Volume One, Chapter 16: Should I Take the Initiative?

Lin Hu pried open her eyelids once more, then began pressing her chest, starting CPR.

Slippery—

“Oh dear…”

“She’s so hard to keep in place.”

Because it was too slick and steep, even Lin Hu’s broad hands couldn’t keep her steady.

No other choice.

He had to press down firmly. I’m not taking advantage of you, he told himself, after all, this is a matter of life and death—no time to fuss about small things.

“Puff, puff…”

“Smack, smack…”

“Ah…hoo!”

Mouth-to-mouth!

CPR!

Repeat!

And repeat again!

The golden four minutes after drowning.

Four steps: check consciousness and breathing, chest compressions, artificial respiration, repeat.

Then cycles of thirty compressions and two breaths.

A lot of water came out.

Lin Hu hurriedly leaned over her chest to listen for a heartbeat. Damn it, she grew up so much, but he couldn’t hear a heartbeat.

“Huh!”

“There’s still a faint heartbeat!”

Lin Hu had tried every trick, but Shen Youyu still didn’t wake. He was out of options.

In desperation, he grabbed her two pale legs and lifted her upside down like Lu Zhishen uprooting a willow.

Shake, shake!

Tremble, tremble!

Shudder, shudder!

…

This crazy maneuver.

And yet, it worked.

Shen Youyu coughed up a lot of dirty water and made a weak sound.

“Oh heavens, you’ve tormented me to death!”

Seeing Shen Youyu come back to life, Lin Hu tossed her aside.

“You troublemaker!”

He glanced at her, about to scold her further, but paused.

Shen Youyu’s appearance was hardly decent; her tattered clothes had been lost in the water, and after all this, barely anything was left to cover her.

“Mhm~”

“Ugh~”

Revived, Shen Youyu vomited again, her scattered senses returning.

Seeing she was alive, she found Lin Hu staring at her.

She glanced at her own disheveled state, her small face turning pale with shame. No matter how she tried to cover herself with her hands, it couldn’t hide her embarrassment.

“You…”

“Waa—why did you save me!”

“Why didn’t you let me die!”

“Don’t stop me!”

Shen Youyu felt unclean now, and even if she survived, in five days she’d face the fate of being ravaged by Wang Ergou—her heart still sought death.

At that moment.

Lin Hu, furious, leapt up and grabbed her.

Slap—

He gave her a sharp slap.

He shouted:

“Is your life so worthless, risking death over 152 yuan? Do you know how many people in this world struggle for just one more day?”

“Death, death, all you think of is death. You’re only eighteen—such a good age, and you don’t cherish it! Don’t you know how sad your mother would be if she saw you so weak from heaven?”

“And your father—you still have a father, don’t you? Maybe he has his own hardships, maybe he couldn’t reach you after returning to the city… Don’t you want to ask him why he abandoned you?”

Faced with Lin Hu’s shouting, Shen Youyu curled up on the ground, covering her face, as though she suddenly found hope to live.

Her eyes, streaked with blood, brimmed with tears.

“Wu wu…”

“But, so much money…”

Seeing her hesitate, Lin Hu quickly continued, giving her another dose of encouragement.

“I’ll help you repay the money. You keep your thoughts in your pants—I wouldn’t dream of sleeping with a troublemaker like you. I just can’t stand that beast Wang Ergou!”

Troublemaker?

Wouldn’t sleep with me?

So why did he save me!

And is going to pay my debt—he must be crazy!

Shen Youyu, who had just regained clarity, found herself muddled by Lin Hu’s words.

And recalling the rescue, she vaguely remembered everything that happened—Lin Hu had certainly done plenty of “that” to her!

What did Lin Hu really mean?

After all that, I’m not clean anymore…

“Wu wu~”

Besides, am I really that bad?

So many have trampled my doorstep lately. If it hadn’t been for my aunt seeking a higher bride price, I’d have been married off already.

But a woman’s secret thoughts—

How could she ever say them aloud?

“Wa…wu wu~”

She could only cover her face with her hands, lying on her tightly pressed white legs, trying her best to conceal her misery.

The feeling was strange.

She didn’t know why, knowing Lin Hu couldn’t possibly raise so much money in five days, yet a strange sense of safety arose within her.

“All right, enough crying!”

“I should be the one crying!”

“Troublemaker, you almost got me killed!”

Lin Hu stripped off his undershirt and pants to wash them in the river. “I wondered why you were so heavy—turns out you didn’t miss a single spot where you should have grown…”

Shen Youyu heard Lin Hu’s muttering and looked up at his broad shoulders.

A strange sensation welled up inside her.

Both were village ruffians, but Lin Hu seemed far more handsome than Wang Ergou, and he was a bachelor. Even if there were rumors about him and Liu Ying, those were false—Liu Ying had left for work in the county that morning and, before leaving, publicly insisted she had nothing to do with Lin Hu.

…

That was good.

If she followed Lin Hu, at least she wouldn’t be scorned as shameless. At most, she’d be poor and tired.

But poverty didn’t matter; money could be earned and repaid slowly. As long as he could live well with her, she wasn’t afraid of hardship, even if they survived on bran and water.

But Wang Ergou was different—he had a wife, a family, clearly only wanted to toy with her. If he ruined her, who knew how many would scorn her behind her back.

Between two evils, choose the lesser.

Giving herself to Lin Hu was better than Wang Ergou, and besides, he’d just saved her life, risked himself, paid her debt, and done those things…

He’d seen everything, done everything—what more could she choose?

Thinking this, Shen Youyu no longer felt so conflicted.

“Brother Hu~”

She spoke shyly, “But… it’s over five hundred yuan, how will you pay it?”

“Don’t worry.”

“I have a way.”

Lin Hu wrung out his clothes and walked ashore.

Seeing Shen Youyu bury her head shyly, not daring to look at him, and trying to protect herself, he guessed she was still worried about going home.

“Here, cover up.”

He draped the ragged cloth over her shoulders and gave her his big pants to wear.

“Not pretty, but it’ll do. If you don’t mind gossip, just go straight to my house when you return to the village. There are some of my mother’s old clothes left in the wardrobe from when she died—they’re a bit worn, but still women’s clothes…”

“You don’t mind, do you?” Lin Hu looked at tearful Shen Youyu and asked again.

“No…wu~”

“Wa…”

Shen Youyu didn’t know why, but suddenly, being treated gently, protected, cared for, her tears flowed uncontrollably.

“Why cry, it’s not such a big deal. Wait for me.”

Lin Hu said, then ran toward the small river where Black Egg sifted for fish.

He knew Shen Youyu had come out to catch fish; if she returned empty-handed, she’d be scolded.

Soon.

Lin Hu returned with a basket full of little fish.

“Little Fish, I caught plenty for you—take them home.”

“Oh, and—”

“You should go back alone. Don’t walk with me, or those village women will gossip.”

“But you…” Shen Youyu looked at Lin Hu, now wearing only his big shorts, feeling embarrassed.

Lin Hu grinned, “What’s the big deal? I’m a grown man, not naked!”

“Oh~”

It was the first time Shen Youyu had seen a man’s broad chest and strong arms so close, and…

She buried her head in shame.

Her heart thumped wildly, nearly leaping out of her throat.

“His arms are so thick, and his chest is all muscle…”

“Actually… he’s pretty nice. I must have misunderstood him before!”

“But he just lets me go like this, without saying anything?”

“I’m really just going to leave?”

“Should I… take the initiative?”

She gazed at the sturdy Lin Hu, and a wave of heat suddenly surged inside her. “After all, things have already come to this.”