Running a Food Stall to Support My Deceptive Omega - Chapter 5.2

If you didn’t know better, you’d think she had gone to work in a coal mine!

“Don’t stand by the well, be careful not to fall in.”

“What did you do? How did you end up like this?”

Knowing Rong Heng wouldn’t answer, Mu Jinyu talked to herself: “Making yourself look like this—are you planning to make it so I can’t see you after dark?”

“It’s only because you can’t see yourself; otherwise, you’d give yourself a fright.”

“I’m going out to buy some things. When I get back, I’ll wash your face.”

Muttering to herself, Mu Jinyu walked toward the courtyard gate.

Rong Heng was standing in roughly the same direction. Seeing her approach, Rong Heng immediately hid to the side, peeking at her.

Mu Jinyu hurried out, bought several more sweet potatoes, and some soap pods. Passing a firewood shop, she also picked up a bundle of wood to bring home.

There was no wood at home, and the dried leaves were all used up, so she had to buy firewood.

Living in a town or county was inconvenient in this regard; one couldn’t go up the mountain to gather wood like villagers, but had to buy what was transported into the city.

It was quite expensive.

Back home, Mu Jinyu immediately boiled a pot of water, intending to use it to clean Rong Heng.

While waiting for the water to boil, she made Rong Heng sit on a stool and told her not to go anywhere, fearing she would “help” in the wrong way again.

Meanwhile, she cleaned the courtyard again, sweeping all the trash and dust together.

She wiped the stone table until it shone and washed the teapot, cups, and all the pots and pans.

The spilled salt on the stove was also cleared away; cleaning it was quite a nuisance.

She didn’t overlook the items in the rooms either—wiping and washing what was needed. Before long, many items were hanging out to dry in the yard.

Mu Jinyu also dug out a set of old clothes belonging to the original host’s Kunze mother, preparing to give them to Rong Heng to change into.

Once the water boiled and cooled to a warm temperature, Mu Jinyu draped a towel over the edge of the basin and told Rong Heng to take it to the storage room to wash herself.

But Rong Heng didn’t understand at all. She thought Mu Jinyu was handing her food and almost took a big gulp of the water.

“Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing?” Mu Jinyu reached out to stop her.

Unexpectedly, Rong Heng thought she was going to hit her. She dropped the basin and turned to run!

The wooden basin hit the ground with a “dong,” water splashing everywhere. The warm water flowed across the dirt, turning into mud.

After being avoided by Rong Heng like the plague several times, anyone else would have felt frustrated or impatient.

But Mu Jinyu felt a strange sense of calm.

She could understand Rong Heng’s lack of trust; it was better to be cautious so as not to get hurt.

Besides, this little bit of trouble was nothing to her. The ground was dirt, so the water would soak in shortly, and she didn’t really need to clean it up.

Mu Jinyu picked up the towel, put it in the basin, and drew a fresh basin of water. She asked Rong Heng, “Do you know how to wash yourself?”

Rong Heng didn’t answer but retreated two steps further, putting more distance between her and Mu Jinyu.

Seeing her like this, it was clear she didn’t know how. Mu Jinyu put the towel in the water, scrubbed it a few times, and while wringing it out, said, “You are a bit dirty right now. You must wipe yourself clean. You can only sleep once you’re clean.”

“Do you know what you look like now? Your face is black, and your body is black. You don’t even look human.”

“If other people saw you like this, they would scream, ‘Ah! A ghost!'”

Mu Jinyu spoke slowly on purpose, her voice intentionally sounding intimidating, to give Rong Heng time to think.

Watching Rong Heng freeze in place, a hesitant expression gradually appeared on her face.

Holding the wrung-out towel, Mu Jinyu lunged forward like a meteor and grabbed her!

The thinking Rong Heng reacted slowly. It wasn’t until Mu Jinyu began wiping her hands with the towel that she realized she should struggle, and she started pushing against Mu Jinyu with her arms.

“Don’t move, don’t move,” Mu Jinyu said several times, one hand firmly gripping Rong Heng’s arm while the other frantically wiped her palm.

In no time, the towel turned pitch black. She flipped it over and continued to wipe the back of Rong Heng’s hand.

However, as she wiped, she discovered that the wounds on Rong Heng’s body had not been treated with medicine!

On her forearm, the knife-cut wounds had flesh curling outward. The originally bright red flesh had now turned somewhat dark, showing faint signs of festering.

Those wounds were terrifying. A single glance made Mu Jinyu’s heart skip a beat; she couldn’t imagine the pain Rong Heng was enduring.

“You didn’t apply medicine!?” A flash of pity showed in her eyes, her tone urgent and angry.

Just as the words left her mouth, Mu Jinyu realized that Rong Heng probably didn’t even understand what “applying medicine” meant.

“You! You!” She stammered a few times, wanting to say something but swallowing it back, finally saying, “It’s my fault too. I should have paid more attention to you.”

Since she had decided to keep Rong Heng and decided to make it so Rong Heng wouldn’t kill her, she should treat her better.

She should at least handle these things personally.

Mu Jinyu let Rong Heng go, allowing her to run under the persimmon tree to hide behind the trunk.

Meanwhile, she returned to the water basin, rinsed the towel clean, took out the medicine given by the doctor, and rushed toward Rong Heng.

Rong Heng, hiding behind the tree, let out a startled cry and scrambled from the other side of the tree, dodging around the courtyard.

She was covered in injuries, including on her legs, so she couldn’t outrun Mu Jinyu and was caught within two steps.

However, Rong Heng’s strength was surprisingly great. With a combination of pushing and hitting, she knocked Mu Jinyu right onto the ground.

Quick-witted, Mu Jinyu pulled Rong Heng down with her. While acting as a human cushion, she pinned Rong Heng down and used a rope to tie her legs so she couldn’t move.

Finally having her restrained, Mu Jinyu let out a long sigh of relief. She pushed up the girl’s sleeve, hardly bearing to look at the shocking scars on her arm.

She turned her head away and took several deep breaths, trying to keep herself calm while silently worrying that Rong Heng would now hate her even more.

Prepared, Mu Jinyu forced her head back and carefully wiped the areas around the wounds.

The dirt and blood were wiped away, making the wounds on the arm even clearer. Because of the struggle, they were beginning to seep blood again.

She imagined the other wounds on Rong Heng’s body were the same.

After cleaning her forearm as best she could, Mu Jinyu took the doctor’s medicine and applied it to the wounds.

The knife wounds varied in depth; the shallow ones showed signs of healing, while the deep ones were festering.

But regardless of depth, as soon as the ointment touched them, Rong Heng would tremble with pain, break into a cold sweat, and glare at Mu Jinyu with hatred.

She hated this “Qianyuan” to death.

She had just started to feel that this Qianyuan wasn’t that bad, yet here she was, hurting her again. Making her feel so much pain.

Rong Heng felt betrayed. Her free arm flailed wildly, striking at the Qianyuan in front of her.

The Qianyuan didn’t dodge, only tilting her body so the attack landed on her back.

Pa!

The sound was loud and sharp.

Rong Heng’s strike was, of course, painful. Mu Jinyu sucked in a breath of cold air and quickly finished applying the medicine to the wounds on the forearm.

Only then did she release the girl, springing away from her like a projectile. She stood in the distance, rubbing her back, so sore she almost started dancing from the stinging pain.

Mu Jinyu felt that with Rong Heng’s strength, her back would surely have several swollen handprints!

But she didn’t give up. She brought the water basin back to Rong Heng, washed the towel, pulled up her sleeve, and began wiping her upper arm.

The wounds here were even more severe. They had split open again that morning; the flesh curled back on both sides, and in the center, one could almost see the pale white of bone.

It was horrifying.

Mu Jinyu carefully wiped away the blood and then applied a thick layer of medicine, praying in her heart that Rong Heng would recover quickly.

She silently applied the medicine. Even when slaps landed on her, she only let out a soft groan, never stopping her movements.

The slaps Rong Heng delivered varied in intensity.

Sometimes they were light because the pain from the medicine left her with no strength; sometimes they were heavy as a form of revenge for that pain.

But gradually, Rong Heng’s hand movements became hesitant, as if she could no longer bring herself to strike.

She was becoming confused. The Qianyuan in front of her was indeed hurting her, making her feel great pain.

But she also seemed to be making her clean?

Seemed to be helping her?

Rong Heng gradually stopped struggling. She lay honestly on the ground; although the wounds hurt, she didn’t move an inch.

Without her resistance, Mu Jinyu’s movements became more efficient.

Soon, both arms were treated. She then moved to lift Rong Heng’s skirt to apply medicine to her legs.

Rong Heng struggled slightly and almost kicked her, but fortunately, she held back.

The wounds on her legs weren’t knife cuts but looked more like injuries from falls or blunt force. Especially on the calf, there was a large patch of bruise that was purple-black, looking as if it had been struck by a wooden club.

Mu Jinyu even suspected that Rong Heng’s bone might be fractured.

It seemed the people who poisoned Rong Heng truly wished for her to die.

“Sigh.”

Mu Jinyu’s eyes felt hot. she began to regret not finishing the novel, as she would have known exactly who was trying to kill Rong Heng.

After applying medicine to every wound on Rong Heng’s body, she sighed and sat cross-legged beside her, feeling too exhausted even to lift her arms.

But it wasn’t over yet. After resting for a few moments, she poured out the blackened water, took a fresh basin, rinsed the towel again, and began to gently wipe Rong Heng’s face.

There were no wounds on her face, so Rong Heng didn’t feel pain. Instead, it felt warm and very comfortable.

That heavy, suffocating feeling from before vanished, leaving only a sense of freshness.

Finally, Rong Heng confirmed that the Qianyuan in front of her wasn’t hurting her, but helping her.

Did I hit the person who was helping me?

Realizing this, Rong Heng’s mind went blank again, leaving only a bitter taste in her heart.

Mu Jinyu finished wiping her face, tossed the towel aside, and propped herself up with her arms, relaxing in a semi-reclined position.

Weakly, she said, “Do you know how to change clothes yourself? I can’t help you with that.”

The white clothes on the girl were simply too dirty; they had to be changed.

Speaking of which, Rong Heng was previously the Regent; would her clothes be very valuable? Could they be sold for money?

Mu Jinyu reached out and pinched a corner of Rong Heng’s sleeve, rubbing it between her fingers to feel the texture.

The fabric did feel smoother and silkier, with fine stitching—very different from the coarse linen clothes she was wearing.

And looking closely, the white fabric seemed to have dark patterns; they weren’t obvious normally, but could be seen up close.

Truly low-key luxury.

Mu Jinyu couldn’t help but marvel at the Regent’s wealth. At the same time, she realized that this kind of clothing was likely rare on the market. Even if it was very expensive, she couldn’t possibly sell it.

Otherwise, if the people wanting to kill Rong Heng saw it, wouldn’t both of them be in mortal danger?

Besides, the clothes were already filthy; she doubted they could be washed clean or sold.

Letting go of that thought, she explained to Rong Heng several times what “changing clothes” was, why it was necessary, and how to do it.

Once she was sure Rong Heng roughly understood, she led her to the storage room and let her go in to change alone.

Rong Heng stood at the door of the storage room, clutching a pile of clothes, her eyes fixed unblinkingly on Mu Jinyu.

On the horizon, the sunset was putting forth its final warmth, painting the entire land bright red.

It also reflected bright red in Rong Heng’s eyes.

They stared at each other. What that gaze meant, Mu Jinyu didn’t know.

She just felt, for no reason, that the two red moles under Rong Heng’s eyes had turned into two precarious tears.

Quite pitiful.

What’s wrong? Why that expression?

A smile appeared on Mu Jinyu’s face. She raised her hand and patted the back of Rong Heng’s hand. “Go ahead. Don’t worry about it, I’m fine.”

Hearing these words, the bitterness in Rong Heng’s heart finally seemed to dissipate, and her light, floating body felt as if it had landed on solid ground.

She walked into the storage room.

She stumbled through the process of taking off her clothes, being very careful throughout, not wanting to rub off the things that had been applied to her body.

After the change, Mu Jinyu had Rong Heng sit at the stone table to rest, while she began roasting sweet potatoes for dinner.

In the meantime, before it got dark, she began washing the white clothes Rong Heng had taken off.

The white clothes really couldn’t be cleaned; no matter how hard Mu Jinyu tried, black and red stains remained.

She didn’t force it, but hung them up to dry, intending to keep them for Rong Heng to handle once she regained her memory.

After finishing all the tasks and eating dinner with Rong Heng, Mu Jinyu arranged for her to sleep in her own room while she went to sleep in the room belonging to the two mothers.

Before parting, she gave numerous instructions, telling Rong Heng not to press on her wounds.

In the late night, a few stars hung in the pitch-black sky.

The night market outside the courtyard gradually quieted down. The poultry huddles together, their heads tucked under their wings in deep sleep.

The big yellow dog lay by the door, eyes closed but ears standing straight, its tail flicking occasionally as it fulfilled its duty of guarding the home.

Lying in Mu Jinyu’s bed, Rong Heng’s head tossed and turned, her hands clenched into fists, her body trembling slightly.

She couldn’t get comfortable no matter how she tried.

The air was filled with the faint scent of decaying parasol trees. Although it was very light, it was impossible for her to ignore.

It was the scent of a Qianyuan.

It was the unpleasant scent of a Qianyuan.

Rong Heng suddenly snapped her eyes open, breaking free from a nightmare that felt like black mud, gasping for air.

She was cold all over, and a layer of fine sweat had formed on her forehead.

She couldn’t stand the smell. She flung the quilt aside and got out of bed.

Mu Jinyu was sleeping very soundly in the other bed, her breathing much deeper than during the day.

Hu—

Hu—

Hu hu—

The sleeping Mu Jinyu suddenly paused, her brow furrowing slightly, feeling that something was wrong.

Hu hu—

Hu hu—

Why are there two sets of breathing!?

Mu Jinyu was jolted awake. She opened her eyes in terror and found herself staring right at Rong Heng, who was standing by the bedside!

Mu Jinyu: !!!

Mu Jinyu: Oh my god! [Scared] [Breaking down]