Chapter 72 Offering Myself in Return

Luo Zheng was just saying it casually, after all, he himself understood what kind of situation Shen Jin was in. However, he was really bored in this remote mountain wilderness, so he could only tease him to pass the time.

"To repay with one's body?" Shen Jin repeated these four words after hearing them, and thought about them carefully, trying to find relevant information in his mind, but he seemed to have no idea about the concept of "to repay with one's body".

For a moment, he himself couldn't figure out what it meant, so he could only look at Luo Zheng with his clear eyes, trying to see something from him, as if he was worried that Luo Zheng would trick him.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" Luo Zheng raised an eyebrow, feeling a sense of unease under his clear yet scrutinizing gaze. She could only rub her high nose bridge and then raise the corners of her mouth. "Will you agree or not?"

Shen Jin could see through everything. Her thick eyelashes trembled, and she simply asked directly, "What is that? Nobody has ever told me this. What's the point of offering yourself in marriage?"

Luo Zheng blurted out in a moment of weakness: "It's not that I'm good at eating, it's that I was..."

It was done.

Fortunately, he quickly bit his tongue and swallowed the inappropriate and overly harsh words back down his throat. He felt like he was probably going crazy. He hadn't even been in the mountains for a few days, and he was already acting like a wild man, talking so inappropriately.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" Shen Jin felt that he was deliberately keeping her in suspense, so she picked a small, bright red fruit from the tree and gently tossed it at him. "Tell me, what do you mean by offering yourself in marriage? If you don't tell me, I'll throw you myself!"

He really did throw it. Even though the force was light and wouldn't hurt him, being thrown around like that wouldn't be comfortable. Luo Zheng could only dodge while making up a story: "It means you'll have to follow me from now on, and I'll take care of you and give you food and stuff."

Luo Zheng had only made it up casually, but he didn't expect Shen Jin to suddenly realize and nod, smiling innocently: "Okay, then I'll repay you with my body! I'll follow you from now on!"

He agreed to marry her so easily... Luo Zheng had mixed feelings, but since he had dug this pit himself, he couldn't help but laugh.

Luo Zheng still had injuries that showed no signs of healing. She needed some herbal remedies applied, but they couldn't be found on the mountain at the moment. As for the vegetable garden at Shen Jin's house, it didn't seem convenient to go down there right now.

“They should all be gone. We’ve been looking for them for so long…” Shen Jin was a little uncertain. He had gone down there yesterday when Xie Li and the others found him and caught up with him.

Even if he hadn't noticed, Xie Li would have brought others up to find him yesterday.

As evening fell, the two of them quietly descended the mountain and slowly made their way towards the vegetable garden belonging to Shen Jin's family. The vegetable garden was behind his house, and as long as they came down quietly from the mountain, they shouldn't disturb anyone else.

Luo Zheng entered the vegetable garden, picked a large handful of the herbs he needed, and was about to leave quietly when he heard two rough male voices coming from not far away.

One man cursed, "Damn it! I really don't know what he was thinking, making us stand in this godforsaken place! That guy surnamed Chen is probably long gone!"

Another man said, "You should take a break. Young Master Xie said that the idiot surnamed Shen has nowhere else to go besides this godforsaken place. If we just wait for him for a few days, maybe that stupid rabbit will show up."

"Sigh, easier said than done!"

Luo Zheng narrowed her eyes slightly, then glanced at the vegetable patch and found some sweet potatoes growing there. Since running into this mountain, Luo Zheng hadn't had a full meal, so she simply didn't care anymore. She dug up the sweet potatoes planted by Chen Jin, grabbed a few large sweet potatoes and some herbs, and slowly strolled up the mountain.

...Luo Zheng felt that if she were to be recognized and make the news because of her current appearance, it would become a joke that would circulate for a long time.

Shen Jin waited for him halfway up the mountain. When he saw him come up, the worry on his face disappeared. His eyes lit up instantly when he saw the sweet potatoes in the sweet potatoes in the sweet potatoes in his hand. He said with joy, "Sweet potatoes!"

"Yeah, sweet potatoes, I dug up your sweet potatoes." Luo Zheng said casually. Since she had already done something ridiculous, there was no point in denying it. "I have a lighter on me, let's find a place to roast the sweet potatoes first."

"Okay!" Shen Jin nodded with a smile, obediently taking a few sweet potatoes from his hand and walking into the deep mountains, muttering to himself, "Although the food I cook is terrible, I get so hungry when I don't have anything to eat."

Even if there are some wild fruits on the mountain, how can they easily fill the hunger in one's stomach?

Luo Zheng frowned slightly, recalling the conversation she overheard between the two men in the vegetable garden, and then looked at him: "Don't go down the mountain or back to your home casually lately. There are people waiting there. You'll be caught as soon as you show up, understand?"

Upon hearing these words, Shen Jin's face turned deathly pale, his heart leaped into his throat, and the uncontrollable fear deep within him surged back. His smile faded, and he lowered his head, saying, "Um, okay..."

The feeling of having nowhere to go, having people guarding his home to arrest him, and being a wanderer with no idea where to go... is truly terrifying.

Luo Zheng's eyes were fixed on him, so she naturally took in all the changes in his expression. As if she understood what he was thinking, she sighed softly and said, "There's nothing to be afraid of."

Shen Jin simply hummed in response and continued walking forward. His slender figure and profound loneliness stirred Luo Zheng's heartstrings slightly. She couldn't help but grasp his hand, squeeze it gently, and whispered, "Didn't you say you wanted to come with me? What are you afraid of? Now I'm alone, and you're alone. If we're together, we'll have each other's company."

Shen Jin looked down at the hand he was holding and thought it was very beautiful, especially long and slender, and had an indescribable warmth. The fear in his heart dissipated a little, as if he had grasped something.

Then Shen Jin laughed foolishly again, took his hand, raised it high, stared into his eyes, and said seriously, "You said it, you can't go back on your word! Anyway, I get scared easily when I'm alone, so I'm sticking with you!"

Luo Zheng's gaze fell on the hand he was holding, and she felt a strange sensation in her heart. Feeling the other person's somewhat thin hand, she couldn't help but squeeze it and chuckled softly: "Okay, you keep your word."

Hearing him say that, Shen Jin felt much more relaxed and smiled, his eyes crinkling.

Perhaps it was his smile that was so captivating that Luo Zheng had a strange thought—she really wanted to lean in and kiss him.

The thought suddenly popped into Luo Zheng's mind, and his ears immediately turned bright red. He tried to cover it up by shifting his gaze, pretending that he was looking at the scenery.

He felt that most of his brain had been corrupted by Shen Jin, and he was thinking all sorts of random things.

Shen Jin happened to notice his bright red ears, frowned, and leaned closer curiously to ask, "Are you running a fever? Why are your ears so red?"

"..." Luo Zheng felt a pang of heartache and inexplicably embarrassed. She glared at him and said, "What nonsense are you talking about? Just go your own way!"

"Oh, it's not true then." Shen Jin didn't mind and continued skipping along his way with a faint smile on his face. He felt that this was fine. Although A Zheng was sometimes inexplicable, he was a good person, and Shen Jin was quite happy to get along with him.

The two found a high spot surrounded by towering trees that blocked out the sun, making it a cool and shady place. The surrounding area was also dry and lush with vegetation, providing a convenient hiding place if anyone came by.

The two found many dry branches, stacked them together, and lit a fire. When the fire gradually grew bigger, Luo Zheng put the sweet potatoes into the fire to roast.

Chen Jin sat to the side watching, finding it particularly interesting, but also somewhat familiar, as if he used to roast sweet potatoes like this, but later, for some reason, he had no memory of it and could no longer do anything.

“I think I used to do that too, but after I left the hospital, I couldn’t do anything anymore…” Shen Jin said softly, and then, as if something had touched a nerve, he felt a slight pain in his chest and rubbed his face. “Sometimes I’m really curious, why did I become like this…”

Many things seem different from what he remembers. Sometimes Shen Jin feels he shouldn't be like this, but he doesn't know what he used to be like...

Although Luo Zheng didn't understand what he was saying, she sensed the sorrowful atmosphere emanating from him, so she reached out and patted his head, and couldn't help but ask, "What did you say about being discharged from the hospital?"

Shen Jin felt a little embarrassed when he was patted on the head, but he didn't push his hand away. He then told him, "I once took a long nap, and when I woke up, everyone said I was stupid."

Luo Zheng narrowed his eyes. He had originally wondered if this person was born with some kind of mental problem, but after hearing what he said, he seemed to understand something.

Seeing that he was a little sad, Luo Zheng couldn't help but pinch his cheek and comfort him with a smile, "It's okay, things will get better."

Shen Jin smiled and nodded: "Yes, I think so too!"

Before long, the sweet potatoes they had roasted were cooked and emitted an enticing aroma. Shen Jin couldn't wait to grab one to eat, but Luo Zheng stopped him: "You can't eat the skin, and you definitely can't bite it like that. Let me get it for you."

"Oh, okay." Shen Jin obediently handed him the sweet potato, watching him break it in half and feed him the crisp, sweet flesh after roasting, eating with great joy.

Luo Zheng looked at him and couldn't help but laugh along. When she saw some sweet potato on the corner of his lips, she reached out to wipe it off for him and said with a smile, "Eat slowly, I won't take it from you. Is it good?"

"It's delicious! And I was hungry too, so I enjoyed my meal! Don't you think it's great?" Shen Jin sat down next to him, gave him a thumbs up, and praised him generously. "I feel like you can do everything! You can even roast sweet potatoes! You're amazing!"

Luo Zheng's lips twitched slightly: "...What's so great about being able to roast sweet potatoes?"

If people knew that the young master of the Luo family, one of the three major families in the capital, was chased and injured, and then fled into the mountains in a sorry state, holding hands with a simple-minded boy at the foot of the mountain while roasting sweet potatoes...

People will definitely laugh their heads off.