Nan Zhi had no time to listen to their praise. She helped Xu Qingyuan up, patted her back, and patiently comforted her: "Don't be afraid, it's alright."
In those days, living conditions in rural areas were very poor; being able to eat one's fill was considered good.
Xu Qingyuan was very weak due to illness, her face was pale and thin, and her hair was dry. She could only be vaguely seen to resemble Xu Min.
"Thank you, sister."
With red eyes, Xu Qingyuan tried to stand up from her embrace, but collapsed weakly back down.
Nanzhi heard her stomach rumbling and figured she must be hungry.
Suddenly remembering something, she took out an apple wrapped in a paper bag from her pocket.
The apple was sent by the original owner's parents. Nanzhi only brought one with her, thinking she would eat it when she got hungry while working.
Right now, she handed her the apple: "Eat it quickly, you won't be hungry after you eat it."
When Xu Qingyuan saw the apple, she visibly swallowed hard, clearly craving it.
Apples are a rarity here. Xu Qingyuan only gets one when her brother buys it for her to try in order to cheer her up, especially when she is very ill.
You rarely see her.
I've seen it now.
But she didn't dare to eat it.
The older sister in front of her had already saved her life, a debt she could never repay. To owe her an apple would make it even harder.
Nanzhi patted her head. "I'm already full. I really can't eat this apple anymore. Can you help me?"
Xu Qingyuan then carefully took the apple and began to eat it in small bites.
The apple was so delicious that she was afraid she would eat it all in one bite.
After a few bites, she wasn't so hungry anymore, so she stopped eating and stuffed the rest of the apple into her pocket.
Cheng Zhouyuan watched from the side. Seeing that Xu Qingyuan was alright, the other educated youths went back to picking tea, while Xu Qingyuan's friends went to find Xu Min. So, for the moment, only he and Nanzhi were with Xu Qingyuan.
Many of the villagers here are not dressed cleanly. Xu Qingyuan had just been chasing pigs and stepped in a lot of pig droppings, so he smelled terrible.
Cheng Zhouyuan saw that Nan Zhi didn't seem to mind at all, and even patted Xu Qingyuan's head, which made him re-evaluate this young lady.
It doesn't seem as bad as the rumors suggest.
Just as he was about to speak to Nanzhi, a gust of wind suddenly blew past his ear, and then Cheng Zhouyuan saw a boy taller than him walk past him and stand in front of Nanzhi.
"Ah Yuan, how are you?"
Nanzhi looked up and saw the tall Xu Min standing in front of her, his breathing still a little unsteady, clearly having run over.
His clothes were old, with many poorly stitched patches, as if he had sewed them on himself.
However, his face was very handsome, but he always had a stern expression, even when he was worried about Xu Qingyuan, he was cold, like a wolf that was not to be trifled with.
Xu Qingyuan was overjoyed to see him: "Brother, I'm alright now, thanks to this sister who saved me."
Xu Min then looked at Nan Zhi, and when he saw it was her, he was stunned, clearly somewhat surprised.
"She fainted, I performed CPR on her, and she's alright for now, so don't worry."
Xu Min hadn't received much formal education and couldn't understand anything about CPR.
He glanced at the smiling Nanzhi, then looked away: "Thank you."
Nan Zhi smiled and said, "You saved me yesterday, and today I saved your sister. I didn't expect we'd have such a connection."
"Then we're even."
Xu Min didn't want to stay with these educated youths, so he expressionlessly pulled Xu Qingyuan away.
Seeing her brother being fierce to Nanzhi, Xu Qingyuan secretly turned around to look at Nanzhi. Nanzhi smiled at her, and Xu Qingyuan's ears turned red.
This woman is really beautiful.
Hmm, she and her brother seem to look quite like a married couple.
But it seems her brother doesn't like her at all.
Xu Qingyuan thought regretfully, then suddenly remembered something and exclaimed, "Brother, the pig, the pig ran away!"
Xu Qingyuan then remembered that the pig had escaped and they still hadn't caught it.
She looked around anxiously, and then her eyes lit up: "Brother, the pig is over there!"
Then, Nanzhi saw Xu Min let go of Xu Qingyuan's hand, stride after the pig that was rooting up the tea tree, grab the pig's hind legs, and carry it away.
That pig was skinny and small, but it was quite dangerous, damaging a lot of tea trees.
As Xu Min walked, he scolded Xu Qingyuan: "Didn't I tell you to stay at home? Why did you drive the pigs up the mountain again?"
Xu Qingyuan looked guilty: "Brother, I just saw you were working too hard and wanted to help you..."
Xu Min fell silent.
Xu Qingyuan's eyes were red, and she looked like she was about to cry: "Now the pigs have damaged so many tea trees, do we have to pay a lot of money in compensation?"
Xu Min wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes: "It's okay, I'll figure something out."
Nan Zhi watched as Xu Min and Xu Qingyuan walked towards her, but Xu Min never looked at her the entire time.
As he was leaving, he said to Cheng Zhouyuan, "Please tell the secretary that I will compensate for these damaged tea trees."
Cheng Zhouyuan nodded, which was taken as an agreement.
Nanzhi watched them leave, and her amused expression gradually froze as she saw him carrying the pig.
People have it tough these days.
Moreover, Xu Min was all alone and helpless.
On the way back, Xu Qingyuan took out the apple that she had only taken a few bites out of, which she had hidden in her pocket.
"Brother, this is from the pretty lady. It's delicious. I saved it for you. Try it!"
Xu Min looked at the brightly colored apples in her hand; they were clearly the kind of apples sold only in the city.
"She gave it to you?"
"Yes, that pretty lady is so kind. I was too embarrassed to accept her food, and she said she couldn't eat any more and asked me to help her. Actually, she was worried that I would feel burdened..."
Xu Qingyuan's eyes lit up whenever Nanzhi was mentioned, but that light quickly faded.
Xu Min coldly interrupted her: "You can't just eat things given to you by strangers in the future."
Looking at Xu Min's cold gaze, Xu Qingyuan pursed her lips and responded softly.
She knew that her brother didn't want to owe anyone favors.
She's awful; she's caused her brother more trouble.
Looking at the apple in her hand, she suddenly felt a little lost.
A large hand patted her shoulder. "I'm sorry, I was a little loud just now. I wasn't being mean to you, but you have to remember, Ah Yuan, it's best if we don't get involved with these educated youth from the city."
"That apple..."
"You eat it, I don't want to eat it."
"No, brother has to eat. If brother doesn't eat, A-Yuan won't eat either..."
Xu Min could only take one bite.
That was the best apple he had ever eaten in his life.
But he also knew that there were some things he didn't deserve to enjoy.
...
"Nanzhi, do you need me to help you?"
Cheng Zhouyuan's voice came from beside her. Nanzhi turned around and smiled at him: "No need, I can manage, thank you."
After saying that, she took a step forward, but she didn't expect that because she had run too fast, her ankle was even more aggravated.
Just as she was about to fall, someone suddenly pulled her arm.
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