After He Lingyun finished taking a cold rinse, the rest of the He family had returned home.
He Lingfeng was pleasantly surprised to see his younger brother. “Third Brother, you’re back?”
“Yes, Big Brother, Sister-in-law.”
He Lingyun was the third child in the family. The eldest was He Lingfeng, the second was their sister He Qiao, and there was a younger sister, He Mei. Both sisters were already married—only He Lingyun remained single. Because of this, Wu Guihua had worried so much about his marriage that quite a bit of her hair had turned gray.
But every time she brought it up, He Lingyun would brush it off with, “I’m still working on my career.”
Even before joining the army, He Lingyun had been rather cold in temperament. After enlisting, he became even more aloof.
He Lingfeng had long grown used to it, but his wife, Li Fengmei, was terrified of him. It felt as though his gaze could see right through her.
Li Fengmei forced a smile, then quickly went into the kitchen to help Wu Guihua cook. She would rather work than face her cold-faced brother-in-law.
Fortunately, he rarely came home. Otherwise, she felt she wouldn’t even be able to stay in this household.
He An and He Kang, the sons of He Lingfeng, were already twelve years old and naturally recognized their third uncle.
The two boys respectfully greeted him, “Third Uncle!”
He Lingyun nodded at them.
At the dinner table, Wu Guihua placed slices of cured meat and fish into the bowls of He Lingyun and Li Yunzhao. He Tiansheng, He Lingfeng, and the two boys also got some.
Wu Guihua and Li Fengmei, however, only ate vegetables and pickles.
“Third son, eat more, eat more!”
He Lingyun picked some fish and cured meat from his bowl and placed it into Wu Guihua’s. “Mom, you should eat too.”
“Yes, yes, I will,” Wu Guihua replied happily.
She hadn’t seen her son for over two years and missed him dearly.
Seeing that everyone else had meat except her, Li Fengmei spoke without thinking, “Third Brother, I heard you came back with that educated youth, Lu. What were you thinking?”
Hearing this, Wu Guihua immediately became displeased. She didn’t want her son to have anything to do with that girl.
“Just eat your food. Why are you talking so much?”
After being scolded, Li Fengmei pouted and said nothing more.
He Lingyun sensed something was off. His mother seemed to particularly dislike the young girl, so he casually asked, “Hm? What’s wrong? Yunzhao was in the car too. Comrade Lu didn’t do anything.”
“My son, you don’t know—when that girl first arrived, she was so fussy, acting all delicate. What family would want a girl like that? The team leader said she even wants to build her own house, says she can’t get used to sleeping with the other educated youths. Before the house is built, she plans to rent a place. Just think—such a spendthrift girl, no matter how much money she has, she’ll waste it all.”
He Lingyun didn’t listen to the rest. From that alone, he could clearly hear the strong dislike in his mother’s tone.
The girl wanted to build a house? And rent a place? There were no spare rooms in their home—but his grandparents’ place did have one. Maybe it could be rented to her?
That fair, delicate girl, soft like a ball of dough—shouldn’t she be pampered?
But seeing how much his family disliked her, marrying her wouldn’t be easy.
When the weather cooled a bit, He Lingyun took Li Yunzhao up the mountain. He wanted to catch some game to improve the family’s meals.
The He family wasn’t poor. In a time when many couldn’t even get enough to eat, they managed to have meat every now and then.
Whenever He Lingyun came back, he would go hunting to bring back something good.
All his military allowance was sent home for Wu Guihua to manage—about forty to fifty yuan a month. The whole family worked diligently and had saved quite a bit.
“Ling-ge, what are we doing?” Li Yunzhao asked.
“Setting traps. Catching some game.”
He Lingyun spent most of the year away, so whenever he returned, he wanted to bring more meat home.
Li Yunzhao, being from the city, had come along just to experience rural life. Hearing they were going hunting, he immediately grew excited.
But before he could say anything, He Lingyun covered his mouth. In those days, resources in the mountains were collectively owned—if others saw, they might accuse them of exploiting public property.
Some things couldn’t be said openly.
Understanding this, Li Yunzhao nodded.
He Lingyun released his hand, and the two of them headed up the mountain along a small path.
Meanwhile, Lu Zhiyao also went up the mountain. She spotted some common medicinal herbs and secretly stored them in her space, where they could grow rapidly and be harvested quickly.
Later, she could sell them at a traditional medicine shop for income.
As she collected along the way, her space gradually filled with various herbs.
Looking at the sky, she decided it was time to head back. She picked some mushrooms, placed them in her basket, and gathered some firewood to carry down.
【Ding! System mission released: Within ten minutes, the host must touch the male lead He Lingyun’s hand. Reward: 1000 points. Failure: deduct 1000 points.】
Lu Zhiyao was startled. “Male lead? Wasn’t the male lead Pei Feng? How did it become He Lingyun?”
【Host, you’ve already transmigrated—what’s so strange about changing the male lead?】
She was speechless.
“Ten minutes? Where is he?”
【Host, the male lead He Lingyun is 800 meters to your front-left. Please complete the mission quickly.】
Fortunately, it wasn’t too far.
She was still thinking about how to touch his hand—she needed some kind of dramatic situation, right? It’s not like a wild animal would suddenly chase her…
Just as the thought crossed her mind, she heard movement behind her.
【Host, a wild boar is coming!】
“Seriously?!”
Lu Zhiyao ran toward He Lingyun’s direction, crying for help as she ran.
“Ling-ge, do you hear something?” Li Yunzhao asked.
He Lingyun listened carefully, his expression turning serious. “Someone’s calling for help. Let’s go!”
He identified the direction and ran toward it, with Li Yunzhao following.
Soon, He Lingyun saw a disheveled girl running toward him—it was the girl he had been thinking about.
Behind her, a wild boar was chasing.
His pupils shrank, and he rushed forward even faster.
“Zhizhi, hide over there!”
He shouted the name he had long held in his heart, then charged at the boar.
Dodging its attack, he swung his machete at its neck, while Li Yunzhao struck its front legs. Injured, the boar struggled but couldn’t stand and eventually bled out.
Lu Zhiyao collapsed onto the ground, tears streaming down her face.
Seeing her like this, He Lingyun felt a pang of heartache. “Comrade Lu, are you alright?”
【Host, one minute remaining. Please complete the mission.】
“M-my legs are weak… Commander He, can you help me up?” she said, trembling.
“Excuse me.”
With concern, He Lingyun wrapped one arm around her waist and took her hand with the other, helping her to stand.
What he truly wanted was to pull her into his arms and comfort her—but he didn’t dare.
【Congratulations, host. Mission complete. Reward: 3000 points.】
Lu Zhiyao’s eyes widened in shock.
He Lingyun thought she was startled by his touch, so he quickly stepped back after helping her up, afraid she might think he was taking advantage of her.
But Lu Zhiyao wasn’t thinking about that at all—she was thinking about the 3000 points.
Only afterward did she realize… he had just held her waist.
No wonder the reward was so high. Going beyond the requirement increased the points.
He Lingyun, meanwhile, felt a lingering warmth in his palm from her waist.
Her waist was so slender he could encircle it with both hands.
He couldn’t help but think: with such a slim waist… could it even hold up?