The next morning, as soon as it was light, Jiang Xi got up. Perhaps because of the cool weather, she had slept exceptionally well the night before.
She got up first to check on Yan Zheng and Xiao Lu's injuries. Yan Zheng's wound had no oozing fluid and was recovering well.
The bleeding from the fawn's left hoof had stopped, and it was estimated that it would recover in another two or three days. However, the other leg would need to heal slowly. Fortunately, there was no rush. After cleaning the fawn, she headed straight for the rabbit trap in the back mountain.
When she checked last night before bed, the root potato and the trap were still unharmed. This morning, she saw from afar that the root potato was gone, and Jiang Xi ran over in great surprise.
Sure enough, a two-legged rabbit fell into the pit. The pit walls were all rock slabs, so it couldn't dig a hole or jump up. When it saw Jiang Xi, it squeaked in fright.
Jiang Xi felt a great sense of accomplishment. This was the first time she had caught prey on her own, and she was so happy that she could hardly believe it.
Jiang Xi originally wanted to continue making rabbit soup, but now she had another idea.
The kiln had been left to dry for several days. The air here was already dry, and she discovered early this morning that the kiln was ready to be fired.
She originally designed it to be both an oven and a ceramic firing machine, so she changed her mind at the last minute and decided to bake a rabbit first to try it out.
Jiang Xi carefully coated the whole rabbit with the last packet of instant noodle seasoning, hoping that this "oven" would work its magic. She had high hopes for it.
First, heat the kiln with firewood. When it's almost heated, remove the firewood, place the rabbit inside the kiln on a stone slab, and then seal the doorway on the side of the kiln.
Jiang Xi was worried that it wasn't cooked through, so she roasted it for a little longer. When she opened the kiln, the sun was already high in the sky, and she even threw in a few pieces of sweet potato.
As soon as the door of the kiln was opened, an enticing aroma of meat wafted out. The rabbit meat mixed with the fragrance of beef. Jiang Xi carefully dragged the rabbit leg bone, but it was too tender. As soon as she exerted force, the entire rabbit leg fell off the bone.
The rabbit meat skin exhibits a perfect Maillard reaction, and the dark red, crispy crust is still sizzling with oil.
Having eaten bland food for a long time since arriving in the jungle, Jiang Xi's taste buds have become exceptionally sensitive. Even though the rabbit meat was made with the most ordinary instant noodle seasoning she used to have, Jiang Xi tasted as if it were a delicacy.
The two-legged rabbits in this world are a size larger than those in the original world. Originally, the two of them could eat two meals, but today, fueled by hunger and the seasoning, they finished off the roasted rabbit in one meal.
After the meal, Jiang Xi looked at the pottery kiln with great satisfaction. She thought about how she could roast fish, rabbit, and vegetables in the future and felt that life had more hope.
She wasn't in a hurry to make pottery; Jiang Xi decided to continue digging for sweet potatoes today. The traps were already set, and it would be a good time to catch more rabbits to nourish the two of them.
Since coming to the forest, she has been exercising much more, but her diet is low in oil and fat, consisting mainly of fish, meat, and duck eggs every day. She was already thin, and now, lacking carbohydrates, she has difficulty keeping up with her stamina when she's busy. Not to mention Yan Zheng, who has visibly lost a lot of weight and looks much more toned.
When Jiang Xi changed the dressing in the morning, she saw that the wound had already formed a thick scab. Although Jiang Xi strongly urged him to rest for two more days, Yan Zheng insisted on refusing. He clearly felt a lot of pain in his wound, but he refused to show it at all, and he was completely unresponsive to reason.
He couldn't do heavy work, so Jiang Xi watched him fiddling with wood. There were many thin branches that had been cut down recently, and Jiang Xi watched him burn and whittle them with a knife, as if he were making bows and arrows.
Jiang Xi looked at the man sitting at the entrance of the cave, engrossed in his work. His jawline was taut, and in the dim light, his features and body lines appeared even more defined. She pursed her lips, wondering how someone could be so perfectly proportioned.
Then her heart felt heavy, as if it were filled with lead. She remembered what Yan Zheng said when he had a high fever. It wasn't hard to imagine how complicated his feelings were when he first learned about parallel worlds. On one hand, there was the pressure from his loved ones, and on the other hand, there was doubt about the whole world and even the real world.
Jiang Xi even speculated that this incident might be the direct reason why he gave up fencing in the first place.
But she didn't ask. There was still a "dividing line" between them, which was about fencing and his past. As long as they didn't bring up this line, they could maintain friendly communication and get along for the time being. Jiang Xi tried to avoid these topics, afraid of touching his sore spot again.
The little deer lying next to Yan Zheng seemed to sense her gaze, staring at her with its round eyes. Jiang Xi felt as if her thoughts had been seen through, so she quickly looked away.
Is it pretty?
Jiang Xi blushed, realizing he had noticed. She tried to defend herself, saying, "I wasn't looking at you, I was looking at Xiao Lu."
Yan Zheng stared intently at his work, a slight smile playing on his lips: "I was talking about Xiao Lu too."
Suddenly, he paused for a moment: "Who's prettier, me or that man?"
Jiang Xi hadn't recovered from his teasing yet and asked, confused, "Who?"
Yan Zheng said, "That guy surnamed Qiao."
Jiang Xi then realized that Yan Zheng had repeatedly told her to forget "him," but she hadn't understood who "him" referred to at first. It turned out he was referring to Senior Brother Qiao. She had recently met a senior from the same school who was also her advisor's nephew, and he meant for them to try getting to know each other first.
However, she couldn't refuse her advisor's request, so she said she would try to get to know him first. The two met twice, but she didn't feel anything for him.
Jiang Xi replied, "You mean Senior Brother Qiao? How do you know him?"
Suddenly she realized what she meant, and her tone carried a girlish lilt: "Oh... are you jealous?"
Yan Zheng chuckled and met her gaze: "I was just thinking that your taste is getting worse and worse."
Jiang Xi disagreed, saying, "You can't judge a person solely by their appearance."
Yan Zheng said sarcastically, "You like him so much that you don't even care about his appearance."
Jiang Xi muttered, "He's just a blind date, we haven't gone that far yet."
"You've already kissed, and you still say it hasn't reached that stage?" Yan Zheng continued with his work, pretending not to care: "The photos of the two of you kissing have been taken."
"What photos? We've only met twice, where would you get... hugging and kissing?" Jiang Xi found it unbelievable, and the last three words were too embarrassing to say.
Jiang Xi continued, "Also, don't make baseless accusations about being cuckolded."
She wanted to say something more, but then she noticed that Yan Zheng's gaze was strange.
His hand movements suddenly stopped.
Yan Zheng recalled the photo he received at the hospital: Jiang Xi, in her early twenties, was leaning against the railing by the river, wearing her favorite blue dress, and reaching out to hug a man in a black windbreaker. A white daisy adorned the right shoulder of the dress, and the roadside sign in the lower left corner of the photo read "Lingdujiang Section 3".
The photo was taken at night, and the distant lights pierced through the man's eyes and brows, obscuring his features. Yet, everything in the photo looked beautiful and blissful, driving him to the brink of madness with jealousy. The hatred in his heart grew and devoured like boundless seaweed.
But if he was always alone, then who was the person hugging Jiang Xi in the photo? He didn't remember having this black windbreaker, nor did he remember ever going to the Lingdu River.
He had a bit of a headache and rubbed his face with his hand: "Have you been to Lingdu River?"
Jiang Xi noticed the change in atmosphere and replied after a long pause, "I've been there."
Suddenly, something occurred to her, and a chill ran down her spine: "You went there too, don't you remember?"
A question arose in her mind, and she asked cautiously, "Or is that person not you? But he looks just like you."
When she asked that question, she was startled by her own thought. Her heart raced, and although it was daytime, she felt her hair stand on end and a chill run down her spine.
Jiang Xi gripped the wooden stick beside her tightly; her hands were trembling so badly that she desperately needed something to support herself.
Yan Zheng was surprised by her quick reaction. Seeing the movement in her hand, he couldn't help but feel a pang of tenderness: "That person is definitely not me."
He walked over, took her hand, and pulled the wooden stick that was about to pierce her palm. Her hand was slender, cold, and soft.
Yan Zheng said, "I think you've already guessed who it is."
Jiang Xi's face turned ashen. So that's how it is. If that's the case, then everything makes sense. She suddenly understood where her discomfort and unease came from. It was because she wasn't alone, which was why she was so restless at the time.
That man was Yan Zheng from another world.
Yan Zheng touched her cold face, then put his arm around her and pulled her into his embrace.
Jiang Xi remained unmoved; she only felt anger, a deep sense of powerlessness spreading from her heart into her body.
After realizing what had happened, she asked with difficulty, "Why? Why would he do that?"
The surroundings were eerily quiet. She couldn't understand what 'his' purpose was.
Yan Zheng sighed and gently stroked the back of her neck with his right hand: "It's all in the past, don't think about it anymore."
He released Jiang Xi and looked into her eyes: "She impersonated me to break up with you, simply to cut off your contact with me."
“Over the years, he has appeared in my life from time to time, driving me crazy.”
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