When Yu Chunmiao truly woke up, the first thing she saw was Qi Chong turning his head to the side, his body passively trapped in her embrace.
She shot upright in an instant—faster than when she overslept on a workday.
Her first worry was whether she had pressed on Qi Chong’s injured leg. After a quick glance, it seemed stable enough, and only then did she relax. She climbed out of bed and left the room, not forgetting to check his temperature one last time before going.
As soon as the door closed, the man opened his eyes.
He reached out, feeling the lingering warmth beside him. That strange, restless sensation was still coursing through his body.
The sun hanging high in the sky reminded Yu Chunmiao that she’d missed the time to give Qi Chong his pain-relief medicine. Skipping breakfast, she carried the bowl into the room and woke him.
Qi Chong didn’t pretend to sleep this time. He cooperated, sitting up to drink the medicine.
“You scared me half to death last night,” Yu Chunmiao said as she fed him. “You were so hot you could’ve cooked flatbread on your body.”
Qi Chong remembered little about the night before. Other than the shock Yu Chunmiao had given him that morning, all he knew was that she had stayed by his side the entire time.
“Thank you… for all your hard work.”
Yu Chunmiao smiled sweetly. The dimples at her cheeks made her lips look even more delicate.
“Doctor Yu keeps saying you’ve got a strong constitution. I was wondering how strong it could be—last night you were burning so badly you couldn’t even swallow the medicine. And now you’re fine.”
As she spoke, the memory of feeding him mouth-to-mouth surfaced. She hadn’t thought much of it in the moment, but now her ears flushed red.
Fortunately, Qi Chong knew nothing about it. That spared her even more embarrassment.
By evening, Qi Yuan returned, bringing with him the toilet stool he’d made. After helping his brother take care of his needs and cleaning up, he sought Qi Chong out.
“Big Brother, Sister-in-law is incredible. She’s smarter than any legendary strategist. After I finished the toilet, people asked what it was for—guess what happened?”
Qi Chong gave him a look that clearly said, Go on.
Qi Yuan grew excited. “There happened to be a family looking at furniture in the courtyard. When they heard my explanation, they immediately ordered three—said they wanted one in every room!”
Qi Chong shot him a look. “You shouldn’t have said anything. This could’ve been a way to make money. When you come back, you could’ve made them yourself and saved her from running into the mountains every day.”
Qi Yuan smacked his forehead hard. “Ah! How did I not think of that? Next time Sister-in-law comes up with an idea, even if you beat me to death, I won’t say a word.”
He’d only known Yu Chunmiao for a few days, yet the changes in the household were plain to see. They ate refined grain now, had meat every day. Their mother’s cough was improving. His brother’s leg could finally be treated.
And just like that, he’d wasted one of her ideas. The guilt weighed heavily on him.
Qi Chong noticed his expression and said gently, “Don’t dwell on it. You studied under Master Xiao for three years, and he treated you well. We don’t have much to repay him with—consider this a gift.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Qi Chong broke into a coughing fit, the pain in his injured leg flaring along with it.
Qi Yuan hurriedly poured him a bowl of water. “Big Brother, you don’t know—last night you couldn’t even drink water. Sister-in-law was so anxious she fed you mouth-to-mouth…”
Qi Chong choked on the water and started coughing even harder.
Qi Yuan quickly patted his back. “Easy, easy! She only did it once. After that, she used a reed stalk to feed you.”
Was there really any difference?
That night, Qi Chong couldn’t fall asleep for a long time. Just thinking about his brother’s words sent a tingling sensation spreading from his lips—to his chest, to his limbs, and deep into his heart.
The next day, Chen Ruolan stayed home to care for Qi Chong, while Yu Chunmiao and Qi Rong went back into the mountains to dig for pinellia.
After several consecutive days, the brother and sister-in-law pair wandered farther and farther. With both baskets still not full, Yu Chunmiao suddenly heard the long howl of a wolf.
Yu Chunmiao’s legs nearly gave out from fright. She hurriedly asked her brother-in-law,
“Rong’er, why are there wolves in the mountains? It’s not going to come after us, is it?”
Qi Rong tilted his head and listened. The wolf howled a few more times. Like a little adult, he said calmly,
“Don’t be scared, Sister-in-law. It’s still two mountain ridges away. And it’s a lone wolf. By the time it gets here, we’ll already be home.”
Yu Chunmiao half believed him, half didn’t—but for the sake of the money, she steeled herself and kept digging.
Before long, rustling sounds came from the nearby brush, mixed with low animal grunts. The noise was loud and unmistakable.
Yu Chunmiao and Qi Rong looked up at the same time.
“Sister-in-law, stay crouched and don’t move. I’ll take a look,” Qi Rong said without a hint of fear as he slowly stood up.
The moment he straightened, he saw a sow leading a whole litter of piglets, rooting through the ground and heading straight toward where they were digging pinellia.
A mother boar protecting her young was vicious—and fast. Qi Rong knew he couldn’t handle her head-on. He quickly scanned the surroundings and found no cover nearby.
“Sister-in-law… it’s a wild boar.”
Yu Chunmiao began trembling. “Th-then what do we do?”
Qi Rong had heard plenty of stories about wild boars from his older brother and knew a bit about them. He forced himself to stay calm.
“Don’t panic. She’s still far away. Can you climb a tree?”
The Yu Chunmiao of this era couldn’t really climb trees. The modern Yu Chunmiao had climbed jujube trees as a child—but that was ages ago. Still… it probably counted.
With no confidence at all, she answered, “I… think so?”
Qi Rong pointed at a pine tree. “When I tell you to climb, don’t think about anything else—just go up. Sit on the second branch. The boar won’t be able to hurt you there.”
Yu Chunmiao looked at the tree. Its trunk was about thirty centimeters thick, and the first branch was less than three meters up. As long as she could grab that branch, climbing up shouldn’t be too hard.
“Okay. I’ll listen to you.”
With the plan set, Qi Rong picked up a sturdy wooden stick and crouched low as he moved toward the boar.
Yu Chunmiao was both terrified and worried. Qi Rong was still just a child—how could he possibly deal with a wild boar? If anything were to happen to him, how would she face her mother-in-law?
No—no matter what, she was the adult here. She couldn’t let a child take the risk alone.
Just as she was about to run toward him, Qi Rong shouted,
“Sister-in-law, climb—now!”
Yu Chunmiao jumped to her feet. From about fifty meters away, she saw Qi Rong picking up stones and throwing them at the boar, trying to draw it toward himself.
He was deliberately luring it away.
How could that be okay?!
Yu Chunmiao was about to rush over, but after only two steps, she saw Qi Rong scramble up a tree. With one arm clinging to the trunk, he waved the stick in his other hand, driving off the boar charging at him.
Seeing that her brother-in-law was temporarily safe, Yu Chunmiao forced herself to stick to the plan. If she failed to get up the tree, she’d only drag him down with her.
She hugged the trunk, kicked her feet against the bark, and struggled upward.
This body was far too weak. Yu Chunmiao felt like she was using every ounce of strength she had, yet she crawled upward at a snail’s pace. Less than three meters—why did it feel so impossibly far?
The piglets seemed to have scattered and hidden. The mother boar repeatedly tried to ram the tree Qi Rong was clinging to. Thankfully, he’d chosen a thick camphor tree—she wouldn’t be able to knock it down anytime soon.
But Yu Chunmiao wasn’t so lucky.
She was still well within the boar’s attack range.
Seeing that she couldn’t bring down Qi Rong for the moment, the sow turned her attention to the easier target—Yu Chunmiao—and charged toward her tree.
“Sister-in-law, hurry!” Qi Rong shouted as he jumped down from the tree and ran in the direction of the piglets.