Liu Ergou felt that he was different from those hooligans; he only had love and admiration for Luo Zixi and no other ill intentions.

No matter what, Luo Zixi should not treat him like those thugs.

Most importantly, Liu Ergou helped Luo Zixi a lot along the way.

He felt that Luo Zixi was not as arrogant and rude as others said; it was just that those hooligans had angered her first, which was why she was beaten so badly.

Luo Zixi did nothing wrong. If I could be friends with Luo Zixi, even if we could just talk a few more words together, it would be something to be happy about.

He dared not hope that Luo Zixi could have any future development with him; he knew he was not worthy of her.

How could a celestial being like Luo Zixi possibly be with a country bumpkin like him?

However, precisely because of this, he was even more unwilling to see Luo Zixi take any risks.

Luo Zixi is a girl from the city and doesn't know how dangerous the back mountain is. There are jackals, tigers, leopards, wild boars, and bears!

Even the most powerful people are not necessarily a match for those beasts in the deep mountains and forests.

There used to be many hunters in their village who would often hunt in the mountains behind the village, but they didn't dare to go too deep.

After all, this has happened more than once; some people went in and never came out again.

Those people are often driven mad by poverty or forced to their wits' end, so they venture into the deep mountains hoping to bring back some big catches.

Who would dare to venture into the back mountains alone under normal circumstances?

Normally, before winter arrives, the brigade would organize the villagers to form a hunting team and go into the mountains to prepare for winter.

But that's a matter for the whole brigade; with more people, there's more security.

Now that Luo Zixi is a young girl, no matter how powerful she is, she can't possibly be a match for the wild beasts in the deep mountains all by herself.

Therefore, Liu Ergou rushed over immediately to try to stop her.

"Luo Zhiqing, please stop. You can't go any further."

"If you go any further, you'll reach the back mountain, which is very dangerous!"

Liu Ergou was out of breath from running, clearly in a great hurry.

Seeing him like this, Luo Zixi quickly stopped and said with a smile:

"Hey, isn't this Er Gouzi? Why are you running so fast? I'm just going up the mountain to collect some firewood and get familiar with the area. That's all."

Upon hearing her words, Liu Ergou immediately stepped forward:

“Young Luo, if it’s about gathering firewood, I can help you. You don’t need to go yourself!”

“If you need any rough or heavy work in the future, you can give it to me. I am, after all, the villager who brought you here, and I should let you educated youth feel the warmth of our village.”

"You've all come to support our rural development; we can't let you down!"

Wow, that's a well-said statement.

Luo Zixi can now clearly feel that Liu Ergou shouldn't be called Ergou, but should have two words smashed on his forehead: lickspittle.

However, Luo Zixi is not one of those manipulative women who like to string people along and exploit men's affections.

She refused outright:

"No need, I have hands and feet, I don't need anyone's help. Besides, I don't like owing favors to others."

"That's it. Don't follow me anymore. There's no need to say anything more. I'm not stupid. I'll take responsibility for my actions."

"Go back now, people will gossip if they see this. I won't be lenient with those who ruin my reputation!"

After all, these days, some rural youths, after taking a liking to female educated youths, would use this kind of persistent and harassing approach to entangle them, ruin their reputation, and eventually force them to give in.

If the people in this village think that this method can deal with her, then that's really ridiculous.

She was someone who didn't care about fame, only about life and death. She had long since taken everything lightly, and living a carefree life was the most important thing.

Of course, she knew Liu Ergou didn't mean it that way, but she had to make it clear upfront.

Liu Ergou's face immediately turned pale, and he hurriedly shook his head and waved his hands, saying:

"No, no, that's not what I meant, Luo Zhiqing, don't misunderstand!"

At this moment, Liu Ergou's mother and aunt came running over, panting. She immediately slapped Ergou across the face.

"You impatient, ungrateful bastard, get back to work right now! What are you standing there for?"

"I told you not to come, but you wouldn't listen. You're such a country bumpkin!"

"Hehe, Luo Zhiqing, my son isn't quite right in the head, so please don't take it to heart. We'll be going now."

The second aunt pushed and shoved Liu Ergou back.

This educated youth, Luo, is so reckless; let her go to the back mountain and see for herself. If she runs into trouble, she'll know to come back. A young lady like her probably wouldn't dare to venture deep into the mountains.

No matter how powerful she is, she's no match for wolves and tigers.

Moreover, as Luo Zixi just mentioned, she was just going to collect some firewood.

Hearing her say that, Second Aunt knew that Luo Zixi was a thrifty person who had adapted to rural life so quickly and even knew to go out and collect firewood.

You should know that at this time, firewood is indispensable for eating, boiling water, and heating the kang (a heated brick bed).

So every day after work, the people in the brigade would go to the back mountain to collect some firewood for use.

Of course, no one knew that this was just an excuse from Luo Zixi.

She came to scout out the terrain and, incidentally, set some traps to hunt some prey.

Luo Zixi hasn't played jungle for a long time and misses it very much.

Now that she's in this remote rural area, far from the reach of the emperor, she can finally let loose and have some fun.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!