Chapter 60 : Shocked and Terrified

“You wretched child! You’re so careless all day long!” Wang Yunfeng scolded her son before turning to the others with deep gratitude. “Siying, Comrade Han, Comrade Chen, thank you for saving my son today. If it weren’t for you, I’d be sending him to his grave. You’re the lifesavers of my Dazhuang.”

“Siying, Comrade Han, Comrade Chen, thank you for saving my Aimin. You are benefactors of our Jiang family. Please come to our house for dinner later,” Li Hongying also said gratefully, looking at the three of them.

The other educated youths also stepped forward to show their concern. With these three saving villagers and bringing back wild boar meat, their educated youth courtyard’s reputation would certainly improve.

The villagers carried the wild boar at the front, full of excitement. Everyone wore cheerful expressions. Yun Siying and the others walked behind.

By the time the Captain arrived, most of the group had already reached the threshing ground. Seeing all the villagers gathered and returning at once, he was initially displeased. But when he saw the wild boar, weighing about 400 kilograms, a rare smile broke across his face. He thought the boar had come at just the right time the autumn harvest would begin in two days, and this meat would help nourish the villagers.

“Leave a few people to handle the wild boar. The rest of you, go back to work,” he instructed, pointing out who should stay.

“Don’t just stand there! Get back to work quickly. Come back early, we’ll distribute the meat at the threshing ground tonight.” Seeing the villagers lingering, he continued urging them, and finally they dispersed.

Looking at the three bloodied people, the captain didn’t show much concern. Instead, he glared at them and scolded, “How many times have I told you not to go into the mountains? There are big wild animals up there. You were lucky this time, you ran into a wild boar. But what if it had been wolves, or a tiger, a leopard, or a blind bear? Are you tired of living?”

The people being lectured lowered their heads silently. Li Dazhuang and Jiang Aimin spoke up, “Captain, we’re sorry. We know we were wrong.”

“You’d better know it. Especially you two, you don’t work hard in the fields and just wander around all day. It’s sheer luck you ran into Yun Siying and the others today. Otherwise… think about your parents!” The captain was clearly frustrated. These two didn’t have any truly bad habits, they just didn’t like farm work.

“As for you three, come with me to the hospital.” Judging by their alertness, the captain figured their injuries weren’t too bad. No broken limbs, no spilled guts that was a relief.

“Captain, I’m not hurt. The blood is all from the wild boar. Don’t worry,” Yun Siying quickly explained, seeing the awkward concern in the captain’s demeanor.

“Captain, our injuries aren’t serious,” Han Yuecheng and Chen Banghua added.

“If it’s not serious, then go pack up. I’ll have Siying drive the tractor and take you to the hospital for a checkup. If I wasn’t afraid of getting in trouble for something happening to you under my watch, I wouldn’t care whether you lived or died.” With that, he clasped his hands behind his back and walked off in a huff.

The group exchanged glances and followed behind him.

Meanwhile, Nangong Ruochen had returned to the Educated Youth Courtyard and found the door locked. He sat in the yard, thinking. He had no idea what Siying was up to, had she gone into the mountains alone?

As he pondered, he heard footsteps outside the yard and voices speaking. He immediately recognized them it was Siying, Han Yuecheng, and Chen Banghua. Looking toward the distant gate, he felt confused. It wasn’t time to finish work yet, and the three had different assignments. Why were they coming back together?

Then, he saw Yun Siying appear, covered in blood. His heart clenched painfully, and he felt as if he couldn’t breathe. Instinctively, he rushed over, grabbed her hand, and scanned her from head to toe. Anxiously, he asked, “Siying, where are you hurt? I’ll take you to the hospital right now!”

He was shocked and terrified at that moment. He was not as calm and composed as usual. The hand holding Yun Siying was trembling, and his eyes were slightly red.

Yun Siying saw the worry and nervousness in his eyes, so she held his hand back and said, “I’m not injured. The blood on my body is from the wild boars. If you don’t believe me, you can ask Han Yuecheng and Chen Banghua.”

Only then did Nangong Ruochen notice that the two good brothers standing behind Siying were also covered in blood. They spoke up, “Siying really isn’t hurt.”

Han Yuecheng and Chen Banghua looked at each other in disbelief. They had just realized they existed at all. Was their presence really that unnoticed? And they were covered in blood and injured too!

They hadn’t received a single word of concern from him, even though they were brothers who had faced life and death together countless times? In front of Siying, they were completely ignored. This brotherhood was way too weak. Nangong Ruochen was truly someone who forgot his loyalty when faced with beauty. Why hadn’t they noticed this about him before?

Chen Banghua grumbled silently but still replied, “Siying’s skills are excellent she wasn’t hurt at all, but Yuecheng and I got injured.” His eyes were full of reproach toward Nangong Ruochen.

“Really, it’s good that you’re not hurt. I’ll go boil some hot water so you can wash up later,” Nangong Ruochen said, finally easing his nervousness. Then he looked at the two brothers and added, “Two grown men are outdone by a female comrade, this is really embarrassing for me.”

“Nangong, you really treat me differently you’re not human,” Han Yuecheng stared at Nangong Ruochen with wide eyes and an incredulous expression. He turned to Chen Banghua and whispered, “Is this still the Nangong we know?”

Nangong Ruochen paid no attention and opened the door to start a fire. He drew water from the yard, poured it into the pot, and stood by the stove to stoke the fire.

Yun Siying looked at the blood stains and smelled the strong scent of blood on herself and felt a bit down. But she really couldn’t enter her space to wash right now it would arouse suspicion so she had to wait outside in the yard.

Nangong Ruochen boiled the water, added cold water, and carried it to the bathroom, pouring it into Yun Siying’s bathtub. “Siying, the water’s ready.”

“Thank you, I’ll go get a clean set of clothes,” Yun Siying said. She went into her room, then soon entered the bathroom with a basket. She took off her bloodstained clothes, entered her space, and washed her body under the shower.

After washing, she came out of the space, washed the blood-soaked clothes with hot water, added detergent, rubbed them for a while, and finally cleaned them. The smell of blood mixed with detergent remained in the bathroom to avoid arousing suspicion from the others.

“I’m done washing. You guys go wash!” Yun Siying said, hanging the clothes on the line. She sat in the yard and wiped her hair with a towel.

Nangong Ruochen was still boiling and fetching water for the others. Seeing Yun Siying wiping her hair, he walked over as if possessed and snatched the towel from her hand. “Let me dry you.”

Yun Siying didn’t refuse. She closed her eyes and appeared to be enjoying the gesture. But in fact, her consciousness had already entered her space. Looking at the nineteen adult wild boars, she thought she could make a small profit by selling them on the black market another day.