Jiang Shuyin looked at Lu Yan's thin and haggard appearance. Even though his words were harsh, she had no intention of leaving.
"Once your injuries are mostly healed, I'll leave on my own without you having to chase me away."
Lu Yan didn't expect Jiang Shuyin to be so stubborn about staying. His face grew even more gloomy and cold. "Since when did you become so thick-skinned? I told you I don't need you meddling in my business. Besides, Ah Cai will take care of me!"
Hearing him mention Ah Cai, the image of Ah Cai's young and pretty little face appeared in Jiang Shuyin's mind.
Ah Cai was probably only eighteen or nineteen, very youthful and beautiful.
Ah Cai had saved him and taken care of him for several days. Had he taken a fancy to Ah Cai?
At this thought, a sour feeling couldn't help but spread through Jiang Shuyin's heart.
This was an unfamiliar emotion she had never experienced before.
Jiang Shuyin looked at the man's cold, unquestionable eagle-like eyes. She took a deep breath and said, "Do you really want me to go?"
Lu Yan withdrew his gaze from Jiang Shuyin, his face as cold as frost. "You said you hoped I wouldn't pester you anymore, and I also hope you won't pester me. Hurry up and leave!"
Jiang Shuyin lowered her long eyelashes, unable to hide the disappointment in her eyes.
Perhaps, she was too confident.
She thought he had special feelings for her.
It turned out she was just overthinking it!
Jiang Shuyin put on her backpack and walked out of the ruined house.
Almost the moment she stepped out, the man in the house looked at her retreating figure.
Lu Yan clenched his hands into fists so tightly that the wounds on his arm and abdomen tore open again.
He closed his deep, bloodshot eyes, his gaze filled with extreme endurance and restraint.
...
After Jiang Shuyin walked out, she went to the seaside.
She picked up some pebbles from the ground and threw a few into the sea with force.
She had gone through untold hardships to find him; was she really going to let his few harsh words provoke her into leaving?
He was currently in need of care and help, and she couldn't just let him drive her away like this.
After comforting herself, Jiang Shuyin headed to the fishing village's small convenience store.
She bought some daily necessities and went to the mountain to gather some dry firewood.
More than an hour later, she returned to the house.
Lu Yan heard the noise and thought Ah Cai had come over. He said in a hoarse voice, "Ah Cai, I told you not to come over at night."
Jiang Shuyin acted as if she hadn't heard Lu Yan's words.
She placed the things she bought and the dry firewood on the empty ground.
She also went and bought a large bottle of water.
When she entered the house again, the man had already sat up from the wooden door he was resting on.
He furrowed his straight eyebrows and looked at her, his deep eyes filled with unclear emotions. "Why haven't you left yet?"
Seeing his cold face, Jiang Shuyin didn't give him a good look either. "You tell me to leave and I leave? Am I your pet to be called and dismissed at will?"
Lu Yan's throat choked up. "I never asked you to come here."
Jiang Shuyin didn't want to argue with him. Anyway, he was injured now and couldn't possibly jump up and chase her away.
She brought in a few stones from outside, built a simple stove, and started boiling water.
Her movements were very swift and skillful. In the past, when she was in the special forces, she had entered primeval jungles and understood the rules of wilderness survival.
Besides, the conditions here were much better than in the wild.
After the water was heated, she poured it into a washbasin.
She brought the water to the man. "You're starting to smell sour. I'll wipe you down and change your bandages while I'm at it."
When she came in earlier, she had smelled the scent of blood.
His wounds must have torn open.
When she came over from Port City, she had packed a lot of medicine in her bag.
Lu Yan's jawline was tight, his dark and cold eyes staring at her. "Do you not understand my words?"
Jiang Shuyin raised an eyebrow. "Back in the Black Desert, when I didn't want to look at you, didn't you often strip for me to see? Why are you suddenly shy and embarrassed now?"
Lu Yan knew that when this woman retorted, she never showed any mercy.
He pressed his tongue against his cheek. "I don't need you to wipe me. Ah Cai will help me."
He thought saying this would make Jiang Shuyin back down.
Instead, she just gave a mocking smile. "If you let her wipe you, why do you smell so bad right now?"
Lu Yan gritted his back teeth.
His muscles tensed all over, and the wounds on his body probably tore open a bit more.
"Jiang Shuyin!" Was she doing this on purpose just to anger him?!
Jiang Shuyin reached out directly and unbuttoned his shirt.
Lu Yan tried to stop her, but the next second, the woman slapped him across the face.
It wasn't heavy, but it was a warning.
"If you move around again, I'll hit you harder. Anyway, you're injured now and you're no match for me."
Lu Yan almost shattered his gums from gritting his teeth.
She unbuttoned his shirt one by one.
This was the first time in three years that she was seeing his bare chest again.
The crisscrossing scars on it were shocking to see.
Seeing her staring at his ugly scars, Lu Yan wanted to pull his clothes together, but the woman forcefully stripped his clothes off.
"Jiang Shuyin, I don't need your care. Just go back to work and take good care of the two kids. Stay out of my business."
Jiang Shuyin ignored him. She wrung out the hot towel and focused on wiping his body.
She half-knelt on the wooden door. Her lowered long eyelashes were like two small palm-leaf fans, casting small shadows on her fair and cold little face.
Lu Yan looked at her profile, emotions surging in his heart.
After Jiang Shuyin finished wiping his upper body, she helped him rewrap his bandages.
Her fingers moved to undo his belt.
Lu Yan's uninjured hand immediately pulled her hand away.
"What are you doing?"
Jiang Shuyin shook off his hand. "It's not like I haven't seen it before."
Lu Yan, "..."
"I brought clean underwear in my bag."
Lu Yan's jawline was tight, and a barely noticeable heat rose to his ears. "Don't you find me the most disgusting and annoying?"
Jiang Shuyin looked at the man's volatile expression, looking as if a volcano was about to erupt, and she sneered coldly. "When you forced me to do things I didn't like in the past, why didn't I see you being reserved? Lu Yan, stop putting on an act with me. And also, no more swearing!"
Lu Yan's chest heaved twice.
Who gave her the audacity?
She was actually fiercer than him now!
"Jiang Shuyin, actually, I deliberately had the psychologist give you that diary. I did it so you would stop hating me and so I could get along better with the two kids in the future. I'm not the good person you imagine me to be, I—"
Click.
His pants button was undone by her.
She directly pulled down his pants, wrung out the towel, and washed him.
After wiping him, she helped him change into clean underwear. The whole process was swift and smooth, done in one go.
His ears were burning hot, but she acted as if nothing had happened.
Finally, after putting a pair of loose sweatpants on him, she raised her eyes to look at him. "Lu Yan, I was deceived by you for four years in the Black Desert. Do you think I'll easily believe your nonsense now? You're acting very out of character today, constantly trying to get me to leave. Are you still hiding something from me?"
