Second Marriage

Translator: tarararawr

Editor: Larkspur

Chapter 10 Part 1

As she tugged Ye Shen, his first reaction was displeasure. His deep eyes looked towards the little girl chasing after him.

Her thin white fingers tightly grabbed his sleeves. Due to the force, her five fingers were tense like a taut bowstring. He wanted to pull his sleeves back with one move.

However, such thin and bony fingers seemed like they would break if a little force was exerted. They were fragile like a white jade hairpin he once broke on accident.

Unexpectedly, he didn’t move and his eyes fell on her face.

All along, Xiao Youning was unaware of this. She was only able to catch up to him and reveal a happy smile. She saw him turn so she seized the opportunity to raise her voice to say, “Daoist Priest Wu Ye, thank you!”

She looked up at him with a smile. The corners of her eyes and eyebrows were tinged with the summer sunshine.

A summer wind blew, the branches and leaves of the big trees rustled on the side. They also blew past the girl’s clothes and gently hit around his robes.

Ye Shen listened to these soft sounds and was in a trance for a moment.

Xiao Youning coughed again and she lowered her head. One cough came after another, but the hand pulling his sleeves did loosen.

This hand, which had been held by him before, had also given him an embarrassing slap. Now, it was pulling him again.

Ye Shen returned to his senses and his mood was slightly complicated.

He admitted to avoiding her these past few days. It was because of the slap. His kindness at the time was ridiculed and rendered unnecessary. But as a result, she eagerly ran up to him now and was happy to say thank you. Her eyes were full of sincerity…Ye Shen found that the little discomfort in his heart disappeared.

“You can let go,” he said to the little girl who was coughing and trembling as she tugged at his sleeves.

Xiao Youning was still intermittently coughing. She heard his words and took a deep breath in. It took a moment for her coughing to stop, but her hand still did not let go.

“Daoist Priest, I haven’t finished speaking. For Daoist Priest’s life-saving grace, Youning will certainly repay you.”

She raised her head again. Her face was flushed from coughing, but she was still smiling.

Ye Shen thought she was really interesting. She had already expressed her thanks, but she’s still pulling his sleeves because she hadn’t finished speaking?

Did he not already stop to listen to her? Would she just disappear into thin air if she lets go of her hand?

She still must pull his sleeves to speak and also speak about repaying him.

“Are you done crossing the river of the mud Bodhisattva1?” His eyes drifted to the corners of her eyes.

Her cheeks were bright red and the corners of her eyes were dyed a touch of pink. It exposed the beautiful features of a young girl for no reason and made it difficult to not pay attention to them.

Xiao Youning did not expect him to reply with such words, so she froze for a moment.

When ordinary people hear about receiving repayment for something, they don’t always effortlessly say something modest, yet they are at least polite. But in the end, he said she was a mud Bodhisattva.

It seemed like a sarcastic remark on how she had fallen into such miserable conditions and what she said about repayment was empty talk and lies.

She stared and blinked at him. His cold appearance was very clear in front of her eyes. It reminded her of his personality, how it had been indifferent since they met.

But under his cold face was a good heart!

“The skinny camel is bigger than a horse2! The mud Bodhisattva does not have a mortal body. When I will cross the river, I will certainly honor my promise!”

Xiao Youning raised her eyebrows and her eyes curved as she smiled. She finally withdrew the hand that was pulling his sleeves and her small body stood upright. Every word she had uttered was solemn.

The Daoist Priest was a person with a sharp tongue but a soft heart. She would not be fooled by him since he must have been afraid of her burdens. After all, she really was in a difficult situation.

Ye Shen’s arm felt lighter. He saw her hand move away before his eyes. He raised his sleeves and it fell naturally. Inexplicably, his eyebrows slightly furrowed into a frown.

Moreover, he did not need her to repay him for those metaphors. One day, when she would discover his identity, he calculated that her first reaction would be to bite him to vent her anger.

His rare kindness will most likely become pity and charity in her eyes.

“No need.” Ye Shen turned around leaving behind two apathetic words.

There was no need to have any more involvement. It would always be an inconvenience in the future.

When Xiao Youning saw him like this, the more she felt that her assumptions were correct. She didn’t stop him again, but in her heart she remembered her promise.

When Ye Shen turned to leave, the Daoist Nun from before came again. Xiao Youning heard her whisper to Ye Shen, “Please go over.”

Xiao Youning watched him lift his robe and walk up the steps. He walked along the corridor with familiarity and headed towards the corner. Then, the figure disappeared.

Footnotes

泥菩萨的江过 (ní púsà de jiāngguò) – Metaphor that means someone who doesn’t have the ability to protect themself and they do not have the ability to take care of other people’s affairs.瘦死的骆驼比马大 (hòu sǐ de luòtuó bǐ mǎ dà) – Saying that means that for people that have a special expertise in one aspect, if one day they become poor in that aspect, they are still better than someone has just come from this aspect. Another analogy would be a bankrupt businessman is better than a beggar because the businessman still has his social connections or family background.