"By the way, Nianhua, when you went to the lake behind the mountain yesterday, you weren't thinking of doing anything stupid, were you? What were you doing there?" Zhong Juan looked at Xu Nianhua curiously, her eyes full of inquiry.
Zhong Juan was only a year older than Xu Nianhua. No matter how hard she tried to hide it, her thoughts were still written all over her face.
"I just felt upset, so I went to the back mountain to calm down." Xu Nianhua lowered her gaze. Yesterday, she'd fallen into the lake because she'd accidentally seen something she shouldn't have, lost her footing, and tumbled in.
So much time had passed, Xu Nianhua couldn't even remember what she'd seen. Now, with Zhong Juan coming over to sound her out, it vaguely started coming back to her.
"Going to the back mountain in the middle of summer to calm down—you're really not afraid of running into snakes?" Zhong Juan joked, her eyes fixed on her, then asked offhandedly, "There's no one in the back mountain. Weren't you scared?"
"What's there to be scared of? It's pretty clean over there." Xu Nianhua replied.
"So, did you run into anyone at the back mountain?"
Zhong Juan was worried Xu Nianhua had seen something, so she'd come over to ask. After all these roundabout questions, Xu Nianhua's answers didn't match what she was asking, making Zhong Juan even more uneasy. Had she really seen something?
"Who do you mean?" Xu Nianhua looked up, catching the worry in Zhong Juan's eyes. She said, "I didn't see anything, didn't witness anything, I just accidentally fell into the lake. It just happened that my second brother came looking for me and pulled me out."
So she hadn't seen anything.
The heavy stone in Zhong Juan's heart slowly settled. Yesterday, the way they'd left in a panic had kept her on edge the whole time.
She'd heard that Xu Nianhua had fallen into the lake yesterday, and today there were rumors about the Xu Family splitting up. After thinking it over, Zhong Juan felt compelled to come and find out from Xu Nianhua whether she'd actually seen anything yesterday.
"Your brother really treats you well." Now that she knew Xu Nianhua hadn't seen anything, Zhong Juan let out a sigh of relief.
"Yeah, both my big brothers are really good to me."
Xu Nianhua smiled and said, "Juan, you keep asking me about what happened at the back mountain. I almost thought you were there too."
Xu Nianhua's words made Zhong Juan's heart skip a beat. Her face grew uncomfortable as she said, "Of course not."
"Yeah. If you'd been at the back mountain and seen me fall into the lake, you definitely would've saved me, right?" Xu Nianhua blinked her eyes at her.
Zhong Juan thought: there are no walls that the wind can't pass through, and if you don't want people to know, don't do it. Her face grew uglier. Yesterday, hearing a noise, they'd been scared out of their wits and didn't dare go see who it was, or who had fallen into the lake.
It was only after getting home that she found out Xu Nianhua had fallen into the lake.
Suddenly, Zhong Juan thought of something. If Xu Nian'an hadn't gone looking for Xu Nianhua, would she have...
"I would, of course I would." Zhong Juan's voice was pitched high, but no matter how high, she couldn't hide her guilty conscience.
"Juan, if you think about it, it's only been one night since I fell into the lake, and now everyone knows. There really aren't any walls that keep out the wind, and there's no such thing as an eternal secret in this world." Xu Nianhua said, her words full of hidden meaning.
Zhong Juan responded casually, "Yeah, the village is so small. Any little thing, and everyone knows right away."
...
"Why did she come by?" Ji Ying ran into Zhong Juan just as she was leaving when she got home.
"Maybe she just came to see me?" Xu Nianhua said offhandedly. If it hadn't been for her second brother, she'd be dead by now.
But since she'd gained a blessing in disguise, Xu Nianhua only gave a little warning with her words. As for whether Zhong Juan would heed it, that was no longer her concern.