"Huh? What’s up?"
Mu Shuangshuang tied up a bundle of grass, her face already covered in sweat.
She looked at Lu Yuanfeng in confusion, she seed to have just heard him call her na.
"I..." Lu Yuanfeng hesitated, unsure of what the outco would be if he spoke out. "Nothing, just watch your step, with grass this tall, there might be snakes."
"I understand." Mu Shuangshuang nodded. Before she could cut another handful of grass, a black shadow flashed before her eyes. Her body moved faster than her mind, and with a flick of her sickle, sothing was sliced into two.
Upon closer inspection, a black and yellow striped banded snake was still twitching on the grass, its blood flowing from where the body was severed.
Mu Shuangshuang quickly retreated a few steps; even when a snake’s head is chopped off, it can still bite, let alone a snake rely cut in half.
Lu Yuanfeng’s sickle clattered to the ground at his feet as he, with red-rimd eyes, pulled Mu Shuangshuang over. "Are you okay? Did you..."
Compared to Lu Yuanfeng’s panic, Mu Shuangshuang was much calr.
She gave what she thought was a charming smile. "No, I’m fine, aren’t I lucky? I killed a snake with just a swing of my sickle."
Mu Shuangshuang raised her hand, waving it in front of Lu Yuanfeng.
Lu Yuanfeng’s forehead and face were drenched in cold sweat, and he suddenly felt a bit despondent. Every ti Shuangshuang faced danger, he couldn’t help her in ti; instead, she always relied on herself.
"Hey, silly guy, are you crying out of fear? I’m fine, and besides, that snake wasn’t venomous, even if it bit , nothing would happen, you..." don’t worry!
Before she could finish speaking, Lu Yuanfeng already pulled Mu Shuangshuang into his embrace. Lu Yuanfeng was very tall, and Mu Shuangshuang was petite; their bodies fit together well.
Most importantly, Mu Shuangshuang felt that this hug sohow dissipated all the lingering hostility she had since she transmigrated.
She seed to quite like this warm embrace.
It was as if, no matter what difficulties she encountered, there was soone to support her and accompany her.
"Lu Yuanfeng, thank you!"
...
A sudden hug, a sudden separation, both Mu Shuangshuang’s and Lu Yuanfeng’s faces were a bit flushed, but they tacitly chose not to speak.
After a long while, Lu Yuanfeng took a deep breath, moved to the mountainside, cut down a roughly two-ter-long pole, and carefully checked the grass, ensuring there were no more snakes before he could finally relax.
Not bad, this kid does have so smarts about him, Mu Shuangshuang thought. If Lu Yuanfeng were in the modern world, he might have been soone in a security team.
"So, what do we do with the snake?" Mu Shuangshuang raised an eyebrow and spoke, with a bit of mysterious liquid dripping from the corner of her mouth.
Seeing her hungry expression, Lu Yuanfeng found it sowhat amusing.
"We can eat it. How about I handle it now, and you take a break?"
"I’ll go with you. Let’s make sothing delicious at my place tonight and indulge a bit." Mu Shuangshuang said with a laugh.
"Yes, but I haven’t finished building the house for you, and the stove isn’t ready yet." Although Lu Yuanfeng nodded, he was still a bit hesitant.
"You just wait and see my skills then."
The dead banded snake was carried by Lu Yuanfeng and Mu Shuangshuang to a small stream. Lu Yuanfeng used a sickle to skin the snake, removed the internal organs and the gallbladder. Using the spring water, he washed the snake at clean.
"How about we not work anymore today; it’s getting late anyway, and it’s ti to prepare dinner?" Mu Shuangshuang suggested.
The two of them stuck three pieces of wood into the ground where they planned to clear the land, as a sign to others that soone was already cultivating there, and no one else could touch that land in the future.
Whoever clears the land owns it, according to the village’s long-standing rules.
Lu Yuanfeng used a wooden stick to lift the two bundles of grass Mu Shuangshuang had cut and brought them to Fugui’s house, which had plenty of fields and owned an ox. Once there, he stated his purpose, and Wang Fugui’s father imdiately handed over four copper coins to Lu Yuanfeng without any hesitation.
"Good boy, you’re quite clever."
"Uncle Wang, don’t say that, I’m just trying to earn so pocket money for Yuanbao." Lu Yuanfeng replied respectfully.
"You’ve worked hard, so it’s right to earn money. But my family needs ten to fifteen days to finish harvesting. Do you want to supply grass for our old ox during this ti? Three bundles of grass a day, and I’ll pay you daily, how about that?"
Wang Fugui’s family had the most fields in the village. While other families ate gruel mixed with wild vegetables, they could afford white rice and even had so to waste.
"Alright, then I’ll bring a bundle over for Uncle Wang tomorrow at noon."
This batch of grass was enough for their old ox to eat for two als.
"Good boy, it’s wise to save so money and get a wife early, unlike my son Fugui, who wanders around all day and doesn’t even want to marry."
Wang Dali got a headache when talking about his son, who at twenty was still goofing around in town and never stayed ho.
"Uncle Wang, don’t worry, Fugui is sensible, he’ll co back when he’s had enough fun."
"Ah, let’s hope so!"
With four copper coins in hand, Lu Yuanfeng left the Wang family courtyard. Mu Shuangshuang was waiting at the corner with the processed snake in her hand. As he approached Mu Shuangshuang, he shook the four copper coins in his hand and then directly stuffed them into Mu Shuangshuang’s pocket.
"What are you doing? This money should be split evenly." Mu Shuangshuang, holding the snake, couldn’t easily reach her pocket, so she had to let Lu Yuanfeng take out his share.
"It was your idea, and you cut the grass, so the money should be yours."
"You’re trying to make angry! We agreed to split it evenly in town. If you act like this, don’t co to my place." Mu Shuangshuang stomped her foot in anger and gave Lu Yuanfeng a hard look. Reluctantly, Lu Yuanfeng took two copper coins out of her pocket.
"I got it, don’t kick out." Lu Yuanfeng said pitifully.
"That’s more like it, let’s go to your place for supplies first, or it’ll be too dark to finish cooking dinner."
————
Mu Shuangshuang and Lu Yuanfeng brought a bunch of things ho. Since they took a backpath, the people from the Old Mu Family didn’t notice, but Little Zhi, holding Little Black, ca running over excitedly.
When she saw the snake in Mu Shuangshuang’s hand, she closed her eyes in fear, and Little Black, whom she was holding, was flung out.
Unlike Little Zhi, after Little Black fell to the ground, its first reaction was to rush over and scratch Mu Shuangshuang’s instep, looking pitifully at the skinned banded snake, almost drooling.
"Hiss hiss hiss hiss!" (Feed !)
"Hiss hiss hiss hiss!" (Can’t hold back any longer!)
Mu Shuangshuang stared at Little Black for a mont, subconsciously imagining Little Black’s thoughts.
"Damn, you little brat, you’re the one who needs looking after."
Little Black looked at the sky speechlessly; it hadn’t thought of anything at all!
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