Gu Yanchen pursed his lips. He hadn’t expected Gu Xiaoxiao to say something like that.
Thinking back to everything Gu Xiaoxiao had done to him before, he had never blamed her. Instead, he always felt that he must have done something wrong to make his sister angry. At the same time, he couldn’t understand why she disliked him so much.
He wanted his sister’s love.
He wanted her care and affection.
When Gu Xiaoxiao admitted that she had been wrong, Gu Yanchen shook his head and said,
“Big Sister, I’ve never blamed you. Maybe I did something wrong that made you dislike me.”
His soft voice grew quieter and quieter toward the end. He cautiously looked up at Gu Xiaoxiao’s expression. Seeing that she wasn’t angry, he quietly let out a sigh of relief.
Looking at such a sensible little brother, Gu Xiaoxiao really wanted to beat up the original owner of this body.
How could anyone bear to mistreat such an adorable little brother?
She pulled Gu Yanchen into her arms and said guiltily,
“I’m sorry, A-Chen. Your sister was foolish before. You’re such a good boy—how could I possibly dislike you? Don’t ever say that again. From now on, I’ll treat A-Chen very, very well.”
Feeling the warmth of her embrace and hearing her promise to treat him well, Gu Yanchen’s lips curled upward uncontrollably.
But he was also afraid it wasn’t real.
“Really? You really don’t dislike A-Chen?”
Gu Xiaoxiao nodded firmly.
The moment he saw her nod, Gu Yanchen was overjoyed.
Big Sister said she’ll treat me very, very well! Big Sister doesn’t dislike A-Chen!
Watching his cheerful expression, Gu Xiaoxiao smiled and rubbed his head.
This time, Gu Yanchen didn’t dodge her touch. He simply let her pat him.
When Gu Zhenzhong came out of the house, he was greeted by this scene.
He stared in disbelief.
Am I still asleep?
Why is Little Sister acting so strangely today? First she wanted to go up the mountain, and now she’s getting along so happily with Little Brother.
Seeing Gu Zhenzhong return, Gu Xiaoxiao stood up and took Gu Yanchen’s hand.
“Let’s go.”
With that, she led Gu Yanchen away.
By the time Gu Zhenzhong snapped out of his daze, they were already some distance ahead.
“Hey, wait for me!”
Gu Zhenzhong hurried to the front to lead the way.
If there was any danger, he could shield them first.
“Little Sister, remember to stay close behind me. There are lots of wild beasts in these mountains. If you’re not careful, something could happen.”
He had already said this at the foot of the mountain.
Now that they were halfway up, he was still repeating it.
Gu Xiaoxiao made an exaggeratedly impatient face at Gu Yanchen.
Seeing it, Gu Yanchen lowered his head and secretly laughed.
By the eighty-fourth time Gu Zhenzhong repeated himself, Gu Xiaoxiao finally couldn’t take it anymore.
“I know, Brother! Stop talking already! My ears are growing calluses!”
Gu Zhenzhong immediately clamped his mouth shut.
He turned around and raised his eyebrows as if asking:
How about now? Is this better?
Gu Xiaoxiao pressed a hand to her forehead.
No wonder the original Gu Xiaoxiao never paid much attention to him.
There was a reason.
“Brother, didn’t you say you wanted to check your traps? Let’s go take a look.”
The moment his traps were mentioned, Gu Zhenzhong instantly became excited.
He led them deeper into the mountain.
Under a tree sat a woven basket trap.
Inside, two wild rabbits were trapped beneath it.
They must have been caught recently; otherwise, they would have escaped long ago.
The moment he saw the rabbits, Gu Zhenzhong happily ran over and pulled them out.
“These two rabbits are pretty fat! We can have something good for dinner tonight!”
Actually, Gu Zhenzhong was quite skilled at hunting.
Every day he caught animals of various sizes.
But half of what he caught had to be sold in town.
The remaining half was kept for the family to enjoy a little meat.
Even then, most of the meat ended up in Gu Xiaoxiao’s stomach.
The rest of the family could only eat whatever she left behind and drink some broth.
Yet Gu Zhenzhong never complained.
In fact, he often wished he could catch more so that his little sister could eat her fill.
He even believed that the reason she never had enough was because he wasn’t bringing home enough game.
This family had treated the original owner incredibly well.
It was the original owner who had failed to cherish them.
Now that she was here, Gu Xiaoxiao resolved to live well on the original owner’s behalf and treasure this family properly.
With stars in his eyes, Gu Yanchen turned toward her and said,
“Big Sister, rabbit meat is your favorite.”
Gu Xiaoxiao smiled and rubbed his head.
Being patted by his sister again made Gu Yanchen so shy that he didn’t know what to do.
After knocking the rabbits unconscious, Gu Zhenzhong placed them in his basket and continued onward.
He had set quite a few traps.
On a good day, he could catch at least two animals.
Yet despite that, the Gu family remained the poorest family in the village.
At another trap, Gu Zhenzhong found a wild chicken.
Today’s harvest was excellent.
He was smiling so broadly that he could barely close his mouth.
Seeing that both brothers were focused on hunting, Gu Xiaoxiao glanced at the wild vegetables growing nearby.
“Brother, go check the rest of your traps. I’m going to gather some wild vegetables.”
Without giving Gu Zhenzhong a chance to object, she walked away.
As soon as Gu Xiaoxiao left, Gu Yanchen followed her.
Gu Zhenzhong froze while holding the wild chicken.
Watching the two of them walk away together, he felt strangely heartbroken.
Gu Zhenzhong: o(╥﹏╥)o
As Gu Xiaoxiao wandered off, she spotted plenty of mustard greens and began picking them.
Gu Yanchen obediently followed behind her.
Then she noticed another plant growing among the weeds.
Its leaves looked somewhat unusual—almost triangular—and it was growing in dense clusters.
Gu Xiaoxiao carefully examined it.
After taking a closer look, her eyes lit up.
Isn’t this Polygonum multiflorum (He Shou Wu)?
In ancient times, that had to be worth quite a bit of money.
The thought flashed through her mind, and her hands immediately got to work.
She carefully dug away the soil around the plant.
Unfortunately, she was physically weak.
After digging for a long time, she had only made a small hole.
“Big Sister, what are you doing?”
Gu Yanchen had been watching her dig the dirt the whole time.
At first, he thought she had suddenly decided to play in the soil, so he hadn’t interrupted her.
Only when she looked tired did he step forward to ask.
“I’m digging up He Shou Wu. But I’m exhausted already. If only I had a shovel.”
Gu Xiaoxiao was genuinely worn out.
She collapsed onto the ground.
The moment Gu Yanchen heard that she wanted a shovel, his eyes lit up.
He immediately rummaged through the basket on his back.
After a lot of searching, he pulled out a small shovel and presented it proudly in front of her.
“Big Sister, the shovel you wanted!”
His eyes sparkled.
Big Sister wanted a shovel, and I found one for her.
She should be happy, right?
He watched her reaction nervously.
The moment Gu Xiaoxiao saw the shovel appear before her, she was delighted.
“A shovel! A-Chen, you had a shovel with you? That’s wonderful! Now I can definitely dig up this He Shou Wu!”