Chapter 11: Wants to See Her Smile

“To hell with you!”

Zhang Chui howled in pain and kicked Song Miaomiao away.

Staring at the blood streaming from his own arm, his face twisted with rage and disbelief. He drew the dagger from his waist and lunged at her.

“You ungrateful wench—tonight, I’ll make you wish you were dead!”

Seeing the cold gleam of the blade, Song Miaomiao trembled like a leaf. The blood in her mouth made it impossible to even swallow her saliva.

Tears blurred her vision. She knew, in this moment, there was no one who could save her.

Except herself.

She couldn’t die.

Her mother was still lying sick in bed. She couldn’t leave her behind.

Grabbing a handful of bamboo leaves, she flung them into the man’s face, using the moment of confusion to scramble to her feet and run.

There was only one thought in her mind:

Survive.

She had to survive.

Lu Zheng had followed the cries deep into the bamboo grove.

He arrived just in time to see Song Miaomiao fleeing, her clothes disheveled, while Zhang Chui chased her with murderous intent.

His expression turned murderous. Without a shred of hesitation, he released his arrow.

Zhang Chui screamed in agony, “Ahhh! My leg!”

Song Miaomiao stopped in her tracks, just about to turn around, when a warm coat was gently draped over her.

A low voice spoke beside her: “Don’t look.”

A second later, Zhang Chui’s shrill, agonized screams echoed through the bamboo grove.

Normally expressionless, Lu Zheng’s face was now like a furious beast. His fists pounded down, one after another, without mercy.

Zhang Chui went from cursing to falling completely silent, his faintly rising chest the only sign he was still alive.

Lu Zheng grabbed him by the collar, his gaze cold and lethal, his bloodstained fist raised again.

“You bastard. Get the hell out of here. If you dare commit evil again—I’ll kill you.”

Zhang Chui coughed up blood, gasping, “Y-yes… I got it…”

Only then did Lu Zheng throw him aside with one final punch.

If it weren’t for concerns about Song Miaomiao’s reputation, he would’ve dragged this scum straight to the magistrate. Still, after this beating, Zhang Chui probably wouldn’t be able to stand again for the rest of his life.

Lu Zheng wiped the blood from his knuckles, forced down the lingering fury in his chest, and approached the trembling girl gently—his voice softer than ever.

“It’s okay now. I won’t let him hurt you.”

But Song Miaomiao was still frozen in shock.

She couldn’t bear to think about what would have happened if Lu Zheng hadn’t shown up when he did.

Her legs suddenly gave out. She collapsed to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably in the aftermath of terror.

Lu Zheng panicked instantly, clearly unused to comforting someone, awkward and unsure what to do.

When her sobs finally calmed down a little, he asked, “Can you still walk?”

He had already noticed her ankle looked swollen.

Song Miaomiao shook her head.

So Lu Zheng clenched his fists, bent down, and gently lifted her—one arm under her knees, the other supporting her back.

Song Miaomiao gasped in surprise.

Lu Zheng reassured her, “Walking will only make your ankle worse. I’ll carry you until we’re near the village. No one will see.”

In the dark, his face flushed a deep red. After a pause, he added nervously, “If you really mind… I—I can take responsibility.”

Song Miaomiao quickly shook her head, her voice still tinged with sobs.

“Th-that’s not right. Brother Lu, you saved me. I would never try to cling to you because of this…”

She knew exactly how the villagers talked about her.

They said she was delicate and useless—any man who married her would regret it.

She never argued back.

Because… they weren’t wrong. She was delicate.

Coarse linen clothes chafed her skin. Ash-and-grass sanitary pads were uncomfortable.

That’s why she wanted to earn money—so she could be independent.

Wait!

Suddenly, Song Miaomiao panicked. Her tears came again as she cried urgently through gasps:

“My money… It’s still with that bastard!”

“That was from my vegetable sales—my deposit for the order…”

The tears came harder, like a flood breaching a dam. Every suppressed grievance from her past surged out at once.

“That was the dress my foster mother gave me when I came of age… I didn’t want to pawn it—I wanted to earn money on my own to pay off Mother’s debt…”

“But I couldn’t earn enough… sob sob sob…”

“My foster father too… Why did he want to marry me off to that old magistrate as a second wife… sob sob sob… he wasn’t like this before…”

When she first learned she wasn’t her parents’ real daughter, she didn’t cry.

When her foster mother slapped her and called her a lowborn wretch, and her foster father tried to sell her—she didn’t cry.

But now, in front of a boy from her village she barely knew, her tears flowed freely.

Even though she’d read stories like this in books, even though she thought she was prepared—

She was still just a teenage girl.

Inexperienced, untested.

Faced with a complete upheaval of her life, she couldn’t help but be scared, confused, and utterly lost.

What she didn’t see was the deep pity in Lu Zheng’s eyes.

Even though the first time he saw her she already had red-rimmed eyes, he didn’t want to see her cry.

He wanted to see her smile.

Like a little bunny—bright and carefree.

…

About an hour later, Song Miaomiao finally saw the familiar sight of Shili Village.

Lu Zheng gently set her down and handed her a stick he had picked up along the way to use as a crutch.

“Follow the path by the fields. I’ll stay here and watch until you get home.”

Song Miaomiao accepted the stick and softly murmured, “Mm,” before slowly making her way home, leaning on it for support.

The field path was narrow and quiet. Not a sound could be heard in the still night.

After the terrifying ordeal, Song Miaomiao was still gripped by fear, her nerves stretched taut. She half-expected another villain to leap out from the darkness at any moment.

But then she remembered—Lu Zheng was behind her.
If anything happened, he would rush to her aid immediately.
That thought eased the panic in her heart, if only a little.

Halfway down the path, she suddenly stopped, turned around, and looked toward the tall figure standing at the end of the road. Then, she bowed deeply.

“Thank you. I’ll repay you one day.”

Counting tonight, this was now the third—no, the fourth time Lu Zheng had helped her.
Once in town, once when they returned on the ox cart, once just now, and again during her escape.

Under the pale moonlight, her limping silhouette wasn’t exactly graceful, but Lu Zheng could only press a hand to his chest, trying to calm his pounding heart.
He muttered under his breath:

“Repay me… with marriage, maybe?”

The moment he said it, he snapped out of it and immediately slapped a hand over his mouth.

He glanced left, then right—
Only after making sure no one had heard did he exhale in relief.

He must be going crazy.

Was he seriously trying to use this to coerce her into gratitude?

Meanwhile, over at the Wang family’s courtyard, most of Shili Village had gathered, torches in hand.

As dusk fell, Wang Guifang had grown increasingly worried. Song Miaomiao still hadn’t come home. She was about to head to the fields to look for her…

But then someone from the village told her that Miaomiao had already left the village that afternoon.

Now the sky had turned fully dark, and her daughter still wasn’t home.
Panic tightening her chest, Wang Guifang ran to the village head to ask for help. Soon, many villagers were mobilized to search.

It was a serious matter, and most people were willing to lend a hand.
But a few muttered complaints under their breath.

For instance, Song Miaomiao’s second uncle, Song Eryong, yawned and said dismissively:

“Why bother looking? Maybe she just couldn’t take the hard life anymore and ran off to find her rich real mother.”

“Come on, think about it. She grew up being waited on hand and foot. How could someone like that stomach laundry, cooking, and taking care of a bedridden old woman?”

Wang Guifang’s eyes were already red from crying over her daughter’s disappearance.

Now, hearing Song Eryong smear Miaomiao’s name, she was filled with rage and grabbed a broom to hit him.

“Shut your mouth! My Miaomiao isn’t like that!”

His wife, Wang Lian, immediately jumped in, pushing Wang Guifang away and raising her voice with a sharp sneer:

“Oh, spare us the drama, Wang Guifang.
You’ve been babying that precious daughter of yours from the start just to make her stay!”

“Your family can’t even afford a full meal anymore, and you still borrowed money just to buy her pork.”

“And what happened? Barely a month later, and she’s run off!”

“She’s cold-blooded and selfish, and you’re the only one treating her like a treasure.”

“I say, just let her go. You can’t force someone to stay. If you drag her back, she’ll probably resent you for getting in the way of her happy life!”

Wang Guifang’s face was wet with tears. She ignored Wang Lian completely and suddenly dropped to her knees in front of the village head.

“She’s never left the village before—she must be lost!”

“Village Head, I beg you, please have everyone help me search.
Once we find Miaomiao, I’ll go door to door and thank everyone myself.”

“This night is dark and dangerous. She’s just a girl out there alone…
If she runs into someone bad, I… I won’t be able to live with myself…”