Recklessly Breaking a Delicate Branch - Chapter 13

Zhou Yan noticed the girl’s fingers clutching his clothes and lightly chuckled. “Alright, I’ll take that to mean you are shy.”

With that, Zhou Yan stopped worrying about other things. Anyway, he had already memorized the combined instructions from Jiang Wanshu on how to plant the seeds and no longer needed her direction. He left Jiang Wanshu alone, fidgeting in place, but also earnestly working the field.

This strange yet unusually harmonious scene was spotted by Muge Lazhi, who was going to the house to look for Jiang Wanshu, causing Muge Lazhi’s eyes to widen.

Grassland people are open and not as reserved as the people of the Central Plains, so Muge Lazhi did not find this scene, which could be seen daily on the hot grasslands, strange. However, her eyes fixed intently on the man before her.

Zhuo Jing Cha’er was the bravest existence in their grassland tribe. Grassland people do not like to use their appearance as a topic of discussion, but it was undeniable that Zhuo Jing Cha’er was also the most handsome man in the entire Zhenqi tribe.

Under the gaze of Muge Lazhi, who had already tasted romance and shifted her focus when looking at men, she saw the man bathed in sunlight and involuntarily swallowed. Yet, she remembered Musa, who was far away on the grassland, and the bells in her mind constantly shook, rejecting the sight.

Muge Lazhi glanced at Jiang Wanshu, who was still sitting on the chair covering her warm face with her hand, walked over quietly, and teased her.

“Girl Wan, with Zhuo Jing Cha’er’s physique, is it very satisfying to use?” Although she had a sense of awe toward Zhou Yan after their first meeting, it was undeniable that girls on the grassland all liked such strong and tall warriors.

Jiang Wanshu was startled by Muge Lazhi’s sudden approach, and after realizing what she meant by the sentence, Jiang Wanshu’s heart tightened.

Her palms were sweating. She looked up at Muge Lazhi. “I, I… I haven’t…”

Jiang Wanshu rarely lied, and she stammered when mentioning such a thing.

Muge Lazhi, who was standing to the side and heard the conversation, looked at her with disbelief in her eyes.

She gaped. “Girl Wan, you are too wasteful. Not only in our tribe but across the entire grassland, girls are coveting Zhuo Jing Cha’er’s body.”

Grassland girls were always bold, and their customs were open, so they naturally spoke more daringly than others.

Jiang Wanshu’s face, which she had just cooled with her hands, flushed again from Muge Lazhi’s words, and she lowered her head.

The man still standing in the field tilling the land stopped his movements as soon as he noticed another person standing next to Jiang Wanshu. He watched that crazy girl, Muge Lazhi, standing next to Jiang Wanshu, saying something unknown that made Jiang Wanshu lower her head, looking bashful. He unconsciously tightened his grip on the hoe in his hand.

He originally thought that since Muge Lazhi and Musa were husband and wife, and Musa was his brother, it was a good thing that Muge Lazhi and Jiang Wanshu got along. However, thinking of the crazy girl’s reckless speech, he quickly finished covering the land where the seeds had been planted with soil, watered it with the clean water in the bucket, threw down the irrelevant and scattered tools, and quickly walked over to the two of them.

The man’s figure was tall, like a mountain, and his arrival could be sensed without him saying another word.

The two girls who realized the man was approaching looked up. Since Jiang Wanshu was sitting on the low chair, what she could see from the bottom up was more than what Muge Lazhi saw.

Jiang Wanshu’s gaze traveled from the thick and fluid lines of the man’s legs, hidden beneath his wide trousers, to his waist, which was too broad for two hands to circle—not fat, but full of firm muscles—and then to his handsome, foreign-style face. She was so stunned that she instantly stood up in front of Zhou Yan, like a student who was late for class and waiting for the master’s punishment, trembling with fear.

Zhou Yan lowered his head to look at her, glanced at the girl still clutching his clothes, pulled it out, and, under her inescapable gaze, roughly used the garment to wipe his body, which was already drenched in sweat.

The clean white cloth was thrown onto the ground by the man. Having finished everything, the man shifted his gaze from Jiang Wanshu to Muge Lazhi.

Muge Lazhi saw the drastic change in Zhou Yan’s attitude and secretly cursed in her heart, thinking, Indeed, men are the most fickle.

Look, a moment ago, she saw a gentle expression in Zhuo Jing Cha’er’s eyes when he looked at Girl Wan, even if his face was expressionless. But when he looked at her, the gentleness was gone. Instead, his gaze was as if laced with ice, fearing that her mouth would cause trouble.

“Muge Lazhi, don’t talk nonsense to my A-Jia (wife/dear).” Zhou Yan spoke to her in proper grassland language, which left Jiang Wanshu utterly confused.

Muge Lazhi, who understood Zhou Yan’s words completely, froze her smile in embarrassment. Before long, she left.

Jiang Wanshu glanced at Muge Lazhi, then turned her gaze back to the man.

For some reason, seeing the man’s muscular body, Jiang Wanshu remembered what Muge Lazhi had said earlier. Her ears turned crimson, and she held her breath.

Zhou Yan’s eyebrows flickered, and he pondered, “What did Muge Lazhi say to you just now?”

Jiang Wanshu watched the man’s body getting closer and closer, and she retreated step by step until she was against the wall.

“Nothing. Muge Lazhi didn’t say anything to me!” Jiang Wanshu shook her head like a rattle-drum.

Zhou Yan still looked doubtful. The girl in front of him was small, pressed against the wall. Standing in front of her, he had a natural sense of oppression. So, Zhou Yan slightly moved his feet, and under Jiang Wanshu’s startled expression, he casually placed his right hand on the wall beside her.

The man’s handsome, sharp face stared intently at her, seemingly wanting to find a clue on Jiang Wanshu’s face. Following this was the heat billowing from the man’s chest in front of Jiang Wanshu. Under such unwavering scrutiny, Jiang Wanshu’s heart pounded like a deer running, beating faster and faster.

Her mind was in chaos. When she once again realized that her gaze had been misplaced on the man’s lean waist due to Muge Lazhi’s earlier words, she suddenly clutched her clothes tightly.

The beautiful dress was wrinkled by her grip. Jiang Wanshu’s heart jumped into her throat.

Jiang Wanshu’s fidgeting manner made Zhou Yan think she was guilty.

He placed his right hand on Jiang Wanshu’s shoulder and suddenly felt the heat emanating from her. He instantly remembered the scene before Muge Lazhi married Musa, when she had been with her grassland sisters, secretly watching him bathe in Mother River, and had been thrown to the ground when he threw a stone at her for her sisters’ indiscreet remarks. He raised his eyebrow with certainty.

He looked at Jiang Wanshu with a teasing gaze, and his magnetic, low voice uttered, “Then do you want to try?”

Even without Jiang Wanshu saying anything, Zhou Yan had more or less guessed what Muge Lazhi had said half a moment ago.

Although he genuinely disliked outsiders talking about him behind his back for no reason, it was undeniable that Muge Lazhi’s words had led to Jiang Wanshu facing him with such shyness, which made him feel quite satisfied.

The girl in front of him was now like a boneless kitten, soft and tender.

He freed his right hand and touched Jiang Wanshu’s hair, scaring her into instantly pulling away from his sight. In the man’s gaze, which sought to pursue and tease her, Jiang Wanshu lifted the corner of her skirt and ran quickly into the house.

“I remember the window inside isn’t closed. I’ll go close it first,” Jiang Wanshu said incoherently, only wanting to escape for the moment.

A breeze swept past her long hair, adding grace to Jiang Wanshu’s slender figure. Her waist was delicate and could be easily swayed by the wind, like the branches of a weeping willow, seemingly boneless. Unconsciously, Zhou Yan was entranced.

A moment of breeze passed, and Jiang Wanshu’s figure was already out of sight. Zhou Yan only then came back to his senses, lowering his head to look at the residual dirt on his body from farming and the heat caused by some unknown restlessness. He turned his steps.

He walked to the front of the kitchen and scooped a few ladles of cold water, pouring it over his shoulder.

The coldness of the water quickly dissipated the heat in his heart. He recalled the graceful figure of the girl who had disappeared into the doorway and felt a tension in his heart.

It seems I need to act faster. He had to fulfill his agreement with Jiang Wanshu as soon as possible. His tolerance for her in certain aspects had reached its limit. The actions that would have been enough to make Jiang Wanshu die of shame before now only felt like scratching an itch through a boot. He had to speed up.

Meanwhile, the person who had fled into the house in a panic was now anxiously pressing her hot hands against the cool teapot. After her palms absorbed the coolness of the teapot, she pressed them tightly against her feverish cheeks.

Once her cheeks were completely cool, Jiang Wanshu let out a sigh of relief. She glanced at the door and couldn’t help but wonder what she should do if she saw Zhou Yan again.

Since Muge Lazhi had said those words, it seemed like she could no longer treat Zhou Yan with an ordinary gaze for a short while.

Perhaps Jiang Wanshu was lucky today. During the lunchtime hours after noon, Muge Lazhi came over with food to find her, and Zhou Yan was nowhere to be seen.

Due to Muge Lazhi’s earlier words, Jiang Wanshu’s nerves were tense while eating with her.

Muge Lazhi sensed her emotion and truly realized the influence of the etiquette instilled in Central Plains girls from a young age. She swallowed the food in her mouth, her expression sincere and full of apology.

She apologized for not being mindful of Jiang Wanshu’s feelings, and then told her about the scenery on the grassland, occasionally making the girl in front of her smile.

Through Muge Lazhi’s words, Jiang Wanshu also learned why she hadn’t seen Zhou Yan yet.

It turned out that Zhou Yan had an urgent matter and had to go out for a trip. Zhou Yan also knew that she couldn’t do the tasks of boiling water and cooking, so he asked Muge Lazhi to cook lunch and dinner for her.

Muge Lazhi said that Zhou Yan should be back by nightfall. After lunch, Muge Lazhi left, and Jiang Wanshu was left alone, looking at the bamboo by the window. The glistening bamboo leaves swayed in the wind, bringing a touch of coolness to the environment and simultaneously dispersing the girl’s uneasy heart.

Jiang Wanshu was secretly happy. Zhou Yan would not return for a short time today, which was perfect for her to dissipate the heat that had been hard to shake off since Muge Lazhi’s words this morning, and also to properly think about what she should do next.

When exactly should I choose to leave him for it to be the correct choice? After all, Zhou Yan was cautious, and one failed attempt to escape would alert him. She, Jiang Wanshu, truly only had this one chance.

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