood. If she could find him that way, so could the enemy.

Without finishing her meal, she rushed toward the mountain road below the village. But when she arrived, the bloodstains were completely gone.

Only the four of them remained in the village: herself, Zhou shi, Wuyang, and Xiao Jinyu. Zhou shi and Wuyang wouldn’t have even thought to clean up blood. That left only one explanation—Xiao Jinyu had done it himself. But with his leg injury, even going to the latrine was a challenge. How could he have managed that?

Back home, Xie Jiu’er barged straight into Xiao Jinyu’s room. He was still leisurely sipping the porridge Zhou shi had brought him.

“You went out, didn’t you?” she asked.

“What are you talking about?” Xiao Jinyu replied indifferently.

“The bloodstains at the village entrance are gone. And since only the four of us are here, it had to be you who cleaned them up.”

She wasn’t asking—she was stating it as fact.

“Well, not bad. You’ve got some brains after all. But your reaction’s awfully slow, don’t you think? I’ve been here almost two days, and you’re only now thinking about covering your tracks.”

Xiao Jinyu set his empty bowl down on the kang-side cabinet and looked down at her. Pale and thin, this wild girl was… oddly intriguing.

“I don’t need your praise,” Xie Jiu’er said coldly. “You could’ve reminded me to clean up the blood. Now your wound’s torn again—what if the wrong people show up? You’ll just be dead weight.”

She curled her lips into a sneer. History books praised him for strengthening the nation and enriching the people, but they never mentioned how arrogant he was. The man had one foot in the grave, yet still acted like he was above everyone else. Tsk.

Her reaction only made Xiao Jinyu more amused. “Oh? So you’re terribly concerned about my health?”

The question caught her off guard. Xie Jiu’er scoffed and decided it was better to make her stance clear early on. “In times like these, even the warmest heart can go cold. You think I’d go out of my way to save just anyone?”

At her words, Xiao Jinyu’s fists clenched tightly, though his face remained carefree. “So… you already know who I am?”

Xie Jiu’er laughed coldly in her heart. What a joke—trying to fish for information so blatantly. Did he think she was an idiot? If she admitted she knew his identity, she’d be dead before she could leave this room.

“I’m not a seer. I don’t know what you do, but judging by your clothes, you must be someone important. If I hadn’t brought you back that day, you’d be a frozen corpse by now. So don’t forget—you owe me your life.”

Xiao Jinyu felt oddly relaxed upon seeing the greedy, calculating look on her face. “So, you’re going to blackmail me for gratitude?”

“What else?” she said, raising a brow. “Look at me, my Mother, and my Brother. We were abandoned by our family. They fled for their lives and left us here to die. I can’t swallow that. They want us dead, but I’ll live—and live better than any of them.”

Her eyes grew sharp with resolve. In the month since she arrived, everything she’d seen had burned itself into her mind. The three of them had been treated like beasts of burden by Xie Laoda, surviving on wild vegetables and eventually discarded like trash.