Chapter 11: We…We have heat?

Gu Wen Zhu began to explain it to him. 

Last time after they bumped into Yu ChengZi in the city, Yu ChengZi still could not let go of his anger when he got back. He was unable to stomach the insult. Therefore he held a feast with three officers invited. He told them to make up some reasons to take Gu Wen Zhu, hold him for a few days and beat him. 

Luckily, some officers in the government knew Gu Wen Zhu. They found out the plot and reported the incident to the county magistrate. With the permission of the county magistrate, they brought a few men to wait on the road. They collared those people who were keeping Gu Wen Zhu and released him after interrogation. 

Concerning the three officers, they had been brought back to see the county magistrate and would have to beg for relief of punishment. 

After arriving home, since Xia Yi had been scared, tired and exposed to the cold wilderness, he got sick and coughed for more than half a month. Gu Wen Zhu started a fire and cooked herbs in front of the stove for him daily. Whenever Gu Wen Zhu heard someone was killing a pig in the village, he would hurry his way to buy a few catties and stew it. He also caught fish and made soup for Xia Yi a few times. 

With Xia Yi falling ill, he had gained a few pounds under the care of Gu Wen Zhu. 

Kirin had been eating all kinds of pork or fish with rice. He had grown into half the size of an adult dog. His fur reflected the sunlight and glimmered. He followed Xia Yi around to urge him to play with him every day. 

Without even noticing, the fennel on the land matured. There were only half of the 25 points land of fennel, Gu Wen Zhu spent a morning harvesting all 300 catties. 

“Host, the 9000 catties of fennels, which were equivalent to 3 acres of land of production, were stored in the system space as requested.” 

“Congratulations host, you have accomplished half of the mission.” 179 said with excitement. 

The mission interface appeared in Xia Yi’s mind. 

“Mission description: Achieve Foundation Establishment Stage, and get a spirit animal.   

Completion 1/2  

Award 1 Foundation Establishment Pack.” 

“Could I claim the rewards with half of the mission accomplished?” Although the mission rewards were useless, having them was still better than receiving nothing. Those were still rewards in the end. 

“Host, the rewards can only be released when 2/2 completion is achieved.” 

Xia Yi casually nodded. Alright. 

In the evening, Gu Wen Zhu was cooking dinner. Xia Yi was eating a pear in the yard and letting Kirin have a few bites, “Kirin, I have given you the wrong name. You should be called the ferocious beast. Is there anything you don’t eat?” 

Kirin, eating the pear, made a few sounds in discontent. 

The dinner was ready. A small table was put before Xia Yi. Next, that extra-large bowl appeared on the table. It was filled with noodles and two poached eggs on top of it. 

Gu Wen Zhu seated himself before Xia Yi. The two of them started to eat. 

Xia Yi held the noodles with chopsticks and slurped them in. 

While he was still chewing the noodles in his mouth, he picked up the poached egg to take a big bite. His mouth was stuffed with food. He had a few chews with the content in his mouth, then he used the chopsticks to hold the noodles again. 

Xia Yi was intending to put those noodles into his mouth, but then he halted his motion together with the pair of chopsticks. 

Gu Wen Zhu had already put down his bowl and chopsticks and was looking at him with a tender gaze. 

Xia Yi slowly came to his senses, realizing his voracious eating manner of stuffing food into his mouth was hideous. 

Ahhhhh. A sense of embarrassment rose inside him. He swallowed the poached egg and maintained his composure. The noodles between his chopsticks slide back into the bowl. He silently slurped the noodles bit by bit. 

Knowing that Gu Wen Zhu was staring, Xia Yi lowered his head, face blushing. He could not even keep slurping the noodles and he even forgot to open his mouth. 

Gu Wen Zhu just grinned. He stopped gazing at Xia Yi. He held the bowl and started to take mouthfuls of noodles in. He said while he was eating, “I just love to watch you eat. You seem to enjoy it so much and that makes me happy.” 

“Host, why is your heartbeat accelerating?” 179 was alert all the time. 

“Can I not feel excited because the noodles are too good?” Some of his embarrassment became annoyance, Xia Yi was wondering what had gone wrong with this system. He felt like he was being monitored discreetly by a parent to see if he was falling in love at an early age. 

Xia Yi was eating the noodles sluggishly. He peeked at Gu Wen Zhu and found that he was going to look this way. Xia Yi hurriedly lowered his head. 

What is wrong with me? Why do I become so nervous when he looks at me? Back when I was still living in the dorm, I wouldn’t even have bothered even when I had been stared at by the dudes. What is wrong with me? Have I become assimilated in this perverted world? 

Ahhh, I do not want to look up. He is watching me again. 

… 

After harvesting the onions, System announced the completion of the second mission as well as the third mission. 

“Mission description: Knowing the whereabouts of the Sect Leader. 

Completion 0/1 

Award 1 Rare Gift Pack” 

Xia Yi: Whatever. Not only can I farm the whereabouts of the Sect Leader, even if they need ten whereabouts of the Sect Leader, I can farm them all out. 

“What is the farming mission this time?” Xia Yi asked, “Just cut to the chase and tell me the final number. You do not need to tell me those original ten or twenty acres of requirement.” 

“25 points land of white radishes.” 179 sounded deflated. 

“Just normal white radishes?” Xia Yi had some suspicions. 

“Just normal.” 

“No problem.” 

Radishes were good, radishes were easy to farm and good for selling. Gu Wen Zhu had to send the fennel and onions harvested before to the military camp and also a few shops in order to sell them all. 

Xia Yi spent a day planting all the radishes. At sunset, he carried the hoe and went home, humming. 

By the time he arrived at the front door, he heard a woman’s high-pitched laughter from inside. 

“That’s one of those bitches along the stream.” 179 did not even wait for Xia Yi to ask and answered immediately. 

Xia Yi pushed open the front door with a breeze of wind coming out, followed by Lady Li’s loud voice, “Yi, you’re back. I’ve been waiting for you.” 

“Lady Li, what’s the matter?” Xia Yi smiled, with uncertainty in his mind. 

“Come here, I have some good news for you.” Lady Li pulled him to sit in the shadow under the tree chummily. She also moved a chair to seat herself. 

With a confused face, Xia Yi looked at Gu Wen Zhu who was crossing his arms in the corridor. Gu Wen Zhu did not look back. He leaned on the wooden pillar with his head down, not saying a word. 

Lady Li held Xia Yi’s hand and said with a smile, “Yi, you are not a child anymore. You’ve passed seventeen right?” 

Xia Yi nodded. This familiar introduction… was exactly like what his relatives said when they came to his house to introduce him to some girls in his previous life. 

“This time, I am here to tell you something good.” Lady Li pulled her chair nearer, “I have a sister who wants me to find a ger for her son. Her family is wealthy. They have farmlands and houses. A ger marrying into this family will be able to enjoy their wealth…” 

“179, is this not matchmaking? And she is getting me to marry into a family?” Xia Yi was shocked. 

“Yes, Host, if you want to.” 

“Lady Li, don’t say no more. I am not suitable. You can find someone else.” Xia Yi quickly interrupted Lady Li’s introduction. 

“Yi, don’t be shy. They want a ger with a clean background, ideally with simple family relationships and not with a lot of relatives.” Lady Li tried to convince him. 

Xia Yi was horrified deep down. He suddenly stood up, making the chair fall behind him and startled Lady Li.  “Lady Li, this is not about matching requirements, and I am not shy either. I…I won’t get married. I have made a vow to never get married for my whole life.” Xia Yi spoke sincerely, stammering. He was almost going to make a vow on the spot. 

Gu Wen Zhu who had been keeping his head down, not saying one word standing in the corridor, looked at him unbelievably when he heard his vow, with a hint of disappointment in his eyes for a second. 

Lady Li was flabbergasted with her mouth opened, “How could you not get married? How can a ger not get married? How are you supposed to get yourself through your heat?”  

“He…Heat? What heat?” Xia Yi asked without a clue. 

“How does a ger like you not know about a heat?” Lady Li said loudly, then she glared at Gu Wen Zhu and lowered her voice, “A ger will have heats after sixteen.” 

“179, why do I feel like this is… is menstruation?” Xia Yi asked the system with confusion. 

“Host, it’s not menstruation.” 179’s voice was flat and slow, with every word hitting Xia Yi hard, “It’s estrus.” 

“E…Estrus?” There was as if a lightning had struck Xia Yi’s head. 

“Yes, estrus.” 179 repeated. 

“You tell me, how are you gonna make it through your heat? Hm?” Lady Li was still trying to convince Xia Yi, but Xia Yi could no longer heard a word. There was this word rewinding in his mind, “Estrus.” 

He knew about this, a lot of novels have this kind of setting, for example in ABO novels. 

However, was this not a farming novel? It was still okay that a third gender, ger, appeared, at the end of the day if he did not want to get pregnant no one could force him to, but this ‘heat’ thing? 

Xia Yi froze at the spot as if he had become a statue, not a word entered his mind. He just mechanically murmured with his mouth, “No…I…no…” 

“It’s fine. Lady Li. If Yi does not want to get married, I can pick him some Herba Aqua Effugio.” Gu Wen Zhu cut in all of a sudden. 

“Herba Aqua Effugio, that herb is so hard to pick. You can pick Herba Aqua Effugio?” Lady Li’s sharp voice echoed. 

“Yes, I will sort a way out to do that. Lady Li, you need not to worry about Yi.” Gu Wen Zhu said coldly, then turned away without looking at anyone and went back to his room. 

Lady Li stood up and brushed off the nonexistent dust from her body, then walked out without saying a thing. 

In the yard, there stood Xia Yi blankly who had been stunned by the fact about the heat. 

Xia Yi, “What is Herba Aqua Effugio?” 

System, “Herba Aqua Effugio can avoid gers from having their heat.” 

Xia Yi, “Am I really in the world of a farming novel instead of a fantasy novel?” 

Gu Wen Zhu sat in the house, fixing his plow. There was a suppressed aura around him. Xia Yi sat down beside him with words stuck in his throat. 

“Zhu, can you pick Herba Aqua Effugio for me?” Xia Yi lowered his eyes, scratching his fingers. 

Gu Wen Zhu did not reply for a while, making Xia Yi uneasy. 

With a stern face, Gu Wen Zhu stopped the job at hand. He looked down slightly without showing any emotions. His lips pursed to become a straight line. 

Just when Xia Yi thought Gu Wen Zhu was not going to agree, Gu Wen Zhu’s voice rang faintly, “Aren’t you not going to marry? I will find Herba Aqua Effugio for you. You do not have to worry.” 

As soon as he finished his sentence, Gu Wen Zhu put down his plow, pushed open the door of the yard and went outside.