Chapter 70 - Encouragement

Chapter 70: Chapter 64 EncouragementFu Tinghan closed his palm, holding her hand in his, staring at her nervously.

Zhao Hanzhang tried to withdraw her hand, but he held it tight, preventing her from pulling away.

Zhao Hanzhang looked at him with confusion, "Professor Fu, let go."

Fu Tinghan instinctively wanted to let go, but as his fingers lifted halfway, he remembered something and held on again, "At the funeral, I gave you a tape. It was an English reading of ’The Story of My Life’."

Zhao Hanzhang stopped trying to withdraw her hand and let him hold it. She propped her right hand under her head and looked at him, "Did you know then that I was going to go blind?"

"I didn’t know," Fu Tinghan paused before saying, "But I knew the loneliness of losing parents and family. I hoped Helen Keller could give you the courage to get through that difficult time."

He said, "When my parents passed away, I got through it by reading this book. At the time, your eyes were injured, so I sent you the tape. I didn’t think..."

Not just that she was injured, but she completely lost her sight. Her family had arranged a leave of absence for her.

By the time he knew, three months had passed, and they were both about to move to the second year of high school.

Knowing they would no longer be in the same grade, he directly skipped a grade to the third year. When he returned to his alma mater, he saw Zhao Hanzhang being bullied, but before he could play the hero, Zhao Hanzhang had already taken them down.

Fu Tinghan squeezed her hand again, looking at her eyes with some distress, and softly asked, "Was it hard going back to school?"

Zhao Hanzhang tilted her head and thought for a moment before saying, "Not really. When I went back to school, my close friends had all moved to the third year. Originally, I was supposed to advance to the second year directly, but I had only been learning Braille for over a year and wasn’t very proficient yet. I failed the exam, so I had to join the first year and start again with a bunch of little kids."

Fu Tinghan couldn’t help but laugh, "You had already skipped a grade. There were students your age at that time. Did you get bullied later because you treated them like kids?"

"Not really," Zhao Hanzhang withdrew her hand, lay back, and looked at the twinkling stars above, softly saying, "People are always curious about those different from themselves. Some carry goodwill, but others, malice. I was just unlucky to encounter those carrying malice."

Thinking of those youthful days, a faint smile appeared and disappeared on Zhao Hanzhang’s lips, a cold gleam in her eyes, "But it was indeed a unique experience. I’ve always been popular since I was young. If not for my blindness, I wouldn’t have known how much malice teens of fifteen and sixteen could have towards their peers."

She smiled and said, "I also wouldn’t have discovered that I have quite a tough heart."

That year, others bullied her, and she retaliated, often leading to bloodshed. She had a hard time, but those bullying her were also troubled by her, and she learned how to appear weak in front of others, how to become a white lotus camouflaged in innocence.

Who could be more disadvantaged than her?

Blind, a girl, bullied and injured, with parents who were martyrs, she excelled in her studies. From the police and teachers handling the case to the parents and relatives of the others involved, no one could in good conscience shift the blame onto her.

However, she did act a bit ruthlessly back then. Feeling a bit antsy, Zhao Hanzhang suddenly sat up and said to the startled Fu Tinghan, "I feel like fighting."

Fu Tinghan: "...Then you should practice now?"

Zhao Hanzhang glanced around the surroundings but ultimately gave up and lay back down, "Forget it. I wouldn’t want to scare my mother."

At this time, Mrs. Wang was quietly watching from a distance, looking conflicted, "Qing Gu, should I call Third Lady over? They’re not married yet. How can they sleep leaning against each other?"

Qing Gu said, "At a time like this, do such etiquettes matter? It’s safer for her to be with Mr. Fu. What if bandits come again at night?"

Mrs. Wang was indeed worried about this. After a moment of inner struggle, she lay down, "Forget it. According to the original plan, she should be getting married tomorrow. Their marriage contract is set; it’s no different than being a couple. But still, keep an eye on them, and don’t let them get too close."

Qing Gu glanced in their direction, seeing the two leaning so close and whispering about something, pretending not to hear Mrs. Wang’s instructions.

What more intimate gesture could there be at this point?

The Third Lady wasn’t someone without plans; she had her reasons for whatever she did.

Zhao Hanzhang and Professor Fu chatted about all sorts of things for half the night, calculating the next day’s journey and the supplies they might consume along the way. Eventually, the lively urge to fight in her brain faded away, and she fell asleep without realizing it.

Fu Tinghan, noticing her silence for a long time, lifted his head to look at her. Seeing her eyes closed and asleep, he couldn’t help but smile and lay back down.

Listening to her light, long breaths, Fu Tinghan also felt sleepy, slowly closed his eyes, and drifted off to sleep.

As the sky began to brighten slightly, Zhao Hanzhang quickly opened her eyes. She grasped the clothes over her and realized it was Fu Tinghan who had taken off his coat to cover her.

Seeing him curled up to the side, she gently placed the coat back on him and carefully got up.

Ting He also got up, quietly approaching, "Third Lady, there’s a canal over there. I’ll go fetch some water for you to wash up."

Zhao Hanzhang nodded, instructing, "Take two retainers with you, and don’t go too far."

"Yes."

Zhao Hanzhang began to rummage through their luggage.

They had brought quite a bit of luggage before setting out. Besides some gold and silver, there were also many ornaments and fabrics, but now, not much remained.

Especially Mrs. Wang’s makeup box—so many treasures had been taken.

So they didn’t have much left.

Zhao Hanzhang rummaged through and found a piece of cloth. She spread it on the ground and started extracting items from the suitcase.

There were three thin gold bracelets and two silver ornaments. Zhao Hanzhang searched until she found an intact box. Touching the golden camphor wood box, she raised an eyebrow. It’s a pity; this camphor wood wasn’t as precious as in later generations.

But then, whatever was placed in a camphor wood box wouldn’t be ordinary items.

She opened it to find a set of pearl accessories, each pearl plump and lustrous. Even though she wasn’t very familiar with jewelry, she could see this was a valuable set.

Mrs. Wang rarely wore pearl ornaments, and this one included a hairpin encrusted with pink pearls. Anyone could guess who these were meant for.

Zhao Hanzhang glanced guiltily in Mrs. Wang’s direction. Seeing her still asleep, she swiftly placed the box on the cloth, wrapped it up, and handed it to Ji Ping, "Buy as much provisions as possible. We should set off right after breakfast."

Ji Ping took it, nodding solemnly, "I will do my utmost."

Mr. Chen also woke up. The father and daughter washed up briefly and munched on half a steamed bun before setting out.

Zhao Hanzhang allocated two horses for the two of them, so they could move faster.