Let Lost Love Lie - Chapter 6

…

The child ran out of the courtyard through the snow. She curled up in the bushes. They seemed to have discovered her escape already; many people were searching for her.

After the patrolling guards passed, she waited a little longer, then plunged into the bamboo grove on the hill.

The grove was vast, the wall seemingly endless. It was too cold for her to climb the trees or scale the wall. Hungry and aimless, she followed it until she heard a faint rustling.

Ahead was a dog hole, thick with weeds. Several dusty steamed buns lay on the ground. A large yellow dog was carrying over more of its stored food and dropping it through the wall.

She ran over and snatched up the buns, cramming them into her mouth. Furious at losing its food, the dog lunged at her. Digging her nails into her palms, she used the pain to force herself to run faster, faster still. But it was almost on her.

Frightened by the pursuit, she scrambled up a tree.

It was the first time she had ever learned to climb. The dog barked fiercely at her. Someone nearby seemed to notice the commotion and came through the bamboo with a lantern, treading over the snow.

The light drew closer.

The bullying dog fled at the sound. Looking at the glaringly obvious hole at the foot of the wall, the child gritted her teeth and jumped down.

She seemed to have twisted her ankle. Sharp, piercing pain spread through it. Her stomach was still empty. She could never outrun the people coming to catch her.

But she could not let them discover this hole.

Enduring the pain, she covered it with a nearby heap of straw before the person arrived.

I woke under someone’s stare.

Xie Yan sat beside my bed, looking at a trace of tears on his fingertips as though he could not understand it.

“Who did you dream about?”

“Why were you crying?”

I did not know when he had returned. I steadied my ragged breathing and buried my head beneath the covers. After a while, I said softly, “…Xie Yan.”

“I think I dreamed about my mother.”

He paused, then lifted his brows.

“Your memory’s back?”

I would not admit to recovering my memory even if he beat me to death. The moment I did, he would settle accounts over my marriage to Shen Cizhou.

I shook my head violently, then remembered I was curled beneath the covers where he could not see. Clearing my throat, I said, “No. I just dreamed about my mother.”

What I did not tell him was that she had seemed to be crying so terribly.

Perhaps he sensed my low spirits. He stopped speaking, and everything went quiet.

Just when I thought he had left, a hand slipped beneath the covers and wound itself around mine.

His long fingers worked between mine. Turning his palm, he drew our interlaced hands out from under the quilt, pulling me with them until most of my body leaned toward him.

The covers slipped to my waist. His gaze traveled from our tightly linked fingers to my startled face.

He lowered his eyes a little, his voice very soft.

“So heartless.”

He leaned toward me, his hair slipping over his shoulders. Our black hair mingled like falling streams.

“Your mother was with you for only five or six short years. We’ve had far longer than that.”

“Yet I’m not the first person you remember.”

His dark eyes fixed on me, a mist seemingly lingering beneath his raven lashes. Every word sounded accusing, deeply displeased.

“You really are heartless, A-Ning.”

As long as there was no mention of parting or leaving, Xie Yan was usually easy enough to get along with.

Coming to myself, I blinked and yielded with practiced ease.

“Maybe… maybe if I sleep a little longer, I’ll remember you too.”

He said nothing. Pressing his lips together, he tucked me back under the covers.

Utterly confused, I poked my head out again. Xie Yan was crouching quietly beside the bed, watching me with complete seriousness. His voice was rather fierce.

“Then hurry up and sleep.”

But he did not get to wait until I fell asleep again.

Shen Cizhou had come to the Xie residence to find me.