Chapter 128: I Can’t Carry Him Down the Mountain, Can I?

“So it wasn’t it you who found it?” Qiu Yinuo then shifted her gaze to the adorable Menghua, who was circling around Erbao.

Even from ten meters away, 3224 could feel the scorching intensity of the mother-and-son duo’s stares, terrified they’d figure something out.

“So it was you, Menghua?”

After all, besides them, the only one here was Menghua.

But Dabao shook his head excitedly. “No, Mom, it was Erbao!”

“Erbao?” Qiu Yinuo narrowed her eyes at Erbao, who was still flipping through a book. “You’re sure Erbao found it for me?” Could it be this kid had been playing dumb all along?

Dabao hesitated. “Well, maybe he didn’t mean to find it for you. He was probably just flipping through and I spotted it. Doesn’t that make me extra awesome?”

Qiu Yinuo ruffled his soft hair with a smile. “Right, awesome. Both of you are super awesome.”

This body really needed proper conditioning. Only when her health was back to its best would losing weight become easier.

Thinking that, Qiu Yinuo was already eager to try the prescription.

3224 lowered its head, tugging at its ear in a “not-too-bright” fashion, and mumbled, “Boss, if you didn’t want to get exposed, why did you find that weight loss prescription for Qiu Yinuo?”

The hand flipping through the book paused, and a cold, fleeting expression flashed in Erbao’s eyes, disappearing before 3224 could catch it.

“You’re overthinking it.”

Menghua stared at him in disbelief. It was the second time this “big boss” had voluntarily spoken to him and even used a command to block the host from hearing his thoughts.

In almost six years of being forcibly bound to this system, their communication had been nearly nonexistent.

In the past, no one could see him, and he could still go out and brainwash the big boss. Maybe one day, he would start completing tasks for the country.

Now that Qiu Yinuo and Dabao could see him, 3224 didn’t dare to go out casually.

So, after arriving in this world, their communication had become painfully sparse.

Now that the big boss was speaking to him, 3224 was so excited he started spinning in place.

This caused both Qiu Yinuo and Dabao to jump in surprise, thinking that the system had gone haywire for no reason.

Qiu Yinuo held Dabao with one arm and pulled Erbao with the other, quickly exiting the space.

By the time 3224 finished celebrating and prepared to snuggle up to the big boss, he turned around and found the person was gone.

Blinking his little eyes, he confirmed that the big boss was really gone.

Fuming, 3224 swung his fists, stomped his little legs, and kicked a tree down in frustration.

He sat down, out of breath, still unable to understand why the host of this world was so content and without desires.

If there was just one greedy person, maybe he could have left this small world and returned to the main system by now.

…

After getting the recipe, Qiu Yinuo didn’t dare to buy anything from outside. Instead, she found an illustrated guide to Chinese herbs to see what she could gather herself, planning to buy any herbs she couldn’t find.

After all, traditional Chinese medicine was one of the items being heavily cracked down on in these troubled times. To avoid trouble, some things had to be handled privately.

During her time resting at home, she spent most of it collecting herbs in the mountains.

When meeting other villagers, she only said she was picking wild vegetables.

Qiu Yinuo, being a beginner, thought every herb she saw looked similar. Later, to avoid mistakes, she would pick a few and then run to the space to ask Menghua.

3224, growing increasingly annoyed, finally decided to leave the space.

“This isn’t it. That’s just a regular leaf. See that one? That’s perilla leaf.”

“What’s all this that you’ve picked? These aren’t even wild vegetables.”

“The one on your left is angelica, but you won’t need that in your weight-loss recipe. As for… why are you staring at me like that?”

Qiu Yinuo asked, “You can come out?”

3224 shook its head and wandered through the forest, “I never said I couldn’t come out! A small space can’t trap me.”

“You’re getting too cocky.”

“Do you still want to look for herbs or not?”

“Aren’t you worried about being seen?”

“Others shouldn’t be able to see me. Even if they do, what’s so strange about it? Every family’s forest could have some birds or beasts.”

Qiu Yinuo’s eyes widened in shock, “Are you out of your mind? You’re a panda! How could there be giant pandas in the forests of the northeast?”

3224 shrugged indifferently, “Let them broaden their horizons and open their eyes.”

The arrogance in its tone was almost unbearable.

Suddenly, there was a rustling sound from the other side of the forest. 3224 immediately turned and entered the space. Qiu Yinuo, alert, called out, “Who’s there?”

“Is it Qiu Daniu?”

She cringed at the nickname. Sure, the villagers all called her that behind her back, but hearing it aloud was another matter—it was peak rustic cringe. At that moment, she felt deeply grateful to the old schoolteacher who had once given her a proper name. If she’d really been stuck with “Qiu Daniu,” she might’ve cried.

She raised her leg and stepped toward the voice, heading into the opposite part of the woods. Pushing aside the dense underbrush, she came face-to-face with someone she wasn’t exactly unfamiliar with.

It was the elderly Mr. Fang from the cow shed.

Her strongest impression of him came from a time he stared at her with hesitation, as if he had something to say but couldn’t.

Based on the original owner’s memory, she’d never spoken to him. After all, the entire village treated their group like the plague, fearful of getting in trouble with the workers’ union.

“Uncle Fang, what are you doing here?” She saw that his face was as pale as a sheet, sitting on the ground with one of his feet trapped in a wild boar trap, blood pouring out, the wound a gruesome sight.

Qiu Yinuo couldn’t bear to look any longer. “Hold on, I’ll help you pry open the trap.”

Fang Qingsheng, drenched in cold sweat, gritted his teeth and nodded.

He thought he was going to die here today, but unexpectedly, he ran into Qiu Yinuo. It seemed that he wasn’t destined to die just yet. “Go ahead, I can handle it.”

Qiu Yinuo pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket. “Bite down on this.”

She was afraid that the pain might be too much for him, and he might end up biting his tongue.

At this point, Fang Qingsheng didn’t hesitate. He took the handkerchief and bit down.

Qiu Yinuo glanced at the wild boar trap embedded in his flesh, and her own heart began to race.

Taking a deep breath, she quickly attempted to pry open the trap. It was tighter than she expected, causing Fang Qingsheng to break into a cold sweat from the pain.

The first attempt almost didn’t work. Qiu Yinuo knew that hesitation would only make it more painful for the injured person. So, she tried again with more force. This time, the trap split in two.

Fang Qingsheng, overwhelmed by the pain, lost consciousness, his eyes rolling back. Qiu Yinuo panicked. “Uncle Fang, don’t faint! I can’t carry you down the mountain!”

Seeing him lying still, with blood pouring from his leg, Qiu Yinuo feared he might bleed out. She quickly tore off her sleeve and wrapped it tightly around his wound, securing it with all her strength.

“Menghua, come out and help!”

“In the northeast, it’s not great for a giant panda like me to come out, you know?”

Qiu Yinuo took a deep breath, “I can’t carry him down the mountain, can I?”