Chapter 4

Chapter 4

A wooden wheelchair slowly came to a stop behind me.

With my head planted in the dirt, I felt that malicious gaze on me. It was as if an icy, damp breath had licked its way down my spine. All I could do was keep my backside in the air and not dare move a muscle.

Who would have thought that in the very next second, he would suddenly stick out his foot and kick me flat on my face?

As though amused, he gave a faint, mocking laugh.

“Little wretch.”

From that day on, I lived in dread, waiting for Wang Long’s revenge.

I had stolen his food. If he complained to Eldest Madam, and she flew into a rage and sold me off to some filthy place, what would I do then?

But several days passed in a row, and nothing happened.

I could not read, but I was not stupid. After thinking it over and over, I decided to go to the Second Branch and kowtow in thanks.

The sun was bright and warm that day, yellow as an egg yolk. It was rare fine weather.

The side room was spacious and airy. Light streamed through the courtyard and spilled into that small world. In the broad haze of sunlight, Wang Long was still slumped against that ink-patterned floral cushion, looking listless before a table of exquisite dishes.

It was only early autumn, yet he was already wearing a warm cap.

Seeing me kneeling and shivering outside the door, he spoke, and his words were vicious. “Look at that scrawny little body of yours. You dare try to climb into a man’s bed?”

“At least learn from someone with more promise.”

One incense stick later.

I sat at the table with my head down, eating for all I was worth.

After watching me sweep the dishes clean, he lifted a brow slightly. “As long as you put away those improper thoughts, I will allow you to eat your fill.”

I pretended not to understand the sarcasm in his words. “Second Master, aren’t you hot?”

“…This is a chill.”

“Oh, oh.”

Seeing me nod like a pounding pestle, Wang Long smiled in satisfaction.

As he spoke, a jeweled pendant hung by his cheek, shimmering with color and making that fair face seem even more finely carved and polished.

But my eyes were not on him. They were on the crutch by his feet. “So, Second Master, about the sheep’s tail under my window that day…”

“Shut up.”

“Oh.”

Wang Long was a frightening person.

He cared about no one and nothing, yet his temper was unpredictable, and he was terribly skilled at seeing through people. Those deep eyes of his were always impossible to read.

That day, after I cleaned out all the food he had left, he merely watched me in silence, his eyes veiled in a layer of damp mist.

I should have been afraid. Instead, I found myself drawn to those sorrowful eyes, unable to stop worrying about him.

I thought perhaps he did not look down on maidservants.

Perhaps he was simply afraid of dying.

So afraid that he had no choice but to view women as a source of disaster.

I tossed and turned for several sleepless nights before I finally came up with a rough solution.

The next day, I combed my hair into a pageboy’s topknot and stepped into the side room. Because my clothes were too loose, I had to cinch them at the waist with a belt.

When Wang Long saw me like that, his brows drew together slightly.

“Who told you to dress like this?”

“I did it myself.”

“…”

I said sincerely, “From now on, to outsiders, I am your bedchamber maid. In private, I am only your manservant.”

This was the first time Wang Long truly looked at me.

He was handsome. When one of his long brows lifted like that, it was like ripples spreading across misty water, making the luster of pearl and jade all the harder to conceal.

After a long while, he beckoned to me.

“Come here.”

Once I drew near, he glanced at my flat figure, then touched the little braid at the back of my head. “You do look the part.”

After saying that, he lightly touched my cheek as well. I did not move, simply standing there and letting him look me over as he pleased.

His eyelids lowered, and a trace of tenderness gradually surfaced in his gaze.

“…Good girl.”