Similarly, once it is time to cook, there will be someone upstream to remind you.

It was a little late when Qin Zhao arrived, and there were only three or four women left on the riverbank.

Washing clothes has always been a woman's job, and in this small mountain village, there's no rule that prohibits women from appearing in public. Unmarried girls love to come here in groups, playing in the water while washing clothes, and they finish their work while having fun.

The same is true today.

When the women saw Qin Zhao coming, they stopped playing and calmed down.

Men and women need to avoid suspicion, so Qin Zhao did not approach. He stood a little further away, finding a shallow spot to put down the things in his hand.

"Remember to swim farther." Qin Zhao released the little koi from the fish basket.

Jing Li certainly didn't want to smell like soapberries, so he swam towards the middle of the stream, wagging his tail.

When Qin Zhao saw him swimming away, he grabbed some soapnut powder and started washing clothes.

The women had already finished their work, but now they all slowed down their movements, splashing the already washed clothes in the water intermittently, glancing in Qin Zhao's direction from time to time.

Li Dali said something right before. With Qin Zhao's appearance, no one would dislike him if he stood out.

When Qin Zhao first came to the village, many women even passed by his house intentionally or unintentionally just to take a look at him.

But as time went on, everyone knew that this man had a strange disease of unknown origin and could not do heavy work.

For farmers like them who have been making a living by farming for generations, if they can't carry anything on their shoulders or hands, they are basically no different from useless people.

Not to mention that this person has to take medicine regularly, which is another huge expense.

The girls in the village finally gave up their thoughts.

However, if you come across it occasionally, it’s okay to take a few glances to satisfy your eyes.

Who wouldn't like to look at someone who looks good?

Qin Zhao pretended not to hear this, but Jing Li noticed it.

The women were further upstream and had stopped what they were doing. They put their heads together, pointed at Qin Zhao and whispered to each other. It was unclear what they were talking about, and they were pushing and laughing at each other.

Jing Li: “…”

He was very familiar with this look, it was clear that he was interested in Qin Zhao.

The little koi suddenly felt unhappy.

He swung his tail and swam over angrily, trying to drive the person away. He happened to hear a woman say, "If you want to talk to him, just say so. Why are you pushing me?"

The other woman's ears turned red, and she said shyly, "What was I thinking? I... was clearly you guys!"

Several women were laughing and pushing each other, and the hairpin in the hair of the woman who was speaking slipped off and fell into the water.

"My hairpin!" The woman stood up anxiously.

The current here isn't too fast, barely reaching the height of an adult man's calf. However, the stream has many rocks at the bottom, making it dangerous to step in and difficult to find anything you've dropped.

Several women stopped teasing and went into the water to look for him.

But I searched everywhere but couldn't find it.

The woman was so anxious that she almost cried: "That's the only thing my mother left me. What should I do?"

Jing Li looked at the small wooden hairpin lying not far from him and uttered a word softly: "..."

It’s obviously so close.