Chen Jiu frowned and, under the cover of the quilt, pinched his thigh hard.
The sharp pain radiated from his leg, piercing into his mind, making his still somewhat muddled head clearer.
Chen Ling saw him wince slightly and hurriedly put on a concerned look. However, she did not approach him, only asking anxiously, “Brother, what’s wrong? Are you hurting again somewhere? I’ll go get a doctor!”
“No need, I’m fine,” Chen Jiu said before she could turn around in her pretense.
The pain confirmed one thing for him: he had been reborn, back to his youth.
At this moment, none of those events had happened yet, and everything could still be prevented.
But he didn’t know exactly when it was now.
His body had been weak since birth due to prenatal cold exposure and didn’t improve despite taking many medications after he was born.
After his father passed away, his father married his stepmother Lan, who secretly bullied him. Not only was he given less medicine, but he also had to do household chores whenever his father was away, making his body even weaker and prone to frequent illnesses.
Given the current situation, he couldn’t judge which day it was.
To find out the exact circumstances, he needed to gather information from Chen Ling.
Taking a gentle breath and suppressing his aversion to Chen Ling, Chen Jiu asked, “Is there anything that needs doing at home today? I feel a bit better and thought I could do some work and break a sweat; perhaps it will make me feel better.”
Chen Ling’s eyes brightened with surprise. “Really? If that’s the case, sister does have a favor to ask of you.”
Seeing this, Chen Jiu couldn’t help but sneer inwardly. If she truly cared about him, she would have insisted he rest upon seeing his condition, not finding things for him to do.
His past self had been blind to mistake this hypocrisy for genuine kindness.
Suppressing the urge to retch, Chen Jiu forced a smile and asked, “What is it?”
Chen Jiu inherited his good looks from his late father. Given his frail health, his father, Chen Guangren, didn’t allow him to do labor, fearing something might happen. Thus, he stayed indoors most of the time, rarely seeing the sun, which made his skin very pale.
Now he slightly tilted his head to look at Chen Ling, his eyes somewhat blurred by illness, his complexion pale and sickly. This didn’t diminish his handsomeness but rather added a touch of delicate beauty.
Seeing his face, Chen Ling felt a gnawing hatred in her heart.
But she hadn’t achieved her purpose yet and had to endure for now.
Once she got hold of the wealth left by that wretched mother of this short-lived ghost, there would be no need to keep this face around any longer.
Concealing her malicious thoughts, Chen Ling put on a gentle and slightly troubled look. Sighing softly, she said, “Originally, Ling’er didn’t want to trouble you, brother, but my purse was picked up by Silly Zhao. He refuses to return it. My name is embroidered on that purse, and it concerns my reputation. I must get it back.”
“Silly Zhao is big and tall, and he lives alone in the thatched hut over there. If I go alone and rumors spread, I won’t be able to live. Brother, you must help me with this favor!”
Chen Jiu looked at Chen Ling’s pitiful appearance and almost wanted to say, “If that’s the case, then you might as well not live.”
Moreover, she, as a woman, should avoid being alone with a man. Did it mean that he, as a brother, had no reputation and could freely associate with men?
Clearly, she had bad intentions!
But he quickly realized that it wasn’t yet the time to reveal his true feelings, so he held back.
Chen Ling’s words reminded him of what day it was today.
In his previous life, on this day, Chen Ling had also pretended to be pitiful, making him accompany her to the thatched hut to retrieve the purse from Silly Zhao despite his illness. Before leaving, he had taken medicine, but it turned out that it wasn’t for treating his illness, but…
After taking the medicine and arriving at the thatched hut, his body began to heat up, and he had a shameful reaction.
Chen Jiu thought something was wrong with his body and wanted Chen Ling to take him back, only to remember that she had already left under the pretext of needing to cook dinner.
