The Female Rake and Her Blind Girl - Chapter 2

The rain intensified, the slanted wind tugging at the tips of her hair. Su Yu glanced at the sky and, without a word, pulled the young girl toward a nearby eave to find shelter.

As the spring rain gathered along the corners of the roof, trickling down like a curtain of crystal beads, Su Yu dropped her playful smirk. Her voice turned soft but serious. “Little girl, stop joking around. We are total strangers. How could you possibly be here to seek refuge with me?”

Xue Lingmiao lowered her head. “Why do you think I am joking? I buried my father and traveled all the way from Jiangnan, braving countless hardships just to find you. You say we are strangers, but I have known of your existence since I was three years old.”

“You are Su Yu. In exactly two months and twenty-three days, it will be your nineteenth birthday. You were born with a beautiful lotus-shaped birthmark on your back. When you were six, you fell from a tree while picking peaches and scraped your knee. When you were eight, you spent an entire day cricket fighting and won twenty-seven matches in a row.”

“You have a very capable Master; you only joined his tutelage so he could teach you how to have fun. Your Master has a long white beard, and while many don’t know his exact age, neither do you. And when you were thirteen—”

“Stop, stop! Hold it right there!” Su Yu’s mind was in a whirl. She had no idea where this girl had heard these things, and the more she listened, the more uncanny it felt. She knit her brows. “Even if you can talk a hole through the sky, words are wind. How am I supposed to believe you without proof?”

“I have a marriage contract.”

“What?”

A faint blush crept onto Xue Lingmiao’s cheeks. Treating a fiancée was, of course, different from treating a stranger. Those previous words had already cost her much of her courage. She handed over her entire bundle of belongings and whispered, “The contract, see for yourself.”

A marriage contract? What kind of mess is this? Su Yu looked on, bewildered. “Can you explain this clearly?”

“It is, it is the contract for our marriage. It has our horoscopes on it, along with the thumbprints of both our parents.”

“The Su and Xue families arranged our marriage before we were even born. From the day I learned to read and write, Uncle Su maintained a steady correspondence with my family. It was only a few years ago that the letters stopped.

Then, my father fell gravely ill, before I left, we had a break-in and the letters were stolen. Fortunately, the marriage contract was safe.”

The story sounded legitimate enough. Su Yu held the bundle, hesitating whether to open it. A girl traveling alone would surely have private garments inside, but if the girl herself didn’t mind, why should Su Yu be the one acting awkward?

Besides, she was just going to look for the document, nothing else.

“I’m opening it, then?”

She asked with exaggerated gravity. Xue Lingmiao shyly turned her back. Seeking to calm her racing heart, she forced herself to focus on something else:

“It took me ten months and eighteen days to travel from Jiangnan to Xiushui City. I worried you might not acknowledge me, but I came anyway. We, we have the command of our parents and the evidence of the contract. We are a legally recognized couple in the eyes of the government. Ayu, may I call you Ayu? You won’t drive me away, will you?”

“Huh? What? Oh, right, sure.” Su Yu frantically stuffed a bright, embroidered camisole featuring a little koi fish back into the bag. “That, where is this contract? I can’t find it.”

Her voice sounded strained. Xue Lingmiao, unable to see the situation, asked nervously, “How can that be? It should be right there. Look, look again?”

“Right, right. I’ll look again.” Su Yu let out a long breath. Truth be told, she hadn’t really started looking yet. It was all the fault of that koi camisole—it was so cute she might just embroider one for herself tomorrow.

Without much effort, she pulled out a mounted scroll. Her heart sank. No way. There isn’t actually a damn marriage contract in here, is there?

“Did you find it?” Seeing Su Yu’s prolonged silence, the girl’s palms began to sweat. “Ayu, what are you doing?”

Feeling as though her life’s freedom was about to be signed away, Su Yu indignantly unfurled the scroll. Then, she froze. Her eyes widened, and as the realization of what she was looking at hit her, her face turned a violent shade of red.

“This, this is the marriage contract you were talking about?” She supposed she should be grateful there was no one else around; otherwise, standing under an eave during a rainstorm holding a blatant piece of erotica—a “Spring Palace” painting—would have been too much even for her thick skin.

Unaware of the truth, the young girl offered a faint, hopeful smile. “Yes. Is something wrong?”

No. Everything was very “wrong.” At that moment, Su Yu realized with painful clarity that the girl was blind. How was she supposed to tactfully explain that this wasn’t a marriage contract, but a graphic, lewd painting of bodies intertwined?

Recalling how the girl had protected this bundle like a precious treasure from the moment they met, Su Yu’s chest felt tight. If the marriage agreement was real, then someone had deliberately swapped it. The reason was simple: they had bullied a blind, orphaned girl.

“Ayu, you’re quiet. What are you thinking?”

“I.” Su Yu gave a dejected sigh, placing the “scorching” painting back into the bundle. She cautioned her strictly: “Keep this tucked away. Do not show it to anyone else.”

“Mm, I understand.” Unable to see Su Yu’s face or gauge her reaction to the “contract,” Xue Lingmiao felt like a mess of tangled silk. “You don’t want others to see it, is it because you don’t want people to know you have a fiancée like me?”

“Huh? That, how am I supposed to answer that?” She hadn’t seen a marriage contract at all; she had seen a portrait of women in a scandalous embrace! Recalling the images, Su Yu felt like she needed to wash her eyes. Unable to bring herself to tell the truth, she rubbed her temples in frustration. “Fine, fine. Just be quiet for a bit.”

“Okay.” The girl stood obediently under the eaves. She was already satisfied with this outcome—Ayu hadn’t driven her away, which was far better than she had imagined.

Settling her chaotic thoughts and noticing it was nearly lunchtime, Su Yu regretted getting tangled in this mess, yet she truly couldn’t bring herself to just walk away.

She stared at the girl’s profile for a long time. Finally, she found the reason why her heart kept softening against her better judgment: the girl was simply too pitifully lovely. She looked so quiet and delicate that it made one instinctively want to make sure she was well-fed.

“Are you hungry? I’ll take you to eat.”

“Me? I can hold out. If you are hungry, Ayu, I can treat you.”

“You’re treating me?” Su Yu let out a laugh of ambiguous meaning.

A street peddler, taking advantage of the rain, came running over with oil-paper umbrellas. Su Yu bought a large, sturdy seventy-two-rib umbrella and glanced back at her. “Keep up.”

Clutching her bundle, the girl followed closely by her side, her earlobes flushing slightly. If her intuition wasn’t wrong, Ayu had been staring at her for a very long time, hadn’t she?

She quietly tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. Her hand brushed against the white silk veil covering her eyes, and her heart swayed uncontrollably: Would she like me?

From that brief encounter under the willows, it was clear that Su Yu was indeed a playful soul. Yet, once she learned of their engagement, she had shown concern for her hunger and ceased her frivolous teasing. She was far from the “troublesome” character her father had described in his letters.

No one is perfect; Xue Lingmiao had learned that truth long ago. As long as Ayu did not abandon her, she would surely treat her with twice the devotion.

“What are you daydreaming about?” Su Yu asked, sounding slightly annoyed as she steadied the girl’s arm, guiding her around a puddle ahead.

“Oh? Am I being a burden?”

“Not a burden, exactly.” Su Yu laughed at her. “But if you keep drifting off into this dazed state, I’ll start wondering how you managed to walk all the way from Jiangnan to this border city.” She paused, then offered a compromise: “The road ahead is uneven. Take my arm.”

“I, may I?”

“Suit yourself.”

This person is my fiancée. Having reached this realization, Xue Lingmiao quickly switched her bamboo cane to her left hand and hooked her right arm through Su Yu’s. Thinking back to the lonely, difficult journey she had endured in the darkness since her father’s passing, she gave an innocent smile. “Ayu, I’m not dreaming, am I?”

Will you truly accept me?

With every word the girl spoke, Su Yu felt a fresh pang of regret. Her brows furrowed into a tight knot. Heaven only knew why she was bothering with this massive liability. Wouldn’t it be more fun to just remain a carefree playboy?

Receiving no answer to her question, the young girl held onto her arm with quiet reserve, silently encouraging herself: It’s alright, I have plenty of patience.

Catching a glimpse of that smile, Su Yu sighed inwardly. This girl was far too easy to please. She carefully maintained a distance to avoid unnecessary intimacy, but as the faint scent of flowers drifted through the wind and rain, she shook her head in frustration. What on earth am I going to do with her?

Inside a private booth in an elegant two-story restaurant, the fragrant dishes were served. Su Yu placed a pair of chopsticks into the girl’s palm, asking uneasily, “Can you manage eating on your own?”

“I can!” The answer came so quickly it lacked her usual poise. Realizing this, she lowered her head in shame. “I mean, you don’t have to worry about me too much. I’m used to it.”

The way she constantly hung her head sat poorly with Su Yu’s own philosophy of bold self-confidence. Her brow twitched. “Lift your head.”

“Huh?” The girl “looked” toward her, confused. “What’s wrong?”

Su Yu picked up her porcelain bowl nonchalantly. “Nothing. I’m just saying, you look much better when you hold your head high.”

Stunned by the unexpected compliment, Xue Lingmiao instinctively straightened her back and sat tall at the table. Being more perceptive than most, she immediately understood the deeper meaning behind the remark. “I understand.”

A lifetime of deep-seated timidity couldn’t be cured overnight, but Su Yu didn’t dwell on it, turning her focus to her meal.

Xue Lingmiao had a light appetite and waited quietly once she was full. Hearing Su Yu set down her chopsticks, she fished out her coin purse and called the waiter over to settle the bill. Spending the money actually made her happy. “This is the first time I’ve treated someone to a meal, and it’s you. It feels wonderful.”

Her smile was so pure and untainted that Su Yu found herself at a loss. Should she heartlessly part ways and leave her behind, or take a leap of faith and bring her home, bracing herself to add an extra set of chopsticks to her table every day?

The thought alone was a headache. Su Yu tapped her temple irritably. Meanwhile, Xue Lingmiao remained immersed in the joy of her first treat. “By the way, Ayu, I forgot to ask, do you still enjoy playing the qin?”

“The qin? That was years ago.”

The words slipped out before she could think, and Su Yu felt a jolt to her soul. It hit her then—this blind girl really was, in all likelihood, the fiancée her unreliable old man had arranged for her. She knew about the birthmark, the scars, and her childhood hobbies. Even without a marriage contract, it was proof enough that they weren’t strangers.

“You don’t like it anymore?” The girl seemed disappointed but quickly cheered up. She rubbed the thin calluses on her fingertips and asked, “Then what do you like now?”

“Let’s not talk about that for now.”

Outside the window, the clouds had parted and the rain had stopped. Su Yu steeled her heart. “My father died three years ago. The Su family’s fortune isn’t what it used to be. I even sold the ancestral house—that should tell you how much of a failure I am. Following me won’t lead to a good life. Think about it again: do you really want to go with me?”

“I have a bad temper, endless bad habits, I couldn’t even keep a cat alive, and I spend my days fooling around.”

Su Yu was never one for self-deprecation, and saying this much was her limit. She looked at the girl, desperately hoping she would come to her senses.

It was as good as a rejection. Xue Lingmiao understood perfectly. She tried her best to keep her smile from crumbling, though her body trembled uncontrollably. Her voice was so low it seemed to sink into the dust. “You say you are no good, but how much better am I?”

This is madness. Su Yu hated her own ill-timed soft-heartedness! She stood up, looking like she had resigned herself to fate.

“Fine, let’s stop belittling ourselves. But let me make one thing clear: I can take you in, but how long you stay depends on your behavior. Remember, once you’re at my place, you follow my rules. I won’t be spoiling you!”