The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 102: Where’s the Person?

Chapter 102: Chapter 102: Where’s the Person?

How could she even think about romance when the basic living conditions hadn’t changed?

Besides, apart from the gratitude she felt earlier, she didn’t really have any other good feelings towards Song Chongjin, and truly couldn’t muster the interest to approach him and curry favor.

So let Song Chongjin think whatever he wanted to think.

Since there was no need to bring Jinpan, Song Chongjin didn’t say much and turned to lead the way.

Wang Yongzhu followed behind obediently. With Song Chongjin striding quickly and urgently, Wang Yongzhu, with her slightly chubby legs, struggled to keep up. But she was too embarrassed to ask Song Chongjin to slow down and could only hold her breath as she trotted along behind him.

By now, many people had finished breakfast and were strolling around the village. Large numbers of young girls and daughters-in-law had eaten and were carrying clothes to wash by the river.

Naturally, they saw the two of them, one after the other, heading towards the mountains.

There were those fast-talking gossips: "Did you see that? The Song Family Boy and Second Young Miss Wang are actually heading to the mountains together? Didn’t they call off their engagement?"

"Yo, indeed! This is like seeing ghosts in broad daylight! How did they end up getting involved with each other again? Could it be that Second Young Miss Wang hasn’t given up hope yet?"

"I don’t think so. Second Young Miss Wang used to be fat and lazy, but now she has slimmed down and even learned embroidery. Her family has given her a substantial dowry, and these past days, haven’t a lot of people been visiting the Wang Family to propose? Although they are just after the dowry money because they are poor, isn’t it a lot better than before when no one dared to come forward? Besides, now that Second Young Miss Wang has slimmed down, she has a narrow waist and big hips, a figure that looks like she’ll bear sons easily. Perhaps it’s the Song Family who are having second thoughts!"

...

The discussions were heated. Lately, the Wang Family had been making quite a name for themselves in Qilidun; first, Second Young Miss Wang was jilted, and then the Wang Family’s Fourth Child was cuckolded by his betrothed, leading to another broken engagement.

Just yesterday, the Wang Family’s Eldest Child was injured to the point of breaking his back. Only the wealthy Wang Family would consider treating such an injury. In any other family, they would have just dragged him back and waited for death, who else would have the extra money for treatment.

Now it’s a fine mess – the Wang Family’s Eldest Child’s fate is still unknown, and Second Young Miss Wang has gotten involved with the Song Family Boy again.

Nobody knows if the Wang Family has somehow offended the Tai Sui deity this year with one thing happening after another.

Song Chongjin and Wang Yongzhu naturally didn’t hear any of this idle gossip.

Even if they had heard it, they were too preoccupied to care at the moment.

Song Chongjin, perhaps to avoid suspicion or for some other reason, walked so fast and determinedly that Wang Yongzhu, despite her best efforts to catch up, was still left far behind.

Moreover, the mountain paths were slick with morning dew. Even though there were well-trodden paths from frequent usage, Wang Yongzhu was still exhausted as a dog.

On a normal day, or if someone else was leading, Wang Yongzhu was not the type to stubbornly insist on saving face; she would have definitely asked for a break.

But today, with Song Chongjin in front and also worried about the place where her eldest brother had an accident, Wang Yongzhu resolutely clenched her teeth and endured.

Even though her legs felt like they were filled with lead, she didn’t make a sound. She just mechanically lifted her legs, took steps, and climbed upwards.

She could only faintly glimpse Song Chongjin’s figure flitting behind the branches.

As Song Chongjin ascended the mountain, he vaguely overheard the laughter of those gossipy women by the river. Knowing them, with him and Wang Yongzhu going up the mountain together, heaven knows what they would turn it into.

So intentionally or not, she kept a bit of a distance from Wang Yongzhu.

She trudged along, holding her breath the whole way, and only when they were almost at the destination did she remember that there was someone behind her.

Turning her head, she found that there was no one behind her.

Her eyes narrowed, where was the person?

Could she have lost her?

Song Chongjin frowned, turned around, and planned to go down the mountain to look for her. After all, if she had lost the person she brought up the mountain, how could she explain that?

She had barely moved her feet when she noticed some movement behind the bushes in the distance and then saw a person, truly moving on all fours, "crawling" up.

Wang Yongzhu had no choice, she simply had no energy left. Following Jindou and the others up the mountain felt like a leisurely outing, strolling and making stops, and they always chose the easier, flatter paths. Her explosive power was not great, but her endurance was decent, so she did not feel too tired.

Today, Song Chongjin was probably trying to save time, choosing paths that were steep and narrow. It was already quite an achievement that she managed to keep from sliding down the mountain.

Unable to bear it any longer, she called out Xiao Tiantian to complain, "Xiao Tiantian, you said yesterday that you were a legitimate farming system. Wouldn’t it be nice if we just honestly farmed the land? Why sneak in this nonsense, issuing some damned rural romance task! And if you were going to issue it, couldn’t you have better taste in who to pick? Why choose Song Chongjin, that kind of unspeakable pig trotter! This is clearly meddling out of your field—you can tell it’s not your area of expertise! Other systems are there to help their hosts solve problems, but you, you create difficulties for your host! Can’t farming lead to a blissful life of singlehood? If you’re so great, why not just issue me a harem task? I’m telling you, Xiao Tiantian, you’re going to lose this host if you keep this up, you know?"

Xiao Tiantian remained unmoved, "Host, you must have some misconceptions about the farming system. Reaching the pinnacle of farming means reaching the pinnacle of life, and what does the pinnacle of life include? It includes both a successful career and a happy family! Achieving only the career pinnacle is an incomplete zenith! As the most serious and professional farming system, we would never make that mistake! We ask that the host correct your attitude and focus on climbing up this slope first! Friendly reminder, Song Chongjin has already stopped ahead, and there is still a hundred meters to the accident site! Host, please push on!"

To hell with pushing on!

Wang Yongzhu took a deep breath, looking ahead at the steep and dangerous turn in the path. With her current figure, the only way up was truly by crawling.

She gritted her teeth, using all four limbs, pulling herself up with the help of the bushes next to her, and managed to scrape her way up.

Before she could even catch her breath, she was faced with Song Chongjin.

Had it been the former Wang Yongzhu, she might have died of shame, seen by her beloved in such a sorry state, she would have wished for the ground to swallow her up.

If she had been any more timid, she probably would have retreated in fright and rolled back down the slope.

But having been alerted by the system that Song Chongjin was just ahead, Wang Yongzhu was prepared. She gave Song Chongjin a mere glance, pulled herself up, patted the mud and leaves off her body, caught her breath, and took a couple of sips of water from the bamboo container she fished out of her basket.

Then she spoke up, "We must be close now, let’s go!"

Song Chongjin, who had been about to apologize, had to swallow his words back.

Touching his nose, he continued to lead the way, this time deliberately slowing down to allow Wang Yongzhu to keep up.

Thankfully, there indeed wasn’t much distance left. After climbing over that slope, they would arrive at the site where Wang Yongfu had his accident while digging for yams.

Approaching, they saw a millstone-sized rock lying quietly on the ground; the bloodstains on the rock had already dried to a brownish hue, and large patches of the earth had turned a dark brown.

A knocked-over basket lay next to the stone, its contents of yams scattered all around.