Chapter 21

ker clothes, or white shirts.unassuming.The most imposing building in the county town is a three-story department store. It just opened last month after renovations and was originally called the depar..."Xiaoning, why are you quarreling with them" Huazi sighed.

After yesterday's interaction, plus the fact that his father also said Ning Yuan was a grateful and kind girl, he began to treat Ning Yuan like a little sister.

Ning Yuan just smiled nonchalantly, and hoisted the yoke again: "It's nothing, Hua Zi Ge. I'm too lazy to argue with them."

These people haggle over their work points day after day, but it will be fully open soon.

As long as a person's mind is active and they are diligent, they will never starve themselves.

Apart from not hanging out with Tang Zhenzhen and her little group, she actually enjoyed being less bothered. At least she didn't have to constantly watch out for that woman scheming against her.

Hua Zi arranged Ning Yuan to work with the villagers. Remembering her father's instructions, she privately asked her trusted villagers to take good care of Ning Yuan.

Most villagers, seeing Ning Yuan actually marry a down-to-the-country reform worker, thought the young intellectual was both foolish and pitiful. They were more willing to look after her a bit out of sympathy.

Ning Yuan was more comfortable than when she was working in the youth league team, although her body was tired, her heart wasn't.

When work was finished at night, Hua's daughter-in-law stuffed her with several large steamed buns and some newly pickled sour bean pods, and also picked two handfuls of fresh green vegetables for her.

That's a little something back in return for the bottle of wine and sugar.

Ning Yuan was quite happy. After a hard day's work in the field, she was too tired to go fishing again. She simply stir-fried the vegetables and sour beansprouts, ate them with steamed buns and red rice porridge, and finished her dinner.

Rong Zhaonan continued to be responsible for washing the dishes and tidying up, as well as cleaning. He didn't complain about the lack of meat in the dinner and quietly finished it.

At night, Ning Yuan washed up as usual and continued reading. She waited for Rong Zhaonan to sleep first before going to bed herself.

Nina woke up in the middle of the night, feeling disoriented by the sound of rain pattering against the window. She sat up, but her eyes widened as she realized... she was alone in bed.

Her heart skipped a beat, she stared blankly at the bed, Rong Zhao Nan had once again vanished silently.

There was still no sign of him leaving. Ning Yuan lay in bed for a long time before making up her mind to find out what Rong Zhao Nan had been up to.

After all, living with someone so secretive and suspicious really made her uneasy.

So, the next night before she went to sleep, she deliberately only ate a little bit of rice and drank a large glass of water before going to bed.

As expected, I couldn't sleep soundly. I was restless all through the first half of the night, feeling groggy and my stomach rumbling.

Until...

A sudden breeze brushed against her face.

Ning Yuan had a jolt, and instantly she was wide awake.

She suddenly turned her head and saw that there was no one beside her. But under the moonlight, she saw that the window beside her was quietly closing.

A tall figure was cast on the window paper, it wasn't Rong Zhaonan, who else could it be!

Ning Yuan held her breath nervously, waiting for him to close the window. Then, from the crack in the window, she pulled out a thin iron wire and latched the window shut from the inside.

As it turns out, Rong Zhaonan didn't leave through the door. He left through the window and even made it look like the window was closed from the inside.

Ning Yuan felt a chill run down her spine. If this person were a thief or an assassin, they wouldn't even leave a trace; no one could catch them.

She quietly watched Rong Zhaonan leave from the crack in the window. She quickly got up, dressed, and locked the door before hurrying out after him.

What on earth is this person doing, sneaking around in the middle of the night every day At least give us a heads-up!

Those red armbands and the people who targeted him kept staring at him so closely, what if someone checked on him in the middle of the night

She, his cheap wife, was dragged down by him. Living in fear for days, Ning Yuan couldn't take it anymore.

She decided to investigate on her own.

Luckily, Rong Zhaonan didn't disappear all at once.

She knew Rong Zhaonan was a very cautious person, and she didn't dare to get too close. She only followed that tall, silent figure from afar.

The other party was agile, moving through the forest paths as if they were in no one's land. She could only chase after them desperately, barely managing to keep up.

After following for about an hour, Rong Zhaonan suddenly stopped and turned his head to give her a cold glance.

Ning Yuan was so startled that she jumped back and quickly squatted down.

When she woke up again, she found—what the heck! The person was gone!

Ning Yuan was stunned. She never dared to go up the mountain alone at night, so what should she do now

All was silent around, under the hazy moonlight, a cold and dark gloom. There were only the chirping of crickets and the calls of night birds, along with strange cries from some unknown beast.

She panicked instantly, looking around but couldn't see Rong Zhaonan anywhere.

She lost the person!

Ning Yuan only then realized what a stupid thing she had done — a young woman who had never gone up the mountain at night, following someone and getting lost in the vast mountains during the night!

That's so stupid!

Fear made her whisper his name, "Rong Zhaonan... Rong Zhaonan..."

But only the silent night and the eerie growls of some unknown beast answered her.

No way, I have to go down the mountain! It's the 1970s now, and the ecological environment is good. She remembers what the old people in the village said: besides snakes on Dashan Mountain, there are also bears, jackals, and even wolves!

Ning Yuan hurriedly turned around and ran back.

But after walking for ten minutes, she realized she seemed to be lost!

Ning Yuan's eyes were red-rimmed and she was flustered. She pinched her thigh hard, forcing herself to calm down.

No, don't cry, don't panic!

Panicking and running around haphazardly can lead to injuries, exhaustion. What if you fall into a hole, ditch, ravine, or cliff Or worse, startle a wild animal!

She took a few deep breaths, trying hard to recall how she had descended the mountain after chopping firewood during the day. Where was the village located in the mountains Slowly, she groped her way down.

The sky was obscured by the trees, and the Big Dipper was invisible. But on the north side, there were many tree trunks covered in moss.

The village is located on the south side of the Big Green Mountains.

According to the knowledge she had learned about distinguishing directions, Ning Yuan rubbed against a tree trunk and picked up a branch as a walking stick.

She walked carefully, stumbling out, praying silently that she wouldn't encounter snakes or wild beasts.

>We walked for almost half an hour, but we still couldn't see any lights from the village.

Ning Yuan couldn't hold back her tears anymore, wiping them away and clutching the branch tightly as she slowly continued her journey.

She was reborn after so much hardship, she absolutely couldn't risk her life here! She had to find the place where villagers usually went to chop wood!

But just a few steps in, she suddenly felt her stick hit something soft and squishy.

Then the thing suddenly let out a strange chirping sound: "Chirp chirp..."

Then, suddenly, a large black shadow sprang up and let out a guttural growl towards her.

Under the moonlight, Ning Yuan's eyes widened in shock as she saw a ferocious wild boar with menacing tusks baring its teeth at her from just a short distance away.

The wild boar looked incredibly large, almost two hundred to three hundred pounds, and was snarling angrily at her.

And she just accidentally hit the soft thing with her stick—it was a few little wild piglets!

Damn it! Ning Yuan's pupils shrank.

Black bears are not as ferocious and aggressive as wild boars, nor are they as powerful. If you get hit by one or bitten, your bones will be broken and you could even lose your life!

The key is that there isn't just one wild boar, this is a whole litter, with four or five more pairs of eyes glowing menacingly, sharp tusks bared!

Ning Yuan's legs went soft, and she slowly retreated.

Looking into the eyes of the leading wild boar, glowing green in the night, and bowing its head, she instinctively knew the boar was charging at her!

As the wild boar charged at her, Ning Yuan screamed and turned to run uphill as fast as she could!

She still remembers that when chased by a wild boar, you shouldn't run downhill. You wouldn't outrun the boar and would easily panic and fall to your death!

Ning Yuan kept hearing the roars of the beasts behind her and the sounds of trees being broken as she ran desperately.

The night wind howled in her ears, she ran so fast her heart was about to jump out of her chest, her lungs ached.

Adrenaline surged through her, and she suddenly remembered — the tree! She needed to climb a big one, the kind that wild boars couldn't even break.

Ning Yuan charged toward a large, dry tree trunk. She didn't dare look back, using her hands and feet to climb up it as fast as she could.

As she grabbed the lowest branch and swung herself up, pulling her legs in, the trunk of the tree shook violently.

A wild boar charged at them fiercely.

"Ah—!" She scrambled upward, straining to pull herself up.

The enraged beasts continued to ram against the trees, nearly shaking Ning Yuan down. She clung desperately to the trunk with all her might.

She would never die here!

The next moment—

“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!” Several sharp sounds rang out, and something unknown broke through the air.

Ning Yuan suddenly felt that the wild boar's impact against the tree had lessened. She instinctively lowered her head and saw several arrows deeply embedded in the backs of the wild boars.

The air was thick with the smell of blood.

The injured beasts grew more furious, lowering their heads and charging at the tall, archer figure with their sharp fangs, like artillery shells fired.

The tall and agile shadow, wielding a knife, moved with lightning speed without dodging. He bent down, smoothly drawing his bow onto his shoulder, then in a quick motion, flipped out two knives with both hands.

With a flash of his blade, he plunged into the beast horde like a lightning arrow.

The shadow's cold hand rose and fell with the blade, a blend of bloodshed and the roars of beasts. Nan and I still have grilled fish, anyway we two can't finish so much fish, I'll bring you two."As she spoke, she walked toward the door.Mr. Tang was taken aback and hurriedly said, "Wait a moment, t...