Chapter 46 Chapter 46

Chapter 46

1

Walking to the entrance of Gentleman's Courtyard, Lin Chenxin's gaze softened as she headed straight toward the tall, slender figure ahead.

She quickened her pace, eventually breaking into a run, and like a shimmering star, she flung herself into Chen Gujun's arms.

Chen Gujun staggered back a step from the impact, steadying himself quickly, but Lin Chenxin's face changed slightly. However, Chen Gujun said calmly, "Come on."

She fixed her face and replied with a smile, "Alright."

She took his hand and led him slowly inside.

Looking down at his bare feet, the pale insteps and the ugly bruises were hard to look at. Her eyes darkened, and then she heard Chen Gujun ask, "Who'd you see?"

She was startled, opened her mouth, and said, "No one..."

"I want to know."

She looked up at him.

Chen Gujun's expression was serene as he stared ahead, as if he felt her looking, he turned to her and offered a faint smile.

Her heart pounded, and she quickly looked down, trying to calm her racing pulse.

"I saw the Second Young Miss," she said.

"And then?"

"She didn't seem to know anything, but she must have been terrified—she was in a bad mood."

Lin Chenxin pressed her lips together and murmured, "So I let her yell at me and left."

He let out a soft laugh above her.

Her face burned with embarrassment and anger. "Don't laugh!"

"Why didn't you yell back at her?"

"I felt bad for her."

Chen Gujun went quiet.

The curve of his lips was gorgeous, and that faint dimple made his unreal face suddenly look real and alive.

Lin Chenxin couldn't look away and whispered, "Can you keep smiling at me?"

Chen Gujun turned toward her, but she blushed and turned away, muttering, "Never mind, rare things are precious."

She didn't know if he heard.

His hand, holding hers, twitched a little, but his face remained unchanged.

Lin Chenxin kept talking, about how the Chen family was doing, how the servants outside had gotten scared, and how she had to act like the Young Mistress whenever she faced others.

The more calm and proper she was, the more relaxed and obedient they got.

She also opened up her mental grudge list.

She remembered someone grabbing her arm, and they were really strong.

Chen Gujun listened patiently, and when he couldn't hear well, he'd lean a little closer to Lin Chenxin.

Then Lin Chenxin would swing their joined hands, her voice getting louder.

—

As they walked down the hallway, Chen Gujun turned to go back to the study. Lin Chenxin, seeing the study door that was broken and never fixed, tugged on his hand and said, "Wrong way."

She pulled him toward the main bedroom.

Chen Gujun took two steps before realizing something was wrong.

He stopped, held her hand tight, and said, "It's not wrong."

"I said it's wrong, so it's wrong."

She pulled him inside.

The Chen Gujun now was nothing like the one who used to have power; he was as weak as an old man.

Stumbling forward two steps, he hit the threshold with his toes, and he wouldn't go any further.

"No."

He pulled his hand away from Lin Chenxin's, feeling around to leave.

Seeing him, blind as he was, acting all virtuous, Lin Chenxin put her hands on her hips and said angrily, "What, afraid I'll try something on you?"

Chen Gujun stopped, his hand tightening on the threshold, and he lowered his head. "No."

"Then why are you leaving?"

His throat bobbed as he murmured, "It's not appropriate."

"How is it not appropriate? We've only been married a few months—we're still newlyweds."

Lin Chenxin grabbed his hand and pulled him into the room.

She was like a bandit chief, while Chen Gujun, lips pressed together and long hair flowing, looked like a "mountain fortress bride" being abducted.

As she tugged, Lin Chenxin laughed in exasperation, turning to look at the reluctant Chen Gujun. "Quite the virtuous one, aren't you?"

Chen Gujun's lashes drooped, his fingers tightening and loosening, until he finally withdrew his hand from hers.

He turned, steadying himself against the doorframe, and said softly, "I'm going back to the study."

But he hadn't taken two steps before he couldn't move.

Lin Chenxin grabbed his hair from behind, threatening fiercely, "If you dare leave, I'll pull it all out."

He stopped, closed his eyes, and let out a sigh.

In the end, she dragged him into the room, refusing to let him sit on a chair, insisting he get on the bed.

He sat on the edge of the bed, hands resting on his knees, as proper as a "newlywed wife."

Lin Chenxin clicked her tongue and pushed him down onto the bed.

Chen Gujun flinched, his face tightening with tension.

Lin Chenxin was already in a bad mood, but when she saw Chen Gujun’s face, she couldn’t help laughing.

She shoved Chen Gujun to the far side of the bed, lay down on the outer side, pulled the blanket over them, and turned her head to look at Chen Gujun, who was frozen stiff, not daring to move. She cracked up.

Her laugh made Chen Gujun’s face even stiffer, so he just turned his head away, no longer facing her.

She’d never seen a guy his age get embarrassed so easily.

“Look at you, pushing thirty,” she said softly.

Thirty was just another age for most people, but for Chen Gujun, it was a big deal.

But she said it so casually, like it wasn’t such a big deal after all.

Then she added, “My dad just died in his sleep, right in bed.”

In the quiet, Chen Gujun turned his head to “look” at her. His eyes were empty and dead, but they still zeroed in on Lin Chenxin.

Maybe because Chen Gujun had been so animated today, Lin Chenxin laughed.

She patted Chen Gujun to comfort him and said, “It’s fine, the first time sharing a bed is always like this. You’ll get used to it eventually.”

Chen Gujun’s Adam’s apple bobbed, and he grabbed her hand right away.

Even though his eyes couldn’t see, Lin Chenxin still felt like she was being pinned down.

Her heart jumped, and she buried her face under the blanket, leaving just her eyes showing as she said, “Don’t worry, I’m not into ‘old guys’ right now. Sleep tight—I won’t do anything.”

Chen Gujun’s temple pulsed hard. He grabbed Lin Chenxin’s hand and bit it, like a warning.

Lin Chenxin laughed to herself.

The bite was just a bluff—that was all he had in him.

She scooted over, resting her head on Chen Gujun’s shoulder, and said, “Tomorrow, I’ll go get you a pair of shoes.”

Chen Gujun kissed her wrist and put her hand on his chest.

“Mhm.”

“I’ll get you some clothes too.”

“Mhm.”

“What do you wanna wear?”

“Dunno.”

“Wear a button-up—it’ll look great on you.”

“Sure.”

“What size underwear are you?”

“…”

“It’s a legit question—why’re you blushing?”

“…”

“Forget it, I’ll just get everything.”

Chen Gujun turned his head toward Lin Chenxin, listening to her sleepy, soft mumbling.

“Tomorrow, I’ll measure your feet and your body. Don’t get all shy then…”

Her voice got softer and softer until she dozed off, her breath evening out.

Chen Gujun held Lin Chenxin’s hand where it lay on his chest, and slowly leaned down to kiss the tip of her nose. Then he closed his eyes and rubbed against her.

He was going to start trying to be human.

—

Carrying fresh pastries, Lin Chenxin stood at the entrance of Changsheng Courtyard, silently staring at the wilted flowers inside.

The Second Miss came out and, seeing her standing outside the yard, said stiffly, “What are you here for?”

She lifted her eyes. “I’ve come to see the Young Master.”

The Second Miss glanced at the food box in her hand and let out a cold snort.

“Come in, then.”

She stepped inside, and though she wasn’t sure if it was just her imagination, she felt that this courtyard was colder than any other part of the Chen residence.

Before she even reached the Young Master’s room, she caught a strong smell of medicine.

Turning to look at the Second Miss’s pale face and dark-rimmed eyes, she asked, “Have you been staying here all this time?”

The Second Miss still seemed reluctant to warm up to her, turning her face away as she said, “Yes, so what?”

“Move to another courtyard.”

She stepped over the threshold, ignoring the vicious glare the Second Miss shot at her from behind.

The Young Master lay on the sickbed, emaciated to the point of being a mere skeleton. If not for the slight rise and fall of his chest, he would have looked like a dried-up corpse.

Her heart tightened.

It had only been a short time since she last saw him, and he had already become like this.

“He’s been insisting on seeing you, but his body is sick, and he can’t get out of bed. The time he’s awake is getting shorter and shorter.”

The Second Miss’s voice came from behind.

Perhaps she had grown numb, but her tone was very calm.

Lin Chenxin lowered her head and asked, “What did the doctor say?”

“I don’t know.”

She turned around. “What do you mean, you don’t know?”

“The doctor won’t come—how am I supposed to know!” the Second Miss said irritably.

Lin Chenxin stared at her and asked, “Then why didn’t you take him to the hospital?”

The second young miss froze for a second, then got all worked up and crazy.

"How are we supposed to get out? Who in this household can leave? Without Dad's say-so, who's got the guts to leave? What if something happens?"

She started spiraling again, babbling nonsense, like there were monsters out there, like walking out the Chen family's front door was a death sentence.

Her bloodshot eyes and the veins popping on her forehead made her look like a caged animal about to lose it.

Lin Chenxin moved her lips, looking at her, and said, "Nothing's gonna happen. Nothing at all."

The second young miss stopped dead, her face pale and blank, her bloodshot eyes locked onto her.

After a long, heavy silence, she turned and walked to the bedside, grabbed a cup and wet a cloth with it, then gently dabbed the young master's lips.

Lin Chenxin closed her eyes, suddenly hit by a deep sense of pity.

Everyone in the Chen family was rooted here like that giant tree, their very flesh and blood were one with this land.

She opened her eyes, strode to the bedside, and hoisted the young master onto her back.

The second young miss's eyes widened, and she screamed, "What are you doing!"

She replied calmly, "Taking him to see a doctor."

The second young miss opened her mouth, but her voice caught in her throat.

After a long moment, she finally managed to say, "No... we can't go out."

Her eyes were full of struggle, looking chaotic and twisted.

Perhaps she could no longer tell right from wrong.

Those past displays of arrogance and willfulness had always been bound by the rules.

"Don't worry, I'm not that kind-hearted. I just don't want him to die. I need him alive," she said flatly.

Lin Chenxin carried the young master out, but as she crossed the threshold, she stepped back, looking a little awkward at the second young miss, who was clearly losing it.

"Um... could you wait here with him for a moment? I gotta head back to the Junzi Courtyard."