"..." Rong Zhaonan looked at the petite girl beside him.
"What, have you ever seen a fish riding a bicycle?" Ning Yuan raised an eyebrow.
His worldview underwent a baptism; a woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle.
An image of a fish riding a bicycle appeared in my mind...
"Heh... Hahaha." Rong Zhaonan couldn't help but chuckle.
He hadn't laughed in many years, but this little spy was so funny; where did all these whimsical ideas come from?
Ning Yuan felt mocked and raised her voice: "That's right. I can earn my own money and work points, I can do my own housework, and I can go to the hospital when I'm sick. What else can a man do?"
"He still expects me to take care of him and his whole family, and when he gets old, I'll have to clean up his messes and take care of him until the end!"
Rong Zhaonan couldn't help but chuckle as he watched her get angry: "Why are you talking like you've been married and served a man your whole life?"
Ning Yuan choked, then turned her head and bit into the meat skewer resentfully: "Just tell me, aren't most families around here like this? I have eyes, I can see it!"
Seeing Ning Yuan's sullen expression, Rong Zhaonan teased, "So this is why you don't want to get married—men are useless?"
Ning Yuan was annoyed by his serious yet mocking manner, and bit her flesh fiercely: "That's true, what's the point of having a man except maybe for having children in bed..."
As soon as she finished speaking, she realized she had said the wrong thing.
Rong Zhaonan smiled meaningfully, resting his chin on his hand: "Ah, right, that requires a man to cooperate in completing the... task in bed. You know quite a bit."
Ning Yuan's round face flushed red, and she rolled her eyes at him: "Hmph, Dr. Rong, this is common medical knowledge!"
This man had a handsome and refined face, but his tone was so roguish it bordered on sinister, making her heart skip a beat.
The girl beside him lowered her head, her tender white ears red and soft, which made Rong Zhaonan squint his eyes and unconsciously press his tongue against his back teeth.
I wonder what it will taste like when I bite into it.
"I thought you were dating that Secretary Li, so I knew a lot about you." He lowered his eyes and composed himself.
Ning Yuan's face turned cold: "I didn't date him. My aunt introduced us. I know this because my neighbor is a doctor at the health center. I also live next to the health center. My aunt often takes me and her child to play."
Explanation is just a cover-up, but what she said was the truth; she didn't lie to him.
Rong Zhaonan didn't know why, but when he heard her say that she had never been in a relationship, he felt a strange sense of relief.
He turned his face, got up to get a slice of watermelon, and handed it to her: "Want some?"
Ning Yuan looked at the melon in her hand with surprise: "Where did you get this melon?"
Rong Zhaonan pointed to the mountains: "It's all grown, even the cumin, fennel, and chili peppers are grown."
Ning Yuan looked at him with a complicated expression: "You didn't clear land or cultivate fields in the mountains, did you?"
"Just one plot of land, enough to ensure our physical fitness doesn't decline, and sufficient supplies are necessary, since we might be here for the rest of our lives," Rong Zhaonan said casually.
Ning Yuan thought about it and agreed. If he didn't secretly plant crops in the mountains and hunt, he would probably have a hard time getting through these next few years.
Those sent down for reform were not allowed to have their own private plots.
“No, you won’t stay here forever. Order is being restored and the economy is being revitalized everywhere. You will go home.” Ning Yuan shook her head.
Rong Zhaonan looked at her, his eyes deep: "Are you so sure I still have a chance to leave here?"
Ning Yuan looked at him earnestly: "Because everything is getting better, and you are a capable person, a dragon will not be trapped in a shallow pool forever."
Rong Zhaonan looked at the girl in front of him, feeling a mix of emotions.
No one had ever told him this before, although he didn't believe he would be trapped here forever.
She was the first person to affirm him like that during his lowest point.
"Here you go." He handed over the melon and the roasted ribs in his hand.
Ning Yuan smiled and said, "Thank you, Dr. Rong!"
The watermelon was sweet and refreshing, and the roasted wild meat was delicious; she ate until her mouth was greasy.
Looking at her smiling face, Rong Zhaonan lowered his eyes and said calmly, "We're both married, so why do you always call me Doctor Rong? Don't people find it strange?"
Ning Yuan was stirring the paste with a small brush when she heard this and was taken aback. Yes, she was too unfamiliar with it.
She glanced at Rong Zhaonan, hesitated for a long while, and then asked awkwardly and tentatively, "Then... shall I call you Doctor Rong... um... Zhaonan? Or Anan?"
The girl called his name in a soft voice, like a wisp of grass gently brushing against his ear.
It's a little itchy...
Rong Zhaonan paused, then turned his face away expressionlessly: "Whatever."
Ning Yuan looked at his tall and slender profile and was a little puzzled. This person was really strange. Why did he suddenly have a stern face again?
Oh well, the big shots all have weird tempers and personalities.
She decided to eat first—to fill her stomach!
One hour later
"Didn't you say you could smoke meat?"
Standing in front of a mountain of flesh, Rong Zhaonan frowned slightly as he watched Ning Yuan look at him helplessly.
Ning Yuan sighed, "Please, brother, look at this mountain of meat! There are five wild boars! Enough for the whole village to slaughter and eat. How can I possibly handle this by myself!"
Smoking ten or eight or nine pounds would be fine, but this is almost a thousand pounds of meat!
It would take several days to sell them, wouldn't it?
Moreover, the smoke from smoking meat is easily visible to others.
It's also her fault for being so hungry that she was confused and spoke without thinking when she saw food.
"So what should we do now?" Rong Zhaonan asked.
Ning Yuan rubbed her temples and thought for a long time: "The best way is of course to sell all this pork and get money to buy the tickets we need."
How much money and tickets can so much pork be exchanged for? Several hundred or even a thousand yuan.
But that's impossible; they have no way to process these wild boars themselves and transport them down the mountain into the city.
“Either tell the village chief to drag the pig down and divide it among all the village teams, as a way to exchange favors,” Ning Yuan added.
She and he, this "couple who have been through thick and thin," will have to live in the village for a while longer. They have a lot of favors to repay, and since the village team has done them a favor, they should at least take care of them a little.
Rong Zhaonan pondered for a moment: "I can handle a pig. There's also a cave in these mountains that no one has ever been to. We can smoke meat there without being discovered."
Ning Yuan's big eyes lit up: "Then we can keep those wild boar piglets in the cave! We can make roast suckling pig when we need them!"
She squatted down among several shivering wild boar piglets: "We'll keep one pig and its piglets for ourselves, and the village secretary can lead people to carry the remaining four back to the village. That'll be just right!"
Without further ado, Rong Zhaonan picked a wild boar, and together with a pheasant and a roe deer, cleanly butchered and skinned it, then carried the boar into the cave.
The remaining pigs were left where they were and tied to a tree with hemp rope.
Ning Yuan watched as he carried a pig weighing over 200 pounds on his back along the rugged mountain path, as if he were walking on flat ground, as if he were carrying nothing at all.
She was utterly amazed. How could he have such a refined and handsome face, yet work like a fierce Zhang Fei!
Once inside the cave, Ning Yuan also saw a pile of firewood and a lot of food.
She knew then that this was Rong Zhaonan's "secret base".
This guy is amazing.
By the time she and Rong Zhaonan had lit the fire and cut up all the pork and roe deer meat and hung them up, it was already dawn, and the two of them finally went down the mountain.
With Rong Zhaonan leading the way, the descent down the mountain was much faster.
When Ning Yuan arrived at the cowshed, she smelled the stench of pig blood and sweat all over her and felt like vomiting.
"I'll go boil some water, shall we wash together?" Rong Zhaonan asked, noticing Ning Yuan's scrunched-up face.
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