Chapter 47: The smell? Absolutely rancid. Unbearable!

Zhou Sinian walked over with a miserable expression. He had spent the day wrangling several sheep, leaving him covered in the strong, pungent smell of livestock—and he was clearly not happy about it.

Before Ming Dai could say a word, he reached out and yanked her down from the tree.

The “Chotto matte” she was about to say never made it out of her mouth before a loud rip echoed in the air.

After steadying herself on the ground, she turned around expressionlessly. Sure enough, her cotton pants had been torn open in several places, with tufts of cotton stuffing poking out.

A gust of wind blew past—her backside was instantly chilled.

Zhou Sinian looked down curiously and gave one of the fluttering fabric strips a little tug.

Rip!

Great, now the crotch of her pants was torn too!

Ming Dai blushed and slapped his hand away, irritated. But Zhou Sinian was quick; with a sudden step, he retreated three paces, placing his hand behind his back and eyeing her warily.

Ming Dai felt a chill run through her. Damn, she had forgotten that this guy had a screw loose.

She forced out a smile that was uglier than crying. “Don’t be scared, I’m not going to hit you. I’m just really angry. You ruined my pants. Look.”

She pointed at the torn crotch of her pants in embarrassment.

Luckily, she was wearing woolen leggings underneath, or else she would have been really embarrassed!

“If I ruined your pants, would you be angry?”

Zhou Sinian glanced at the tear in her pants, then looked down at his old cotton pants. He seemed to realize his mistake and withdrew his hand, looking at her with an uneasy expression.

Ming Dai breathed a heavy sigh of relief, feeling her back dampen with sweat.

It was clear to Ming Dai that this winter, she absolutely had to cure Zhou Sinian’s insanity. Otherwise, she really worried that one day, she might accidentally provoke him and end up getting beaten!

She took a deep breath. “Alright, let’s go put the sheep away first.”

Zhou Sinian nodded obediently and led the way toward the small hillside. However, he kept turning around, his face full of concern as he looked at the tear in Ming Dai’s pants.

Although Ming Dai knew Zhou Sinian wasn’t conscious of gender boundaries, it was still awkward to have such a handsome guy staring at her torn crotch!

Thankfully, they soon arrived at the place where Zhou Sinian kept the flock.

Ming Dai reached out and gathered all the sheep into her space, telling Zhou Sinian to follow her inside.

Once they entered the space, the first thing Ming Dai did was go to the room to change out of her damaged cotton pants.

Luckily, she had plenty of spare cotton pants in her space, and it was easy to find an identical pair.

Zhou Sinian stood by the fallen sheep, still looking uneasy. He stole a glance at her as she came out.

Ming Dai felt helpless. She reminded herself not to argue with someone who had a screw loose. “Go change your clothes.”

Upon hearing her, Zhou Sinian smiled and happily skipped toward the small villa.

Ming Dai shook her head. He was much more cheerful than when they first met, and his emotions were showing more and more. It was a good sign.

Once the mood between them had lightened, Ming Dai glanced at the sheep scattered around and thought about giving one to the village.

It wasn’t that she had a saintly heart, but rather a strategic move to lay the groundwork for her plans next year.

Although the working hours in the north were shorter than in the south, and Zhou Sinian helped her, she still wanted to continue her medical work.

Building a good relationship with the village was the first step. Otherwise, even if she became a doctor, jealous people could use the excuse of “leaving the collective task” to criticize her, especially the group of educated youth.

If the men of the village supported her becoming a doctor, that would be a different matter.

As she was lost in thought, she suddenly felt someone lick her foot, which was in a slipper. She jumped up in shock, only to find herself caught in Zhou Sinian’s arms, who had come out of the villa.

“Ugh!”

“Ugh!”

Two muffled groans sounded at the same time.

One was from Zhou Sinian—Ming Dai’s sudden movement had made her head hit his chin, causing him to bite his tongue in pain.

The other was from Ming Dai—she had crashed straight into his chest, and the impact against his sharp bones sent a jolt of pain through her body.

She had tested the space before and knew she could adjust the temperature. For convenience, she had set it to a constant warm level, so both of them were dressed lightly.

It was only now that she truly realized just how thin Zhou Sinian was—his bones were so sharp they could practically be used as weapons!

Zhou Sinian set her down, his eyes teary as he looked at her, while he took a breath, saliva spilling out as a result of the pain. He looked pitiful.

Ming Dai quickly apologized. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to! I got scared by the sheep.”

She then looked at the sheep scattered on the ground.

She had initially thought Zhou Sinian had snapped their necks, killing them all. But to her surprise, he had merely knocked them unconscious.

“Zhou Sinian, you’re amazing! You actually managed to capture all of them alive!”

Her genuine praise made Zhou Sinian momentarily forget the pain in his mouth. He curled his lips into a slight smile and said, “Bleeding them makes the meat taste better. If they die like this, it won’t be as good.”

Ming Dai gave him a thumbs-up in admiration. “You’re absolutely right! Let’s do it this way whenever possible from now on!”

Zhou Sinian nodded, and a cold glint flashed in his eyes. In a flash, he drew out a military knife from somewhere and started walking toward the dazed sheep.

Ming Dai quickly stopped him. “Hey, hey, hey! Wait! Wait!”

Zhou Sinian held the glinting knife and looked at her in confusion.

Ming Dai pointed at the sheep on the ground. “We can raise these sheep. The big ones can have lambs, and then we’ll have a steady supply of sheep to eat!”

Zhou Sinian glanced at the big sheep and the small lambs, who were trembling and sticking their tongues out, frowning. “They stink!”

Ming Dai paused and then looked over as well. It was true—they smelled awful, and the stench was overwhelming.

She thought for a moment. “It’s okay. We can just give them a bath. There’s a pool over there, right? We can wash them there, and then they won’t smell anymore.”

Zhou Sinian thought back to the time in summer when he smelled just as bad, and it seemed that after a bath, the smell really did go away. He nodded in agreement.

Ming Dai pointed at the sheep on the ground. “You move them over first, and I’ll go grab some body wash. Since we’re washing them, let’s do it properly.”

Zhou Sinian immediately perked up. “I want the rose-scented one!”

Ming Dai couldn’t help but twitch her lips, a bit helpless. She nodded. “Alright, rose-scented, just like you.”

As she walked away, she couldn’t help but joke to herself. She wondered if Zhou Sinian, once he recovered, would think of himself as a bit too girly now, especially since he would smell like roses from head to toe.

But despite her teasing, she still used the rose-scented body wash to give the sheep a bath.

The poor little lambs began to bubble up under their unrelenting treatment. If Ming Dai hadn’t stopped him, Zhou Sinian would have insisted on washing them again.

Each lamb looked like a giant bath ball, completely covered in bubbles without even being scrubbed. It was quite fun.

When the sweet-smelling lambs were all clean, Ming Dai realized that they weren’t yellow sheep at all, but white ones. They had simply turned yellow from never having been washed before.

Ming Dai found some wire mesh in the warehouse and set up a pen in an empty area, driving the sheep inside to sunbathe and dry off.

Then, she took out Zhou Sinian’s large backpack basket and secured a fully-grown ram (male sheep) she had set aside earlier, tying it up carefully before stuffing it inside. After much persuasion, she finally got Zhou Sinian to agree to carry the basket down the mountain.

By the time they left, it was already getting dark.

Zhou Sinian was visibly unhappy that Ming Dai intended to give the sheep to the brigade leader. So, as he carried her down the mountain, he deliberately positioned her face right in front of the basket.

The overwhelming stench nearly knocked Ming Dai out.

In the end, she was only freed after promising to make pine nut candy for Zhou Sinian before the New Year.

The smell? Absolutely rancid. Unbearable!