This sudden question startled Xu Xinghe, causing her to drop the weeds she was holding to the ground.

She hadn't expected Yi An's senses to be so sharp, and she'd been caught red-handed. "I didn't see anything... I just... I just thought you worked really fast."

Yi An frowned even more, her eyes scrutinizing him. Her gaze lingered on the birthmark on Yi An's face for a moment before quickly shifting away, her tone still cold. "Just do your job."

After saying that, he turned around, picked up the hoe again, and continued working, only this time faster than before, clearly not wanting to be disturbed again.

Xu Xinghe breathed a sigh of relief, but her palms were already sweating.

The moment Yi An turned around, her eyes were sharp, as if she were looking at prey, which made her subconsciously tense up.

She composed herself; at least she had spoken to the other person, no matter what.

Although it was just a few simple sentences, she had gained a basic understanding of Yi An.

He is very vigilant, and it won't be easy to get information out of him.

Xu Xinghe dared not stare at him openly anymore, only glancing at him occasionally out of the corner of her eye, and continued weeding.

Since directly striking up a conversation won't work, it's better to observe him from the sidelines first, see if he has any habits, or find a more natural opportunity to try to approach him again.

As the sun rose higher, the temperature in the air also increased.

Sweat beaded on Xu Xinghe's forehead and slid down her cheeks. She dared not raise her hand to wipe it away, afraid of smudging the birthmark on her face, and could only let the sweat soak her clothes.

Uncle Li walked out from deep within the cornfield and handed her a water bottle. "Take a break, have some water. It's hot in the sun, don't get heatstroke."

"Thank you, Uncle Li." Xu Xinghe took the kettle, unscrewed the lid, and took a few sips. The cool water relieved some of the heat.

"Did you just talk to Yi'an?" Uncle Li asked, seemingly casually.

Xu Xinghe's heart skipped a beat. It seemed that Uncle Li had been keeping an eye on things here. "Yes, I noticed he was working fast just now and asked me a question."

"Oh, Yi'an, that's just how he is. He's very aloof and doesn't like to talk to people." Uncle Li smiled. "But he's not a bad person. He's good at hunting and a reliable young man. It's just that his parents passed away early, and he has to raise his younger sister all by himself. It's not easy for him."

Xu Xinghe made a mental note of her sister's information; perhaps this would be a breakthrough.

After resting for a while, Uncle Li looked at the sky and said, "Xiao girl, let's go home for dinner first. The sun is too strong this afternoon. Let's come back later."

Xu Xinghe nodded and followed Uncle Li into the village.

Back home, Uncle Li went to the kitchen to cook, while Xu Xinghe helped with the fire.

The flames flickered, illuminating her profile, and she finally couldn't help but speak, "Uncle Li, could you tell me more about Yi'an, whom I met in the field this morning? The more details the better."

Li Bo paused in his work of adding firewood, glanced at her, and sighed, "You want to ask him... This child, his life is so hard."

As he worked, he said, “Yi’an has a younger sister named Yi Nian, who is five years younger than him. When they were young, their family was poor and their parents died early. They didn’t raise their sister well, so she was weak and sickly from a young age. She stayed at home all year round and never went far away. She was supported by Yi’an through farming and hunting.”

“He didn’t hunt at first. How could a half-grown child dare to go deep into the mountains?” Uncle Li’s tone was somewhat wistful. “But his family didn’t have any adults to support them, and their relatives were all cold-hearted people. No one was willing to help them. Some people in the village saw that they were easy to bully, so they deliberately made things difficult for them.”

“They blocked their irrigation ditches when we were watering the fields, and they secretly took over our land when we were planting. The worst part was that a relative took over their small plot of land, and they didn’t get a single grain of rice left for them at harvest time.”

"At that time, Yi'an was only thirteen or fourteen years old, and her younger sister was only eight or nine years old. They were starving and almost couldn't go on. Yi'an was also driven to desperation. She grabbed a wood-chopping knife from the house and rushed over. With red eyes, she argued with the people and insisted on getting back the food that belonged to them."

Uncle Li shook his head. "From then on, he knew that kindness is often taken advantage of, and he had to stand up for himself. Later, he often went to the mountains to dig wild vegetables and pick wild fruits to exchange for food. Once, an old hunter in the village was injured while hunting in the mountains and was trapped and unable to move. It was Yi'an who happened to find him and carried him out of the mountains."

"The old hunter was grateful for his kindness and saw his tenacity, so he taught him all his hunting skills. Unfortunately, the old hunter died of illness a few years later. Fortunately, his hunting skills were all passed on to Yi'an, otherwise they would have been lost."

Xu Xinghe listened quietly, a pang of sadness rising in her heart.

It turns out that Yi'an's indifference and vigilance were forced out of her by life.

But these days, there are far too many pitiful people like him.

"Are you inquiring about him because you see him hunting on the other side of the river and want to use him to find out about the situation in the mountains?" Uncle Li suddenly changed the subject and asked directly.

Since he had brought it up, Xu Xinghe decided not to hide it anymore and said frankly, "You're right, I did have that idea. Black Wind Ridge has a complicated terrain, and it would be too dangerous for an outsider like me to go in rashly. Yi An is familiar with the situation there, and if I could get some information out of him, it would save me a lot of trouble. But he seems a bit cold and doesn't get close to strangers, so I really haven't figured out how to approach him."

Uncle Li pondered for a moment, “I do have a suggestion. His younger sister, Yi Nian, is frail and doesn’t have many friends. Occasionally, when the weather is nice, she’ll come out and sit in the yard or stay under the old tree at the village entrance. You could try to befriend her. Girls tend to talk to each other easily. Once you get to know each other better, Yi An might lower his guard against you for his sister’s sake.”

Xu Xinghe shook her head. "Thank you for your kindness, but this is too much of a waste of time. I came here to find someone, and every minute and second is precious. I really don't want to waste my time making friends slowly."

She was worried about Jiang Linchuan; every day that was delayed increased the danger to him.

Seeing her resolute attitude, Uncle Li didn't say anything more. "Alright, as long as you know what's going on, just be careful."