Chapter 16: Snakes and Mandarin Ducks

The midday sun was scorching. Qian Xiaolan hurried home, locked the courtyard door, washed her face, and went into the space to eat the extra food she had made yesterday. It was more comfortable to stay in the temperature-controlled space in this weather. After a delicious lunch and a good nap, she woke up with over an hour to spare before work. Waiting for work was too boring, so she left the space, put on her straw hat, and went back into the mountains. To her surprise, she saw a pair of wild lovers while taking a detour to avoid the sun. Normally, she wouldn’t care about any wild lovers, but they had made the mistake of plotting against her while they were getting busy.

 Qian Xiaolan hid behind a large tree and listened to the conversation between the two in the grass ahead, her expression impassive. After another round of action, the woman asked in a squeaky voice, “Zhiming, are you really sure you can win over Qian Xiaolan?” Hearing this question, the man was unhappy. He slapped the woman’s backside several times, causing her to cry out in surprise before he confidently said, “Of course. Qian Xiaolan is just a clueless little girl. This morning, I helped her scold Wu Qiulan and told her that someone was watching her.

 She must have a good impression of me now. In a few days, I’ll tell her I want to date her, and I’m willing to be her son-in-law. She won’t be able to refuse.” Hearing this, Qian Xiaolan sneered again. No wonder Chen Zhiming had suddenly been nice to her this morning. It was all part of his plan. Unfortunately, his plans were about to be foiled. But who was that woman? Her voice sounded familiar yet strange. “Zhiming, after you win over Qian Xiaolan, you won’t ignore me, will you? You promised to take me back to the city. Don’t forget, okay?” Chen Zhiming glanced at her thin figure, feeling disgusted in his heart, but said, “Don’t worry. I don’t like Qian Xiaolan at all.

 I just want to live at her place for a while and borrow some money from her.” The woman was overjoyed. She wrapped her arms around the man’s neck and said coquettishly, “Then you can’t really have sex with her, or I’ll make you pay!” The two then began another round of action. Qian Xiaolan didn’t listen any further and quietly left. She had figured out who the woman was. It was unexpected, but not entirely surprising. She just hadn’t expected Chen Zhiming, who was completely unrelated to her, to be involved with her. After putting some distance between herself and the two, Qian Xiaolan walked along, looking down for something. Soon, she found it under a large tree. She held her breath, touched the thing with a stick, and put it in the space.

 Then she changed into a loose-fitting men’s outfit and went back to where the wild lovers were. While they were still engrossed in their activities, Qian Xiaolan cautiously approached them, then threw the slimy thing from the space onto them and ran away quickly. Qian Xiaolan’s aim was good. The snake’s head landed right at the point where the two were connected. A cold-blooded creature suddenly fell from the sky, causing Chen Zhiming and the woman to cry out in surprise. They no longer had the energy to care about who had attacked them.

 Qian Xiaolan listened to the sounds behind her, raised an eyebrow, and turned back to run. She had created the commotion, so she might as well watch it. Chen Zhiming had been startled and rolled off the woman. The grass snake, although non-venomous, was very aggressive. It opened its mouth and bit Chen Zhiming’s third leg. “Ah!”

 A piercing scream echoed through the air. Qian Xiaolan shuddered in fright. When she looked again, she saw the woman comforting Chen Zhiming, saying that the snake wasn’t poisonous. She held the grass snake by the neck and smashed it with a stone. Then, uh? Qian Xiaolan gasped. Wow, no wonder Wang Jinhua was the heroine in the original book. She actually used her mouth to relieve Chen Zhiming’s pain. No wonder she was able to turn things around later, even though she had been rejected by her future in-laws and her own family after her fiancé died before their wedding.

She was so daring! Chen Zhiming, who had been screaming, gradually calmed down under Wang Jinhua’s comfort, eventually only groaning. Unfortunately, the wound had broken the skin, and he couldn’t help himself. Qian Xiaolan clicked her tongue twice, used a branch to pull away Chen Zhiming’s clothes, and turned to run. She felt like she had lost out on this move. She had given them a snake for free and even promoted their relationship. She was so annoyed! The only thing that comforted her was that Chen Zhiming was genuinely injured and wouldn’t be able to come near her for a few days. Qian Xiaolan shook the clothes in her hand, her eyes twinkled, and she had an idea. She temporarily put the clothes in the space, went to the three traps, and checked them.

 To her surprise, she had a good harvest this time. She had found two wild rabbits and a wild mountain goat. She threw everything into the space and went down the mountain to work, her steps light. In the afternoon, Chen Zhiming took sick leave and didn’t come to work. Later, Qian Xiaolan heard a few aunts whispering about how Chen Zhiming had been bitten by a water snake while bathing in the creek. His clothes had been taken away by some wild animal.

Poor guy, they wondered if he would still be able to use that thing. Qian Xiaolan almost couldn’t help but laugh out loud. To avoid appearing heartless, Qian Xiaolan found a corner to work. Because she was constantly thinking about the mountain goat, she felt that the afternoon was passing very slowly. Finally, it was time to get off work. Qian Xiaolan’s mind flashed with a message from the mall. She didn’t even bother to wash her hands and feet and hurried home. She didn’t notice Qian Rongsheng, who had been secretly watching her all afternoon. Back home, she locked the courtyard door and stood in the courtyard to look at the space. Knowing that it wasn’t an urgent message, she washed her hands and feet before going in.

The message was from the new customer from the other day. His friend had escaped, and he was sending a message to express his gratitude and to exchange five quilts and medicine for heatstroke. It sounded a bit contradictory, but it was normal if he was in the mountains. Qian Xiaolan didn’t ask too many questions. She only asked what he wanted to trade for them. The other party didn’t waste any time and directly listed the item for trade. “Is this wild boar okay?” Qian Xiaolan blinked and replied, “Okay.” She immediately summoned Wenxuan online.

 “Wenxuan, come quickly. There’s a big guy.” Wenxuan seemed to be very free. As soon as she sent the message, he replied, “What big guy?” “A four-hundred-pound wild boar. Do you want it?” Wenxuan immediately replied, “Yes, yes, yes! What do you need in exchange? I’ll go prepare it now.” Qian Xiaolan smiled slightly and said to him, “I need ten six-pound quilts, a box of self-heating rice, and a set of gas stoves.” She didn’t need to buy any more medicine.

Wenxuan had already listed all the medicine she had asked him to buy this morning. Wenxuan didn’t even calculate how much he would earn from this deal. He happily went to prepare the items. The Yuan Datou had earned him tens of thousands, so this was nothing. After telling the new customer to come back in two hours for the trade, she left the space and went to the mule shed to find Qian Rongsheng.