Chapter 359: Chapter 321: Between Us, It’s Not a Transaction!
At this moment, Tushere also seemed to sense the cold indifference emanating from Shang Ruyi, as if from her very bones, but she said nothing, only revealing a hint of distress in her eyes.
After a while, she softly said, "Miss, don’t be sad."
Shang Ruyi replied, "What do I have to be sad about?"
Tushere said nothing.
Her silence instead caught Shang Ruyi’s attention. She turned to look at Tushere’s somewhat gloomy expression and was about to speak when a servant woman came to deliver their meal.
The meal delivered wasn’t much, just a steaming bowl of soup rice and several small dishes.
Tushere said, "How did it take so long to prepare this little bit?"
The servant woman smiled apologetically and said, "The people below got seasick, and the freshly served meal accidentally got dropped, so it had to be reheated. We’ve made the Young Madam wait a long time, please forgive us."
After saying this, she also bowed to Shang Ruyi.
Shang Ruyi couldn’t help but take a glance outside, but from within this deep room, the scenery outside the ship was not visible. Tushere took the meal, only saying, "The ship’s sailing fast, so you all have to be careful."
The servant woman acknowledged and turned to leave.
Once she was gone, Tushere first helped Shang Ruyi rinse her mouth, then sat by the bed holding the small bowl of soup rice, feeding her spoon by spoon. Shang Ruyi felt much of her weakness was due to hunger, but she still had no appetite, only taking two spoonfuls from her before feeling too tired and shaking her head, "I don’t want to eat anymore."
Tushere softly said, "Miss, you’ve been comatose for two days and haven’t eaten much, it’s not good for your health. Eat a bit more, okay?"
"..."
So, I have been unconscious for two days.
No wonder I’m so weak.
It’s just strange, I haven’t been injured, nor do I have any other symptoms, so why did I faint inexplicably, and for two whole days?
But Shang Ruyi really had no appetite, and even with coaxing, she still couldn’t eat. Tushere could only gently say, "Well, you’ll need to drink your medicine later. Once you drink it, Miss, have a couple more bites, alright?"
"..."
For some reason, Shang Ruyi felt that this girl was being excessively gentle.
Though they’d grown up together, and Tushere had always been loyal to her, she had never been so tender, almost to the point of indulgence.
It even made Shang Ruyi feel a bit awkward.
Could it be that this time the "separation from life and death" had scared her?
Thinking about it, Shang Ruyi felt that she had indeed been living a "good life" lately, yet it was causing her to worry, which was somewhat inappropriate. So she gently nodded. Tushere immediately sighed in relief, put the bowl and chopsticks on the table, and covered them with a lid to keep them from getting cold.
Shang Ruyi said, "Open the window, I want to get some fresh air."
Tushere immediately said, "No."
"Why not?"
"Miss, you can’t be exposed to the wind."
"I’m not that weak."
"...Really, you can’t."
Tushere seemed flustered, and there was a hint of guilt in her fluster. Shang Ruyi couldn’t help but frown, "What’s going on? Are you hiding something from me?"
Upon hearing this, Tushere shook her head immediately, "No."
But her expression clearly said otherwise.
The doubt in Shang Ruyi’s heart deepened — actually, upon just waking, she didn’t have much energy to deal with some people and matters, but Tushere was truly acting too strangely. Ever since she saw her, her every move had been filled with cautiousness, as if afraid to break her.
What on earth happened to her?
Just thinking like this gave Shang Ruyi a sudden wave of weakness.
She was really too weak and truly had no extra energy to face the people and matters before her, let alone delve into what others might be hiding from her.
With this thought, Shang Ruyi softly lay back down, her eyes somewhat gloomy as she looked at Tushere’s nervous appearance, and said quietly, "If there’s nothing, then let it be..."
Seeing her like this, Tushere’s eyes turned red instead.
She seemed afraid to say anything more, for fear of stirring something up, so she could only softly say, "Miss, why don’t you sleep a bit more? Your body—you need to rest well."
Shang Ruyi looked at her for a while and gently nodded.
Then, she closed her eyes.
Although she had been asleep for two days, she didn’t feel like sleeping at this moment, but once she closed her eyes, the drowsiness surged in like a tide, and she slowly drifted off again amidst Tushere’s sighs.
But this time, she didn’t sleep for as long.
Because before long, a familiar, warm presence approached her once more, gradually rousing her, though she did not open her eyes.
Someone entered the room and quietly asked Tushere to leave.
Then, this person sat down by the bed.
Immediately, the entire room drowned in a kind of oppressive silence, and Shang Ruyi could hear nothing, not even her own breathing, as if everything had paused at this moment.
Then, a large hand slowly caressed her face.
The unexpected touch on her skin made her shiver involuntarily, and the hand seemed to sense something, paused for a moment, but still remained on her face, gently stroking her noticeably thin cheeks, then gently tucking her somewhat disheveled hair behind her ear.
This hand was very rough, you could even feel its stony texture; precisely because of this, the touch of this hand was all the more perceptible as it caressed her.
For some reason, while this hand was touching her, aside from being as cautious as Tushere, there also seemed to be an emotion lingering on its fingertip’s skin.
As if confirming something.
Shang Ruyi didn’t really understand what he was doing, but at this moment, she no longer wished to endure it.
Thus, she said, "Let go."
This was the third time she had said these two words to him since awakening.
That hand froze once again, and this time, it slowly withdrew.
Shang Ruyi then opened her eyes, meeting those eyes carrying a strange gentleness, so unfamiliar that she almost didn’t recognize him.
In fact, the two of them were never close.
Yu Wenye had come again, wearing a different set of clothes. The places that had just been stained with red seemed to have been rebandaged, and his whole body emitted a faint medicinal scent. But a stronger medicinal scent came from his other hand.
He was holding a bowl of medicine.
Seeing her open her eyes, Yu Wenye withdrew his hand, looked at her, and softly said, "Come, drink some medicine."
"..."
Shang Ruyi wanted to refuse, but to refuse, she had to speak to him.
She wanted to ask why she had to drink medicine when she wasn’t in pain or sick, but asking would also mean talking to him.
But right now, she didn’t want to say another word to him.
So she, somewhat wearily, closed her eyes again.
Yu Wenye quietly looked at her for a while and then softly said, "I know you don’t want to see me right now. But there are still things between us that need to be clarified."
"..."
"Even if you don’t want to clarify, you are still alive."
"..."
"Someone who survives shouldn’t treat themselves like this."
A survivor...
Those words stung Shang Ruyi, and even with her eyes closed, she couldn’t stop the warm liquid from filling her eyes, slowly dripping down from the corners.
Yu Wenye’s breathing suddenly became heavy.
He watched as Shang Ruyi slowly opened her eyes, and although they were filled with scalding tears, they still held no warmth, even appearing frighteningly dull.
The clarity and brightness from before were nowhere to be found.
He said in a deep voice, "Even if you have nothing to say to me, I still have things to say to you."
"..."
"You need to make a little effort to listen."
"..."
Shang Ruyi was silent for a while, thought for a moment, then silently propped herself up to sit. Yu Wenye hurriedly supported her to lean against the bedhead, even pulling over a cushion to place behind her, to make her sit more comfortably.
Once she was settled, he picked up the spoon and fed her the herbal decoction from the small bowl, bit by bit.
The decoction was just freshly stewed and was somewhat hot, with a hint of bitterness.
He cooled it little by little and fed it into her mouth, and once she finished drinking it, he took the candied fruit, already prepared on the table beside them, and offered it to her lips.
But Shang Ruyi gently shook her head, refusing.
Actually, the medicine wasn’t that bitter.
Seeing her like this, Yu Wenye took a deep breath and could only put the thing back. Just as he was about to say something, he heard Shang Ruyi say, "I actually don’t want to hear what you have to say. But I do have something I want to say to you."
Yu Wenye looked at her, "Go ahead."
Shang Ruyi said, "Thank you."
"...!"
Yu Wenye’s breath caught.
He asked, "What are you thanking me for?"
Shang Ruyi said, "Thank you for saving my life."
Yu Wenye was silent for a moment, and when he spoke again, his voice was so deep it was almost hoarse, "We are husband and wife. I saved my wife. No need to thank me."
Shang Ruyi lowered her eyelids. It seemed those few words had already drained her, leaving her too tired to even lift her eyes to look at him. She softly said, "This marriage of ours was originally a transaction."
"..."
"A transaction should be fair."
"..."
"I can’t think of anything to repay the life-saving grace this time. But no matter what, I should first say thanks."
Yu Wenye steadily watched her, his gaze so intense it seemed to scorch her whole being.
After a moment, he said, "Between us, it’s not a transaction."
Shang Ruyi slowly lifted her eyes to look at him.
His face was somewhat rigid, as if struggling to suppress something, but even with restraint, the veins in his hand bulged. He nearly crushed the small bowl he was holding.
Shang Ruyi lowered her eyelids once more.
She said, "I’m done speaking."
After speaking, she slowly lay back down, turning her face towards the bed.
Just as she closed her eyes, preparing to shut everything out in darkness, suddenly, that hand reached over, gripping her chin with just the right amount of force, forcing her to turn towards him.
Shang Ruyi opened her eyes, meeting Yu Wenye’s slightly reddened eyes.
He leaned down, his face almost touching hers.
The two were so close that even their breaths intertwined at this moment.
He looked deeply into her eyes and said, word by word, "Between us, it’s not a transaction!"