The Handsome Guy had disappeared from sight again, and there was a thumping sound coming from outside—probably working again.
An Xiao let out a puff of hot breath, crawled up to a sitting position, put on his shoes, tidied his hair, and slowly walked out.
Sure enough, the Handsome Guy was sitting in the pile of timber. The wood that had nearly been used up yesterday was now stacked high again today.
Beside him sat a bamboo basket and a multi-tiered cabinet.
Further over, a new wooden rack had been erected, with two skinned four-legged beasts tied to it. The whole pelts were draped next to the fur of the small animal from last night, and beside the rack was a pile of fresh branches taller than he was.
An Xiao: "…"
Was this because he'd seen him smoke half a beast's meat yesterday, and was worried he'd want to smoke more, so he prepared everything in advance?
…Storing more food was a good thing, so he might as well smoke it. But the real question was—did this guy never need to sleep? He'd been up early working two days in a row.
Then again, this guy had diverted water down from the mountain, driven stakes, and cut bamboo to build a water channel in just over an hour. It seemed like this kind of work wasn't much of a challenge for him?
An Xiao pressed his brow.
When he lowered his hand, the Handsome Guy was already standing in front of him—holding two bamboo cups, frowning slightly at him.
An Xiao paused, then smiled and looked at the bamboo cups. "[You made these?]"
The Handsome Guy nodded, handed him one, and taught him: "[Cup.]"
An Xiao silently repeated it twice, then smiled. "[Need to make two more. Use these two for now, and those two for drinking water.]"
The Handsome Guy obediently nodded. "Okay."
Then An Xiao brought his little shadow along to the pond to rinse his mouth and wash his face.
He rinsed his mouth, and the Handsome Guy rinsed his.
He spat out the water, and the Handsome Guy spat out his.
He took another mouthful, and the Handsome Guy took another.
…
"Little shadow" was no longer enough to describe the Handsome Guy.
An Xiao rinsed his mouth with a blank expression, washed out the cup, set it aside, and cupped water in both hands to wash his face.
The morning mountain stream water was bitingly cold, and splashing it on his face sobered him up a bit.
The Handsome Guy, who had just been mimicking his mouth-rinsing, had already started working.
He hoisted the newly made multi-tiered cabinet onto one shoulder and carried the bamboo basket in the other hand, quickly walking to the wall base closest to the pond and setting them flush against it.
Then he circled back around the pond, picked up the two bamboo cups they'd just used to rinse their mouths, and placed them inside the cabinet.
In the cabinet space over a meter wide, the two bamboo cups sat snugly together, leaving a huge empty area around them.
An Xiao stared across the pond at those two cups that looked especially intimate.
The Handsome Guy who'd placed them had already turned and gone back to the timber pile.
An Xiao withdrew his gaze, clenched his fist, and confirmed he was in decent shape—making breakfast shouldn't be a problem. The Handsome Guy had already done so much; he couldn't just wait around to eat without contributing.
But before that, he needed to take care of his bodily needs.
He looked at the distant grove, then at the newly dug ditch.
Yesterday he'd gone to the grove several times—twice with the Handsome Guy accompanying him, and the rest when the Handsome Guy was off diverting water, hunting, or picking fruit.
But keeping going to the grove wasn't a real solution. Not only was it unsafe, but over time, the whole place would stink.
He'd had the Handsome Guy divert the stream over not just for convenient water access, but also to build a toilet at the cliff's edge, using the constant flow to wash the waste off the cliff.
He glanced at the Handsome Guy working with lowered eyes, walked along the ditch to the fence, and calmly undid his belt to relieve himself.
After carefully draining the water, he also checked the ground thoroughly to make sure it wasn't dirty.
The stream of water was thin but continuous, enough to rinse everything clean.
An Xiao glanced back at the pool.
Compared to modern apartments where the dining room faced the bathroom, or where the dining area and bathroom were only separated by a small living room, their setup here was over a dozen meters apart—far enough.
But this water flow connected their daily water usage.
He let out a warm breath and turned to wave at Handsome Guy: "**."
Handsome Guy, who seemed to be focused on his work, darted over instantly, his eyes locked straight on him.
An Xiao: "…"
That was fast.
He pointed at the empty space beside the ditch and said, "[Dig here.]"
Gesturing, "[It needs to be over a foot deeper than the front part, to prevent rainwater or dirt from backing up.]"
Handsome Guy couldn't understand the second half, but he knew what needed to be done, nodded, and went to the storage shed to grab a hoe.
An Xiao pinched the bridge of his nose again, then headed to the kitchen to boil water and make breakfast.
With limited ingredients, he still cut a piece of meat from the beast hanging outside, sliced it into pieces for soup, and added starch fruit.
Before he was even done, Handsome Guy had already dug the deep ditch and came over to show off his work.
An Xiao took a moment to check.
The stream had been diverted into a branch inside the railing, with a height difference of nearly thirty centimeters.
Later, they'd need to dig a separate channel to lead it out past the cliff, but he didn't have the strength to pull ropes right now—that could wait.
He instructed Handsome Guy again, telling him to widen this area to about the size of a toilet.
They'd also need to set up wooden boards around the perimeter for privacy.
Handsome Guy didn't seem to fully understand, but he nodded and ran off to gather wood.
An Xiao hurried back to check the pot.
Once breakfast was ready, he called the busy Handsome Guy back, and the two sat across from each other at the long table, eating face to face.
Because he wasn't feeling well, An Xiao had no appetite, only leaving himself one bowl, and he made sure to add more soup and less meat.
Handsome Guy seemed to notice something was off and tried to give him another bowl, but An Xiao waved his hand in refusal.
Handsome Guy stopped eating entirely, leaned over the table, and stared at him.
An Xiao hesitated for a moment, then muttered, "I'm sick—how would you say that in your words?"
Handsome Guy frowned: "[You—]"
An Xiao leaned forward, pressing his forehead against Handsome Guy's.
Handsome Guy's eyes lit up, staring straight at An Xiao, and his Adam's apple bobbed quickly.
An Xiao: "?"
He pulled back, confused, "[You—]" Didn't you feel anything wrong?
Before he could figure out how to express himself with his limited vocabulary, his cheeks were cupped, and the woodpecker was back at it again, going "smack smack smack" across the long table.
An Xiao: "…"
Noticing that the "smacks" were starting to move downward, and the gaze had shifted to his lips, he was speechless.
He slapped his hand over the other's face, annoyed, "[I—]"
—Damn, how do you say "sick"?
Handsome Guy pulled his hand down and tried to lean in again.
An Xiao: "…"
If words wouldn't work, he'd just act it out.
He pushed Handsome Guy's hand away, stepped back two paces, held his forehead, closed his eyes, and pretended to faint, slumping down—
An arm caught him, pressing him against a wall of hard muscle.
An Xiao opened his eyes: "Get it now?"
Handsome Guy scooped him up in his arms—
"[Don't move!]" An Xiao quickly grabbed his collar, "I worked hard to make this breakfast—you have to eat it—"
Handsome Guy frowned at him.
An Xiao pointed at his big bowl: "[Eat.]"
Handsome Guy turned to leave.
An Xiao did a kip-up.
Handsome Guy: "…"
Unable to out-stubborn An Xiao, the Handsome Guy finally put him down, picked up the large bowl and slurped it down, set the bowl aside, wiped his mouth, and turned around to pick him up again.
An Xiao, who was holding his own bowl, waved him off and slowly drank his meat soup—the soup was still a bit hot.
Besides, now that the Handsome Guy knew he was sick, he wasn't nervous anymore; he needed to eat something first.
No joke—who knew what the medical standards were like here? He had to make sure he kept up his strength.
Handsome Guy: "…"
He reached out several times, only to pull his hands back, pacing around anxiously.
An Xiao glanced at him when he had a moment, calmly finished his breakfast, and then prepared to clean up the kitchen.
The Handsome Guy snatched the dishes away and set them back on the table.
Then he was scooped up horizontally once again and flew out of the room.
The powerful Handsome Guy ignored the burden of the weight, carried him horizontally across their "courtyard," and in the blink of an eye, left their cliffside house far behind, diving into a small grove of trees.
Trees on both sides receded rapidly, blurring into double images.
An Xiao, already dizzy, felt like throwing up, so he simply closed his eyes, relaxed his body, and leaned steadily against the Handsome Guy.
The Handsome Guy glanced at him, furrowed his brows, tightened his arms, and ran even faster.
They sped along like the wind all the way.
The breeze was slightly cool, the "ride" was smooth, and the feverish An Xiao nearly dozed off.
Nearly.
Shouts and voices startled him awake.
He hesitated, then slowly opened his eyes:
Earthen walls scattered in disarray, dusty dirt roads;
Men, women, old and young with hair buns and long robes, children with sky-scraping braids playfully fighting with tree branches and sticks;
Sporadic fields and vegetable plots, four-legged creatures and poultry scattered around—things that didn't quite look like chickens, ducks, cattle, or sheep.
…
There was no trace of modernity.
No possibility of being kidnapped or imprisoned.
He, An Xiao, had truly transmigrated—stumbled into a foreign world where he couldn't speak the language.
His shock and dejection lasted only a few seconds before the Handsome Guy finally stopped and muttered a few words to the people ahead.
An Xiao pulled himself together and looked at the person facing the Handsome Guy.
That person seemed very nervous, his expression respectful and reverent, bowing as he spoke while respectfully leading the Handsome Guy in a certain direction.
An Xiao looked up at the Handsome Guy.
So handsome, and with such a good temper—why were these people afraid of him?
Come to think of it, why did the Handsome Guy live alone on the mountain?
Before he could figure it out, they arrived at an earthen house with a courtyard.
The person leading the way shouted a couple of things inside.
Shrieks burst from within, several people rushed out, pulled open the gate, and respectfully welcomed the Handsome Guy inside. Among them, a few younger ones secretly glanced at An Xiao.
An Xiao ignored them.
He was a bit nervous—he hadn't learned the language yet, so what was he going to do? The moment he opened his mouth, these people would know something was off about him.
In his nervousness, he was carried into the house and set down on a small wooden-framed bed.
The Handsome Guy carefully set him down and said a few words to the middle-aged man with graying hair beside him.
The middle-aged man responded a few times and reached out to feel An Xiao's wrist.
An Xiao was surprised. Did they use traditional Chinese medicine here too?
—He'd figure that out later.
The middle-aged man pressed for a moment, then asked An Xiao, "******."
An Xiao: "…"
He didn't understand a single word.
The man hadn't even said a single "you"!!
He hesitated, then cautiously spoke up, "[I—]"
"[Don't talk!]" The Handsome Guy suddenly raised his voice, his tone fierce, "[I***!]"
An Xiao: "?"
Scanning the startled and increasingly nervous expressions of the crowd, he understood.