Back to the Countryside

Chapter 37: 心动 

 Heartbeat

Xu Hua caught two fish in the river today, and it was quite fat, so he saved one for his father's soup and took the other to He Ling's house.

        After taking the medicine given by Qi Yue, his father looked much better these days, he could eat half a bowl of rice more and he could even help him walk around the yard.He was so happy!

        Their family was poor and he had nothing to repay them, so by sending something good to them , giving them a taste of what he had to offer, it was a token of his appreciation.

        When he arrived at the door of his house, Xu Hua saw a carriage parked there, with a maid and a young boy servant on the carriage. it was obviously not He Ling's carriage.

        Was their family having guests? Xu Hua stopped in his tracks, if they were entertaining guests, would it be too bad for him to come to the door now?

        He hesitated for a moment and was about to turn around and leave when the door of Qi Yue's house was opened from the inside.

        "Hua Ge'er, what brings you here?" The door was opened by He Ling, who was seeing Xu Hua standing in the doorway.

        Xu Hua naturally had to deliver his things before leaving, he lifted the fish in his hand, "I caught some fish in the morning and thought I'd bring one over to you!"

"What are you giving me for? I'm not short of food, save it for Uncle Xu to nourish his body!" They had all kinds of food at home, Qi Yue had even more food to nourish his body.

        "I've saved it for my father's part!" Xu Hua insisted, "This is for you!"

        "But I ....." He Ling was still trying to push back.

        "Take it, it's also a token of appreciation from Hua Ge'er!" Qi Yue who was standing beside him opened his mouth, according to Xu Hua's nature, if they didn't accept it, he would be even more upset in his heart.

        He Ling looked at Qi Yue and seemed to understand what he meant, previously he had made some buns himself as a thank you gift, and Hua Ge'er feelings should be the same, he reached out and took the fish, "Thank you Hua Ge'er! "

        Xu Hua shook his head, "It should be me thanking you."

        Qi Yue took the fish over then entered into the house to put it down.

        He Ling took Xu Hua's hand and led him to the Zheng siblings who hadn't said anything but only watching them talk, " Zheng young lady, Zheng young master, this is Xu Hua, a friend of mine in the village!"

        "My name is Zheng Yue yan." He Ling gege' s friend was also her friend, although the other party was not considered beautiful, but he looked quite good!

        "This humble one is Zheng Yue Feng." If it wasn't for the round ger's mark on his brow, he would have looked like a young boy, and the way he looked at them was normal, without the flattery or formality of other country people, he indeed was an interesting person.

As he was not familiar with them, Xu Hua was not in a position to say anything, so he just nodded along as a greeting, as these two young lady and master were quite easy-going, and did not have the bad habit of having their eyes grow on their heads.

        "Hua Ge'er, we are planning to go into the mountains, would you like to come with us?" Seeing that they had all know each other, He Ling tugged on him and asked, "I heard from Zao Ge that you used to go hunting for wild animals, so you should be more familiar with the mountains than me!"

 Father Xu had gotten better in the past couple of days. He was no longer coughing regularly so he didn't need to worry about him all the time. He nodded and said, "Okay!"

When they went into the mountains, the Zheng siblings really saw everything was new, when they rolled up their sleeves and squatted on the ground to make special effort over the wild vegetable, they didn't have the posture of the gentlemen and ladies anymore! ( Tl: lol these siblings always amazed me of how cute they could be

(〃＾▽＾〃) ) 

The medicine basket behind Qi Yue's back was turning into a basket of wild vegetables, and He Ling looked on in amusement, "I thought they'd dislikes and afraid of being dirty to come up here, but now it's a pity they got their clothes dirty!"

Xu Hua also lifted the corner of his mouth, these two people were really quite funny. He swept his eyes and saw a bird's nest on a big tree, so he turned his head and asked He Ling, "Do you like eating bird eggs?"

        "Huh?" He Ling was a bit stunned by his question, but when he came to his senses, he nodded slowly.

"I kinda like it."

        After hearing this, Xu Hua walked straight to the tree and climbed it with his hands and feet in no time.

        "So good?" Zheng Yue Feng, who had just finished digging a wild vegetable and was ready to show off his results, turned around to see this scene and opened his mouth in awe.

        Xu Hua put the bird eggs from the nest into his arms one by one, leaving two untouched, and then he easily descended the tree, standing firmly on his feet. He smiled at He Ling and the others, showing his cute tiger teeth.

He don't know if he was shaken by that smile, Zheng Yue Feng only felt his heart beat skip a beat, he touched his chest, a little confused.

        Xu Hua walked back to He Ling's side and put all the bird eggs in his arms in his hand, there were like □□ eggs. 

"You can cook it to eat when you go back!"

        He Ling smiled happily as he held the bird eggs."Hua Ge er, you're so awesome!"

        Xu Hua smiled and didn't say anything. When he was still young, he wanted his father to have something good to eat, and at that time he couldn't catch any mountain chickens or wild rabbits, so he had to go up to the tree to dig out the bird eggs. He had to climb and fall so many times until he had several bruises on his body before he learned how to do it, so he was not that great at it.

        When his little Fu Lang was happy, Qi Yue looked at Xu Hua more and more favourably, and perhaps he could be more attentive to his father's illness. He took a handkerchief out of his sleeve and helped He Ling to wrap the bird's egg and put it in the pile of wild vegetables in his back basket, so that he wouldn't have to worry about breaking it. 

        The paths in the mountains were not always easy to follow, and some of the slopes were so steep that it was a struggle to climb. 

        He Ling had to go into the mountains to collect firewood and dig vegetables since he was a child, so he did not find it difficult.

        Not to mention Xu Hua, who could run and chase rabbits up here!

        The worst part was the Zheng siblings, a young lord and a delicate young lady, who had to take a carriage to get a little further up the road, basically they didn't have the strength to climb up!

        "I can't anymore!" There was another high slope in front of them, Zheng Yue Feng was panting with his hand propped up against a tree, while behind him Zheng Yue Yan also stopped and fanned herself with her hand.

        "Big Young master Zheng, you can't go on anymore just like this?" Qi Yue was standing on the slope with He Ling in his arms, his leisurely appearance was very annoying.

Zheng Yue Feng gave him a displeased look, this man's posture and demeanor was obviously more like a young master than him, how come he was as comfortable walking in this mountain  forest  as if he was walking in his own back garden .

        "Young masters from rich families are just so delicate!" After spending half an a day with them also knowing their temperament, Xu Hua dared to tease them, as he took two steps down from the slope and extended his hand to him.

        Zheng Yue feng looked at his hand and stared at it, not realising what he was doing.

        Xu Hua waved his palm and urged, "Hurry up, I'll pull you!"

        Understanding what he meant, Zheng Yue feng reached out and took his hand in his, he was even worse than a ger!

        Xu Hua gripped his hand tightly and pulled it upwards with great force, but he couldn't grasp the force for a while and made it a bit too strong, Zheng Yuefeng was pulled up so fiercely that they almost collided with each other!

        Their faces were so close that they could feel each other's nose, and the sudden closeness made them both freeze.

        Zheng Yuefeng stared blankly at Xu Hua's eyes, which had widened in surprise.His eyes were actually very pretty, and when he looked at people in a rounded way, he looked a bit cute!

        Xu Hua froze for a moment, then took a step back in embarrassment, his face slightly red. "I'm sorry, I used too much force!"

        "It's okay ......"

Zheng Yue Feng's gaze was still a bit dull, not knowing what he was thinking.

        Xu Hua gave a dry cough, and went around him to pull Zheng Yue yan below.

Zheng Yue Feng covered his incessantly beating chest and took a deep breath, and when he looked up, he met Qi Yue's somewhat playful eyes. 

A little embarrassed, he hurriedly dropped his hand and turned his head to pretend to admire the view from all sides!

 Qi Yue withdrew the gaze that made him uncomfortable, but his mouth said, "The Spring is coming!" 

(As I know in chinese and japanese culture, spring time represent for young and time to fall in love and be in relationship) 

Zheng Yue feng's body stiffened, not daring to look at him, nor at Xu Hua, angry with himself, what was he being guilty about? What's there to be guilty about! 

He Ling looked strangely at his own husband, somewhat puzzled, "Xiang Gong, spring is just about to pass!"

 "It's alright, I'm just feeling a little bit emotional!" Qi Yue patted him on the waist, hooking the corners of his mouth in a meaningful smile. 

As the two siblings were not feeling well enough, they did not go any further up the mountain, but went straight back down and prepared to go home.

 When they reached the foot of the hill, Xu Hua said goodbye to them, "I'm going straight home from this side!"

 "Aren't you going to have dinner together with us?" Zheng Yuefeng opened his mouth subconsciously, but regretted it as soon as he finished. 

What was he doing? Is he want him to stay? Especially when he met Qi Yue's eyes, he even regretted it!

 Xu Hua didn't take it too seriously and said, "No!" 

Although Zheng Yue Feng regretted his words, but he was quite lost in his heart when he was rejected like that directly. 

Their family situation was clear to He Ling, Father Xu still needed to be taken care of, since Xu Hua had been with them for such a long time already so he naturally had to go back and cook for his father. He Ling didn't let him stay any long, but said, "If there's something wrong, you must come to find us!"

"I know!" Xu Hua nodded, smiled again to the others, and turned to left.

        When the four of them returned home, He Ling went into the kitchen to prepare lunch, while Qi Yue helped. Zheng Yue yan, having freshened up, came to life again and took her maid into the kitchen, saying that she wanted to do some work.

         Zheng Yue feng collapsed on a lounge chair in the courtyard, listening to the sounds of voices in the kitchen, but his thoughts had drifted away.

        Kang Yuan, the servant boy who was standing besides him, look at his young master, his hair was a mess, his clothes were still covered in mud and his gaze was slack, he didn't look like the gentleman he used to be. He had gone into the mountains and don't tell me had he being chased by a tiger?

        He looked at him again and again, but finally he couldn't help himself and asked, "Young master, don't you want to take care of yourself?"

        Zheng Yue feng was roused by his voice, and he waved his hand, "Go and fetch a basin of water!"

        When Kang Yuan received the order, he bowed and went to the backyard to fetch water for his young master.

        Zheng Yue Feng sat up straight, his gaze was a little dull again, he couldn't figure it out, he always liked beautiful person like He Ling, dainty and beautiful that could moving people's heart and gorgeous out of ordinary! But this day, that ger Xu Hua, he couldn't get him out of his head. He was like a boy, go up a mountain and go up a tree, without any gentleness, not to his liking at all!

        He held his head and shook it hard, refusing to think about it, it was all an illusion, all an illusion!

        Kang Yuan came over with a basin of water, then Zheng Yue feng splashed a handful of water on his face to calm himself down a little.

        By the time he had freshened himself up, He Ling's meal was ready, including the fish and bird eggs Xu Hua had brought for He Ling and the wild vegetables they had picked.

        Zheng Yue yan tasted each of the food, It's different when you make something with your own hands, It was extraordinarily delicious!

        He Ling smiled and gave her another piece of fish in her bowl, telling her to eat more, usually he and his husband were the only ones eating at home, so he was happy to have such a lively time today!

"At home, you don't like this and that, but today you have a good appetite!" Zheng Yue Feng said as he put a piece of egg into his mouth, just after he chewed twice, he slowed down his chewing speed and slowly swallowed the egg, which that ger had gone up a tree and dug down.

        Zheng Yue yan did not see the difference in his face and gave him a blank look, "Is it the same between the one you bought and the one you dug up?"

        Zheng Yue feng didn't take her words, and took another piece of fish to eat.

        Qi Yue glanced at him and gave He Ling diced chicken, saying, "It's a pity that Hua ge er can't stay for the meal together!"

        "That can't be helped!" He Ling ate the diced chicken, "Uncle Xu has not yet recovered, and Hua ge er is the only one in their family who can take care of him, so naturally he can't eat with us!"

        Listening to their conversation, Zheng Yue feng's chopsticks slowed down when he was clipping the vegetables.

        His reaction was obvious to Qi Yue, so he nodded his head with a wicked sense of humour, and stopped talking.

        Not able to listening to the rest of the conversation, Zheng Yue feng became frustrated and poked the rice with his chopsticks, but after a few strokes, he felt stupid and plucked the rice into his mouth instead.

        Qi Yue raised an eyebrow secretly said in his heart, Stupid! What's the point of hesitating when you meet someone you like? You have to be as quick as he is, so that you can hold on to him and make him your own.

        When he finished his meal and left in the carriage, Zheng Yue Feng couldn't know any more about him, and only he himself could understand how upset he was.

        The author has something to say: 

I feel that Zheng Gong zi's IQ has fall down sharply(￣? ￣)