Back in the hut, Shen Xuan pulled the wild pheasant from the straw pile.
He'd already plucked and cleaned the pheasant outside. Now, after salting and wrapping it in rice leaves, he encased it in mud and buried it in the ash.
Above the ash, Shen Xuan still lit a fire with dry branches. He poured some well water into the medicine pot, placing it over the flames to boil.
After a while, the water in the pot boiled, and the medicine was ready. Shen Xuan poured the medicine into an empty bowl, then dug out the pheasant from beneath, breaking open its muddy shell.
The fragrant mix of rice leaves and chicken meat wafted out. Fearing someone might smell it, Shen Xuan quickly wrapped it in straw.
Then, he carried a bowl of vegetable porridge and the herbal medicine into the room.
"Hungry? It's time for lunch." Shen Xuan had been out for a while; it was already past noon.
Xue Fenglin knew Shen Xuan had many tasks, so despite being hungry for a long time, he certainly had no complaints.
At this point, he was merely a stranger rescued by Shen Xuan. Shen Xuan's willingness to care for him and provide him with food and drink was already incredibly kind.
Though a Marquis's heir, Xue Fenglin wasn't someone ignorant of human nature. On the contrary, he had witnessed much of the world's complexities in the Marquis's residence and was quite seasoned in such matters.
Shen Xuan opened the rice leaves, tore off a chicken leg, and handed it to Xue Fenglin, saying, "Lin Ye, I got a wild pheasant for you to recuperate. Eat this first."
Xue Fenglin paused, thinking Shen Xuan had specially caught the pheasant on the mountain.
After a moment's thought, he handed the chicken leg back to Shen Xuan, saying, "You've been working all day; you should eat the chicken leg."
Shen Xuan chuckled at this. "Isn't there another leg?" he said, tearing off the other leg for himself and placing the first one into Xue Fenglin's bowl.
'Lin Ye truly knows how to be grateful', Shen Xuan thought.
Although he saved people purely out of conscience and sought no reward, it was always better for the recipient to be grateful than to be ungrateful.
Rarely getting to eat meat, Shen Xuan didn't hold back, wolfing down half the chicken.
After Xue Fenglin finished eating, Shen Xuan collected all the bowls and chopsticks. He didn't discard the leftover chicken bones; he still had a use for them.
Shen Xuan took an old bamboo basket and went out again. This basket, narrow at the mouth and wide at the belly, was used by villagers to catch river fish.
Most villagers would go to deep, fast-flowing areas to catch fish, but Shen Xuan did the opposite, taking his basket to a calm, small stream.
This stream wasn't deep and usually had few fish, so there was no one else there.
Shen Xuan put the chicken bones into the bamboo basket and tossed it into the stream.
Soon, the fishy smell of the chicken bones wafted through the basket's gaps into the water.
Shen Xuan wandered around the stream bank, finding a few wild water oats. After digging them up, he pulled the bamboo basket out of the water.
In just over half an hour, the basket was filled with lively river shrimp.
Attracted by the chicken bones, an unusually large number of river shrimp were caught this time.
Shen Xuan swung the basket, satisfied, and carried the river shrimp back to the thatched hut.
In the evening, after making a fire in the kitchen, Shen Xuan returned with a mixed-grain pancake.
One mixed-grain pancake might be enough for Shen Xuan alone, but it certainly wasn't enough for two people.
So, he washed the medicine pot, boiled water, and then threw in the water oats and river shrimp to cook, making a pot of river shrimp soup.
Shen Xuan had caught so many river shrimp this time that both of them ate their fill, even just from the shrimp meat.
After a satisfying dinner and tidying the dishes, Shen Xuan looked at Xue Fenglin's leg and said, "Lin Ye, your ankle seems to have swollen down a bit. It looks like the herbs are working."
Xue Fenglin looked down, and the bandage tied around his ankle had loosened.
Shen Xuan untied the bandage and, indeed, the previously terrifyingly swollen and purplish wound had closed. The skin color there was also less dark than before.
Although Lin Ye's body was still swollen, his overall condition was improving. His body temperature had also returned to normal that afternoon, so his life was likely out of danger.
After some more recovery, he would be able to walk normally again.
"Where are you from, I wonder?" Shen Xuan asked after re-bandaging Xue Fenglin's wound.
"You've been traveling for so long without returning home; your family must be worried sick."
"You should send them a message so they can come pick you up sooner."
Shen Xuan's question, however, touched a raw nerve for Xue Fenglin.
He immediately fell silent, curving his lips in a somewhat mocking smile, but said nothing.
He only thought that after all this time since his accident, his father probably didn't even know.
Old Marquis Xue had always been distant from him, instead he's doting more on his younger brother, Xue Fengli, born of Lady Bai.
To establish his position in the Marquis's residence, Xue Fenglin strove relentlessly, needing to be the best at everything.
If Xue Fengli did ten parts, he had to do eleven, or he wouldn't even catch the Marquis Xue's eye.
But this behavior also provoked Lady Bai. She resented that he constantly outshone her own son, viewing him as a thorn in her side.
If Lady Bai knew he was here, she would surely send people to kill him!
Shen Xuan saw the unusual expression on Xue Fenglin's face and knew he had said the wrong thing.
He reconsidered: if it were anyone else, they would have probably asked him to find their family by now. Lin Ye hadn't mentioned anything about his family, so their relationship must not be good.
Everyone here had their own unspoken difficulties, and Shen Xuan himself had many secrets.
Putting himself in Lin Ye's shoes, he thought that if Lin Ye didn't want to go home, why should he force him? So he skipped over the subject and, changing the topic, said to him,
"Anyway, there's room here. If you don't mind, then just stay until you're fully recovered before you go back."
Xue Fenglin's eyes flickered at his words, and he looked at Shen Xuan, saying, "You don't mind me staying here, eating and drinking for free?"
"Didn't you say you'd repay me later?" Shen Xuan joked. "How would that be for free?"
He smiled and lowered his head, his face illuminated golden by the dim lamplight, making his eyes appear watery.
Xue Fenglin's heart leaped again, and his mind was flooded with clichéd scenarios of fox spirits repaying kindness or female ghosts encountering scholars and offering themselves.
After a pause, he said with a complex expression, "That's true."
Afterwards, both of them had a simple wash, then blew out the oil lamp and lay down, one on the bed and one on the floor.
***
The next morning, Shen Xuan rose early before dawn. He fumbled in the dark outside, grabbed a handful of cornmeal, and cooked a pot of gruel, throwing in a few washed bird eggs.
Once breakfast was ready, Shen Xuan ate some himself and two bird eggs. He left the rest in the room, then slung his back basket and headed up the mountain again.
Today, he was going to dig for bamboo shoots. So, he arrived at the bamboo forest as dawn was just breaking.
He quickly dug for a while, not being greedy, just four tender bamboo shoots, enough for one meal.
After digging the shoots, Shen Xuan immediately went down the mountain. As he neared home, he indeed saw Ger Zhong and others also coming out to dig for bamboo shoots in the distance.
Shen Xuan quickly ran into the backyard, avoiding meeting them face-to-face and preventing them from snatching the bamboo shoots he had dug.
After hiding the bamboo shoots in his usual spot, he went to the kitchen to work. When he finished and returned to the room, he found Xue Fenglin already awake.
"Oh, Lin Ye, you look much better!" Shen Xuan was surprised to see that Xue Fenglin had not only eaten the breakfast and medicine he had prepared but also washed the bowls and chopsticks for him.
He scrutinized Xue Fenglin more carefully and found that while his movements were still difficult, the swelling on his body had significantly improved.
Although his skin was still purplish, his overall features were gradually becoming clearer, revealing him to be a young man of around twenty.
"I didn't realize you were so young," Shen Xuan suddenly felt a little embarrassed.
When he had first rescued Xue Fenglin, the man was so severely poisoned that he looked almost inhuman.
Now that his original appearance was gradually showing, it suddenly reminded Shen Xuan that he was a "ger," and sharing a room with a young man like this felt somewhat improper.
"I'm two years older than you, actually," Xue Fenglin said, smiling and looking at Shen Xuan.
His physical constitution was good, and he had martial arts skills, so he recovered faster than most people. Yesterday, it was difficult even to get up, but today he could move slowly.
Seeing Shen Xuan bustling about, he voluntarily helped him wash the bowls and chopsticks.
It was the first time the dignified Xue family heir had done something like washing dishes. Once he started, he found it wasn't difficult at all.
Seeing Shen Xuan's surprised expression, he actually felt quite pleased.
Shen Xuan was also quite relieved to see Xue Fenglin in much better condition.
He instructed the man to rest well at home. Then he took his back basket and went up the mountain again to collect river snails.
These past few days, Shen Xuan had searched all the nearby streams. Fearing that over-collecting might stop the river snails from growing, he specifically went to a slightly more distant place.
This time, after selling what he collected, he bought two grass carp and a block of tofu by the roadside.
Shen Xuan, who was looking forward to a delicious meal of fish soup stewed with tofu, had just reached the back gate when he heard an unusual commotion from the entire Shen family courtyard.
'Oh no!' Shen Xuan's heart sank, fearing Lin Ye had been discovered by the Wang family. He quickly hid the fish and tofu, then pushed the door open and went inside.
As soon as he entered, he saw Wang Xiaolian standing by the back door, looking furious.
Spotting Shen Xuan, Wang Xiaolian became even more enraged and yelled, "Good! You shameless thing, you're finally back! Now explain yourself clearly to everyone!"
Wang Xiaolian grabbed Shen Xuan's wrist and dragged him towards the front courtyard.
Passing the storage room, Shen Xuan glanced inside. The storage room door was open, and as expected, the room was empty.
Arriving at the old house's front courtyard, Shen Xuan immediately saw Xue Fenglin standing in the center.
Not only the Wang family members but also many curious villagers had gathered around them; even the village head, Li Youtian, had been alarmed.
Xue Fenglin's body hadn't fully recovered, but he forced himself to stand straight, looking at the surrounding villagers with an arrogant expression.
"Shen Xuan's back!" Wang Xiaolian yelled, bringing Shen Xuan next to Xue Fenglin and even shoving him towards Xue Fenglin.
Then, pointing at Xue Fenglin, he demanded, "Shen Xuan! Tell the truth, is this wild man the one you've been hiding in your room?!"
Shen Xuan saw countless eyes staring at him and knew he couldn't hide it any longer. He gave Xue Fenglin a helpless glance and nodded.
He had known for a long time that the Wang family would cause a scene if they found out he had saved a strange man, which was why he had tried to keep it a secret until the man recovered. He hadn't expected to be discovered so quickly.
Seeing Shen Xuan admit it so readily, the surrounding villagers immediately started buzzing with whispered discussions.
Villagers loved this kind of gossip, and now they began to excitedly spread rumors about Shen Xuan and the man.
"Isn't that the man who collapsed at the village entrance that day? I wondered why he disappeared the next day; Shen Xuan must have taken him in!"
"Shen Xuan and this man spending days together in one room must mean they've had something going on for a while. I never would have guessed! He usually looks so foolish, but this is how he truly is."
"After all, he's eighteen and still can't marry, so he must be desperate for a man. It's just that seeing someone like 'this' is all he can manage; they're perfectly matched, like a turtle and a pea."
...
While the villagers gossiped about Shen Xuan, Wang Xiaolian, who was the same age and still unmarried, felt personally affronted.
In a fit of panic, he grabbed a broom and swung it at Shen Xuan, cursing, "You shameless Shen Xuan! You really are shameless! Acting all foolish, who knew you were so thirsty, bringing men back to secretly fool around?"
"You're ugly and foolish, and it's bad enough you'd settle for this ugly freak. But bringing him into the house? What if he covets my beauty and ruins my innocence? I'm an unmarried Ger, how will I live after this?"
Shen Xuan quickly reached out to block, but found that Wang Xiaolian's broom didn't hit him. Instead, it was caught by Xue Fenglin.
Xue Fenglin had rushed forward at some unknown moment, his face furious as he snatched the broom from Wang Xiaolian's hand and broke it in half.
Shielding Shen Xuan behind him, he pointed the broom handle at Wang Xiaolian and said, "You're the ugly freak! Shen ger saved my life. We're completely innocent. Try cursing him one more time!"
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