Volume One, Chapter 32: A Maiden and a Young Wife Really Are Quite Different, Aren’t They?

"Waaah..." Cao Wanjin burst into loud sobs, his face smeared with a mess of tears, snot, and saliva.

Seizing the moment, Chen Xiuhong jammed those two twenty-yuan banknotes into his mouth.

"If you dare spit them out, I'll break one of your legs!"

Cao Wanjin stiffened. He had no desire to have his leg snapped by this old shrew, so he had no choice but to keep his mouth clamped shut, holding onto the bills.

It was truly said that poor mountains and treacherous waters breed unruly people; that saying held no error. Even if someone were to carry him here in an eight-man sedan chair, he would never set foot in this hellish Taoyuan Village again!

"Get this piece-of-trash motorcycle—the one your cousin rode for five or six years before tossing it to you—out of my sight immediately!" Chen Xiuhong barked as she grabbed Cao Wanjin by the ear, hauling him up from the ground and pointing at the motorbike parked in the shade.

The banknotes in his mouth were dirty, foul-smelling, and salty; Cao Wanjin felt a wave of nausea rising in his throat.

Not daring to disobey, he summoned every ounce of his remaining strength to drag the motorcycle into the back of his Land Rover.

"Get lost!" Chen Xiuhong delivered a swift kick to Cao Wanjin’s backside.

His tailbone nearly shattered from the impact. Scrambling into the driver's seat, he started the engine, slammed on the gas, and fled Taoyuan Village.

Once he was clear of the village entrance, he pulled over, tumbled out of the car, and crouched by a patch of weeds to fish the two banknotes out of his mouth.

The mere thought of how long he had held those bacteria-ridden bills in his mouth made his stomach churn. He retched violently, purging the abalone, lobster, and roast goose he had eaten for lunch until his stomach was completely empty.

A pungent, foul stench hit him, forcing him to pinch his nose with one hand while shielding his mouth with the other.

*Swish, swish, swish—*

A rustling sound emerged from the weeds. Just as Cao Wanjin had pinched his nose and before his other hand could reach his mouth, a shadow lunged from the brush and struck directly at his face!

"Ah!" A sharp, piercing pain shot through his lip.

Panicked, he glanced down and caught a glimpse of a thin, pointed, red-spotted tail.

*A snake!* Cao Wanjin could guess that whatever had bitten him was surely a snake.

Terrified and deathly pale, a chill surged from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head, covering him in goosebumps.

He yanked the snake from his lip, flung it to the ground, and scrambled backward several paces.

"Hiss~" A small, vibrantly colored snake with red and black bands flicked its tongue at him.

The creature’s colors were so vivid and intricate that it was almost certainly venomous. He felt his end was near; he could already picture his friends and family smiling as they feasted at his funeral.

Cao Wanjin’s face turned as grim as a funeral shroud. A large patch of his pants turned dark, and a stream of warm, yellow liquid trickled down his leg to his feet.

Ignoring the humiliation of his incontinence, he retreated step by step back to his car, threw himself into the driver's seat, and floored it, racing toward the county hospital.

***

"Xiaoxu must have spent too much of his energy treating Dad, which is why he was so exhausted he fell asleep against the door."

No wonder Lin Xiaoxu hadn’t said a word; it turned out he had drifted off into a deep sleep leaning against the doorframe. Seeing the fatigue on Lin Xiaoxu’s face, Lin Manru felt a deep sense of guilt.

When Lin Xiaoxu finally opened his eyes, he saw two pointed, rounded shapes dangling just above his mouth, and a faint, pleasant fragrance filled his nostrils. The sight of that snow-white cleavage was particularly stimulating to his senses.

Lin Xiaoxu’s body stiffened instinctively.

"Xiaoxu, you’re finally awake?" Seeing his eyes open, a joyous smile bloomed on Lin Manru’s face.

Earlier, seeing him so exhausted, she and Chen Xiuhong had moved him onto her bed so he could rest properly. Who would have thought that even as dusk fell, he would show no signs of waking?

She had gathered her courage, knelt before him, and begun gently massaging his temples, hoping to soothe his fatigue and perhaps hasten his awakening.

"I... I fell asleep at your place?"

"Yes, you did." Lin Manru helped him sit up.

His face was caught off guard and buried itself directly into her softness. In that instant, it felt as if Lin Xiaoxu had fallen into a sea of flowers, sleeping in the buff.

Though Lin Manru’s chest was not as large as Shen Yulian’s, it fit the aesthetic standards of Chinese men perfectly. Round, milky white with a hint of soft pink, they resembled shy, budding flowers, exuding a subtle, intoxicating scent.

"Ah!" Lin Manru realized that in her urgency, she had accidentally bumped Lin Xiaoxu’s head against her chest. She recoiled sharply, retreating until there was an arm’s length between them, and smoothed down her neckline.

"How are Uncle Lin’s legs?" Lin Xiaoxu asked, his face flushing crimson. He snuck a glance at Lin Manru, who was blushing herself, and lowered his head, using the topic of Lin Guohua’s condition to deflect from the excruciatingly awkward moment.

"Although he hasn't tried getting out of bed yet, he can already perform cycling motions with his legs while lying down. He says they feel strong and plans to try walking tomorrow."

Lin Manru’s heart pounded, her breath coming in short gasps. She felt both a burning heat and a tingling, numbing sensation wash over her, and she couldn't help but wonder what this inexplicable feeling was.

"That’s good... I should head back now. Once I recover my inner energy, I’ll return to treat Uncle Lin’s hemiplegia." Lin Xiaoxu quickly got off the bed and put on his shoes.

"Won't you stay for dinner?" The words were out before she could stop them, and she immediately regretted it—after all, didn't Xiaoxu have Shen Yulian waiting for him at home?

"No, thank you!" Lin Xiaoxu departed like a gust of wind, rushing toward the adobe house at the end of the village where a tungsten bulb flickered.

"Xiaoxu, you’re finally back. I saw it was getting dark and wanted to call, but I was afraid of disturbing your treatment of Uncle Lin, so I held back."

The moment he saw Shen Yulian, the tightness in Lin Xiaoxu’s chest instantly vanished. With Lin Manru, he always felt lost, as if wandering through a fog, but with Shen Yulian, it was the exact opposite.

A young girl and a young woman, he mused, were indeed very different.