Chapter 14 Chapter 14

Chapter 14

1

A chill assaulted her from all sides.

Lin Chenxin's breath caught, the flower slipping from her limp hand, its withered petals littering the floor.

Chen Gujun lowered his lashes, standing silently in place for a long moment.

Then, he slowly turned and walked away, the heavy shackles dragging behind him.

Just as he took that step, a warm hand grasped his wrist.

The grip was firm, even trembling slightly, betraying the other person's turbulent emotions.

He froze, rooted to the spot.

That hand slowly moved to his palm, moving toward his fingertips.

His fingers trembled slightly. He turned around, looking down at Lin Chenxin standing before him.

The girl's face still held a trace of lingering pallor, yet her gaze was unusually earnest.

His lips pressed together slightly, his tall, lean frame standing motionless.

Chen Gujun's hand was thin and long, with a lifeless pallor. Both the crimson sigils and the jet-black nails were eerily unsettling.

Lin Chenxin's breathing grew somewhat rapid, her heart pounding uncontrollably.

Feeling no fear was nearly impossible.

After all, she had lived as an ordinary person for over twenty years. Suddenly encountering such a phenomenon that defied all reason, the shock was understandable.

But the moment she saw Chen Gujun turn and walk away alone, a sudden impulse welled up within her—a desire to take a good, long look.

Holding his hand, she slowly opened his palm. When she saw the wound, her eyes widened in surprise. She tugged at his fingers, touching the spot over and over as if unable to believe it.

The sharp nails were like the keenest blades, laced with dangerous venom. Chen Gujun looked down at Lin Chenxin's astonished and bewildered face, slightly curling his sharp nails inward, like a hedgehog retracting its spines.

"It's gone."

Lin Chenxin let out a sound of amazement.

The wound on Chen Gujun's fingertip had vanished.

Not completely gone, but the cut that had just been oozing blood now bore only a faint, healed trace.

And that faint trace was disappearing before her very eyes.

Wow.

Lin Chenxin's eyes widened.

So, Chen Gujun's entire body must be snow-white and smooth, without a single scar.

Skin like congealed fat, flawless and pure!

Wow!

Lin Chenxin's thoughts began to wander down a peculiar path.

Really, who wouldn't envy such an ability—wounds healing automatically without leaving scars!

Seeing Lin Chenxin's sparkling, almost covetous gaze, Chen Gujun's lashes lifted slightly. His fingers moved imperceptibly as he tried to withdraw his hand.

"Don't move!"

Lin Chenxin clamped onto Chen Gujun's fingers, her eyes burning as she stared at his hand.

She didn't seem to find those venomous nails frightening at all.

Chen Gujun: "..."

After a brief silence, he mercilessly pulled his hand back and turned to leave.

Lin Chenxin paused, looking up at Chen Gujun's retreating back. She opened her mouth as if to ask something, but then felt that asking now might be cruel to him.

So, the words that rose to her lips changed: "Don't you want the flower anymore?"

Chen Gujun halted, lifting his eyelids, his gaze deep and unfathomable as he stared ahead.

*It's withered. What meaning is there in keeping it?*

Lin Chenxin watched his back for a moment.

Then she crouched down, snapped off the root of the peony, stood up, and looked at Chen Gujun. "Even though it's withered, it's preserved forever now. Wouldn't it be perfect as a bookmark?"

Hearing this, Chen Gujun turned around, his eyes fixed intently on Lin Chenxin.

For the first time, a ripple stirred in his usually placid eyes as he looked at her.

He couldn't understand it. Had this young girl always been like this?

Never discouraged.

Always so distinctly herself.

Lin Chenxin placed the broken flower into Chen Gujun's palm and said softly, "I wanted to give this flower to you from the start."

Chen Gujun's heart jolted.

He looked down at the flower in his hand, his slightly pursed lips saying nothing. After a moment, he tightened his fingers around it, turned, and walked away. The heavy chains dragged loudly with his long strides.

This time, Lin Chenxin did not call him back.

When he reached the study door, Chen Gujun suddenly glanced back. Lin Chenxin was still standing there, watching him.

Her gaze held no particularly intense emotion, yet Chen Gujun found it impossible to meet it directly.

He turned his head away, and for the first time, his movement into the study lacked its usual composure.

Lin Chenxin kept her eyes on Chen Gujun until his figure disappeared. After a while, alone in the spot, she frowned at the withered branches and leaves on the ground.

The lingering trace of a metallic scent felt strangely familiar for some reason.

She swallowed, a sudden discomfort stirring in her stomach.

—

In the evening, Lin Chenxin carried a pot of hodgepodge stew toward the central hall.

On the way, a string bean fell to the ground. With a sidelong glance and seeing no one around, Lin Chenxin swiftly picked it up and dropped it back into the pot.

Without changing her expression, she stepped over the threshold and placed the dish on the table.

Waste was shameful.

She had only stood there a moment before footsteps sounded from outside.

Mr. Chen and Young Master Chen arrived. Seeing her, the young master’s eyes lit up, and he smiled at her.

Lin Chenxin, standing motionless and playing the part of a virtuous wife, did not return his smile.

After the family sat down, they all fell silent at the sight of the pot of stew on the table.

“What is this?” the Second Young Lady asked, frowning with disdain.

Lin Chenxin replied, “A one-pot meal.”

The young master asked curiously, “What’s a one-pot meal?”

It meant cooking all the vegetables together in one pot—at least, that was how Lin Chenxin understood it.

“It’s a dish where one pot contains all the necessary nutrients,” she answered with a smile.

“How convenient for you,” the Second Young Lady sneered.

Mr. Chen stared at the pot of stew for a long time, finding it truly difficult to pick up his chopsticks.

Such a crude dish should never have been brought to the table.

Frowning, he said, “Serve something else.”

The young master opened his mouth, wanting to say that since she had worked hard to prepare it, there was no harm in tasting it.

But seeing Mr. Chen’s dark expression, he lowered his head and swallowed his words.

Ms. Liang shot Lin Chenxin a cold glance and raised her hand. The servant waiting outside the screen immediately entered, with bowed head, and took the pot away.

Lin Chenxin looked regretful.

What a waste.

Soon, one exquisite dish after another was brought to the table, neatly arranged until the table was full.

Of course, Lin Chenxin had no right to eat with them now. She could only stand by, pouring tea and water.

And the Chen family’s mealtime was truly an ordeal.

They had to rinse their mouths and wash their hands, and have dishes served to them.

During the meal, making noise was forbidden, and no one could take a second helping of any dish, lest they appear gluttonous.

Lin Chenxin had been hungry, but watching them eat, her hunger gradually faded until she completely lost her appetite.

After the Chen family finished their meal, Lin Chenxin, who had been standing nearby the whole time, was told to step forward and clear the dishes.

Mr. Chen didn’t say a single unnecessary word throughout the entire meal. Once finished, he simply left.

What a display of masculine authority.

Clearly, as the head of the household, he had no interest in involving himself in such “petty domestic matters.”

While Lin Chenxin was clearing the dishes, the young master seemed somewhat embarrassed and stood up to lend a hand. But with one look from Ms. Liang, he nervously sat back down.

The Second Young Lady, however, showed no such restraint. She tossed her used handkerchief onto the table and cast a haughty glance at Lin Chenxin.

“Wash the dishes before you go back,” Ms. Liang said unhurriedly.

As Lin Chenxin stepped out the door, her footsteps paused for a moment, and she clicked her tongue inwardly.

—

Lin Chenxin was no stranger to this kind of work.

When she was most desperate for money, she had washed dishes in restaurants.

Working as a waitress during the day and a dishwasher at night, she earned double in a single day.

But that was her labor being exchanged for money. It was cheap, but she was willing.

That didn’t mean she was also willing to play the obedient daughter-in-law serving an overbearing mother-in-law.

Especially since she had lost a piece of clothing earlier that day, and the Chen family hadn’t sent her new clothes as promised.

She already felt short-changed.

Counting it up, since entering the Chen household, she had only received money twice.

The first time was the “bride price” for marrying Eldest Young Master Chen.

The second time was the “emotional distress compensation” for being confined to Junzi Courtyard.

Since then, she hadn’t gained any benefits.

Sitting in the kitchen washing dishes, Lin Chenxin began running the numbers in her mind. As she did, her eyes fell on the smooth, clean plates in front of her.

They were fine, expensive plates.

Three minutes later, Lin Chenxin, having washed her hands, left the kitchen and began walking around the courtyard.

She didn’t know where she was going until she looked up and narrowed her eyes.

Shufangzhai.

Only after finding it did she realize it was an entirely independent courtyard.

Stepping through the gate, she saw that the area inside was even more spacious than Junzi Courtyard, with dozens of study rooms of varying sizes. The largest and most magnificent among them was called the Library Pavilion.

Avoiding the servants carrying tea, she lightened her footsteps and followed at a distance behind one of them.

Watching as the servant pushed open a door with a light on inside, she stopped at a corner, leaned against the wall, and looked toward the dense branches outside the courtyard wall.

That old tree seemed unnervingly lush.

She couldn’t see where the old tree was, yet everywhere she looked, she could see its dense, sprawling branches.

Hearing the footsteps fade away, Lin Chenxin composed herself and walked over quietly.

She was very calm, clearly unfazed by doing this kind of thing, her mental fortitude exceptionally strong.

The study was lit, with Mr. Chen writing at his desk and Ms. Liang grinding ink beside him.

Such a picture of marital harmony.

"I thought that with her family's decline, she would learn to keep her head down and be obedient, but I never expected her to be so unruly and uncontrollable."

Lin Chenxin pricked up her ears.

Oh, so they're *praising* her.

Mr. Chen pressed down firmly with his brush, not even lifting his eyes as he said, "As long as she doesn't cause any major trouble, let it be."

Lin Chenxin's eyes flickered slightly.

Then, Mr. Chen added, "Anyway, the time is nearly upon us. She doesn't have many good days left."

A character for "fate," written with bold, sweeping strokes, suddenly appeared on the paper.

Lin Chenxin's mind tensed, and she frowned deeply.

"Xiaozhi is not to go out during this time. Among the young ladies we saw earlier, quickly finalize a match for him."

Lin Chenxin thought for a moment—Xiaozhi must be the young master.

He hasn't even graduated from high school yet, and they're in such a hurry?

"Yes."

Mr. Chen turned to look at Ms. Liang, his deep-set eyes casting an obscure shadow.

"You blame me."

Ms. Liang paused in her ink-grinding motion and said nothing.

Her head slightly bowed, her gaunt face was unreadable, with only shadows flickering across it in the light.

"This is fate," she said.

Then she picked up the character Mr. Chen had written.

Mr. Chen stood before the desk, his sharply defined face appearing cold and emotionless under the light.

"Yes, this is fate."

Standing outside the door, Lin Chenxin felt a sudden, inexplicable sense of foreboding.