Free Web NovelChapter 70: Unworthy Hands
After Qingyue, Lieyin and Madam Xiao left, the house felt emptier. Ru Yi stood in the middle of the room for a moment, as if unsure of what to do with the silence.
Then she exhaled slowly and moved. She started with the table. There were papers scattered on them, and she proceeded to clear them all.
She went into the kitchen and started washing the pots and pans. It gave her something to focus on, other than the uncertainty that her life had become.
Behind her the little boy watched quietly, his wide eyes following her every movement. "You don’t have to stand there and stare at me like that," she said in a teasing tone.
Only remembering Madam Xiao said he was mute when she got no response from him. His round black eyes made him look even younger than he was, his hair a disarray of dark curls on top of his head.
Ru Yi smiled faintly at him. "Are you hungry?"
He nodded.
Of course he was.
The food that should’ve been for him and Madam Xiao alone had been stretched to three other unexpected visitors.
Ru Yi dried her hands and looked around the kitchen. There was very little left—just scraps, really. It won’t be enough.
Her expression softened. "I’ll find something for you to eat."
Yexue who had been outside saw the house already swept and tables cleared when she walked in. She paused in the doorway, watching Ru Yi adjust a crooked cloth over the small window.
"Why are you cleaning?" Yexue asked, her eyes going to the little boy that kept following Ru Yi around.
"I just need something to keep myself busy with before your sisters return," Ru Yi answered, then looked at the boy who had hidden himself at Ru Yi’s back. "Come out, she won’t hurt you."
Yexue raised her brow. "That’s a bold claim."
"I think he’s scared of you because of the fight yesterday. There’s something else...I need to go to the market."
Yexue became defensive. "What for? You’ve never even been to this village."
"To find work, anything that I can do." Ru Yi looked at the little boy. "There’s not enough food. These people are already starving."
Yexue followed her gaze then scoffed. "And you think they’ll pay you."
"It must not be money, food alone is more than enough."
"And the boy? You’re taking him with you?"
Ru Yi hesitated. "I was thinking of leaving him in your care."
"No."
Ru Yi blinked. "No?"
"I’m not a caretaker...or a maid."
"He’s just a child, all you have to do is make sure he’s out of trouble."
Yexue folded her arms across her chest. "I’m not interested."
Ru Yi could feel the anger bubbling under the surface. "What do you mean you’re not interested? All you have to do is sit with him, you’re not even doing anything else!"
"My answer is still no. I want to come with you!"
Ru Yi rubbed her temples, it felt like she was dealing with another child. "You don’t have to, it’s not like you’re capable of doing menial labor."
"We either follow you or the boy stays alone in the house. The choice is yours!"
Ru Yi sighed. "Fine!"
The little boy held tightly onto Ru Yi’s hand as they went to the market.
It was louder than the village.
Voices overlapped. Goods were traded.
The smell of dust, sweat mixed in the atmosphere, giving a generally unpleasant smell. Ru Yi hesitated, unsure if she was making the right choice.
"Stay close to me," she told the boy, patting his shoulder when he nodded in response.
Except—it wasn’t easy like Ru Yi had imagined. Most people dismissed her before she could even finish speaking.
"We don’t need your help."
"Come back later."
"There’s no work for you."
Each rejection was polite enough but Ru Yi couldn’t back down. She wasn’t doing this for herself alone. She moved from stall to stall, her voice soft but steady.
"I can clean and cook. Even carry goods—" freewebnøvel.coɱ
"No."
"Please I only need food in exchange—"
"No."
Yexue watched it all in silence, observing the way Ru Yi’s expression fell everytime. People in a small village like this often found it hard to entrust their work to strangers.
Her gaze darkened.
Yexue wanted to pull out her sword and threaten every one of them until they gave Ru Yi what she wanted.
She shook her...that would be irrational.
She was about to ask Ru Yi to go back with her and save herself from further humiliation when a deep voice came from behind them.
"Wait..."
A merchant stood there. He was older, his clothes slightly finer than the others’. His stall held a sack of grains and dried goods.
Ru Yi walked over to him.
"You’re looking for a job?" he asked, slowly looking Ru Yi over.
She nodded. "Yes."
He smiled but it was not kind. "I need someone to help me carry goods and clean. Simple things."
"I can do that!"
"Of course you can," he said, his gaze lingering on her longer than necessary.
Yexue saw it, and immediately felt something ugly crawl up her spine. She was about to make Ru Yi not take the job, until she saw the bright smile on her face.
Damn it!
The work really was simple. Lifting sacks, wiping surfaces, rearranging goods. Yexue offered to help but she was genuinely clueless on what to do. freёwebnovel.com
Ru Yi did all the work without complaint, occasionally wiping the sweat that had gathered on her forehead with the back of her hand.
The merchant stood up from where he’d been sitting when Yexue stepped away briefly. Ru Yi had just set down a sack when he stepped closer to her.
"Good girl," he murmured. His hand reached out and rested against her waist.
Ru Yi froze—
Her brain immediately went into overdrive.
"Sir..." she said, stepping back.
But his grip tightened slightly.
"You want food, don’t you?" he said softly. "A peasant like you should be grateful that I’m paying attention to you."
"Sir..." she was starting to panic, looking at the other stalls to see if anyone would help her.
"Keep quiet. I promise you’ll enjoy—"
The sound of steel slicing through the air cut him off. Ru Yi found herself sighing in relief because she knew that sound for what it was.
Yexue’s blade glistened under the sun as it stopped short on the merchant’s throat. "You were saying?"
