The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 228 Half Revealed, Half Concealed

Chapter 228: Chapter 228 Half Revealed, Half Concealed

Wang Yongzhu merely glanced at him, it was just a glimpse of a man who wasn’t even fully exposed, not to mention half-exposed. What was there to look at?

In her original time and space, she had seen male models wearing only briefs and almost fully naked to the point of nausea. Why would she fancy a man covered in wounds, with torn and filthy clothes as if he had rolled on the ground several times?

Thus, she indifferently gave him a quick look and averted her gaze, "It’s getting late, how are you going to get back? I have to go down the mountain. If you’re not leaving, then stay. I’m going first!"

The place reeked of blood. Unless a tiger or a blind bear happened to come along, it’s unlikely that any small animals would dare approach this place for several days.

Leaving Song Chongjin behind should be safe, right? Wang Yongzhu pondered.

If he really was unlucky enough to encounter a tiger or a blind bear, then it wouldn’t be her fault, but rather his bad luck.

With this thought, Wang Yongzhu patted her behind and rummaged through the wolf corpses under the rocks. The wolf pelts were valuable. Although the heads were gone, the bodies were still there. If she dragged them back, she could turn them into fur rugs or make a fur coat for Old Granny Zhang in winter.

Definitely warm with wolf fur!

Old Granny Zhang would surely treasure it!

It was a pity she didn’t know how to skin the animals. But, luckily, she was strong enough to drag the wolf carcasses together. She then found a vine and tied the wolves together, planning to drag them down the mountain and leave the skinning to Wang Yongping.

She was so busy that she didn’t have a moment to spare. Although she felt Song Chongjin’s gaze fixed on her the whole time, sadly, she had no time to pay him any mind.

Saving him out of obligation was one thing, but escorting him down the mountain? That was quite another story.

Song Chongjin’s injuries didn’t look serious. With his arms and legs intact, he should be able to make it down the mountain on his own! He shouldn’t even dream of counting on her. She was no nanny!

So, she outright ignored him as if he were thin air.

Although Song Chongjin didn’t know what Wang Yongzhu was thinking, seeing how she ignored him brought a strange feeling back to him.

Watching Wang Yongzhu tie the wolf corpses and prepare to drag them away, he spoke up for the first time, "There are a few more over there. Drag them down too. If we leave them overnight, these corpses will be gnawed down to bones. Don’t waste the wolf pelts!"

Wang Yongzhu’s eyes lit up. If there was one thing she possessed now, it was strength!

Wolf pelts were great items, and having one more was always better!

"Are all the wolf pelts mine?" She wanted to clarify ownership first, lest Song Chongjin claim them after they got down, leaving her at a loss.

"They are all yours!" Song Chongjin wasn’t that petty. After all, Wang Yongzhu had saved his life. What were a few wolf pelts in comparison?

Wang Yongzhu, with a smile beaming across her face, ran off to drag the wolf carcasses. Watching her expression, Song Chongjin couldn’t help but smile slightly too. When he realized this was not proper, he immediately restrained his expression.

He slowly slid down from the rock and watched as Wang Yongzhu dragged four or five wolves back, tying them together. Then, she slipped into the bushes and reemerged a while later with a basket on her back.

She reached into her basket and pulled out a bamboo tube, took a couple of sips, and, somewhat reluctantly, handed it to Song Chongjin.

Exhausted and having lost a lot of blood, Song Chongjin’s throat was parched. Seeing the water, he involuntarily swallowed.

Before facing death, no matter how thirsty he was, he would never drink another’s water. But now, seeing Wang Yongzhu’s reluctance, for some reason, he unceremoniously took the bamboo tube and gulped down several mouthfuls.

Wang Yongzhu watched agonizingly as Song Chongjin drank from the tube she would no longer be able to use. She would have to ask Fourth Brother to make a few more as spares when she got back.

Since she had already given him water, it was only right to help him all the way through. She took out two stuffed buns meant to be dry food and gave one to Song Chongjin.

Both hungry and tired, they didn’t bother with formalities. Standing next to the wolf corpses, they finished their buns. With something in their stomachs, they seemed to regain some strength.

Wang Yongzhu threw the carrying basket to Song Chongjin, who was now an injured man and couldn’t drag the wolf carcass, but surely he couldn’t just do nothing, right?

He himself dragged the wolf carcass in front.

Song Chongjin carried the basket on his chest to avoid bumping into his wound, and looked at the indigo leaves and madder roots inside the basket with a frown, "You climbed the mountain for this? What are these for?"

"For dyeing fabric!" Wang Yongzhu did not hide anything, since once he really produced the dyed fabric, everyone would eventually find out.

Song Chongjin arched his eyebrows—dyeing fabric?

The Wang Yongzhu before him was becoming more and more enigmatic. Now that he thought about it, his initial suspicion that Wang Yongzhu was a body double planted by someone else didn’t make sense.

If Wang Yongzhu really were a body double, how could he have fooled the entire Wang Family, especially Old Granny Zhang?

Furthermore, if he were a specially trained body double, there just to infiltrate his side, the cost seemed far too great!

A subordinate who could dye fabric, possessed immense strength, had a knack for business, and an acute eye, was cultivated just to keep watch over him?

They were overestimating him.

Now, his status in the eyes of his high and mighty birth mother was no more than that of an ant, easily crushed to death; there was no need for such an elaborate scheme, right?

So, who had sent Wang Yongzhu? His callous father?

Song Chongjin almost laughed. If that father had any bit of paternal affection toward him, how could he allow a traitor among those who had always protected him? If not for his own excessive familiarity and lack of vigilance, how would he have fallen victim today?

At that thought, a flicker of ruthlessness and murderous intent passed through Song Chongjin’s eyes.

It was a pity that his current strength was still too weak; he could only endure it!

Seeing Wang Yongzhu pulling along about a dozen wolves with apparent ease, Song Chongjin’s thoughts inevitably drifted towards her again.

If Wang Yongzhu was not a person sent by his father, then who exactly was she?

The person before him seemed enveloped in a dense fog; the more he tried to see clearly, the more unclear it became.

Song Chongjin stood behind, silently observing Wang Yongzhu’s figure, broader and sturdier than the average girl’s; strangely, it gave him a sense of security that with her in front, he could be at ease?

Realizing what he was thinking, Song Chongjin quickly shook his head, casting out these ridiculous thoughts.

He must be haunted!

Wang Yongzhu was heaving and tugging at the wolf carcasses ahead; despite her strength, she had to contend with the mass of so many wolves, weighing hundreds of pounds.

And the mountain path was difficult to navigate, especially since after descending Dahei Mountain, they still had to cross Qili Slope to reach home.

Wang Yongzhu felt doomed.

Looking up at the sky, she saw the sun was already slanting westward; without hurrying, she feared they wouldn’t make it home before dark.

After a moment’s thought, Wang Yongzhu turned back to look at Song Chongjin following her, "Do you still have any strength left?"

Song Chongjin was startled, noting that Wang Yongzhu’s hair was soaked with sweat, the wolf blood in her hair liquefying into streaks with the sweat and running down her forehead, looking particularly terrifying. If someone faint-hearted saw her, they might well faint on the spot.

Especially since she was oblivious, she simply wiped her face with her sleeve, making her appearance even more frightful.