Seeing You Rong walk out, Lin Qinghe lifted the hem of her skirt and placed her right foot on the bed. She poured some acrid-smelling medicinal oil onto her ankle and gently touched it. She immediately gasped in pain.
If even a touch hurt this much, she could only imagine how much it would hurt if she rubbed it forcefully.
Lin Qinghe, who was afraid of pain, didn't dare to apply any strength, only rubbing it lightly.
The sound of Lin Qinghe's sharp intake of breath due to pain made You Rong pause. As if compelled, he turned back.
Seeing Lin Qinghe hesitant to touch her swollen ankle, he frowned and walked back.
"You need to use some force when rubbing, otherwise the medicinal oil won't be effective."
Lin Qinghe was stunned for a moment. The medicinal oil was taken from her hands, and You Rong squatted in front of her, placing her right foot on his leg. He poured some medicinal oil onto the sprained part of her ankle, placed his palm on it, and rubbed it vigorously.
"Hiss, no... it hurts too much, You Rong, be gentler, please be gentler..." Lin Qinghe's face turned pale from the pain, tears welling up in her eyes, almost making her cry.
You Rong lowered his gaze and said sternly, "Bear with it."
"No, it hurts too much... be gentler,呜呜... it's killing me, I don't want to rub anymore, let go quickly!"
Lin Qinghe couldn't stand the pain and tried to pull her foot back. Little did she know that You Rong's large hand gripped it tightly, preventing her from retracting.
As if that wasn't enough, the force under You Rong's palm increased, and the pain became unbearable for Lin Qinghe, with large teardrops falling one after another.
She suspected You Rong was taking personal revenge, wishing she hadn't returned. Seeing her back, he was unhappy and used the excuse of applying medicine to subtly make her suffer.
The warm teardrops landed on his hand, and You Rong paused.
Was it really that painful?
He subtly lightened his grip and tried to talk to Lin Qinghe to distract her.
You Rong thought for a moment and said, "Why did you buy so many things today?"
Lin Qinghe, who already suspected You Rong was taking revenge, immediately misunderstood his question. She sniffled and explained, "I... I didn't take your money! I used the money from pawning my earring to buy these. I just thought that with Mother's poor health, she can't always rely on sweet potatoes for sustenance, so I bought rice, flour, and pork. I really didn't take your money..."
So, let go of me quickly, there's no need to torture me like this!
The last sentence, Lin Qinghe naturally didn't dare to say.
You Rong's expression darkened slightly, and he said in a low voice, "...I didn't say you took it."
Then why aren't you letting go? Do you want me to die of pain and then you won't have to see it?
Lin Qinghe didn't dare to say it and could only endure it silently. Gradually, whether it was the medicinal oil working or You Rong easing his strength, Lin Qinghe felt that it didn't hurt as much anymore.
You Rong massaged Lin Qinghe's ankle for about two quarters of an hour before stopping. He released her foot and said indifferently, "It's done. Just be a little careful for the next two days, and it should be fine."
Lin Qinghe moved her right foot slightly and indeed felt much better. She blushed, feeling ashamed of her suspicion towards You Rong. "That... thank you."
You Rong said nothing and got up to leave, presumably to put away the rice and flour and process the pork.
You Rong put the rice and flour in the front room and briefly blanched the pork, marinating it with salt. After finishing these tasks, he lowered his eyes, his rugged face thoughtful. Su Dan Novel Network
There weren't many doses of Mother's medicine left. The wages from his few days of odd jobs were just enough to get the medicine, but there was no money for household expenses.
As Lin Qinghe had said, he didn't care about himself, but his mother was in poor health and couldn't always rely on sweet potatoes for sustenance. Moreover, there was now an extra person...
You Rong decided that he needed to go into the mountains to hunt in a few days. Selling the game would naturally provide enough money to buy more food.
As he thought, You Rong remembered Lin Qinghe's earring. He recalled that she had been wearing it since they got married and was still wearing it the last time she returned. It must have been quite important to her for her to have pawned it...
You Rong didn't know that the earring was a gift from the original owner's former lover, who had only stayed in Jiang City for a day before leaving. The original owner had indeed been quite fond of that lover and had kept the earrings.
While the earrings held special meaning for the original owner, they did not for Lin Qinghe.
You Rong returned to the room. Lin Qinghe nervously swallowed. "Um... is the pork processed?"
"Yes."
"Then... let's rest. It's getting late, and you have to go to your odd jobs tomorrow."
You Rong walked over and handed her two warmed sweet potatoes. Lin Qinghe blinked her clear eyes, not reacting for a moment.
You Rong said, "You haven't eaten all day, aren't you hungry?"
You Rong hadn't mentioned it, and Lin Qinghe had forgotten. Now that he brought it up, her stomach grumbled in agreement.
Lin Qinghe clutched her stomach, took the sweet potato with some embarrassment, and said, "...Thank you."
Lin Qinghe didn't dare to dawdle and quickly ate the sweet potato before lying down on the inside of the bed. "Done! I'm finished. It's too late, you should rest now."
You Rong looked at her, his gaze deep, revealing none of his thoughts. After a moment, he grunted, blew out the oil lamp, got into bed, and closed his eyes to sleep.
After sleeping for a while, You Rong heard a faint sound by his ear. It was Lin Qinghe tossing and turning. Even though she was being very careful, he could still hear the movement.
You Rong didn't open his eyes.
After about another quarter of an hour, Lin Qinghe was still restless. You Rong opened his eyes and asked, "Can't sleep? Is your foot hurting?"
Lin Qinghe was clearly startled and said in a small voice, "Um... am I disturbing you? I won't move around anymore, you should sleep quickly."
You Rong: "No... is your foot hurting badly?"
"No..." Lin Qinghe stammered, "It's... I didn't wash up today, and I feel uncomfortable all over. I..."
Although the weather was cool and not conducive to sweating, she had run around all day, fallen hard, and hadn't washed up. It was inevitable that she would feel uncomfortable.
You Rong was silent for a moment. "...I'll go get some water. You can wipe yourself down in the room."
"No! It's not necessary, I..." Before Lin Qinghe could finish speaking, You Rong had already gotten up. He lit the oil lamp on the table and went out.
You Rong was gone for quite a while and hadn't returned. Just as Lin Qinghe was wondering if she should go check on him, You Rong came back.
You Rong put down the wooden bucket full of water and pursed his lips. "I'm going out. You can wipe yourself down."
"Okay, thank you. I'll call you after I've washed!"
You Rong went out. Lin Qinghe took out her clean clothes and a washcloth to wipe herself. When her hand went into the wooden bucket, she felt that it was hot water. Lin Qinghe suddenly realized that You Rong had been gone for so long because he had boiled hot water for her.
Lin Qinghe, unwilling to give up, checked the system progress bar again and found that it was still zero. The flicker of hope she had felt was extinguished.
Well, she had thought too much again.
Lin Qinghe suppressed her scattered thoughts and quickly wiped herself and changed out of her dirty clothes, as You Rong was waiting to rest.