Xie Yuan caught the water bucket thrown by the woman and stood in place, watching her running away in shock.
This was his home. He had just returned home tonight. Seeing that it was already late and knowing that his mother, Mrs. Ma, had already fallen asleep, he didn't plan to disturb her. It was hot, so he came to the well as usual to wash and then go to bed. However, when he came over, he saw a woman facing away from him drawing water from the well. Under the moonlight, he saw that the woman was wearing an unusually short and revealing garment that barely covered her legs. As she bent down to pull up the bucket, the fabric clung to her body, outlining her curves. At a glance, it looked like she wasn't wearing any clothes.
After a moment of stunned silence, Xie Yuan felt that it was inappropriate to continue facing her like this. He was about to turn around and ask a question, but the woman turned around by herself. It was then that he saw she wasn't just exposing her legs, but also had no cover on her chest and arms. Before he could say anything, the woman's face showed signs of shock, and the bucket she was holding fell to the ground, hitting her foot and causing her to scream as if she had seen a ghost. Then, she grabbed the water bucket and fiercely threw it at him, then ran outside, even throwing her shoes high up in the air. With her running further away and about to scream loudly, he finally came to his senses and, afraid of waking his mother, quickly put down the bucket and chased after her, whispering, "Don’t shout! Who are you? What are you doing here?"
When Wenlan heard the sound of the man chasing her footsteps from behind, her whole body broke out in goosebumps. Just as the foot that had been hit by the bucket went soft, she fell to the ground. As she fell, she finally heard what he said. Frantically turning around, she saw the man stop behind her, reach out a hand when she fell, as if to help, but quickly pulled it back and then turned away. Looking at herself, she suddenly understood. This fall had pushed her skirt bunching up to her waist, revealing half of her buttocks, fortunately she was still wearing her original underwear.
Wenlan hastily pulled down her skirt to cover herself. Thinking back to what he had said earlier, her scattered wits finally returned, and her mind cleared up a bit.
Obviously, since he spoke like that and turned away upon seeing her indecent posture, it was very likely that she had misunderstood earlier. The other person was not a bad guy.
Her heart was still pounding rapidly, but her mind was somewhat settled. Wenlan then felt the burning sensation in her palms and scraped knees, and her right foot felt as if it was broken. Enduring the pain, she asked, "Who are you? Coming in like this in the middle of the night, don't you think it's inappropriate..."
Wenlan's tone was not friendly, and halfway through her sentence, she hesitated. She remembered, the old lady also had a son. Could this unexpected guest... be the cousin her third aunt mentioned?
"Third aunt, third aunt, what's wrong with you? Where are you?"
Just then, from the east wing of the courtyard came the hurried sound of crutches tapping the ground. Wenlan heard the old lady calling out for her anxiously. Her heart skipped a beat. She knew that she must have woken her up with her scream just now. Hurriedly, she replied loudly, "Aunt, I'm here! I'm fine!" as she tried to get up from the ground.
Xie Yuan suddenly turned his head, his expression weirdly fixated on Wenlan still on the ground, then hurriedly walked towards the east wing of the courtyard, meeting the old lady and saying, "Mother, I'm back."
Mrs. Ma didn't sleep deeply at night. Just now, she heard a scream from outside in a daze. Though short, it immediately woke her up. Hastily getting up and feeling her way into Wenlan's neighboring room, she found no one inside, feeling uneasy, she then stepped out. Just as she heard Wenlan's response, she was relieved and was about to call her back when suddenly she heard the long-awaited voice of her son, knowing he had finally returned, she was overjoyed and said eagerly, "You're finally back! When you were gone, your cousin Third Aunt came over. Do you remember her? You have met when you were little. Now she has grown so pretty, you two should recognize each other..."
At that moment, from the sound of footsteps, it was obvious that the man had left.
Wenlan finally breathed a sigh of relief.
She had gone out just because she was hot and wanted to fetch water to cool down. After the scare, she was covered in sweat, feeling like she had just been pulled out of the water. But now she had no mind to fetch water, even if she wanted to, her injured foot couldn't bear the weight. She also didn't want to disturb the old lady again, so she decided to endure the night and wait for Chunfang to come tomorrow to buy some ointment for her.
Wenlan wiped the sweat off her body and lay down again, but she couldn't fall asleep. Not only were the injured parts throbbing, she was also feeling upset about what had just happened. She couldn't imagine how she would face this cousin properly tomorrow. Just as she was lost in thought with her eyes closed, she suddenly heard footsteps outside the window, she was startled, and as she listened, she heard something being put down at her door.
"Yuan, is that you?"
The old lady in the next room also wasn't asleep and, hearing the footsteps approaching, she asked.
"Mother, it's me. I came to check if your door is closed. I'm leaving now. You go to sleep."
Wen Lan heard her cousin respond with a sentence, and his footsteps quickly disappeared again.
Not knowing how long had passed, when everything around was quiet and even the sound of the old lady next door flipping in bed stopped, Wen Lan got up again, quietly approached the door, and gently pushed it open. By the moonlight, she saw a basin of water placed at the door. After a moment of surprise, she immediately understood. It seemed that her cousin saw her fetching water earlier, and when she didn't manage to get any, he brought it over.
Wen Lan was somewhat surprised. She quickly brought the water in. As she was about to close the door, she suddenly saw a small bottle on the side. She picked it up, opened the bottle cap, and smelled it, feeling a medicinal odor.
Earlier, Wen Lan was already surprised when he brought the water. She didn't expect him to notice her injury and even brought over the medicine. She truly did not expect such a caring man, especially considering his rugged appearance.
Wen Lan suppressed her surprise, turned on the light, wiped herself with the water, and applied the ointment to her hands, knees, and feet. It felt refreshing, and she finally felt much better.
This "cousin", although he didn't get along with her, and meeting him was a disaster, looked like a decent person...
That night, Wen Lan finally fell asleep, with this vague thought lingering in her mind.