Ever since that “Little Sister Huaixu,” the small thread of warmth Liu Huaixu had shown Yu An vanished once more.
For two days running, when Yu An came home, the table was laid with cooked food, the kang was heated, and Liu Huaixu’s door stood shut tight.
Everything that needed doing was done, not a thing lacking—except that Liu Huaixu no longer waited to eat with her.
First thing this morning, Yu An apologized to Liu Huaixu for the third time.
“I was wrong. Don’t be mad at me, okay? From now on… I won’t talk like that anymore.” Yu An hung her head, looking so wronged and pitiful that Liu Huaixu, watching her, felt her heart soften—even as she felt helpless.
Truthfully, she wasn’t all that angry. She simply disliked the frivolous way Yu An spoke.
Especially after she’d started being a little kinder to her.
The more kindness she showed, the more it felt like being toyed with.
By now, Liu Huaixu couldn’t tell what Yu An was really playing at.
Seeing Liu Huaixu’s expression stay cold, Yu An stopped courting unpleasantness and loaded the cart to set off.
Just as she was about to leave, Liu Huaixu walked over unhurriedly, a straw rain cape in hand.
“Take the rain cape. I’m afraid it’ll rain again today.”
“Oh, I…” Before Yu An could finish, Liu Huaixu set the cape on the cart and turned back toward the house.
Yu An swallowed her thanks, blinked, and decided that today she would bring Liu Huaixu a gift.
After several days of selling, Yu An had become a familiar face—especially to the female Alpha at the next stall over, who sold rouge and face powder.
The Alpha was called Xie Fang, a few years younger than Yu An, already married with a wife and a daughter.
Chatting with Yu An and learning she had no children yet, Xie Fang grew more anxious about it than Yu An herself.
This day, Xie Fang had arrived first, as usual. The two exchanged greetings, set up their stalls, and chatted in the idle moments.
“Xie Fang, what do you think Omega like?”
At that, Xie Fang pointed at her own stall. “Rouge and face powder, of course~”
“Sister Yu, buying rouge for your wife?”
Yu An, who had been squatting on the ground, stood up and took a look at the rouge Xie Fang sold.
She’d heard from Xie Fang that all this rouge was made by Xie Fang’s wife—low cost, fat profits. Whenever the topic came up, Xie Fang would brag about how capable and thrifty her wife was.
Every time she heard it, Yu An felt unwilling to be outdone, and would praise Liu Huaixu right back.
Sure, Liu Huaixu refused to admit she was her wife, or her sister, or anything else—but the relationship between them was what it was. In other people’s eyes, they were as good as true wife and wife.
When Xie Fang boasted of her own wife, Yu An would sing Liu Huaixu’s praises in turn—thrifty in keeping house, attentive in every little way.
True, Liu Huaixu had barely spoken to her these past two days, but she had been considerate enough…
Far, far better than the days when she wouldn’t even feed her.
When would Liu Huaixu’s opinion of her finally change, and make her life a little easier?
“Sister Yu, what are you daydreaming about? Don’t tell me you’re thinking of your wife?”
Seeing her staring blankly at the rouge, Xie Fang teased her—and to her surprise, Yu An’s face flushed red at the words, looking almost flustered and annoyed.
“What nonsense are you spouting?”
Yu An’s face went from red to pale as it dawned on her that she really had been thinking about Liu Huaixu, and an awkward look crept over her features.
Xie Fang let it go with a couple of snickers. “Well then, want to buy rouge for your wife?” Her eyes went to Yu An’s cart. “You can trade rice for it.”
Yu An’s gaze swept over the rouge. It would do, she figured—women all loved to look pretty—so she decided to barter.
“Then this rose rouge, please.”
“Coming right up~”
Yu An tucked the rouge away carefully and handed over the five dou of rice Xie Fang asked for—then, feeling that was still a bit stingy, added another dou.
After all, she could see the rouge wasn’t exactly cheap the way Xie Fang priced it, and her rice wasn’t worth all that much either.
After the market broke up, the two chatted a while longer. Xie Fang said she’d bring her wife and daughter around to visit Yu An’s home when she had the chance, and told Yu An to come into town often so they could get together.
Yu An agreed to everything.
After they parted, Yu An didn’t hurry home, but went to a ready-made clothing shop in the county town.
She had turned it over and over in her mind, and decided to buy Liu Huaixu a proper set of clothes after all.
After Yu An left in the morning, Liu Huaixu carried the dirty laundry down to the river. The moment she arrived, she spotted a number of Omega downstream chatting over household gossip, and a few of them pointed at her, murmuring among themselves.
These years, thanks to Yu An, she’d been talked about behind her back more times than she could count. She was long past being bothered.
She kept her head down, minding her own business, with no intention whatsoever of acknowledging these people.
But just because she didn’t want to engage didn’t mean these Omega didn’t want to make trouble for her.
When they’d gossiped half the morning with no reaction from Liu Huaixu, they couldn’t sit still any longer.
Especially the male Omega who’d been talking the liveliest just now. He sashayed over, one languidly upturned finger pointed at Liu Huaixu. “Little Sister Huaixu~ doing the laundry for your family’s Qianjun, are we?”
The words “Little Sister Huaixu” made Liu Huaixu’s expression freeze. First she thought of Yu An calling her that a few days ago—then decided this male Omega said it even less pleasantly than Yu An did.
Frowning, she ignored the bait.
But the male Omega didn’t care in the least and pressed on. “If you ask me, Little Sister Huaixu has such a temper—her Qianjun goes out selling rice every day to buy silver bracelets for someone else, and she doesn’t get angry one bit. If it were me, I simply couldn’t bear it.”
He finished with an ostentatious flutter of laughter, and the Omega “sisters” around him laughed along.
Liu Huaixu was speechless. She didn’t even lift an eyelid.
The more indifferent she was, the worse the male Omega became, his tone turning outright vicious. “Little Sister Huaixu has such a figure, such a face—how is it she can’t hold on to her own Alpha’s heart? Rather go running to that Widow Cui. Don’t tell me… that Little Sister Huaixu, in bed…”
When the male Omega reached the words “in bed,” he covered his mouth and stopped—though the mirth in his eyes grew only more obvious.
He was saying Liu Huaixu couldn’t perform.
Just then, someone behind chimed in, “Little Sister Huaixu, you have to loosen up in bed—that’s what Alphas like.” More coy, hand-over-mouth laughter followed, every gesture theatrical.
Liu Huaixu’s face revealed nothing, but the garment in her hands was about to be stabbed full of holes. Just as she readied her retort, she heard a rustling commotion.
“Hey! What rubbish are you all spouting?!” It was Wu Qiuqiu.
Her mother had sent her to wash clothes, and before she’d even reached the river she’d caught the low voices of the village’s most notorious gossips. Listening closer—they were actually talking about Liu Huaixu.
Unable to hold her fiery temper, she rounded on the male Omega. “You’ve got such energy for making things up about other people—why not talk about how your own Alpha beats you so badly you can’t leave the house?”
“You—!” The male Omega was furious, hands on hips, fingers poised in delicate orchid curls—but before he could finish, Wu Qiuqiu kept going. “Am I wrong? Everyone in the village knows about the beating you took a few days ago!”
Wu Qiuqiu glanced at the Omega who’d been gossiping along with him; they all ducked their heads, not one speaking up in his defense.
That the male Omega’s Alpha drank and beat him was old news—but these were close friends who never spoke of it. Now that it was out in the open, there was nothing to say in rebuttal.
Seeing that not one of his sisters would speak for him, the male Omega grew angrier still, pointing at Wu Qiuqiu. “You—an Unpresented little girl—talking about Alpha and Omega affairs like this. Aren’t you ashamed?”
Arms crossed, Wu Qiuqiu shot back, “Ashamed?? You get beaten so badly you can’t leave the house and you’re not ashamed—what have I got to be ashamed of!”
The male Omega, struck speechless, went red to the ears. Too humiliated to stay, he gathered his clothes and left.
His sisters, seeing how things stood, scurried off after him.
Only when they were all gone did Wu Qiuqiu hurry to Liu Huaixu’s side. “Sister Huaixu, are you okay?”
Liu Huaixu shook her head. “I’m fine. I’m used to it.”
That single phrase—used to it—made Wu Qiuqiu’s heart ache with pity.
Thinking of all the whispers drifting around the village these past days, she felt worse still. Sister Huaixu was so wonderful—how could this Yu An be so blind to a good thing?
On the walk home together, Wu Qiuqiu didn’t let a single gossipy word slip. Instead she chatted to Liu Huaixu about her own family.
“My eldest brother went to view a Omega match a few days ago. The other side seemed satisfied—by my reckoning the wedding can happen come spring.”
“That’s good.”
Liu Huaixu was always cool-spoken, and Wu Qiuqiu was used to it—but today her tone felt several degrees colder than usual.
She worried a little.
Wu Qiuqiu was young and brash in speech—aside from her lingering fear of Yu An, she was a straightforward, whirlwind of a girl with a simple mind. Seeing Liu Huaixu like this, she assumed the rumors had reached her ears.
Just as she moved to comfort her, she caught sight of Fourth Aunt Yu standing at Yu An’s gate.
Liu Huaixu saw her too, of course, and quickened her pace to reach Fourth Aunt Yu, greeting her.
Toward evening, Yu An pushed her cart home.
It was Wu Da’s cart, borrowed these several days; as soon as she came in and put her things away, she went first to return it.
And to express her gratitude for the loan, Yu An had left fifty copper coins on the cart.
When she handed the cart back, Yu An was all smiles; Wu Da’s face was stony. Yu An couldn’t make sense of it and wanted to ask what was wrong, but he clearly had no intention of chatting—took the cart and turned away.
Yu An scratched her head, baffled.
But she had no mind to puzzle over what was wrong with Wu Da. She went home, gathered up the rouge and clothes she’d bought for Liu Huaixu, and bustled inside in high spirits.
“I’m back…” The moment Yu An entered, she caught a familiar cold fragrance—though faint.
And unlike every other day, not only was there no figure of Liu Huaixu by the stove, there wasn’t even a cooked meal, and the fire kang hadn’t been lit.
“Huaixu?” Yu An called softly, but got no answer.
Gathering her courage, she opened Liu Huaixu’s door—only for a doubled wave of cold fragrance to wash over her face.
Yu An shuddered from head to toe, her eyes locking onto Liu Huaixu huddled in the corner—face flushed scarlet, clothes in disarray.
Her brain detonated with a bang.
