Although reality quickly proved that luck was not something everyone possessed.
At least, Shen Yueliang certainly didn’t have it at the moment.
After all, she had transmigrated without even getting a cheat ability, and she still expected to stumble upon a ginseng root?
What kind of daydream was that?
Still, since she had already come all this way, she wasn’t about to return empty-handed.
As she walked, she gathered quite a few termite mushrooms.
Just as she bent over to pick another cluster, her eyes met those of a snake coiled in the grass.
Whether other women were afraid of snakes or not, she didn’t know.
But she was.
The kind of afraid that made her soul tremble.
She still remembered when she was little and had gone into the mountains with her grandfather.
Being young and ignorant, she had spotted some bright red berries and thought they looked pretty, so she ran over to pick them.
Then she noticed a pit nearby.
It wasn’t very deep, but inside were three or four pitch-black snakes coiled together.
Even though she hadn’t been bitten, she developed a high fever that very night.
Nightmares haunted her.
In her dreams, snakes surrounded her from every direction.
That scene became the nightmare of her childhood.
The kind that lingered for years and refused to fade.
So now…
Both her legs were stiff.
Her entire body felt cold.
“Help! Help! There’s a snake—!”
She wasn’t sure if anyone had heard her.
Her eyes remained fixed on the snake.
She watched its slick, cold body hidden in the grass.
Its triangular head slowly lifted.
Half its body rose upright.
It was a posture that clearly signaled the snake had sensed danger and was preparing to attack.
Logic told her to run.
But fear had already robbed her body of its instinct for self-preservation.
At the moment danger arrived, she made the stupidest possible choice.
She closed her eyes.
The pain of being bitten never came.
There seemed to be approaching footsteps.
Someone had probably rushed over.
She was terrified and didn’t dare open her eyes.
Until an angry voice exploded beside her ear.
“Are you an idiot?”
“You were just standing there waiting for it to bite you?”
“Got a death wish?”
Three questions fired in succession.
No matter how frightened she had been, those words instantly drove much of the fear away.
Shen Yueliang slowly opened her eyes.
Actually, she had already recognized the voice.
And as expected, the person standing before her was Ji Yanchuan, his brows tightly furrowed.
Not far away lay the snake’s corpse.
Even dead, she couldn’t bear to look at it twice.
She immediately turned her face away.
The massive fright had left her body icy cold.
Her fingers were stiff, and it took considerable effort before she could slowly curl them into fists.
“Thank you for saving me,” she said.
“But if you don’t know how to speak properly, then keep your mouth shut!”
Only then did Ji Yanchuan notice her reddened eyes and the cold sweat covering her pale forehead.
His lips moved awkwardly.
More footsteps approached.
Su Qiuyun and the others had arrived as well.
Everyone had been spread out earlier and had come a little too late after hearing her shout.
However, they had still heard the exchange between the two.
The atmosphere immediately became awkward.
“No, Ji Yanchuan, what’s wrong with you?” Qin Zhihang couldn’t understand it either.
“I’ve never seen you lose your temper like this before.”
Indeed.
The man was cold by nature.
Even when soldiers under his command made mistakes, he would simply reprimand them appropriately.
He didn’t normally lose his temper this way.
Especially not toward women.
Whenever women tried to pursue him before, he usually just ignored them.
He always maintained proper manners.
After all, the upbringing of the Ji family was there for all to see.
“Yueliang, are you alright?” Su Qiuyun asked worriedly.
After all, she had been the one who brought her here.
She had only wanted to help Shen Yueliang get more tailoring orders among the military families.
She hadn’t expected her good intentions to backfire.
The worst of the fear had already passed.
Although her heart still trembled uncontrollably, Shen Yueliang didn’t want to ruin everyone’s mood because of her.
“I’m fine.”
“You all continue with what you were doing.”
“Don’t let me spoil everyone’s fun.”
“I’ll head back first.”
“I’ll take you home,” Qin Zhihang offered immediately.
He felt guilty too.
If he hadn’t been greedy and insisted on coming to the mountain to catch chickens, this wouldn’t have happened.
“No need.”
Shen Yueliang smiled politely.
She didn’t want to say anything more.
Feeling a little strength returning to her legs, she turned and left.
As the oldest person present, Ding Shuhui had never expected things to end up like this either.
But she knew this wasn’t the time to scold anyone.
She shot Su Qiuyun a meaningful look.
Su Qiuyun nodded.
Even without the reminder, she had intended to escort Shen Yueliang home.
Shen Xiangbei had helped her before.
She couldn’t let anything happen to his sister.
She handed her basket to Yang Chunjiang and prepared to catch up.
But someone moved even faster.
Already striding after Shen Yueliang.
Because of the lingering fear, Shen Yueliang wasn’t walking very quickly.
In fact, she worried that if she moved too fast, her legs might give out entirely.
So when she heard footsteps approaching behind her, she assumed it was Su Qiuyun.
“Qiuyun-jie, go back.”
“You don’t need to see me off.”
“I was just scared earlier.”
“I’m mostly fine now.”
“Help me tell Sister-in-law that I’ll deliver the clothes after they’re finished.”
“As for the spicy chicken chili sauce… we’ll see.”
“I’ll bring some over when I get around to making it.”
No one responded.
But the footsteps continued following her.
Shen Yueliang slowed down.
Unsure, she called again,
“Qiuyun-jie?”
Still no answer.
A possibility suddenly occurred to her.
She spun around.
The moment she saw that face, she couldn’t help swearing for the first time.
“Get lost!”
Even if lying had been her fault, she had already admitted it and promised compensation.
She was actively trying to make up for it.
If he disliked her so much, then he shouldn’t have saved her.
Who wasn’t cherished by their parents and family at home?
She had been the little princess of her family.
Even the original owner—
Lin Qinfen had never spoken to her so harshly.
And her brother Shen Xiangbei treated her incredibly well.
Her relatives might have been annoying, but because she had a skill that earned money, none of them truly dared do much to her.
Even Luo Shengli, the so-called destined male lead—
Though he had freeloaded food, money, and ration tickets from the original owner more than once—
Had never spoken to her like this.
Who did Ji Yanchuan think he was?
How dare he talk to her that way?
The more she thought about it, the more wronged she felt.
The angrier she became.
Shen Yueliang felt that she never wanted to see this face again for the rest of her life.
She immediately quickened her pace.
Yet the man behind her clung to her like a ghost.
Whether she walked fast or slow, he continued following.
So annoying!
The thought flashed through her mind as she suddenly stopped.
Unfortunately…
Ji Yanchuan hadn’t expected her to stop so abruptly.
In truth, his own thoughts were a complete mess.
Even he didn’t know why those words had come out earlier.
It was completely unlike him.
He had only recognized the snake as highly venomous.
One bite could have killed her.
And then…
Things got even worse.
He never expected the person striding ahead to stop without warning.
By the time he tried to halt, it was already too late.
They were on a downhill slope.
The incline wasn’t small.
He was tall and powerfully built.
Shen Yueliang, on the other hand, was slender and delicate.
How could she possibly withstand the force of him crashing into her from behind?
She stumbled forward.
Then—
Rumble, rumble, rumble—
She rolled straight down the hillside.
Shen Yueliang had lived through two lifetimes and never felt this speechless before.
Rolling down a hill was bad enough.
But Ji Yanchuan just had to reach out and grab her.
Fine.
He grabbed her.
But if he was going to grab her, couldn’t he at least hold on properly?
He failed to hold her.
And the result was that both of them rolled down together.
And not just rolling.
They were rolling while wrapped around each other.