Chapter 164: Unexplained Hostility

Lu Yichen had been with Luo Qiao for a while now, and he knew her temperament well. It seemed Ding Xiangdong not only didn’t help but also managed to annoy her. Lu Yichen hoped that Luo Qiao wouldn’t develop any animosity towards him because of Ding Xiangdong’s actions.

Seeing that Luo Qiao didn’t want to talk further, Lu Yichen decided not to press the issue. However, he mentally crossed Ding Xiangdong off as someone he trusted.

After returning to the village, Luo Qiao first visited the captain’s house to inform them that the goods had been delivered to the factory. “Brother Gao was fine and would be back in the village after he had a vacation in three months.”

After leaving the captain’s house, not far from their house, she encountered Zhang Qiaoyan, the daughter of the village secretary. Luo Qiao remembered this girl; they had met once before on the road.

Luo Qiao greeted them when she saw Zhang Qiaoyan with Zhang Degang’s younger son, Zhang Donglin. Zhang Donglin was quite likable.

What Luo Qiao didn’t know was that Zhang Qiaoyan, upon returning to the village, heard that Luo Qiao had achieved the highest score in the city in this year’s high school entrance examination, which inexplicably sparked hostility in her towards Luo Qiao.

Previously, Zhang Qiaoyan had been the only girl in Qingshan Village attending high school. Even Gao Baozhen from the captain’s family had only graduated from junior high. Therefore, she had always felt like the most prominent figure in the village.

But now that Luo Qiao had arrived in the village, taller than her and more attractive, and now with such outstanding academic achievements, it made her feel very uncomfortable.

If Luo Qiao knew, she would definitely say, “Must be out of your mind.”

Regardless of what Zhang Qiaoyan thought, Luo Qiao had things to do when she returned home.

Feeling good today and celebrating becoming a homeowner, Luo Qiao wanted to treat herself to something nice.

Passing by the entrance of Lu Yichen’s courtyard, she saw Shitou standing there and said, “Shitou, come help me pick vegetables in the backyard.”

Shitou immediately followed behind her towards Luo Qiao’s courtyard, and when Lu Yichen came out of the house, he saw Shitou being spirited away.

Luo Qiao steamed the rice, greeted Shitou, and then shouldered her basket to walk up towards Daqing Mountain. Under a tree, she spotted a few small mushrooms. However, they weren’t quite enough for a dish, so she squatted down and tried to use her ability to accelerate their growth.

Unexpectedly, her ability had strengthened recently, perhaps due to cultivating vegetables in her backyard. It seemed she needed more practice and used more of her ability to improve further.

Glancing into the depths of Daqing Mountain, she thought that she should explore deeper into the mountains when she had time. If her ability could level up a few more times, maybe she could help cure Lu Yichen’s leg.

Seeing that it was getting late, she decided not to wander far. She quickly picked the mushrooms and threw them into her basket. Then, she thought of something and dug up the remaining mushrooms along with the soil, storing them in her space, and placed them at the foot of the mountain.

From her space, Luo Qiao found a plump rabbit, knocked it unconscious, and returned home. Upon entering, she saw that Shitou had already washed the vegetables, and Lu Yichen was preparing to chop them.

Luo Qiao entered the courtyard and handed the rabbit to Lu Yichen. Shitou’s eyes lit up when he saw the rabbit, and he asked, “Sister, where did you catch this rabbit?”

Lu Yichen noticed that the rabbit was only unconscious, not dead, and looked towards Luo Qiao.

Luo Qiao replied, “I encountered it while picking mushrooms on the mountain. I knocked it out and brought it back.”

Lu Yichen thought her luck was incredible. Even with his traps in the mountains, he didn’t always catch something. Occasionally, he might catch one or two rabbits or wild chickens from the traps.

Seeing him still lost in thought, Luo Qiao said, “Brother Lu, what are you staring at? Hurry up and prepare for it. If we delay any longer, ^[1]“We’ll end up having dinner under the stars” means that if they delay any longer, it will get late, and they will have to eat their dinner outside at night, under the night sky … Continue readingwe’ll end up having dinner under the stars.”

Lu Yichen nodded and said, “You start cutting the vegetables first. The rabbit will be ready soon.”