Chapter 42 I thought you liked me

Cheng Ying led Da Huang up to the second floor. As they were going downstairs, she suddenly noticed that Da Huang's walking posture was wrong; both of its front legs were limping.

She remembered that when she saw Big Yellow yesterday, only its left front leg was a little lame, so how come its right front leg is lame today too?

She was in the stairwell, looking down to check what was wrong with Big Yellow's right front leg.

You wouldn't believe it until you look, and what you find is shocking: on the joint of Big Yellow's right foreleg, there's a very obvious bite mark from an insect, and when you touch it, there's a tiny bump about the size of a chopstick tip.

"Dahuang, how did you get bitten? Where did you get bitten?" Cheng Ying checked Dahuang's whole body and found that apart from a bite mark on its right foreleg, there were no other obvious marks, which made her a little worried.

If the marks on Dahuang's body are from insect bites elsewhere, they are most likely from mosquito bites or other insects, and will heal in a day or two.

But they are now in Pucang Village, deep in the mountains, where the Miao people use Gu poison. Gu worms may exist anywhere in the village. If Dahuang was bitten by a Gu worm for no reason, it could be life-threatening.

Immediately, Cheng Ying became extremely anxious. She hurriedly led Da Huang downstairs, wanting to find Long Buxi and ask what had happened.

Long Buxi was on the second floor, by the stove, where white rice porridge was simmering next to a round pot hooked by an iron hook. When he saw Cheng Ying bring Da Huang down, he stood up, smiled and asked, "Awake? How did you sleep last night?"

"It's alright, but I slept for too long. When I woke up, I felt dizzy and my whole body ached. I've never slept for so long since I grew up. It's really strange."

Cheng Ying rubbed her temples to relieve her headache from sleeping too long, then pointed at Da Huang's right foreleg and asked, "Long Buxi, Da Huang's leg has been bitten. Can you take a look and tell me if it was bitten by a common insect or a Gu worm? If it was bitten by a Gu worm from your village, is there any way to cure it?"

"Let me see." Long Buxi put down the wooden-handled round spoon used for cooking porridge and turned to look at Dahuang.

When Da Huang saw him approaching, it seemed to have seen some kind of snake, insect, or ferocious beast. It let out a howl in fright, its four legs trembling, and it hid behind Cheng Ying with its tail between its legs. At the same time, it bared its teeth and made low growls at Long Buxi, as if shouting, "Don't come any closer!"

"What's wrong, Da Huang?" Cheng Ying asked, puzzled when she saw how frightened Da Huang was. "Long Buxi is just looking at your leg; she won't do anything to you."

Big Yellow barked at her and whimpered pitifully.

He's a bad person, he's a really bad person! My legs were bitten by the bugs he put there!

Unfortunately, it couldn't speak human language. Even though Cheng Ying could tell that something was wrong with it and thought that Long Buxi might have done something to Da Huang to make it so afraid.

On second thought, Da Huang had been sleeping in the same room with her all night. Da Huang was fine before she went to sleep, but it turned out like this after she woke up. Her room door was closed properly, so there was no reason for Long Bu Xi to come to her room in the middle of the night to do something to hurt Da Huang. She couldn't understand why Da Huang was afraid of Long Bu Xi.

The only explanation is that Long Buxi is the young clan leader of Pucang Village. He knows how to use Gu poison and has a cold aura. Dahuang probably also felt that he was dangerous and was afraid of him.

Long Buxi half-squatted in front of Da Huang, smiling gently as she reached out her hand to Da Huang: "Come on, Da Huang, let me see what bit you."

"Woof!"

Get out! Don't touch me!

Big Yellow barked angrily at him, baring its sharp teeth and glaring at him fiercely, letting out a threatening growl.

Worried that it would bite Long Buxi's hand, Cheng Ying quickly squatted down, held Da Huang's head in her hands, and gently comforted it, "Da Huang, be good, let him check if you've been bitten by a Gu worm. This is for your health."

Big Yellow turned to look at her, its dark eyes showing a wronged expression, and it kept whimpering.

While it turned its head, Long Buxi leaned close to it, carefully examined Dahuang's right front paw, and concluded: "It's nothing, it was just bitten by an ordinary insect, it will be fine in a few days, it wasn't bitten by a Gu worm."

When Dahuang heard what he said, it turned its head and barked at him a few times, as if it were cursing him.

Cheng Ying breathed a sigh of relief, stood up, looked at Long Buxi and said, "Thank you... Is this a tacit admission that your village has Gu worms?"

“I never said that our village has no Gu worms.” Long Buxi turned around and walked to the stove, took the pot of boiling white porridge off the stove, lifted the lid to let the porridge cool down, and then took a small iron pot from the cabinet next to him, placed it on the firewood pile, and skillfully started the fire to cook vegetables.

The steam rising around the stove surrounded Long Buxi, making his busy cooking figure appear much more blurred, yet still incredibly handsome.

Cheng Ying noticed a new small bamboo pole above the cabinet where he had taken the pot. It had about ten strings of long, bright red cured pork weighing two or three pounds each, along with a cured fish and a large piece of cured pork ribs. She was surprised and asked, "Where did you get all this cured pork? I don't remember you having any yesterday."

“I noticed you like cured meat, so I bought it from the people in the village.” Long Buxi put the stir-fried dishes into a plate and placed it on the rectangular dining table near the left window on the second floor, which had a good view. She smiled and called to her, “Let’s eat. Today I cooked the light porridge that you said patients should eat, and made some refreshing dishes. Try them and see if they suit your taste.”

As he spoke, he scooped a large bowl of thick, perfectly cooked white rice porridge and placed it in front of Cheng Ying. He then handed her a pair of chopsticks, turned around, picked up a somewhat old, coarse porcelain bowl, scooped it full of rice porridge, blew on it to cool it slightly, and placed it in front of Da Huang, who was sitting next to Cheng Ying, indicating that Da Huang should also eat.

No matter how much Da Huang disliked Long Bu Xi, he hadn't eaten all night and was very hungry, so he really wanted to eat.

In addition, rice porridge was considered a refined food in those days. Each Han Chinese person outside the area only received one or two kilograms of refined food per month, which was not enough for their own consumption, let alone extra refined food for dogs.

Pucang Village does not practice land collectivization. The people here are self-sufficient and eat their own food. Long Buxi cooked rice porridge for a long time, until the rice oil was extracted, and it smelled very fragrant. Dahuang smelled the fragrant rice porridge and was very hungry. He decided to temporarily ignore Long Buxi and buried his head in his food.

Cheng Ying held the white rice porridge in her hands, looking at the plate of bright green stir-fried water spinach, a plate of cucumber salad with minced garlic in chili oil, a plate of bright red and appetizing spicy dried radish, and four salted duck eggs cut in half with oil flowing in the middle. She felt complicated.

She casually mentioned yesterday that sick people should eat white rice porridge to soothe their stomachs, and he took her words to heart. He got up early this morning to cook porridge for her and also made several kinds of side dishes that she likes to eat with the porridge. He even went to other Miao families to buy cured meat to hang on the roof beam. Isn't he being a little too good to her?

She remembered Yalin saying that Long Buxi's parents died when he was very young, and he seemed to have been raised by the old clan chief.

She didn't know if Long Buxi and the old clan chief were related as biological ancestors, but judging from Long Buxi's young age and the fact that he lived alone in this stilted house and took good care of himself, she figured he probably didn't have a good relationship with the old clan chief, who probably didn't take good care of him, which was why he had become so independent.

I just don't know if he's engaged or married at his age.

Children in the mountains, regardless of whether they are Han or Miao, tend to get married very early.

Yesterday, Cheng Ying kowtowed to Cheng Jiantong's savior in the village and saw two Miao girls, about seventeen or eighteen years old, carrying a baby in their arms and on their backs, dressed as if they were already married.

Seeing that she was holding a bowl but hadn't touched her chopsticks, Long Buxi placed half a salted duck egg in front of her: "Is this food not to your liking? If it's not to your liking, what would you like to eat? I'll make it for you again."

Cheng Ying snapped out of her daze and said, "The food is very good, it's all my favorite dishes, thank you for cooking for me."

As she spoke, she took a bite of the white rice porridge, which was her favorite. It was thick, fragrant, and soft, paired with a salty, slightly grainy salted duck egg, a refreshing and crisp cucumber salad, spicy and appetizing dried radish, and light and refreshing stir-fried water spinach. The porridge wasn't too hot either, and she immediately had a great appetite, eating two large bowls of porridge before finally putting down her chopsticks with satisfaction.

After finishing her meal, she cleared the table and was about to wash the dishes when Long Buxi stopped her, saying that she hadn't fully recovered and that he should do the dishes.

Feeling embarrassed to eat for free, Cheng Ying stood by the stone trough that Long Buxi had built and helped Long Buxi clean the bowls.

As they finished washing, Cheng Ying couldn't help but ask, "Long Buxi, how old are you this year? Are you engaged, married, or dating anyone? Do you live here alone? What is your relationship with the old clan chief? Are you his grandson?"

Faced with her barrage of questions, Long Buxi handed her the bowl that had been rinsed with edible alkali for the first time, and stared at her intently as she asked, "Why do you suddenly want to know about me?"

"Just... I was curious." Cheng Ying rinsed the washed plates under the babbling water in the bamboo tube and put them in the cupboard.

"I thought you liked me and were interested in me, which is why you asked me these questions," Long Buxi said softly, lowering her eyes.

Because they were so close, no matter how softly he spoke, every single word he uttered reached Cheng Ying's ears.

Cheng Ying was taken aback and turned her head to look at him, only to meet Long Buxi's eyes.

His eyes were long, narrow, and deep, very beautiful. They were typical amorous, peach blossom eyes. His dark eyes stared straight at her, filled with an indescribable, intense heat.

Cheng Ying unconsciously looked away; his gaze made her feel uneasy, and she instinctively wanted to avoid it.

She was all too familiar with that look in his eyes. In her past life, Wei Muchen and other men who were interested in her would always give her that same burning gaze whenever they saw her.

She had only spent two days with Long Buxi, and they hadn't gotten to know each other very well. Long Buxi was even more beautiful than her, and she didn't believe that Long Buxi didn't know how good-looking he was. She was slightly less attractive than him, so he shouldn't have fallen in love with her at first sight.

When he gave her that look, Cheng Ying thought it must be because his eyes were so beautiful that he looked at dogs with such deep affection that it gave her the wrong impression.

Perhaps sensing her unease, Long Buxi laughed, turned back to continue washing the dishes, and answered Cheng Ying's question: "I'm 20 years old this year. I don't have a boyfriend, a fiancée, or a wife. This stilted house is my parents' home. After they passed away, I lived in Lizhai and rarely came back here. It wasn't until I became an adult that I started living here permanently."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "I am not the old patriarch's biological grandson. I was just raised by him. Our relationship is not very good."