"I'm nervous," Wen Tu paced as she waited for the perfect opportunity for a 'fated second encounter' with her savior. "What if my plan doesn't work! Then what am I doing to do?"
"Well, for one, you can start by stop second-guessing yourself," A-Kuai answered while lazily leaning against a tree. The pair had been outside of Wen Tu's savior's village for a while, waiting for them to come outside and 'save' Wen Tu once more. So far, after waiting a few hours, there was no sign of Wen Tu's savior coming out.
"When is she coming out?" Wen Tu chattered as she continued to pace around.
Finally, as if heaven-sent, Wen Tu spotted her savior walking out of the village gates, waving at a few people before turning away towards the village.
"Come on, let's follow her," Wen Tu whispered excitedly as she quickly followed after the young maiden.
Sha Sha Sha…
The two of them swiftly gave chase and waited for the perfect opportunity. Then the maiden suddenly stopped and crouched down at a small shrub.
"This is it! It's is my chance to shine!" Quickly lying down in her spot, she arranged herself to look helpless and vulnerable. Once she felt satisfied with her appearance, she began her act.
"Aiyo! Woe is me! My ankle, oh my ankle! How it hurts so much!" Wen Tu woefully cried in the deepest voice that she could muster.
Seeing Wen Tu act so melodramatically, A-Kuai nearly coughed up blood from shock and embarrassment. Is this what his sister thinks a man will act as if he is in pain? He could only shake his head from a distance.
Although Wen Tu's acting was subpar, it served its purpose. Soon enough, Wen Tu's savior came through the forest brush and spotted her.
"Aiyah, what happened to you?"
"Oh, fair maiden, my ankle! Oh, my ankle! Along the trail, I had tripped and fallen," Wen Tu continued to cry woefully. The sight of Wen Tu continue to moan and groan in 'pain,' was enough for A-Kuai to turn away in shame. Mother, Father, the greatest disgrace of our family is not Wen Tu running off to marry a mortal woman, but rather her terrible acting is worthy enough of bringing shame upon us for generations!
While A-Kuai shook his head at his sister's shameful acts, another had a genuine concern for the little rabbit. "Aiyah, let me see your ankle," and the young maiden gingerly took hold of Wen Tu's ankle and began to rub in certain spots of her ankle.
Ahh! My savior is holding my foot, Wen Tu gushed. She almost didn't even hear her savior's next words as she savored the feeling of their somewhat rough hands on her soft skin. "...can you walk?..."
"Hmm?" Wen Tu hummed as she came down from her high. She forgot to use her 'male' voice for a moment and quickly attempted to salvage her image. "Uh, I mean, hmmm?" This time using a deep tone.
'Did she notice,' Wen Tu wondered as she scanned her savior's face. 'Did she notice my change?'
Seeing as the young maiden's face didn't change and continued to check out her 'injured' ankle. "I asked, can you still walk?"
"Um, yeah," Wen Tu answered back. To prove her point, she attempted to stand up and walk towards the young maiden.
However, luck did not seem to be on her side, as she rolled over her 'injured' ankle and crashed the young maiden's chest.
"Ahh! That hurts," she hissed in pain as she tried to regain her balance. 'Come on!'
"Wooh, okay, it looks like you are not going to be okay to walk," the young maiden observed. Her handsome face had a faint hint of amusement.
'Was my savior laughing at me?' Wen Tu mentally sobbed. However, she could barely contain her sadness and pain on her face.
However, it wasn't just the pain that caused Wen Tu to cry. It was their height difference!
Wen Tu could not believe that her savior was taller than her, standing at roughly 180 cm, compared to her meager 175 cm. 'How am I going to act like a good husband if my wife-to-be is so tall? What would people think!'
"Okay, okay, don't cry!" Her savior said as she patted Wen Tu's head. "I'll carry you to my place, okay? Don't cry." And then she turned around and crouched in front of Wen Tu, inciting on her hopping onto their back.
Wen Tu sniffed a bit before stretching out her thin arms to grab onto the maiden's shoulders. Soon enough, Wen Tu was able to climb into her savior's back slowly.
"Wow, you are little for a guy. Not to mention very light," the young maiden remarked. "Are you sure you are not a girl in drag?"
'Crap,' Wen Tu mentally cursed. 'She's onto me! Gotta through her off my path!'
"Er, no! I'm just tiny for my age," Wen Tu defended. "B-but, I'll grow!"
"Hmm, is that so," the maiden mused.
"Yeah," Wen Tu mumbled, and she leaned in closer to the crook of the maiden's neck and rested her head on their shoulder as they carried them through the woods.
'She smells like honeysuckle,' Wen Tu observed as he sniffed the neck of her savior. She smiled after taking in her savior's scent, 'Ah fate. You know honeysuckle is my favorite, is that why you had my wife wear the same scent? So that she may attract me?'
Wen Tu smiled at this, though, as she continues to rest her head against her savior's back, enjoying her savior's presence.
"Are you alright?" Her savior perked up. "Does your ankle hurt right now?"
"No," Wen Tu mumbled. "It's just nice to be carried."
The two of them walked out of the forest in comfortable silence.
"Looks like Big Sis's crazy plan did work out after all," A-Kuai observed. He couldn't believe that his sister's shoddy plan played out as she expected. 'Well,' A-Kuai thought as he watched the place where the two had walked off. 'I should probably watch them for a few more days in case something happens.'
However, as he turned to leave, he bumped into the chest of a red-haired youth. "Hey, minced meat[1], where did that mortal woman carry A-Tu to?"
'Tsk,' A-Kuai grumbled. 'No wonder Big Sis hates this guy. He is such an a*shole.' A-Kuai flicked his eyes up to the amber eyes of the redhead youth. "Hu Dan, what do you want?"
---
Meanwhile, the pair had already made their way back to the maiden's home. The house was a small shack situated on the foothill in the forest, a little ways away from the village.
Despite its small size, it looked to be rather homely as the wooden structure seemingly blended in with the forest.
"I'm back," the maiden called out as she pushed open the door to the shack. Inside displayed an arrange of herbs hanging from the ceiling that perfumed the room of dried herbs. By the bed was a tall bookshelf that contained a plethora of bowls and pots of all kinds. There wasn't much space within the cabin as a wardrobe, and a table with two chairs took up the majority of the floor space.
Nonetheless, Wen Tu liked her savior's home very much as it reminded her of her burrow.
"Sorry, it's a little small," the maiden said as she set Wen Tu down on one of the chairs.
"It's fine, it looks very homely," Wen Tu smiled as she looked around the one-room home.
"I'll be back, just going to get some water to clean you up," and the maiden turned to leave.
"Thank you for everything, miss…"
"It's Ren Dong," she smiled and left the house.
"So her name is Ren Dong," Wen Tu mumbled. A smile split across her face as she repeated Ren Dong's name in different ways. 'Her name is very fitting.'
"Pst.. pst! Big Sis!"
"Huh?" Snapping out of her daze, Wen Tu heard her brother hissing at her. "A-Kuai?"
"Big Sis!" The boy hissed again.
"A-Kuai, what are you doing here!" Wen Tu asked frantically. It's not usual for her brother to panic in any situation. He gets annoyed, yes, but his always cool-headed in any case. So for him to panic, it means that something terrible is going to happen. "What happened."
"It's its," A-Kuai heaved slowly. "It's Hu Dan!"
[1]minced meat - kuai. Same sound as 'kuai' in A-Kuai's name. However, a different character.