Back to the Countryside

In the following period of time, Qi Yue also became busy due to spring plowing, and spent most of his time on the fields. He Ling never saw him again, after all, not all of their lands were next to each other.

He Zhen, on the other hand, has met him a few times, his purpose is obvious, and Qi Yue is not a fool, so he naturally knows it in his heart.

After spring plowing, the people in the village can finally take a breather. They only need to go to the fields to take care of them occasionally, instead of being stuck in the fields all day long.

But these have nothing to do with He Ling. He still has endless work every day. Today, after washing and drying his clothes, he went into the mountain with a rope and a machete. The firewood at home was all used up. If he doesn't make it up quickly, he will be scolded again if he misses making dinner.

His strength is not that great, and he can't carry that much firewood each time, so he has to walk a few more times, which is enough to burn the house for a few days.But also because of the time spent in this way, Qian often said that he was hiding in the mountains and being lazy.

He can't refute it, and he will be scolded even worse. Fortunately, he is used to it. When he was young, he would be sad, but now he doesn't care much.

He Ling squatted on the ground, tied up the freshly cut firewood, and carried the bundle of firewood back.

Not far away came the neighing of a horse, He Ling stopped what he was doing, listened carefully, and heard a few hooves on the ground, not far away from him.

He stood up and looked in that direction. There was a horse standing there, kicking the ground with one front hoof from time to time, but he saw no one else near it.

He Ling knew whose horse it was. There was only one person in Gushui Village who had a horse, but he didn't understand why the horse was here but the man wasn't.

After hesitating for a while, he still walked towards the horse. When he got closer, he realized that it seemed wrong. While kicking the ground, he would shake his head and snort from time to time, as if he was very irritable.

He took another two steps forward, not daring to get too close. He had only seen such precious things as horses from a distance before, and he had never been so close before, so he was still a little scared, let alone this horse. Emotions don't seem to be stable right now.

After the horse saw a stranger approaching, it didn't run away, but raised its front hooves that had been kicking the ground towards him. He Ling looked down, but didn't understand very well. The horse snorted, and then Raise your front hooves at him.

He Ling seemed to understand a little bit, and walked up to it tentatively. Seeing that he didn't respond, he knelt down on the ground and reached out to touch its front hoof. stand up.

He Ling put its hoof on his leg and looked carefully, and found a thorny thorn near the calf of the hoof, and he was relieved.

There are many thorn bushes in the mountain, and sometimes he will be stabbed if he doesn't pay attention. Although it doesn't hurt very much, it is really annoying.

He wiped the thorn, and carefully wiped off the dripping blood with his sleeve, then patted the horse's calf lightly, "Is it comfortable now?"

The horse lowered its head and rubbed against the side of his face lightly, its snort sprayed on his neck, which was a little itchy.

He Ling raised his hand to caress its cheek, the corners of his lips curled up, and a smile spread out, like the first red plum blossom in winter, bringing a dazzling surprise in the plain white snow.

As the busy days passed, when Qi Yue had nothing to do, he would take Mu Yan out in the mountains and forests, and he would also find some useful herbs to take back.

Mu Yan is smart, so he won't keep it by his side, he will run with him in the forest, and when he is about to leave, he will blow his whistle to call it back.

He blew the whistle today, but he didn't see Mu Yan for a long time. He felt a little strange, wondering if he ran away?Then follow the hoof prints in the forest to find it.

Not long after, he stopped, and the smile on his face grew stronger.

He Ling held the horse's head and played with it for a while, then gently pushed it away and stood up, "I have to go, you should go find your master too!"

"It's called Mu Yan!" He Ling was startled by the sudden voice, he turned his head and saw that Qi Yue was walking over, "Are you guys getting along happily?"

As Qi Yue approached, He Ling took two steps back, keeping a certain distance from him, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't touch your horse casually!"

Qi Yue raised his hand to touch Mu Yan's head, and said with a smile, "It's okay, it's rare that it wants to get close to people!"

"Then... I'll go first!" He Ling turned around, trotted to the side of the firewood he had left behind, picked it up and carried it on his back.

"Let me see you off!" Qi Yue followed him and reached out to take his firewood.

He Ling dodged for a moment, avoiding his hand, "Qi Yue!"

Qi Yue's hands paused, this was the first time he called his name, he couldn't tell what it felt like, his heart was itchy.

"I know you are kind-hearted and a good person, and you want to help me, but..." He Ling tightened his grip on the rope, "For your own reputation, it's better for you to stay away from me!"

"Kindness?" Qi Yue never knew that these two words could be placed on him. What he lacked most was the so-called compassion, "How do you know that I am not for profit?"

"Profitable? If I have anything else to make others think about, it won't be like this!" He has nothing to look forward to, because he has nothing, "I'm going back, Qi Yue, thank you !"

He Ling's figure gradually disappeared from Qi Yue's sight, and his smile became meaningful, "Perhaps, I have a lot for you!"

He Ling returned home with the firewood on his back, went straight into the kitchen, unloaded the firewood and placed it on the firewood pile.

Today, Mrs. Qian took He Zhen to the town to buy things in the Zhao family's ox cart in the village. He Tian and his elder son, He Fu, and his younger son, He Gui, went to have a drink. It might be late at night.Mrs. Liu took her three-year-old son back to her natal home to visit her sick mother, and it was estimated that they would stay for a few days. Only his second cousin, Mrs. Zheng, was in the room to take care of her daughter who had just turned one year old.

It was rare that there was no one at home today, and it was rare to be quiet. He Ling felt that he could take a breather, and he didn't have to be so tense, lest he did something wrong.

But relax and relax, the work still has to be done quickly, it's getting late, Qian and the others probably should come back, if they see that he hasn't finished dinner, they will lose their temper.

Sure enough, as soon as He Ling finished cooking, he heard movement in the yard, and Mrs. Qian started calling him, "He Ling! Are you cooking?! You're starving to death!"

He put the lid on the pot and went out of the stove, "Auntie, the rice is already cooked, I'll serve it right away!"

Mrs. Qian nodded to him indiscriminately, and went into the house to put things away. He Ling was about to turn around and go back to the kitchen, but was stopped.

He Zhen walked in front of him and turned around. He was wearing a goose yellow shirt, which looked like it was newly bought. It made his face more delicate, "Do I look good?"

He Ling nodded, "It looks good!"

He Zhen looked at the coarse cloth clothes on his body. They were her old clothes. They were already torn and patched everywhere, but he still looked very beautiful. He Zhen took another step forward, "Then Are you prettier, or am I prettier?"

Because of premature birth, he always worked hard and couldn't get enough to eat. He Ling was thinner and smaller than the average brother. He Zhen was three years younger than him, but was nearly half a head taller, and his frame was bigger than him. Talking to him so close made him a little depressed, "You...you look good!"

He Zhen showed a satisfied smile, "Come to my room after dinner, I have something for you to do!"

"Understood!" He Ling replied softly, and when he saw that he had returned to the house, he went into the kitchen to serve dinner.

There were not many people eating at night, so there was no noise like in the past. He Ling huddled and sat at the corner of the table, not daring to stretch out his chopsticks to pick up vegetables, but only immersed himself in drinking the soup in his own bowl.Every day when eating is the most difficult time for him, sitting with these people makes every inch of his body uncomfortable.

After dinner, He Ling took all the dishes and chopsticks to wash, remembered what He Zhen said to him before, sighed, even though he didn't want to, he still went to his room.

Seeing him, He Zhen handed him a cloth bag, "Embroider me a purse!"

He Ling opened the cloth bag, and there was a small piece of silver-white silk cloth and a few balls of silk thread inside.It was common for He Zhen to embroider things, and he was not surprised, so he nodded to show that he knew.

He Zhen took out another piece of paper from her sleeve, unfolded it and handed it to him, "Embroider this word on it!"

He Ling took it over and looked at it carefully. He couldn't read, so he thought it was beautifully written, but he didn't know what it was.

"This is the word Yue!" He Zhen smiled shyly. This word was written by the store manager for him when he was buying embroidery thread today. He described the word he saw on Qi Yue's purse, The shopkeeper wrote this for him, "Qi Yue's Yue!"

He Ling's hand holding the paper paused, embroidered the name of that person, then it was self-evident who the purse was for, but, "Send something to a man rashly, isn't it..."

A "slap" slap interrupted He Ling's words. He covered his slapped cheek and lowered his head.

"He Ling, are you trying to say that I'm shameless?" He Zhen grabbed his wrist and pulled him a step towards her, "Or, you've taken a fancy to him too?!"

"No... No!" He Ling shook his head hastily, but he subconsciously tried to persuade him without any other meaning.

"It's better not!" He Zhen pushed him away, "I went to the town for a day today, and my body is all dirty. I need to take a bath. I'm afraid the water in the house is not enough. You can go and pick up two more buckets!"

He Ling picked up water only during the day, and a bath must be enough, but he knew that He Zhen was deliberately making things difficult for him, and it was just to find an excuse.