The Female Rake and Her Blind Girl - Chapter 4

“Heavens, this.” A sudden spark of warmth scorched the tip of Su Yu’s heart. She rubbed her itching, tingling ears and stammered, “You, don’t be like this.”

Unable to see her face, the young girl began to picture the flustered expression of her fiancée in her mind. She let out a small laugh through her tears; they still clung to her eyelashes, and her voice was light. “Like what?”

She radiated the most harmless sweetness of a girl her age, it was an incredibly potent display of coquettishness. Su Yu thought to herself: Like what? You don’t know what you’re doing?

The inner room fell silent. When her question received no reply, Lingmiao felt Su Yu’s gaze fixed on her face, and the pain in her knee seemed to drift away as if floating on clouds.

Recalling her behavior just now, two adorable clouds of red bloomed on Lingmiao’s cheeks. Did I just, did I just act spoiled toward Ayu?

Shame flitted through her heart like a restless kitten’s paw. To keep herself from retreating in timidity, she tilted her head slightly so that if Ayu’s hand fell, it would land right on her hair. She thought her little movements were perfectly hidden.

Su Yu stared blankly at the top of the girl’s head. Slowly, she withdrew the hand she hadn’t realized she had extended. She turned her face away, her voice as stiff as her slender back. “Speak properly.”

This was clearly not what Lingmiao wanted to hear. Tears began to gather in her eyes again. “I am speaking properly. Is it not okay to only be like this with you?”

Her sensitive, self-conscious emotions were stirred. Because of her blindness, she couldn’t even manage the simple act of nuzzling her head against her fiancée’s palm. Her voice grew slightly hoarse—half from pain, half from panic. “Ayu, you find me burdensome.”

“Huh? No, no! How could I find you burdensome!” Su Yu waved her hands frantically.

Realizing the girl couldn’t see the gesture, she frustratedly tapped her own forehead. When she spoke again, her eyes held a trace of tenderness, like a gentle spring breeze. “Lingmiao, you are so different from every other girl I’ve known growing up.”

A sob broke through, wrapped in heavy disappointment. “Yes, I know. My eyes cannot see.”

“No, no, no. What I mean is.” Su Yu bit her lip. “I mean, you are so well-behaved.”

“Well-behaved?” The girl’s eyes were misty. To keep up with her fiancée’s train of thought, her mind raced. “So, is Ayu shy?” What a coincidence. I’m shy, too.

“Don’t talk nonsense.” Su Yu’s ear tips flushed red as she continued her “tough” act. “Does your knee still hurt?”

If she hadn’t mentioned it, it might have been fine, but now the girl’s tears fell. “It hurts. Say my name again.”

“Why should I say your name?”

“You refuse to pat my head; are you unwilling to even call my name?”

Su Yu was genuinely intimidated by her. To put it bluntly, this girl was a handful! It was just a name; she didn’t understand why Lingmiao was so persistent about it. Her lips moved. “Lingmiao.”

The corners of Xue Lingmiao’s mouth curved slightly. “It seems it doesn’t hurt quite as much now.”

Tsk, this little troublemaker. How is she so good at coaxing people? Su Yu stood up. “I’ll help you sit on the edge of the bed. Stay here and wait for me to get back.”

“Okay. Ayu, come back soon.”

“I’m just going around the corner; I won’t get lost.” Su Yu’s lips twitched as she carefully supported the girl.

“Does Ayu really not find me burdensome? Not now, and not in the future?”

The girl possessed the spirited beauty of a lark; her crying could break a person’s heart, and her smile was warm and sweet. It was obvious she had been raised with great care.

Thinking of the hardships she must have faced on her journey here, Su Yu said irritably, “Quiet.”

With her arm hooked in Su Yu’s, Xue Lingmiao leaned half her weight against her. “Since Ayu didn’t say no, I’ll take it as a yes.”

Su Yu:?

This is terrifying. What exactly are you assuming? Su Yu practically fled the girl’s room.

By the time she had regained her composure and pushed the door back open with a tube of ointment, the girl had fallen asleep leaning against the bedpost. Her sleeping face was innocent and beautiful. Su Yu softened her footsteps, unwilling to wake her.

Su Yu was a profligate, a “playboy” of sorts. In the Su family’s prime, she had always been surrounded by beautiful girls. Some loved men, some craved women, but Su Yu only knew how to play. She appreciated beauty as one appreciates a flower—purely and from a distance. She had never been this close to anyone.

Holding her breath, she slowly rolled up the thin pant leg. The skin was as white as snow, but a deep bruise had formed on the knee. She let out a pitying sigh and lightly tapped the injury with her fingertip. The girl let out a whimper in her sleep, her body tensing as internal alarms blared. “Who! Is it Ayu?”

She was like a qin string that had been plucked at random, trembling with a lingering resonance. Scared her again, Su Yu thought with a headache. “I’m applying medicine. Don’t move.”

Realizing it was her, Xue Lingmiao slowly relaxed. With her calf exposed to the air, a secret bashfulness spread through her like ripples on water. She grumbled softly, “You took a long time to come back.”

Su Yu couldn’t answer that. She could hardly admit she had been standing outside the door on purpose, hesitating to come in.

Seeing no explanation, the girl didn’t get angry. As the ointment was applied to her knee, she winced and tried to pull her leg back, but a hand firmly held her in place. Su Yu’s gaze turned dissatisfied. “What happened to being well-behaved?”

The blind girl pursed her lips, crystal tears shimmering in her eyes. Because she was enduring the pain, her small face looked a bit pale. “Then I won’t move. Ayu, don’t be angry.”

“I’m not angry.”

“Really? But your tone sounds so mean.”

Being called “mean” or “fierce” repeatedly caused Su Yu to fall into a brief moment of self-reflection: Am I really that mean?

She didn’t want to continue the topic, lest the girl say something else she couldn’t handle. Encountering such a delicate “little ancestor” for the first time in her life, she asked the question that puzzled her most: “How on earth did you make it here all the way from Jiangnan?”

“Different kind-hearted people led the way.” Speaking of this, Xue Lingmiao praised the customs and peace of the Jing Kingdom with great sincerity.

Looking at her face, Su Yu roughly understood. Fine, she really was lucky. Armed with such peerless beauty and a fragile aura, it made sense that people would keep lending a hand. But the thought of it was terrifying—if even one thing had gone wrong.

“Ah, it hurts.”

Su Yu had accidentally applied too much pressure. The girl let out a soft cry of pain. Su Yu gave her an apologetic look, her brows knitting slightly. “The border city isn’t like other places. The people here, they’re ruthless.”

Noticing that Su Yu’s movements had become much gentler, Xue Lingmiao’s eyes curved into crescents. “I’m not afraid. Ayu will protect me. Right?”

“Yes, yes, yes. Whatever you say is right.”

Even if it was just a perfunctory answer, it was enough to make the girl feel satisfied.

“Alright, let it dry for a bit before you put your pant leg down.” Su Yu placed the ointment on the mahogany table. As she turned to leave, she was met with a sweet, crisp “thank you.” She asked, “What do you want to eat? I’ll go buy it.”

“Whatever Ayu is eating.”

“In that case, don’t you go regretting it,” Su Yu said, turning to leave with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

The result was a young girl thoroughly tormented by a dinner that was both agonizingly sour and burningly spicy. Her eyes welled with tears, looking so pitiable that any observer would have felt a pang of protectiveness.

“Alright, if you can’t eat it, don’t force yourself.” Su Yu pulled the tray away and set down another meal she had prepared in advance. “Here, try this?”

She reached from behind to hold the girl’s hand, guiding her chopsticks. Tasting the familiar flavors of her hometown, Xue Lingmiao’s eyes widened in surprise. She didn’t hesitate to give her verdict: “Ayu, you are so good to me.”

She didn’t hold a grudge about the previous prank at all; her magnanimity was enough to make one feel a flush of shame.

“It’s just a meal. What’s so ‘good’ about it?” Su Yu stopped hovering and buried her head in her own portion.

Night fell, the sky teeming with stars. The evening breeze carried a slight chill. After her bath, Xue Lingmiao sat obediently on a bamboo stool draped in an outer robe, listening to the noisy clatter nearby. “Ayu, are you tired? Do you want to rest for a bit?”

“Forget it.” Su Yu looked up and wiped the fine beads of sweat from her forehead with her sleeve. “If I don’t fix this now, I’m afraid I won’t see you at all when I wake up tomorrow morning.”

The words were ambiguous. Even though she knew Su Yu was just making a blunt, teasing remark, the girl’s face bloomed like a peach blossom. She offered a timid quip: “So, Ayu wants to see me that much?”

“Nonsense! It’s because you’re too much trouble! If I don’t move the tables out and sand down these doorsills, you’re the one who’s going to suffer. And if you suffer, I’m the one who’s unlucky. You little ingrate.”

Her tone was harsh, but it didn’t stop a wave of deep affection from rising in Xue Lingmiao’s heart. She truly liked the fiancée her father had chosen for her. There were many in this world willing to lend a hand for a short journey, but in terms of both morality and law, there was only one person who could walk beside her for a lifetime.

Now that the obstacles in the bedroom were mostly cleared, Lingmiao stood up with her bamboo cane and walked earnestly toward her fiancée, the cane tapping rhythmically against the floor—tap, tap, tap. Seeing her wandering about, Su Yu’s face hardened, ready to scold her, but fearing she might fall, she rushed forward to meet her. “What are you coming over here for?”

“To wipe your sweat.” She tossed her cane aside. Gauging the height difference, she rested one hand on Su Yu’s shoulder while the other fished out a handkerchief, reaching out to feel for Su Yu’s face.

“Wrong, wrong,” Su Yu said, hunching her back to accommodate her. “The sweat is all on my forehead.”

Xue Lingmiao acted as if she hadn’t heard. She wiped with great care, using the barrier of the silk handkerchief to mentally trace the features of her fiancée’s face. As a vague silhouette formed in her mind, her affection grew by another two degrees.

Hunching over was tiring. Su Yu swallowed hard. “Hurry up. Don’t think you can just do whatever you want to me just because you’re pretty.”

“Mm. Ayu, actually, you can stand up straight now.”

“Would that be convenient for you?”

The girl suddenly laughed. “I am blind, not short-armed.”

Su Yu felt a bit embarrassed. She cleared her throat and stood tall, staring intently at the person before her. As if afraid Su Yu couldn’t see her clearly enough, the girl took a half-step forward. The handkerchief, embroidered with a little koi, once again triggered Su Yu’s heat-flushed memory of the “Spring Palace” painting.

“Do you like koi fish that much?”

“I do. When I was young, I kept a very small one. Whenever I would stare blankly out the window, it would work very hard to blow bubbles and wag its tail to get my attention. When the water droplets splashed on me, I knew it was hungry, and I’d happily feed it.”

What a pure soul it took to find joy in a fish wagging its tail. Su Yu looked at her with pity, but slowly, that pity transformed into a stunned, breathless admiration.

The scent of flowers drifted past her nose; Su Yu was now certain the fragrance was coming from the girl herself. She was truly a girl more delicate than any blossom. Su Yu couldn’t help but smile.

“I, I’ve wanted to ask this for a while.” Xue Lingmiao wiped the sweat away gently, her heart fluttering with uncertainty.

Enjoying the beauty’s attentive service, Su Yu asked lazily, “What is it?”

The girl’s lips parted slightly as she plucked up her courage and asked, “Ayu has been looking at me for a long time. Am I, am I beautiful?”