Chapter 3 — Distractions (1)

Those beautiful eyes of his widened in surprise. Zhao Xi could see herself reflected in his huge, dark pupils. She felt oddly calm in comparison to him.

“Surprised? You wouldn’t be, if you were me, being called an old virgin, being pressured to marry every day—if you had to deal with men sneaking in through your windows to peek at you bathing and molest you, just because you were unmarried at eighteen years old, you’d understand me. You’d find yourself any living man and get married.”

In spite of what she said, Zhao Xi hadn’t taken just anyone. She had a weakness for handsome men. It didn’t matter if he was useless or crippled, so long as he was good-looking. Unfortunately, no man she’d ever met had satisfied this requirement. Everyone said she was too picky, that she needed to stop daydreaming.

Perhaps it had been a daydream before, but now…

She took another look at the man. Who would know?

“Do you agree to the deal?” she asked him.

Zhao Xi didn’t tell him that they might only be a fake couple, just in case she changed her mind. He was gorgeous; it would be a pity if she missed out on the chance to be with him for real if temptation struck.

The offer was made. The choice to accept it or decline it was up to him.

The man didn’t say a word, didn’t close his eyes. He just stared at her, unblinking.

“You can’t talk?” she guessed.

She was right. He had washed down last night, then dried slowly in the chill of the night, then spent all morning in the baking sun without a drop to drink. His throat must be dry as a bone.

“How about this,” she suggested. “I will count to three, and I’d you don’t blink, that means you agree.” Zhao Xi then started to count. “One.”

The man’s eyes moved to scan Zhao Xi, assessing her.

She ignored this, counting, “Two.”

His eyelashes quivered. She stared down at him. He really had the most beautiful features: pale skin, long eyelashes. Everything about him seemed flawless, even under close scrutiny.

“Three.”

Still, he didn’t blink. Zhao Xi’s shoulders loosened. The man was so indifferent about his own survival that she had worried he’d rather die than agree to her bargain.

“Good, now you’ve agreed, I’ll carry you back to the cottage. This will hurt a bit, so bear with me.”

It was a struggle to lift him onto her back. The man didn’t make a sound, stoically allowing her to hoist him onto her shoulders without struggling. He would slip down once in a while, forcing her to jostle him back up. He was badly wounded, too weak to support his own body, which made the normally easy job much more difficult.

It took her a lot of effort to carry him up to the cottage and lay the man on the bed. Since she came here so often, the cottage was fully furnished and there was enough medicine. In fact, she’d planned on moving here permanently if she couldn’t find a husband. The place was better stocked than her house in the village.

There hadn’t been time to boil any hot water yet, as she’d only arrived that morning, but there was some leftover cold water she had boiled yesterday. Zhao Xi brought a bowl of water to the man’s mouth. He gulped it down as fast as he could, even licking the edge of the bowl for droplets.

She brought him a second bowl. This one he drank much slower than the first, his chest trembling with the effort. His thirst had made him ignore his wounds the first time, but now they pained him too much. His broken ribs sang with pain. He stopped drinking, the bowl still half full, and closed his eyes. Zhao Xi set the bowl down.

“You’ve broken quite a few bones. I’ll need to splint them with bamboo. Once I’ve done that, you won’t be able to take a bath, so let me clean your body first.”

They had met less than an hour ago, but she was given the impression that he liked to be clean. His skin was so clear and pale, he must have bathed morning and night. The man’s eyelashes trembled, but his eyes didn’t open, and he didn’t answer. She took that for agreement.

The man had hardly given any sign of communication since Zhao Xi had found him. He must be withdrawn, she thought. Perhaps he didn’t like to talk, so she didn’t wait for him to answer. He stripped his clothes off and wiped him from head to toe. He was utterly impassive, neither refusing nor helping; he moved as Zhao Xi moved him and stayed still if she didn’t.

Without his clothes, she could see the full extent of his injuries. His knees were red from being bumped around and his legs were mottled with small bruises. It looked as if he’d been pinched. He must have pinched himself to cope with the pain, she realized.