"I'll help you," Chen Chong said, taking the machete from Tian Yu's hand and starting to chop the bamboo, giving Tian Yu no time to refuse.

As expected, men are stronger. Tian Yu had to admit that this amount of work would have taken her an entire afternoon to complete by herself, but Chen Chong wielded his knife swiftly and decisively, cutting down many bamboo stalks in no time. Tian Yu quickly stopped him, saying that was enough, or he would destroy the entire bamboo grove. In the end, it was Chen Chong who managed to transport them home. She seemed utterly useless, having nothing to do but run errands for him.

Chen Chong, knowing Tian Yu's idea of ​​fencing off the cultivated land to prevent animals from damaging it, got to work without hesitation. Tian Yu, feeling useless and even a bit of a hindrance, struggled for a while before finally being able to help—standing there holding the bamboo and handing over ropes. Feeling still largely unhelpful, she volunteered to cut the bamboo, only to cut her hand on the very first cut. Chen Chong grabbed her hand and put her injured finger in his mouth. Tian Yu was momentarily stunned and shyly withdrew her hand, scolding Chen Chong for doing that, saying her hands were dirty and she'd get sick. Chen Chong, however, was nonchalant, saying it disinfected the area. Tian Yu had heard of this practice in the countryside, but with disinfectant available, who would put it in their mouth? When Chen Chong wanted to check again, Tian Yu, afraid he'd do it again, quickly hid it behind her back, saying it was fine, already healed. Chen Chong didn't believe her and insisted on checking again, but Tian Yu refused and ran home. He even shouted that he should go back and wrap it up, telling Chen Chong not to be lazy and to get to work quickly, or he wouldn't cook for him.

When Tian Yu got home, she saw Tangyuan still diligently practicing archery, shooting arrows he'd whittled from bamboo at a scarecrow by the wall. Tian Yu asked him if he was tired and if he needed to rest. Tangyuan said he wasn't, explaining that Chen Chong had told him to practice more until he hit the target. Tian Yu thought he was very hardworking and told him to keep practicing, promising to cook him something delicious that evening. After quickly treating her fingers, Tian Yu went to Chen Chong's place to see if she could help, since she was the one who needed to cultivate the land and couldn't let Chen Chong do everything for her.

After trying for a while, Tian Yu still stood there holding onto the bamboo. Chen Chong even asked her to sing one of the songs from last time, saying he had fallen asleep and didn't hear it clearly, and wanted to hear it again. Tian Yu didn't really want to sing, but considering his help and his sincere attitude, she sang anyway: "Under the distant azure sky, surging..."

Golden Wheat Waves

It was there that you and I met.

Places I've Loved

...