Peaceful Farm Life

Chapter 1409: Chapter 1410: Exhausted in Both Mind and Body

Without waiting for Gong Juechen to respond, Ye Zhi asked again, ”Wasn’t I with Shi Shi and the others? Where are they?”

”There was a landslide, you were buried under the soil—don’t you remember?”

Ye Zhi suddenly understood. No wonder her whole body ached so much, as if she had been run over by a car. So that’s why, she had been buried under the soil.

Gong Juechen continued, ”I was worried you might be in danger, so I came here looking for you. As it happened, I saw the landslide occur, and you were buried. Then I dug you out from the soil myself. As for your five soldiers, I didn’t pay much attention, but they should be fine. When I brought you away, they were still doing well.”

Dug out...

As soon as Ye Zhi heard Gong Juechen say he had dug her out of the soil, her gaze immediately landed on his hands. She noticed that Gong Juechen’s hands were badly injured, with the skin broken so severely that the flesh inside was visible. Just the sight of it made her feel pain.

Without needing to ask, Ye Zhi already knew he had used those two hands to dig her out.

Her emotions were incredibly mixed. Ye Zhi opened her mouth, wanting to say something about him digging her out from the soil, but in the end, she didn’t know what to say.

”Zhizhi, do you feel unwell anywhere?” Suddenly, Gong Juechen asked with a concerned expression, ”If you do, you must let me know.”

”Mm.” Ye Zhi responded, though her heart felt complicated and uneasy.

”The snake meat is ready. You’ve been unconscious for so long—you must be hungry. Come, try it and see how it tastes.”

Ye Zhi didn’t take the offered snake meat to eat. She only stared at Gong Juechen’s hands, tightly pressing her lips together, her eyes filled with a mixture of emotions. After a pause, she quietly asked, ”Did you apply medicine to them?”

”Mm, I did. It’s fine. You don’t have to worry.” Gong Juechen smiled cheekily again, acting as if he didn’t take it seriously at all, as though those hands weren’t his and he didn’t feel any pain.

”Here, try some.” Gong Juechen held the snake meat closer to Ye Zhi, urging her to eat.

”You eat it. I still have plenty of dried rations.” Ye Zhi didn’t take the snake meat but instead began searching for her pouch of dried rations.

When Gong Juechen had taken off Ye Zhi’s clothes to dry them, he had tossed her pouch of dried rations aside. Ye Zhi realized the pouch wasn’t on her but lying a short distance away, so she leaned over to grab it.

But just as she grabbed hold of the pouch, Gong Juechen snatched it away from her.

”You eat this, I’ll eat the dried rations.” Gong Juechen’s tone left no room for negotiation.

”Gong Juechen...” Whether it was the aching of her body making her feel drained, or perhaps her heart was also tired, Ye Zhi’s voice sounded weak and dispirited.

”I caught this especially for you.” Gong Juechen was still insistent, urging Ye Zhi to eat the snake meat to regain strength. With one hand, he held out the grilled snake meat toward Ye Zhi again, while with his other hand, he hid the pouch of dried rations behind his back, as if afraid she might try to grab it again.

”You can catch snakes?” Ye Zhi sounded a bit surprised. She hadn’t paid much attention earlier to how snake meat appeared. Now that it caught her eye, she was genuinely surprised.

”I’m a doctor. In the past, I’ve caught snakes to make medicinal wine, so of course I know how to catch them.” Gong Juechen lied with a completely straight face.

Only then did Ye Zhi accept the snake meat. But after taking it, she split the meat into two halves, giving one part to Gong Juechen.

Gong Juechen didn’t dare to give it all back to her, fearing she might get angry. So, he only took a small portion of the meat.

However, Gong Juechen thought that the snake meat was far from enough to fill his stomach, so he pulled out a round, flat piece of bread from the pouch of dried rations, warmed it over the fire, and then handed two to Ye Zhi, suggesting she wrap the snake meat in them and eat it together.