TLWR CH.7: Untouchable

Xiao Lang also took a low stool and sat down behind Shu Lan, combing her hair with extreme seriousness.

Hmm, this strand of hair was too yellow—it stands out obnoxiously among the other sleek black strands. Pluck it out.

Oh, how did a tangle get here? Give it a tug—no, that won't do—then pull harder. Hmm, not bad, finally undone. Xiao Lang pulled the small cluster of hair stuck in the wooden comb, tucked it into his pocket, and watched Shu Lan's small shoulders twitching incessantly with satisfaction.

The lazy girl had one greatest virtue: she would go to great lengths to avoid him, but once she fell into his hands, she wouldn't put up any pointless struggle. Of course, what he'd just done was torment enough; if he bullied her any further, the lazy girl would start crying, and even if Auntie believed him, it would still be troublesome.

With practiced ease, Xiao Lang tied Shu Lan's hair into double buns, then turned her around: "Big brother will trim your bangs for you."

Shu Lan obediently and mechanically stood up and sat back down, her almond-shaped eyes squeezed tightly shut. She didn't dare look Xiao Lang in the eye. Ever since they had recognized each other's identities, Shu Lan hadn't dared meet his gaze anymore, because doing so reminded her of the bloodthirsty gleam in his eyes from her previous life when he had pinned her down.

Watching Shu Lan's fine lashes fluttering nonstop, Xiao Lang's hand paused for a moment.

Even if he was unwilling, he had to admit that the lazy girl was exceptionally pretty—and prettier with each passing year—more beautiful than any farm girl he had ever seen. Perhaps because she loved to eat and laze about, her slightly chubby baby face was always pink and rosy, with long curved brows like bamboo leaves, a straight jade-like nose, and tender cherry-red lips. Every time he saw her, Xiao Lang felt a familiar yet unfamiliar urge, much like the cherries she had "voluntarily" given him last year—plump, moist, and fresh, tempting enough to eat yet too lovely to ruin.

At this thought, Xiao Lang suddenly felt a pang of frustration. Now he couldn't eat raw food, much less people, but just playing these petty, harmless tricks on the lazy girl—which had once satisfied him as a child, now felt increasingly insufficient. Every bone and drop of blood in his body screamed at him, telling him there was another way, yet he just couldn't figure it out.

His mood instantly turned irritable. Out of frustration, Xiao Lang plucked a rebellious stray hair from Shu Lan's forehead.

"Ouch!"

Shu Lan finally couldn't bear it anymore. Her eyes suddenly flew open, her lively almond-shaped eyes already brimming with tears that streamed down in a steady flow. She didn't look at Xiao Lang, nor did she wail loudly as she had as a child. She just kept her head lowered and her eyes downcast, silently weeping and that somehow made Xiao Lang feel a twinge of guilt, though the feeling was fleeting.

Xiao Lang raised his hand, expressionlessly wiped the tears from Shu Lan's face, and began trimming her bangs, yet his gaze remained fixed on her fluttering, dense lashes. He didn't know when it had started, but he especially loved staring at the lazy girl. After mulling it over for several nights, Xiao Lang defined this fondness as satisfaction with his prey.

"Ah Lang, have you two eaten?" Mrs. Qin asked as she was about to rinse the rice.

Without taking his eyes off Shu Lan's head, Xiao Lang replied: "We have. My father had to go to town today, so we ate early." They had set out at dawn, bagged two pheasants, and returned. In the afternoon, Xiao Shouwang was heading to town to sell the animal pelts they'd accumulated recently.

Since they'd already eaten, Mrs. Qin only rinsed a bowl of rice. Walking over to the stove, she casually glanced outside and, seeing the two sitting quietly side by side, felt reassured. As she busied herself, she made small talk with Xiao Lang: "Ah Lang, you're not young anymore. You should be studying hard and seeking scholarly honors, not spending all your time roaming the mountains." This child—he had studied with Shu Maoting for a few years, and her husband said he had more talent than their own son, yet he simply refused to continue, not even taking the preliminary imperial exams.

Xiao Lang patted Shu Lan's face and finally let her go. "Auntie, I don't like those things. They just give me a headache."

Mrs. Qin sighed with a mix of frustration and disappointment: "You child, you've always had a mind of your own, and I can't talk you out of it. But you and your father must have saved up quite a bit over the years. You should buy a few acres of good farmland, it'll make getting married easier in the future."

Xiao Shouwang's birth mother had been married for three years without conceiving, so his father, Xiao Yongjiang, secretly began an affair with a widow from a neighboring village. The widow was fortunate as well—she soon became pregnant. Just as Xiao Yongjiang was preparing to bring her into the household, he discovered that his wife was expecting too. In the end, a lawful wife carried more weight, so he placated the widow with sweet promises, persuading her to wait a little longer. The widow was just as calculating. She pretended to agree, but after giving birth, she went straight to the Xiao household. Her arrival enraged Xiao Yongjiang's wife so severely that she went into premature labor. She gave birth to her son but died soon afterward. Rather than showing any anger, Xiao Yongjiang simply accepted the situation and married the widow. As the saying goes, once there was a stepmother, there was also a stepfather. Xiao Shouwang's life at home grew harder with each passing day. By the time he married, he was cast out of the family and forced to make his own way in the world, left with nothing but three dilapidated rooms and not a single plot of land to his name.

Get married? Take a wife and have children?

Xiao Lang instinctively shook his head. He had never thought about such things. Though he had become human, he didn't have much interest in the opposite sex. Apart from his own mother and the familiar mother-daughter pair of the Shu family, he dismissed all other women with contempt—either they were too coarse and vulgar, or they put on a fake, coquettish act. In short, the moment he caught a whiff of that nauseating powder-and-perfume stench, he wanted nothing more than to turn and leave immediately.

Among those women, the ones Xiao Lang found most repulsive and detestable were his nominal eldest aunt-in-law, Mrs. Zhang, and her eight-year-old daughter, Xiao Lianhua. Of course, if that step-grandmother widow hadn't died of illness, she would have made the list too.

Oh, and speaking of that, the person who had always occupied the very top of his list of people to hate was none other than Shu Lan. Oddly enough, though, Xiao Lang hated her without ever feeling truly disgusted by her. As for why, he had never thought too deeply about it. Perhaps it was because, before he turned five, Shu Lan had always been the sweet, delicate little sister in his eyes.

Seeing Xiao Lang sitting there lost in thought while Shu Lan had long since run off to play on the swing her father had built for her, Mrs. Qin gathered the scattered kindling by the stove and walked over. Crouching in front of Xiao Lang, she sized him up with her eyes and hands. Boys really did grow fast—he was already a head taller than he had been last year. She would have to make him two new summer shirts.

This wasn't the first time Mrs. Qin had made clothes for him, and Xiao Lang knew the meaning behind her gestures. Gazing at Mrs. Qin's gentle face so close to him, Xiao Lang felt a bittersweet warmth in his heart. Not wanting his thoughts to be read, he simply closed his eyes.

A faint, delicate fragrance lingered at the tip of his nose—Mrs. Qin's natural scent, the same one that Shu Wan and Shu Lan carried. It was the only feminine fragrance, aside from his own mother's, that didn't repulse Xiao Lang.

In the distance, Shu Lan had been secretly watching the whole time. When she saw her mother about to make clothes for that vicious wolf, she couldn't help shouting, "Mother, I want new clothes too!" Truth be told, she had no particular demands beyond food, but she simply couldn't bear to see Mrs. Qin being good to Xiao Lang. This possessiveness had been with her since birth—she wouldn't allow Mrs. Qin to hold Xiao Lang or kiss him, because Mrs. Qin was her dearest mother. What right did Xiao Lang have to compete with her for that?

Mrs. Qin was well aware of her daughter's possessiveness. She turned and glared at her: "Making you new clothes would be a complete waste—you just hide in your room sleeping all day long. Who's going to see them on you anyway?"

Xiao Lang grinned at Shu Lan. "Auntie, just make them for her. At least I'll be able to see them."

Mrs. Qin stood up and looked at her pouting daughter with a knowing smile: "Ah Lang, don't speak up for her. Starting today, she's not going to sleep in anymore!"

She said this in a low voice, so Shu Lan didn't hear it. The little girl had no idea that her easy days were about to end. She just glared hatefully at Xiao Lang—hypocrite! Always playing the good guy in front of her mother! Who cared about wearing new clothes for him to see anyway?