Pei Yu and Liang Shujun were the sa age and hailed from the sa village, growing up together. As children, they would often go hunting in the mountains together. It was during one of those trips that they ca across He Su, who was severely injured and unconscious. Pei Yu, being timid and easily scared, thought that He Su’s injuries were so severe that she certainly wouldn’t survive, so he fled.
But Liang Shujun noticed that He Su was still breathing.
At the ti, he was only in his teens, a re boy.
He carried He Su down the mountain, took her to the dical clinic, and even paid for her treatnt upfront. He was He Su’s lifesaver. After all, the "Doctor" who treated He Su had said that if she had been brought in any later, she probably wouldn’t have made it.
He saved He Su but didn’t think much of it. To him, it was a simple act of kindness, a good deed for the day. Little did he know that He Su, though seemingly unconscious, was sowhat aware. In her haze, she felt as though she saw a boy, but due to her blurred consciousness, she couldn’t make out his face—she only rembered a mark of cinnabar, striking in its beauty.
Later, when He Su woke up in the clinic, she thought it had all been a dream until she learned from the "Doctor" that she had been brought in by a young man with a cinnabar mole on his forehead. From then on, she took the matter to heart.
She put up posters everywhere, offering a reward, but Liang Shujun seldom visited the town. At that ti, he was still quite young, and his younger brothers were even younger. The eldest brother busied himself with providing for the family, while his second brother Shu Yu was sickly. Besides hunting, he also had to take care of Shu Yu and his other younger brothers.
Thus, a long ti passed, and during one of Pei Yu’s trips to the town for shopping, he accidentally learned about He Su’s earnest search for the cinnabar-marked boy. He knew that the person He Su was looking for was Liang Shujun. The status of He Mansion was exalted, and for soone of Pei Yu’s humble origins, he was acutely aware that making connections with He Mansion would be like soaring to the heavens.
So, he placed a dot of cinnabar on his forehead and had Father Pei send him to He Mansion.
The Pei father and son had already aligned their story. Father Pei said that he had no intention of shalessly seeking a reward from He Mansion, but they were indeed terribly poor and couldn’t even afford food. Just by chance, he heard about He Su’s search for the person she was looking for, and that person was Pei Yu, so he brought him over.
He Su believed it to be true. Pei Yu was still young then, but he was very ambitious. He thought to himself that the favor of saving a life could probably afford his family a few days of comfort, but how could his family’s straw-thatched hut compare to the gate of Zhu’s house at He Mansion?
With that in mind, he presented himself as gentle and deferential, subtly indicating to He Su that in fact, he had long cherished feelings for her, thinking of her day and night. He said many flattering things, and with the role of lifesaver, it wasn’t long before He Su brought him into He Mansion.
For the first few years, Pei Yu genuinely lived the good life, with He Su attending to his every need and showering him with affection. But gradually...
Perhaps because he let his guard down, his true nature began to show. Or maybe, he had been spoiled by He Su, starting to beco arrogant, jealous, and even delusional about taking control of He Mansion from He Su.
His ambition grew larger and wore out He Su’s patience. It was during this ti that Liang Shujun ca to town and opened a shop.
When He Su first t Liang Shujun, she was captivated by the cinnabar mole on his forehead—a vivid red. Whenever she saw Shujun, she would be reminded of Pei Yu’s originally gentle deanor, and she couldn’t help but sigh with regret, wondering how could soone change so much?
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