Chapter 10 – A False Alarm

Xia Tian patted her chest, taking a deep breath. Following the sound, she saw the villagers who had been picking wild vegetables earlier running toward that direction.

“Is everything okay?” Xia Tian murmured to herself, quickly realizing what had happened. She hurriedly joined the others and ran toward the spot where the scream had come from.

Upon reaching the scene, she learned that the commotion had been caused by a young village woman being scared.

Earlier, while picking wild vegetables, the young woman had felt some pain in her waist and decided to stand up to stretch. As she turned, she came face to face with a snake resting on a nearby tree.

The shock sent her into a panic, and her scream likely startled the snake as well. By the time everyone arrived, the snake had already slithered away.

The villagers were gathered around the young woman, who was probably in her late teens, and were asking her questions. Xia Tian squeezed her way through and saw that the young woman’s face was still pale, likely not having recovered from the shock.

One of the older women, around fifty, joked, “Xiao Qing, you’re too scared. What’s there to be afraid of? If it were me, I’d catch it right away, and we’d have meat for dinner today.”

Xiao Qing was the young woman who had been frightened by the snake.

Xia Tian was a little surprised. Xiao Qing looked so young but was already a mother.

She couldn’t help but click her tongue in amazement!

As the villagers listened to the older woman’s words, they began to relax. Although people in the village ate snake meat occasionally, very few women dared to grab one with their bare hands.

The villagers were used to encountering snakes while gathering firewood or picking wild vegetables in the mountains. It was considered normal.

However, everyone took precautions, such as carrying a stick to scare off any snakes or tightening their sleeves and pants to prevent insects from crawling in.

Xiao Qing’s sudden encounter with the snake had certainly been a shock to her.

In the end, it was all just a false alarm, Xia Tian thought. If she had encountered the snake, she would have probably reacted the same way.

After the scare, no one was in the mood to continue picking vegetables, so they all began packing up and heading down the mountain.

They arrived home around noon, just before one o’clock.

Xia Tian placed the items under the shed and went to the kitchen to drink a glass of cold water. When she lifted the pot lid, she saw that the rice was still in the pot, and Shen Nian hadn’t eaten yet.

She was about to lift the door curtain to sneak a look at what Shen Nian was doing when she suddenly heard a suppressed coughing sound from inside. The coughing persisted for quite a while before finally stopping.

The past couple of days, she hadn’t seen him take any medicine, and his appetite during meals had still been okay. She had thought it was just his body being weak and that he occasionally coughed, but it wasn’t as serious as the villagers had said.

But today, the coughing was continuous, and Xia Tian was worried it might lead to pneumonia.

When the coughing stopped, Xia Tian went to the kitchen, poured a bowl of warm water, and took it to him. “Shen Dage, have some water.”

Shen Nian was leaning against the bedding, his face still a bit pale. A thin layer of sweat appeared on his forehead, and the veins in his hand, which was clutching his chest, were visibly protruding. After a moment, he took the bowl and drank some water.

Xia Tian watched as he finished the water, took the bowl from him, and went back to the kitchen. She refilled the bowl with warm water and carried a basin of water back to the room. She grabbed his towel, dipped it in the water, wrung it out, and handed it to him.

Shen Nian took the towel slowly and wiped the sweat from his forehead. The fit of coughing had left him feeling weak.

Xia Tian could tell from his slow movements that he hadn’t fully recovered yet.

She stepped forward, took the towel from his hand, dipped it again, and said, “Shen Dage, let me help you wipe your face and neck.”

Shen Nian was so weak that he simply nodded. Xia Tian gently placed one hand behind his head and used the towel to wipe the sweat from his face and neck.

As she did so, she noticed Shen Nian’s body stiffen. It seemed like he had never had a girl get this close to him before.

Xia Tian also felt his discomfort, so she moved a bit and thought to herself that she had never taken care of anyone like this before.

In her past life, she had decided to remain single, and by her thirties, she was still a virgin.

But now, having crossed over, this “caretaker” role seemed to come so naturally to her.

She chuckled to herself for being so adaptable.

After wiping his face and neck, Xia Tian realized that he had sweated so much, he might need to change his clothes.

She hesitated for a moment before saying, “Shen Dage, let me wipe your back too. Afterward, you can change into fresh clothes. It’ll be more comfortable.”

Shen Nian paused, probably not expecting her to say that.

After waiting for a moment and hearing no response, Xia Tian thought maybe he didn’t want her to do it.

Just as she was about to give up and let it go, Shen Nian slowly began to take off his outer clothes. He was left in a white undershirt and turned to lie down on the kang.

Xia Tian was taken aback. Was he allowing her to wipe his back or not?

Seeing the back of his head, she decided to go ahead. She lifted his undershirt and used the towel to wipe his back quickly. Once she was done, she folded the shirt and said, “Done, you can change now.” She quickly walked out of the room with the basin.

Standing outside in the yard, she took a deep breath before dumping the water from the basin.

She couldn’t help but think that she was more nervous than Shen Nian.

What a strange feeling! After all, she was an “old woman”—what scene hadn’t she seen before?

Xia Tian shook her head, preparing to make lunch.

She picked through the bitter vegetables she had gathered from the mountain, washed them, blanched them, and made a cold dish.

Then she chopped some Chinese toon and scrambled it with eggs, reheated the potato strips and rice from this morning, and placed it all on the table in the main room.

Looking at Shen Nian eating calmly, Xia Tian couldn’t help but speak up. “Shen Dage, we should still see a doctor. Even if it’s just for some medicine to help ease the symptoms, it would make you feel better.”

Seeing that Shen Nian remained silent and didn’t respond, Xia Tian felt a little disheartened. “Well, then eat more of this cold bitter vegetable. I heard it helps clear heat, detoxify, and relieve coughs.”

Shen Nian gave a slight nod and picked up a piece of the bitter vegetable, chewing it slowly.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want treatment; it was just that he had been poisoned since childhood. Over the years, the poison had spread throughout his body, and no medicine could cure him anymore.

He was just barely surviving…

Xia Tian felt a pang of sadness. Even though they had only known each other for two days, and Shen Nian always acted distant, he had never made things difficult for her.

Whatever she did, he ate. When she chattered on, he never interrupted her. He was, in a way, a good partner to live with.

Sighing, she decided to take extra care of him since they were in this together. Both of them had unfortunate fates, and she wasn’t doing that much better.

They ate in silence, and after finishing, Xia Tian cleaned up and went outside.

After lunch, Xia Tian took the clothes that Shen Nian had changed out of and washed them by the river. When she flipped over the shirt to check the collar, she noticed a small patch of bloodstains. The shirt was dark-colored, so it was hard to spot unless you looked closely.

Could it be? Had Shen Nian started coughing up blood? This was just like in the TV shows, and the characters always end up…

Xia Tian was startled by her own thoughts. She had just gotten married, and she didn’t want to become a widow so soon!

She quickly spat to the side. No, no, no! It couldn’t be! She was just overthinking it!

No, she had to find a doctor for Shen Nian to get checked. After all, he was her husband, even if it was just in name. She couldn’t let him be so negative.

Determined, Xia Tian decided to ask around at the town’s medical clinic when she went to the market the day after tomorrow.

The next morning, after breakfast, Xia Tian planned to check out the bamboo grove she had noticed yesterday.

She told Shen Nian and then packed a basket, bringing along a hoe and other tools as she headed up the mountain.

Sister Yao was going to help in the fields today, so Xia Tian planned to go alone.

Before long, she reached the mountain and, following her memory, walked toward the bamboo grove.

The trail was difficult, so Xia Tian tied her pants tightly with a rope to keep out any snakes, using a branch to clear away the obstructing foliage.

It took her almost half an hour to reach the edge of the bamboo grove.

Looking around, she noticed it was quite remote, with few people coming by.

The bamboo grove appeared large, and as she ventured further in, she could spot the tips of bamboo shoots poking out from the ground.

Xia Tian didn’t rush to dig but first walked around the area to make sure it was safe. Only after finding no immediate threats did she set her basket down and start digging for bamboo shoots.

The shoots were buried deep, and it took her quite a bit of effort to dig one out.

She thought to herself that the hoe was too small and awkward to use.

If she could dig more shoots, she could stew them with chicken, stir-fry them, or even eat them cold. The leftovers could be dried and saved for later.

As she thought about all the ways to prepare the shoots, she nearly drooled.

But she was worried about how to carry them. If only she had a space to store them.

Other people who transmigrated had space, skills like plant recognition or superhuman strength. What did she get? Nothing.

Just as she was complaining internally about her bad luck, a rabbit suddenly dashed across her path.

Without thinking, Xia Tian pounced, but missed.

It had been several days since she last had meat, so she couldn’t let the rabbit escape. She immediately got up and chased after it.

The rabbit darted this way and that, but Xia Tian was already out of breath and, in the end, the rabbit got away.

Breathing heavily, she stopped to rest. Suddenly, something felt wrong. She turned around and gasped. A wild boar was only a few meters away from her!