Of course, even more than the humiliation, she felt fear. His unconscionable mindset was too evident. He wasn’t like this brothers; she couldn’t figure him out.
The night sky gradually deepened into a blanket of darkness. From time to time, the sound of dogs barking could be heard. Li Man had completely burrowed herself under her quilt and sobbed for a long spell. She swung back and forth between feeling better to feeling aggrieved all over again until night turned into day.
She had beautiful eyes, but they had turned red and swollen from crying all night. When she got up in the morning and saw herself in the mirror, she felt embarrassed. What if they figured out what had happened by looking at her face?
Sure enough, as soon as she opened her door, Li Yan was blocking her doorway.
She quickly cowered back and wanted to close the door, but Li Yan blocked her. Seeing her swollen and reddened eyes, he frowned. “You were crying?”
Li Man looked away. She didn’t want to talk to him.
“Your eyes look so swollen.” Li Yan took one step inside.
Scared, she took several steps back, “Li Yan, don’t you dare do anything. It’s broad daylight.”
Li Yan paused. “I just want to take a look.”
“Leave.” Li Man pointed at the door. She didn’t bother with being polite. If he dared to do something bad again, she really would scream.
Li Yan drooped. “Last night -“
“I don’t want to hear it. Get out.” Li Man had thought all night. She decided that she couldn’t passively continue tolerating his behavior. She even regretted not slapping him the first time that he did something to her.
Li Yan’s expression was gloomy. He clenched his jaw and seemingly helplessly looked at her before leaving.
Li Man exhaled in relief. She tied up her appearance and went to the kitchen to cook breakfast. No matter what, as long as she stayed in this home, she should earn her keep.
By the time she had finished cooking congee, Li Shu returned home with two large baskets of wild vegetation for the piglets.
After he put down the baskets in a corner, Li Shu went straight to the stove and greeted Li Man, “Wife.”
“You’re back?” Li Man raised her head to glance at him. Compared to Li Yan, Li Shu was much easier to get along with.
Li Shu was startled. “What happened to your eyes?” He got up and went over to look.
Li Man drew back as she answered, “Something got into my eyes.”
“Something got into your eyes?” Li Shu felt quite upset. “And your eyes became like that? I’ll go check your hut later.”
“Oh,” Li Man vaguely responded.
Breakfast was had in the eastern hut. Everyone sat around a small table that had been placed on the bed and naturally saw Li Man’s swollen eyes. Fortunately, she hadn’t intended to hide this from them, and no one asked her any further questions. It was only that during breakfast, Li Mo snuck several glances her way. Although Li Yan didn’t look at her, she still felt uncomfortable by his gloomy and cold aura.
Once breakfast was over, Li Yan and Li Shu went out. As for what they were going to do outside, Li Man didn’t know or care. They were Li Mo’s responsibility.
Once she was done washing the bowls and chopsticks, she went back to the eastern hut to help Li Mo apply another dose of medicine.
Right after she had finished her task, Li Mo suddenly spoke, “Second brother, he…” Although his voice sounded hesitated, he still asked, “Did he do something to upset you?”
Li Man immediately felt choked up. Without a good reason, solely because of his words, her eyes felt hot. But, she turned her back to him and shook her head.
“Man-er,” he softly called her.