Chapter 254 - New Years Eve (2/2)

Baoshan asked her, “Why are you sighing?”

She leaned against the headboard and replied, “I never thought about marriage. I just wanted to play the game of life and then die alone, because I believed men were all unreliable. Only when I met you did I realize there is such a man as you in this world.”

“What kind of man am I?” he asked.

She yawned. “You’re nice to me and don’t take me for a plaything.”

“Because you were born as a person, not a plaything,” he said.

She asked, “Why aren’t you curious about my reason for opening an inn in the desert?”

He said, “You’ll tell me if you want to. You have the right to keep a secret.”

She gave a wry smile and said faintly, “You’ll ask me if you care about me, and you won’t if you don’t.”

Xiao Baoshan fell into silence. How much did he care about her? It seemed very little if at all. Without that part of memory, he always felt empty in his mind. It was like he was not completely himself and something was waiting for him to discover.

Getting no reply from him, Jin Xiaoyu said, “Forget it. I don’t expect you to care about me. After all, it’s I who like you.” Then, she began telling her story. “When I was little, my dad always beat my mom fiercely, making her bleed all over. Sometimes she was hurt so badly that she had to rest on the bed for several days.”

Hearing that, Xiao Baoshan gave a sympathetic look. “Your mom had a very hard life.”

“Yes, she did have a hard life. But I didn’t feel sympathetic towards her at all because she was too weak. Sometimes when she collapsed, my dad beat me because I was a girl who couldn’t carry on the family lineage. And yet, my mom never helped me. She thought she suffered because of me. In that family, I had no status at all. I was like a rag that anyone could stamp on. But when I was nine, I changed my life. Do you know what I did?”

He asked, “What did you do?”

A tear ran down her smiling face. “That day, after beating my mom, my dad hit me again. Then, he drank and got drunk as usual. While he was asleep, I took a knife and cut his throat. He jolted and then didn’t move anymore. His blood soaked my clothes and my body.”

“My mom was freaked out. She thought I was a devil and didn’t want me anymore. So I left and almost died outside. One day, when I begged on the street, I met my master. He adopted me, gave me food to eat, and taught me martial arts. But after some time, he was killed by his enemy.”

Xiao Baoshan looked at her with sympathy. It was unbelievable that this young woman had experienced so much suffering.

She wiped away her tears with strength. “Oh, how ridiculous I am! I swore that I wouldn’t shed any tears again. But in front of you, I can’t control myself.”

For the first time, he said in a gentle voice, “It’s everyone’s right to shed tears. When you’re sad, you can cry. This is not weakness.”

She gave him a grateful look and whispered, “Why do I like you so much?”

He asked with rare curiosity, “What happened then?”

“I took revenge on the man who killed my master and used my master’s money to open this inn. Then, I met you.” She smiled.

Again, he lapsed into silence.

Feeling the quietness, she said, “Dumb, bring some wine over here. Let’s drink together.”

So he went downstairs and brought a jar of wine back.

Jin Xiaoyu poured the wine into two cups. “Tonight is New Year’s Eve. Drink with me until daybreak.”

He nodded. Then, they began drinking cup after cup. Nothing else happened that night. But, when Jin Xiaoyu was almost drunk, she asked, “Dumb, marry me in early spring, will you?”

Soberly, he nodded. He was just like some lonely, rootless duckweed and she seemed to share the same fate, though she knew where she was from. So, he thought, why not accompany one another? Besides, he had touched her body and promised to marry her.

…

One day, Tarico went up into the mountains to pick leaves for the camels’ food. Since he was high on the mountain, he could see very far. When he climbed on a tree, he noticed Mcginon at the foot of a mountain. Appearing sly and furtive, Mcginon was looking around for something, which made Tarico very curious. Was he waiting for a woman? It seemed very likely.

Curious about which woman it was, Tarico watched Mcginon quietly. If he knew who she was, he would definitely help his brother pursue her. After all, Mcginon might be too shy to show his charm and express his affection.

However, the one who approached Mcginon was not a woman but Mahal. At this moment, Mahal also looked very furtive. He gave Mcginon a package and whispered something to him. After Mahal left, Mcginon sat down, holding the package nervously. He unwrapped it and put something into his pocket. After a while, he dug a hole and buried the object inside, but he soon took it out again. Whatever it was, he looked very hesitant.

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