The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 229: Sorry

Chapter 229: Chapter 229: Sorry

Seeing Song Chongjin say nothing as he looked at her, Wang Yongzhu frowned. With someone injured at the moment, and even if people called her greedy, she was resolute in her decision not to leave a pile of wolf carcasses here—after all, they were as good as silver!

Although Song Chongjin had regained some strength, and walking wasn’t an issue for him, if he exerted himself, it was likely that his fresh wound on his back would burst open again.

But looking at Wang Yongzhu, she seemed unable to drag the carcasses any further. After all, even for a girl with great strength, dragging hundreds of pounds of prey down the mountain was already quite an accomplishment.

It seemed she wanted to ask if he had the strength to take over for her for a while.

Even though using any force risked worsening his wounds, Song Chongjin didn’t make a sound. He stepped forward, intending to take the rattan rope from Wang Yongzhu’s hands.

Wang Yongzhu jumped back defensively, "What are you doing? I’m telling you, don’t even think about stealing from me! These are all mine! Mine!" She had the stance of someone who would not hesitate to hammer someone to death if they dared to touch her prey.

Song Chongjin was taken aback. Wasn’t she just asking for a helping hand? He had said that all the wolves were hers, and he wouldn’t go back on his word to profit from it! Did he really have no credibility in her eyes?

"Keep away from me! If you’ve regained your strength, then go down the mountain first. Tell my Fourth Brother, and have both Jindou and Jinhu come up the mountain to help transport these wolves back," Wang Yongzhu said as she looked up at the sky, "It’s getting late, and we can’t afford any more delays. It will be troublesome if night falls."

Song Chongjin looked at Wang Yongzhu with complex emotions. Was this what she was asking for?

"Aren’t you afraid?" he finally couldn’t help but ask.

Wang Yongzhu just wanted to snicker.

She gave him a meaningful look, then glanced behind at the dozen or so wolf carcasses she was dragging.

The implication was clear.

Song Chongjin’s face darkened; he shouldn’t have asked that extra question.

Turning, he walked away, but after a few steps, he stopped, turned back, and threw the knife he had been holding at Wang Yongzhu’s feet: "Take it, for self-defense!"

Then, with anger, he followed the small path and disappeared into the thicket.

Wang Yongzhu curled her lip, picked up the short knife, and felt its weight as soon as she held it. The blade was as bright as snow, and after killing several wolves, it had no blood on it—it was indeed a fine knife.

Since someone had gone down the mountain to send a message, Wang Yongzhu decided to take a decisive rest before moving on.

But as soon as she sat down, her bones seemed to soften, and the world blurred before her eyes—the next thing she knew, she knew nothing.

When she woke up, she found herself in her own room. Her blood had been cleaned off, and she had been changed into fresh clothes.

Her awakening startled Old Granny Zhang, who had been vigilantly by her side.

Seeing her girl open her eyes, the heart that hung in Old Granny Zhang’s throat finally settled. Her face bore a smile, but her eyes were filled with tears, "You’re finally awake! Do you feel unwell anywhere? Tell me—"

Wang Yongzhu opened her mouth but didn’t know what to say, forcing out, "Water—"

A bowl of sugar water was handed to her lips, which she drank in one gulp, and only then did she seem to come back to life.

Old Granny Zhang, seeing her daughter wake up, noticed that aside from being weak, her spirit was still good, and she finally felt reassured. She smacked Wang Yongzhu hard on the back, "You silly maid, what were you trying to prove? You almost scared me to death! How could you be so rash to fight wolves? Don’t you care about your life? You heartless girl, if something had happened to you, how could I go on living?"

Wang Yongzhu winced in pain and couldn’t help but dodge.

Old Granny Zhang felt her heart ache and grabbed Wang Yongzhu to rub her back, all the while muttering, "How could you run off to the mountain the moment your mother lost sight of you? Even if you went, how could you be so foolish? Even if you wanted to save someone, you shouldn’t have just charged in there recklessly! You do know that those were wolves, not chickens from our own home, right? Couldn’t you have just run down and called for help instead of trying to show off? Tell me honestly, do you still have feelings for that young man Song Chongjin, are you still thinking about him?"

The bit of gloom in Wang Yongzhu’s heart was quickly massaged away by Old Granny Zhang’s patting and kneading, and when Zhang brought up Song Chongjin again, Wang Yongzhu immediately felt a headache and hurriedly shook her head, "Mother, what are you thinking about? I’ve said it, I don’t like him, not at all! I wasn’t saving him, it’s just that I saw those wolf hides and thought with my strength, how easy would it be to kill a few wolves? I wanted to make a fur coat for you to wear in the winter, to make sure you stayed warm."

Old Granny Zhang’s heart nearly melted at this, her hands becoming even more tender, but her voice was still stern, "At my age, what do I need a fur coat for? You little wretch, if something had happened to you, I wouldn’t want to go on living!"

It took quite some effort for Wang Yongzhu to finally pacify Old Granny Zhang and then she excused herself to go take a bath.

Old Granny Zhang hurried to the kitchen to boil water, finally bringing quiet to the house.

Wang Yongzhu moved her arms and legs about, and aside from some soreness, everything seemed fine, which allowed her to relax.

It seemed she had been too tense, after having killed so many wolves, when she finally let her guard down, she simply passed out.

Shortly after, Old Granny Zhang and Lady Jiang carried in two large buckets of water.

After a satisfying bath, having washed off all the bloodstains, her mood greatly improved.

She got dressed and walked out into the yard.

Only to discover that the yard was bustling with activity.

Wang Yongping and Song Chongjin were carefully skinning the wolves, and several well-skinned hides already hung in the yard.

The yard was also permeated with the inevitable stench of blood, and there were still some bloodstains on the ground. Jindou and Jinhu, one scraped off the blood-stained earth and dragged the soil far away to bury, and the other brought back fine sand from the riverside to level the ground before sprinkling water on it and tamping it down firmly.

In the corner, in the shade, a large vat held about half a vat’s worth of salted wolf meat, with Jinpan and Jinshao sitting on small stools next to the vat, each holding a bamboo stick, shooing away the flies.

There were also a few roughly skinned wolf hides on the ground, waiting for the next step in processing.

The yard had an indescribable smell, not a pleasant one.

Covering her nose, she carefully went over to take a look.

Wang Yongping saw his little sister awake, "Little sister, you’re up! Are you okay? Why didn’t you wait for me to go up the mountain with you yesterday?"

Song Chongjin had already noticed Wang Yongzhu come out and had covertly checked on her. Seeing that her complexion and aura were fine, he felt somewhat relieved.

When he arrived with the Wang Family yesterday, he saw Wang Yongzhu pale-faced, collapsing weakly beside a pile of wolf carcasses. In that moment, his heart had stopped beating.

The only thought he had was that if Wang Yongzhu died, he would be guilt-ridden for life.

Thankfully, after checking, he found out she had just fainted. While he breathed a sigh of relief, Song Chongjin couldn’t shake an indefinable feeling.

It turned out she wasn’t as tough as she appeared. She was just forcing herself to endure.

When she couldn’t take it anymore, she still told him to leave first.

What was Wang Yongzhu thinking at that moment? When she couldn’t take it anymore, and he left, did she feel fear and regret?

In his life, he had never experienced being protected or saved by someone else, let alone a woman. Song Chongjin felt his emotions were very complicated.