A Night Without Incident

The night deepened once more.

The dogs in Wading Village barked twice before falling silent.

Only the occasional croak of frogs from the distant fields made the night feel even quieter.

Inside the room, the oil lamp was still burning, its wick blooming with a glowing red ember.

Su Li sat cross-legged on the floor mat, looking at the empty space beside him. Sena's bedding roll had been there, but now only a patch of bare wooden floor remained.

The door was pushed open a crack.

Sena walked in, hugging her shoulders. She was wearing that slightly translucent coarse cloth nightgown, her hair damp—likely just washed—and carrying the faint, clean scent of soap locust.

She didn't look at Su Li, keeping her head down as she scuffed her feet against the floor, as if she were picking a fight with the wood.

"Um..." Sena's voice was small, carrying a tremor of guilt, "My quilt... is still out drying."

Su Li raised an eyebrow.

That was an increasingly perfunctory excuse. Even though the quilt was thick, it was midsummer, and after baking in the sun all day, it was probably dry enough to catch fire by now.

But he didn't call her out.

Sometimes, it isn't a good thing for a man to be too smart. Especially at times like this, blissful ignorance is a blessing.

"What should we do then?" Su Li asked, knowing the answer, "Should I find you a coat?"

"No... no need." Sena waved her hands hurriedly, her cheeks flushed and looking exceptionally alluring under the lamplight, "Coats aren't comfortable to cover up with; they're scratchy."

She looked up and darted a quick glance at the wool blanket beneath Su Li.

The meaning in her eyes couldn't have been more obvious.

Su Li sighed inwardly.

This girl was practically robbing him in broad daylight.

He shifted to the side and lifted a corner of the blanket. "Then... want to make do?"

Sena's eyes lit up instantly.

She didn't say a word, scurrying over in two or three steps—without a hint of hesitation—and dove straight into Su Li's bedding.

A wave of heat washed over him.

It was the unique body heat of a young girl, mixed with the moisture from her bath, soft and warm like a freshly steamed bun.

The floor mat wasn't wide to begin with.

With two people lying on it, even if they tried their best to stick to the edges, their arms inevitably brushed against each other.

Su Li felt as if the point of contact had caught fire.

He was a normal man.

Although he usually acted like he had seen through the vanity of the world, this body was only twenty years old, after all. It was the prime of his vitality.

With a grown woman lying next to him, who could withstand that?

Su Li turned over, facing away from Sena.

"Go to sleep," he said, "we have work to do tomorrow."

There was no sound from behind him.

After a while, a soft finger poked his back.

"Brother Su."

"Hmm?"

"The floor... is a bit hard," Sena complained in a low voice, "it's uncomfortable."

Su Li opened his eyes helplessly.

That was indeed the truth.

This dilapidated wooden floor, even with a straw mat laid down, was only slightly better than sleeping on rocks.

It was fine when he slept alone, but now that two people were squeezed together, it was uncomfortable everywhere.

"What should we do then?" Su Li asked, "How about you go back to the bed? I'll give you the quilt."

"No," Sena refused flatly, "I want to cover up with this one."

After a moment of silence, Sena's voice rang out again, this time with a hint of probing and the courage of someone who had given up all pretense.

"How about... we go sleep on the bed?"

Su Li's body stiffened.

"That bed... is quite big," Sena continued, her voice growing smaller, "we can fit. And... and it's soft."

Su Li sat up.

He looked at Sena. The girl had buried most of her face in the blanket, revealing only her eyes, her lashes fluttering as if she were waiting for a verdict.

The defensive line in Su Li's heart cracked with a sharp snap.

What was he being so pretentious for?

The girl had already laid it all out; if he continued to hem and haw, he wouldn't be a gentleman, he'd be a eunuch.

Besides, after spending the last two years together, didn't he know exactly what kind of person she was?

Aside from her looks not being the type to topple kingdoms, everything else—from her kind heart to her dedication to making a life—was something you'd be hard-pressed to find even with a lantern.

In this godforsaken place, having someone who cared for his warmth and cold was a gift from the heavens.

"Fine."

Su Li nodded, threw back the quilt, and stood up.

He bent down and scooped Sena up, quilt and all.

Sena let out a startled cry, her arms instinctively hooking around Su Li's neck.

Her body was as light as a feather, yet the weight of her presence pressed solidly against Su Li's chest.

This girl really hadn't wasted a single meal over the past two years.

Su Li placed her onto the old wooden bed.

The bedboards let out a soft "creak," which sounded exceptionally intimate in the quiet of the night.

"Move over." Su Li patted her bottom.

Sena, like an obedient kitten, rolled to the inside of the bed and pressed herself tightly against the wall.

Su Li lay down on the outer edge.

This bed was indeed much more comfortable than the pallet on the floor. The straw mattress beneath him was soft and carried the scent of sun-dried grass.

There was a gap of about a fist's width between them.

This distance was neither distant nor overly intimate, yet the subtle transmission of body heat was more maddening than a direct embrace.

"Brother Su?"

"What is it now?"

"Today... let me tell you a story instead." Sena turned on her side, watching Su Li's profile.

"You know how to tell stories?" Su Li chuckled. "What about? The Chronicles of Old Buck's Blacksmithing?"

"Not at all." Sena huffed. "I thought of a new one."

"Alright, go ahead. I'm listening."

Sena cleared her throat.

"Once upon a time, there was a country girl. She wasn't pretty, had a face full of freckles, and no real skills. All she knew was how to hover around the stove or help her short-tempered father work the bellows."

Su Li didn't speak. This opening sounded familiar.

"One day, the girl found a treasure at the edge of the village." Sena's voice softened. "It was a living person. He was so handsome, like someone who had stepped out of a painting. Even though he was dressed in rags and half-starved, in the girl's eyes, he was the most beautiful person in the world."

"The man stayed. He didn't mind that the girl was plain, nor that the house was poor. He taught her how to read and told her stories about the world outside. He was so vigorous when he worked the forge, and so refined when he ate."

"The girl wondered, was she dreaming? How did she end up with someone so wonderful?"

"Later..."

Sena stopped.

"What happened later?" Su Li asked.

"Later, the girl thought, who cares if it's a dream? He's already here, so he belongs to her." A hint of fierce determination crept into Sena's voice. "No one is going to take him away. Even if the dream ends later, that's a problem for later. She's going to hold onto every single day she has now."

Having said that, Sena buried her head under the quilt.

"Go to sleep."

Her muffled voice came from beneath the covers.

Su Li looked at the lump under the quilt, his heart a complex mix of emotions.

This silly girl.

This wasn't a story; she was laying her heart bare for him to see.

He reached out and gently patted the lump through the quilt.

"Sleep."

The oil lamp went out.

The room plunged into darkness.

Su Li closed his eyes, listening to the wind outside the window. He thought the night would end just like this—telling stories, chatting, and then sleeping peacefully until dawn.

But he was wrong.

In the middle of the night.

Just as Su Li was drifting off in a daze, he felt the heat source beside him move.

A corner of the quilt was lifted.