cold clothes

Someone blocked her way. Leng Yi wasn't in a hurry. It was common for guests to rest by leaning against the railing. Ordinary guests wouldn't deliberately make things difficult for a little girl. After all, the guests of Fengxiang Pavilion were all wealthy and noble, and they wouldn't do anything to lower their status.

So all Leng Yi needs to do is pretend to be deaf and mute and wait for others to make way for her.

But the people in front didn't seem to have any intention of making way. A probing gaze fell on Leng Yi from above, followed by a slowly rising voice of doubt.

"I feel like I've seen this young girl somewhere before?" Just from the voice, one could imagine the face of a refined middle-aged scholar, with deep-set eyes and a short beard.

Someone nearby said, "This seems to be the little blind girl I've been hearing a lot about lately. I heard her massage skills are quite good."

"Blind? Ah, no wonder... What a pity, such beautiful eyes, like a little wolf cub."

"Lord Liang seems quite interested in her. How about we have her come to serve us tomorrow night?" he said in a rather relaxed tone.

Liang Shuyun, the Vice Minister of Works, also laughed heartily: "Then we shall follow Brother Liu's suggestion."

"Hahaha……"

The two walked past Leng Yi, chatting and laughing. Leng Yi kept her head down in silence, and no one paid any attention to her as people came and went. After all, she was just an unremarkable little girl with eye patches.

Those eye bags are great, aren't they? They're so good that no one can see her crazy glare now, hahaha, hahahaha...

Oh no, I can't help but grin. It'll look scary if I suddenly start laughing, won't it? I don't have a mask to cover it up, so I need to hurry.

After a brief pause, Leng Yi, holding onto the railing, walked somewhat hurriedly. If someone were to notice closely, they would see several clear scratch marks on the railing where she had just stopped, and might wonder how much force it would take to leave such marks.

"Lord Liang seems quite interested in her. How about we have her come to serve us tomorrow night?"

"Then we will follow Brother Liu's advice."

"I feel like I've seen this little girl somewhere before?"

"Such beautiful eyes, like those of a little wolf cub."

Leng Yi walked slowly towards the backyard, the conversation between the two people replaying in her mind and swirling in her ears. "Lord Liang... Lord Liang... tomorrow night... tomorrow night... Lord Liang... tomorrow night... tomorrow night!"

The railing had reached its end. Leng Yi reached forward and touched the cold iron door knocker. As soon as she opened the door, a gust of cold wind slapped her like a hand, violently blowing her sweat-drenched hair and clothes. Instantly, it felt like stepping into an icy hell, but her mind remained undeterred by the frenzy.

Tomorrow night! It really is tomorrow night!

Sister Yunmei, I can avenge you tomorrow night.

"Hahaha, hahahaha!" Leng Yi laughed loudly, suddenly ripped off her blindfold and ran in the snow. She couldn't see anything clearly, neither the road in front of her nor the wind blowing, neither the chilling corpse of Sister Yun Mei nor the icy laughter of Liang Shuyun... She couldn't see anything, only her heart was pounding like a fiery drum.

Leng Yi staggered into the courtyard of the herbal medicine hall. Her panting breath startled Doctor Xie. When Doctor Xie opened the door, Leng Yi stumbled and fell into her arms.

"oops--"

"Wow--"

The two of them shouted in a panic, which alerted Yin Jiu in the room. The young boy came out with a sour face.

"What are you doing so late at night? Who has tuberculosis and is breathing so badly?" He couldn't say anything nice.

Then his gaze fell upon Leng Yi, disheveled and unkempt. Her clothes were a mess, her hair was a tangled honeycomb, and snot was dripping from her nose. His expression became complicated. Leng Yi's appearance always overturned his perception of girls, leaving him speechless.

These days, Dr. Xie has been pampering Leng Yi more and more. Whenever he sees Leng Yi like this, he gets anxious. "What's wrong with you? You're all sweaty. You can easily catch a cold like this! You need to take a hot bath right away!"

Yin Jiu immediately sensed something was wrong: "The water that was just boiled was my bathwater!"

"A real man should let Ningbi wash first! Also, make Ningbi a bowl of ginger soup!"

"what--?!"

Before long, steaming vapors rose from the herbal medicine hall's bathhouse, and Leng Yi lay in the tub, letting out a sigh of enjoyment. Wait, this scene seems familiar? The misty atmosphere, the fragrant aroma—this is how it should be…

Leng Yi had a sudden inspiration and called out in a high-pitched voice towards the door, "Someone come here—give this young lady a massage!"

"Get out! You shameless bastard!" The boy's extremely displeased shout immediately rang out from outside the door.

Leng Yi, shamelessly grinning, feigned displeasure and shouted, "Who said I could boss them around like this? Who was it? Now..." Leng Yi suddenly ran out of words and blurted out, "Now you're turning your back on me! You started this relationship and then abandoned me! You weren't like this before!"

"Huh? When did I say I could be ordered around by you? Don't try to distort the truth!"

"You have it!"

"I don't!"

"You have it!"

"I don't!"

"You..." It was just a joke at first, but the argument got heated and she started to feel wronged when she realized she couldn't win. Leng Yi didn't know why she was like this, and her lips pursed as if she was about to cry: "You weren't like this before!"

Leng Yi pounded her chest and stamped her feet: "You were so gentle, quiet, considerate, and humble before! Your voice was so pleasant and your personality was so good, but you changed in just a few days! You started yelling and shouting, and you were so impatient with me. I'm still a patient! What is this... why... is our relationship... so fragile?"

—Hey, my acting is really good!

Feeling quite self-satisfied, Leng Yi pricked up her ears, waiting for Yin Jiu's reaction, but it was quiet outside... Leng Yi was a little flustered. Had she gone too far and Yin Jiu was angry and ignoring her?

Since losing her sight, Leng Yi has come to the herbal medicine shop every day, and Yin Jiu has been there every day as well. Gradually, her relationship with Yin Jiu has become closer than her superficial friendship with Zhuoyu Pavilion. As their interactions deepen, she has come to understand Yin Jiu more. Even though she can't see, she can sense that Yin Jiu initially harbored a strong curiosity about her, often getting very close to observe her without saying a word. He once said that she didn't know how close his eyelashes were to her eyes, but humph, she had always known! Did he really think he was hiding it so well? He treated her like a toy, exploring her like a kitten, but when it came to others exploring him, he kept quiet, acting all mysterious, which always annoyed her. However, on that night that left her with a disgusting memory, when she was most vulnerable and in pain, he showed unexpected tenderness. That side of him seemed to be his true self.