Cherishing You As Always - Chapter 20

I tugged at my sleeve stained black with ink.
“My sleeve is dirty. Tell me where there’s water I need to wash it.”

She nodded and helped tidy up the desk, wiping away the spilled ink. Then she said,
“The nearest place is behind the dining hall. A bit farther is behind the laundry room.”

Of course, closer was better. But I didn’t know the way. I could only remember the general direction of the corridors. There were still many places I hadn’t been. I’ve always had a poor sense of direction unless someone walked me through a path a few times, I wouldn’t remember it. So I had no choice but to plead with her,
“Can you take me there, please? I don’t know the way.”

She glanced around and then turned to me with a small smile.
“Once I finish cleaning here, I’ll take you. But don’t wander off. You just got here and don’t know the way around. If you get lost, it’ll be hard to find you.”

She smiled, but there was a distance in that charm. A faint sense of displeasure rose in my heart.
Why does she keep people at such a distance?

I stood by and watched her help me tidy up the cushion, then rearrange the things on the desk. Watching her clean my belongings made me strangely happy. But I quickly suppressed the feeling.
Why didn’t I feel this way when Zihui cleaned my room and things? How odd.

I quickly turned and rushed outside, throwing a line behind me:
“I’ll wait for you outside.”

But I forgot to ask why was she the one cleaning here? Don’t the people in this area clean for themselves? Why make someone like her, who looks like she could be blown away by the wind, do such hard chores?

Where were those men who seemed interested in her yesterday?
Why weren’t they helping?

I almost immediately wanted to go back and help her, but couldn’t think of a reason to do so. So I just stood outside in a daze.

After a little while, she came out. She took out a cold steamed bun from her sleeve and, keeping a full arm’s length between us, said,
“You probably haven’t had breakfast yet. You look pale from hunger. Here, eat this.”

Only then did I realize I hadn’t eaten anything. I had rushed out from the dorm and skipped breakfast. As soon as she mentioned it, my stomach growled. But my pride got in the way. The way she spoke to me felt like she was addressing a child. I wasn’t a child. I didn’t like her talking to me like that.
No one had ever dared speak to me that way.
Not many were even willing to talk to me at all because I had a bad temper and got physical when angry.
But to be cared for even just a little… it felt strange.

I didn’t take the bun. Instead, I bit my lip and said,
“I’m not hungry. I don’t usually eat in the mornings.
Why were you hiding that in your sleeve? Did you skip breakfast too?”

She paused at my words, then quietly put the bun back into her sleeve. She started walking ahead, saying,
“I… I had something to do this morning and didn’t eat. If you don’t want it, then never mind.”

Rejecting kindness something I often did. So I felt nothing.
I hurried to catch up to her but didn’t dare walk too close.
I was still haunted by what I saw last night her sleepwalking.
But how should I even bring that up?

I tried to suppress my curiosity, but in the end, I couldn’t hold back.
On the mountain path, I asked her,
“Why do you keep scissors under your pillow?”

Her frail figure in front of me flinched slightly, but she quickly returned to normal.
She didn’t turn back but still replied,
“I heard from the elders that keeping scissors under your pillow helps prevent nightmares. I wanted to try and see if it’s true. I didn’t get a chance to tell you yesterday since you were in the bed.”

My mind was full of doubt. I didn’t know if she was telling the truth.
Scissors under a pillow to stop nightmares?
What kind of absurd superstition was that?
She had me worried for most of the night, scared half to death.

And yet now, hearing her explanation, I didn’t feel any relief.
In fact, she just seemed more mysterious.

When we entered the dining hall, the front courtyard was almost empty people were inside arranging the tables.
I looked around curiously. She walked farther ahead, greeting some of the people preparing food as she passed.

I jogged to catch up.
She hardly spoke to our classmates, yet she had things to say to these people?

Finally, we reached a spot with water.
She pointed at several large, weathered vats and said,
“There’s water over there.”

By now, the ink stains on my sleeve had already dried and dried stains are harder to wash out.
I fetched half a bucket of water with a small pail but then had no idea what to do next.

I’d never washed clothes before. That task had always been Zihui’s.
I’d seen her do it plenty of times but never tried it myself.

In the end, I really was just a pampered young lady.
Even a simple task like this I couldn’t manage.

I shoved my entire sleeve into the bucket.
The icy water soaked the fabric. I figured if I soaked it for a while, the stains would mostly come out.
The rest I could have Zihui wash later.

As my sleeve soaked, I paced around while watching her carefully cover the lids on the water vats. Then she turned to leave.

I quickly called out,
“Hey!”

There were only two of us in the open space it was clear I was talking to her.
But she didn’t turn back, just kept walking.
I didn’t know the way back! I hadn’t paid attention earlier I was too busy looking around.

I called out more urgently,
“Yin Yunchi!”

Only then did she turn and look back at me, puzzled.
“Is there something else?”

Panic set in.
Why did I call her back? If I didn’t know the way, I could just ask anyone around here to guide me out.
Why call her?

I didn’t know what to say, so I blurted,
“Um… I’m not very good at washing clothes.
Can you help me wash my sleeve?
I don’t want to get scolded by Zihui later.”

It was a random excuse.
I tried hard to suppress the faint ripples in my heart.
Was she the strange one or was I?

She came back, looked at my clumsy attempt, and I could tell I looked pretty helpless.
She squatted down still keeping as much distance from me as possible reaching her long arm into the bucket, feeling for my sleeve.
More precisely she found it without touching me.

She really did hate being close to people.

But then… why was she willing to come close to me?

Suddenly, I remembered last night, before leaving the dining hall, the academician said something to her.
And then he looked at me thoughtfully.

Could it be… that the academician asked her to do all this?

Whether he did or not, what could I do about it?

From what I could tell, Yin Yunchi might have feelings for that academician.
Maybe that’s why she listened to him.