The man remained expressionless as ever, giving her only an indifferent glance before easily slipping free of her small hand. Without so much as letting out a fart in her direction, he strode briskly ahead.
Su Zhirui froze, and a rare trace of anger flickered across her little face. How dare he look down on her?
Quick as lightning, she chased after him, trailing just behind the man. He walked faster and faster, and she nearly had to break into a light jog to keep up with his steps. As she followed, she found herself at the edge of the docks without realizing it. She watched the man swiftly board a large ship, and her eyes darkened slightly. She had thought the big fish had slipped away, but to her surprise, the man then emerged from the ship carrying a huge sack of rice.
Joy flashed through her, and she stood waiting by the bridge, watching the man haul rice back and forth without stop. Her willow-leaf brows furrowed as she carefully studied him. He was truly strange—all that heavy rice seemed like nothing more than an extra fly on his body. His face showed no expression whatsoever, and he didn't seem the least bit tired even after so many trips back and forth.
As she stood there, her feet began to go numb, yet that damned man never once glanced her way. This gravely provoked both her pride and her curiosity. How could picking up a man be this much trouble?
"Hey boss, there's a broad up ahead." Suddenly, a voice that could only belong to someone sleazy sounded behind her. Su Zhirui curled her lips in disdain.
"Grab her and take her back," another voice chimed in. Hearing this, she smiled with an utterly harmless expression, still standing there—only shifting her steps slightly toward the river.
"Pretty lady…" The three men walked up to Su Zhirui together. Seeing them, she parted her lips in a bewitching grin, then brought her palm slamming down with tremendous force. The lead man rolled into the river like a fly, instantly off to feed the sharks. The other two men, seeing this, immediately reached out to seize her, but instead had their hands caught, one on each side, and were beaten mercilessly from left and right. Realizing they couldn't hold out, the two men quite conscientiously jumped into the river themselves. Watching the three men struggle in vain to climb out, her expression grew even more disdainful. Grown men who couldn't even swim.
The man busy hauling rice noticed the commotion over here, and at last some expression surfaced on his face—only for it to vanish moments later as he lowered his head and returned to his work.
The sun sank low, the glow of dusk painted across the river's surface, swaying with the waves. A light breeze brushed past, rustling the willow branches on both banks with a soft, whispering sound. It was a bit cold, but she remained perfectly still. The three men from earlier had long since fled, and with her entertainment gone, the waiting grew even more tedious.
The busy man truly seemed not to have spared her a single glance. But giving up like this simply wasn't her style—giving up halfway was something that would make even her laugh her own teeth off. Frustrated, helpless—how had she ended up with someone so, uh… strange?
Finally, the man finished his work, collected his wages from the boss, and walked toward her—but merely brushed past her, still showing no intention of acknowledging her. She rubbed her legs, her face full of indignation. In that moment, she actually came to understand the anguish of rapists—truly a case of seeing it but never tasting it, the heart carved by knives.
Did this count as the ultimate tease? Shaking her head speechlessly, she chased after him again. By now, besides following him, she had no idea what else to do, for she had nowhere to go and her stomach was empty. If she wanted to rest on the spot, she had to worry about both safety and dignity—and besides, the mosquitoes here, as if they hadn't eaten a full meal in ten years, pursued her relentlessly with the utmost devotion.
That damned man. Glaring fiercely at that thin figure ahead, a saying came to her mind: When I'm rich, I'll buy two pieces of candy—one I'll eat while you watch, and one I'll eat and show you.
Through the streets and alleys, over muddy stone paths, she followed him for a very long way. When he stopped, she rested; only when his arms were laden with big bags and small bundles did the long journey begin again. Around the small hills, across the little streams, through the woods, over the grasslands—she seriously suspected this man lived in some primeval black hole.
Blood blisters had unknowingly formed on her little feet, and her white dress had snagged into holes everywhere. She swore she had never been this wretched in her entire life.
When they finally arrived beneath a cliff, she watched the man walk into a wooden cabin. In that instant—just that one instant—she dropped heavily to her knees and solemnly uttered four words: Buddha, preserve me! She nearly burst into tears!
By now it was night. She could only faintly make out her surroundings: ahead stood a wooden cabin on stilts, and before it lay a pool of water emitting cold mist, beautiful yet desolate. She tugged at her collar, and listening to the chirping of insects and the croaking of frogs, a chill ran through her heart. Tiptoeing, she crept steadily closer to the cabin.
When she reached it, she was delighted to discover that the cabin door was not closed. Sitting in the doorway was that man, still expressionless as ever, one hand cradling a wine cup, as if waiting for some prey.
"Weren't you getting married?" The man turned and stared at her, his gaze icy yet profound, mysterious and strangely endearing. Dammit—wasn't this exactly what she was after?
Su Zhirui froze, unable to speak. Seeing this, the man was about to close the door when she lunged forward in a single stride and squeezed through the doorway.
Only after entering did she discover, to her astonishment, that all those big bags and small bundles the man had bought that afternoon were actually things for the wedding? Had he already concluded from the start that she would keep following him?