Luo Shou and the other two each carried meat from their homes. They walked at a leisurely pace, and whenever they met someone and were asked what they were doing with the meat, they would loudly proclaim it.
By the time they reached the small courtyard where Xie Jiang and Xu Hengyan were temporarily staying, more than half of the people in Yongfeng Village already knew that one of the people brought into the village yesterday was a divine chef, whose roasted meat was so fragrant that even the gods in heaven couldn't stay put when they smelled it.
It was rare for something new to happen in the perpetually closed-off village, and the news quickly spread like wildfire from the east to the west of the village.
The courtyard was quiet, and neither Xie Jiang nor Xu Hengyan were in sight. Only in the shade of a tree by the wall, two small rabbits lay quietly in their cage.
Luo Shou guessed they might be taking a nap. He shushed Xiao Hu and Dong Zi, and the three of them tiptoed into the courtyard.
Dong Zi took the meat to the kitchen and put it in a basin. Then, he placed the basin in the water缸 to cool it down, as it was very hot now and the meat could easily spoil.
The amount of meat the three of them brought was only as much as Xie Jiang had made for them at noon. Even though Xie Jiang's roasted meat was incredibly delicious, their families couldn't afford to eat it so extravagantly.
The remaining meat had to be marinated and then dried to be eaten slowly.
Although there were plenty of hunted animals in the mountains, they couldn't just eat them whenever they wanted. They still needed to trade these hunted animals for other things.
Luo Shou and Xiao Hu stood by the window, secretly peeking into the house. They saw that Xie Jiang and Xu Hengyan were indeed taking a nap. Xu Hengyan, who had been asleep, suddenly opened his eyes and looked coldly towards the window.
Luo Shou and Xiao Hu were startled.
Luo Shou quickly gestured to Xu Hengyan inside.
He was signaling that the ingredients had been delivered and they were leaving now, not wanting to disturb their afternoon nap.
The two of them beckoned to Dong Zi, who had come out of the kitchen, and then they both tiptoed away quietly.
~
After waking up from her nap, Xie Jiang discovered that Xu Hengyan's neck had several more small bumps.
Although the room had been fumigated with mugwort before they slept, it only had a limited effect. This courtyard had not been lived in for a long time, and there were quite a few mosquitoes.
However, it was strange that, apart from her forehead being swollen from a mosquito bite last night, she hadn't been bitten again.
On the other hand, Xu Hengyan's face, neck, arms, and feet were all swollen with several bites.
"Why do mosquitoes only bite you? Are you more fragrant than me?"
As Xie Jiang spoke, she leaned closer, pulled open his collar with her fingers, and prepared to bury her head inside to sniff.
Xu Hengyan was startled by her sudden movement and took a step back, bumping into the bed. He lost his balance and fell straight onto the bed.
Xie Jiang fell down with him, her fingers still hooked on his collar. Just as she was about to pull it open further, Xu Hengyan suddenly grabbed her "magic claws" tightly.
"What do you want to do? Don't be silly!"
Xu Hengyan's voice was hoarse, clearly a little nervous.
Xie Jiang said seriously, "Let me sniff, to see how fragrant you are."
Xu Hengyan was only wearing a thin inner garment. With her lying on him like this, he felt as if a ball of fire was burning on his chest.
Her body was incredibly soft, like those two little rabbits outside. She was so soft that the hand holding her arm didn't dare to use much force, for fear of breaking her if she exerted too much pressure.
Xu Hengyan pushed her aside and quickly sat up. In just this short while, he had broken out in a sweat.
"You curl up into a tiny ball when you sleep, so the mosquitoes can't find a place to bite. It's only natural for them to bite me, isn't it?"
Xu Hengyan wasn't telling the truth. In fact, he had been fending off mosquitoes for her, and hadn't had time to worry about himself.
After she was bitten by mosquitoes, she would become agitated and scratch her face as if it wasn't her own. Xu Hengyan was worried she would scratch her face until it bled.
With only the two of them in Yongfeng Village, and with Lu Baohong's men watching outside the courtyard, he had to remain vigilant at all times.
On the other hand, she trusted him implicitly, completely unconcerned about their situation, eating and sleeping soundly as usual.
Since she trusted him so much, he had to take good care of her.
Xie Jiang sat up and sat beside him. She wanted to touch the red swelling on his neck, but he suddenly grabbed her wrist.
Xie Jiang was displeased, "What is it? I can't even touch you?"
Xu Hengyan said, "...It's too itchy."
It was truly itchy.
Especially when her hand touched it, it became exceptionally itchy, so itchy that he wanted to bite her hand fiercely and chew it to pieces.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch..."
His large hand, which was holding her wrist, suddenly exerted great force, causing her naturally beautiful eyebrows to furrow in pain.
Xu Hengyan quickly let go.
He saw the red marks on her wrist.
He, he... he just now...
He didn't know why, but a wicked thought suddenly arose in his heart, a desire to bite off her hand.
Xu Hengyan rubbed his forehead vigorously.
Xie Jiang looked at him pitifully and said, "I feel like I'm being disliked."
Xu Hengyan tried to calm himself down and looked up at her, "You know I wouldn't..."
Xie Jiang chuckled, tilted her head to examine his neck, and muttered softly, "Mosquitoes really know how to bite, I want to bite too..."
Xu Hengyan had unknowingly stepped towards the abyss, and how could she give him a chance to turn back? She wanted to drag him down with her.
Until... they were shattered into pieces.
Did she think her muttering was very quiet? Xu Hengyan wished he hadn't heard anything.
What was she saying!
Did she mean what he thought she meant!
His calm had just returned, but her words had stirred him up again... his mind was in a mess.
"Don't associate with Ruan Ziji and his gang anymore."
How could such shocking thoughts arise! Some things shouldn't even be thought of!
Xie Jiang asked blankly, "What's wrong with Ruan Ziji?"
She didn't seem to realize that there was a problem with her understanding of certain things.
Xu Hengyan dared not be explicit, because he wasn't sure if the speaker was unintentional or the listener was intentional. Perhaps it was just his misunderstanding. "Near vermilion, one becomes red; near ink, one becomes black."
Xie Jiang said, "Where are they black?"
Xu Hengyan looked at her deeply. Seeing that she didn't seem to be asking a question she already knew the answer to, he silently breathed a sigh of relief.
Those things just now were probably unintentional...
"Their character is not very good. They are notorious scoundrels from the capital. You are new to Da Yu and don't have many friends. I can introduce you to some people with upright character to befriend."
"Xu Hengyi and the Fifth Prince are not bad. Apart from being a bit unstable and having minor flaws, their character is still passable." At least both of them are still on the right path.
Xie Jiang raised an eyebrow, "You're introducing friends to me? Like Lu Zhiheng?"
Xu Hengyan nodded, "Brother Lu he..."
Before he could say anything about Lu Zhiheng's merits, he noticed a rather subtle expression on her face.
"What's with that expression? You don't want to befriend Brother Lu?"
"No, I don't mind. I'm quite willing. Lu Zhiheng is quite handsome."
Xu Hengyan was taken aback, "Do you only judge whether someone is worth befriending by their appearance?"
Xie Jiang said, "Yes."
She said it so matter-of-factly! Xu Hengyan wanted to knock open her head and see what was inside.