In the cave
It took a lot of effort for Li Xiuman to finally tear off all the bandages from Zhang Chunfeng's lower leg.
This job was much easier than weeding in the fields, but he was still covered in sweat from exhaustion.
Zhang Chunfeng's calves were in a bad state. They had been covered for a long time and soaked in rainwater. They looked like steamed buns that had been thrown into the river and soaked until they were swollen, white, and covered with fresh blood from broken flesh. This was the case from his calves to his ankles.
"How could this happen?" Lee Soo-man asked, wiping his sweat.
His face appeared even whiter because of the sweat on it.
"A few days ago, I rode horses with the magistrate's son in the mountains. The mountain path was rugged, and the horse got spooked, causing me to fall and end up like this," Zhang Chunfeng explained. She added that given her riding and archery skills, falling from a horse wouldn't have happened. It was just that she had passed the imperial examination that day and was genuinely overjoyed, becoming a bit arrogant, which led to this mishap.
Lee Soo-man thought for a while, then stood up.
"I'll go pick some herbs to apply to you. There's nothing else here, so I'm afraid the only thing I can use is herbs to stop the bleeding and relieve the pain."
Zhang Chunfeng glanced at the still heavy rain outside.
"It's dark and raining heavily, so let's stop here."
Li Xiuman shook his head, "You don't need to go far to get herbs. During the harvest season, many people get injured by hoes or cut by sickles. There are herbs just a few steps away."
Li Xiuman put on his straw hat, smiled at Zhang Chunfeng, and said, "Don't worry, I'll stay right at the cave entrance and won't go far."
If that's the case, Zhang Chunfeng nodded.
After Li Xiuman left, she slowly stood up. With the bandages removed, her leg felt much lighter. She tried to gently step on the stones, and after confirming that her bones were fine, she limped towards the edge of the cave.
She took a torch and sat on a rock by the cave. Shining the torch outside, she saw that Li Xiuman was indeed not far from the cave.
The rain outside was still very heavy, and the torch was almost extinguished as soon as it touched the rain.
Fortunately, Zhang Chunfeng had excellent eyesight and had practiced archery so well that he could hit a willow leaf from a hundred paces away.
Through the heavy rain, Zhang Chunfeng saw Li Xiuman constantly bending over to search for herbs on the ground. Since it was dark, he couldn't see several plants clearly, so he had to bend over even more to carefully distinguish the herbs from the weeds.
As Zhang Chunfeng looked around, a ridiculous idea suddenly popped into his head.
His buttocks are indeed quite perky.
The thought flashed through her mind. Zhang Chunfeng suddenly felt incredulous; what was she thinking of?
Even if she's round and perky, could she possibly...?
It really can.
Zhang Chunfeng suddenly realized that in this world, there wasn't much difference between men and women. Men could take the imperial examinations, and so could women; men could marry, and so could women. The current empress had three palaces and six courtyards, and many male favorites.
Lee Soo-man is so handsome, what's wrong with marrying him after I pass the high school entrance exam?
Thinking this, Zhang Chunfeng turned around and saw Li Xiuman had finished collecting herbs and was heading back into the cave.
In that short time, his clothes, which had been dried by the fire, were soaked through again.
"Why are you sitting at the cave entrance? It's windy and rainy; you'll catch a cold." Li Xiuman entered the cave, soaking wet.
"I'm fine, brother. You should take off your clothes quickly, or you'll catch a cold more easily than I do."
After Zhang Chunfeng finished speaking, he reached out with practiced ease to help Li Xiuman hang up his soaked clothes.
Li Xiuman was initially a little awkward, but when he looked down and saw Zhang Chunfeng's outstretched hand, he quickly nodded and took off his shirt.
“I can do it myself. Sit down and I’ll apply the medicine for you.” Li Xiuman hung up his clothes and sat by the fire, shirtless.
He bent down and cleaned the herbs he had just picked before crushing them on a stone.
The unique, crisp yet bitter aroma of the crushed herbs filled the entire cave. Li Xiuman carefully poured the herbs into his palm, pinched off two or three pinches, and placed them on Zhang Chunfeng's calf.
I just helped Zhang Chunfeng remove the bandages; there was no actual physical contact between us.
Now, his cold fingers lightly brushed against Zhang Chunfeng's calf.
Before Zhang Chunfeng could react, he noticed that Li Xiuman's face was flushed and his eyes were drooping, as if he dared not look at Zhang Chunfeng.
It was just applying medicine, yet this person was so ashamed.
"Brother, why are you blushing when you're applying medicine to me?"
Upon hearing this, Lee Soo-man's already flushed face turned even redder.
He hurriedly released Zhang Chunfeng's leg. He hadn't thought it was inappropriate at first, but as soon as his fingers touched Zhang Chunfeng's leg, Li Xiuman felt that this was improper.
How could a man like me touch a woman's calves?
"Did I...did I offend you?" Lee Soo-man asked haltingly.
Zhang Chunfeng smiled, finding the man genuinely interesting and amusing.
"No, my brother is healing me, please continue."
Li Xiuman hesitated for a moment, then looked at his sticky hands, and finally lowered his head to stick all the herbs onto Zhang Chunfeng's legs.
After doing all this, Lee Soo-man stood outside the cave and washed his hands with rainwater.
"I'm afraid we really will have to spend the night here," he said, looking at the rain outside.
Zhang Chunfeng didn't care, only regretting that he hadn't eaten enough lunch. The two of them had fled in such a sorry state that they hadn't brought anything with them, and now Zhang Chunfeng felt empty inside with nothing to eat.
With the rain pouring down outside, there was nothing they could do but go to sleep hungry and search for food.
It got even darker outside the cave.
Li Xiuman pushed the two large stones at the entrance of the cave to the cave entrance, as if putting a door on the cave to block wild boars, jackals and other animals that might come in the middle of the night.
After the cave entrance was blocked, the firelight inside the cave became brighter and warmer.
Zhang Chunfeng was hungry, and after thinking it over, she decided that she should go to bed early. She lay down on half a straw mat, closed her eyes, and quickly fell asleep.
When she woke up, the cave was still shrouded in gray.
The original fire was now only glowing faintly for a moment, so Zhang Chunfeng reached out and added another handful of firewood, making the cave much brighter.
She then realized that, to avoid danger, Lee Soo-man hadn't lain on the straw mat next to her, but was sleeping alone on the ground on the other side.
This cave is not a place that is warm in winter and cool in summer. The stones inside are scorching hot in summer, and on days like this, they are damp and cold. Sleeping on the stones for a night will allow the cold air from the ground to seep into your body.
"Nonsense." Zhang Chunfeng muttered, pulling a straw mat towards Li Xiuman.
After laying out the straw mat, she gently nudged Lee Soo-man, who rolled over and fell asleep right on the mat.
Zhang Chunfeng was starving and couldn't sleep at all.
He had no choice but to move the other straw mat next to Lee Soo-man and lie down beside him.
Lee Soo-man slept so peacefully. His eyes were closed, his breathing was steady, and his entire face was relaxed.
Zhang Chunfeng stared at that face, and without anyone noticing, he reached out and tugged at Li Xiuman's eyelashes.
He was still fast asleep, showing no signs of waking up.
Zhang Chunfeng simply propped herself up on her arm, facing sideways to Li Xiuman. Just then, Li Xiuman turned over, his back to her.
Zhang Chunfeng raised an eyebrow and glanced at his lean waist.
Does a slim waist make the hips appear rounder, or does a firm, perky waist make the waist appear slimmer?
These thoughts kept swirling in Zhang Chunfeng's mind, and as they swirled, Zhang Chunfeng's hand unconsciously rested on Li Xiuman's waist.
Her fingers traced the contours of Lee Soo-man's narrow waist inch by inch, like a great lord surveying his land, meticulously measuring his waistline. From his side to his spine, and then to his navel.
The hand of that sixteen-year-old girl, soft as a whisk, gently brushed against Lee Soo-man's warm skin.
After circling around, Zhang Chunfeng suddenly realized that Li Xiuman was no longer breathing.
He wasn't really not breathing; he was just holding his breath.
Oh? You're awake? But you don't dare open your eyes.
Zhang Chunfeng noticed Li Xiuman's tightly furrowed brows and trembling eyelashes.
Perhaps they don't know how to face themselves?
Zhang Chunfeng immediately became interested, and not only did he not restrain himself at all, his fingers even slowly circled around Li Xiuman's rounded breasts along his pants.
She could feel the tension in Lee Soo-man's back.
The fun wasn't over for her yet. Zhang Chunfeng's nimble fingers hooked around Li Xiuman's waistband, her fingers still trying to touch inside Li Xiuman's pants.
Lee Soo-man, who had been keeping his eyes closed, suddenly opened them.
"You!" He turned around to speak, but saw that Zhang Chunfeng's eyes were closed and he was still asleep.
Li Xiuman was speechless for a moment, then let out a long sigh and removed Zhang Chunfeng's hand from his body.
"So he was still sleeping," he muttered, adding more firewood, but dared not sleep any longer, sitting on the straw mat with his eyes open.
A sly smile appeared on Zhang Chunfeng's lips as he deliberately turned over and grabbed Li Xiuman's waist.
"Wife," she muttered.
Lee Soo-man froze, muttering to himself, "She's only sixteen, and she already has a wife?"
How could he be so intimate with her now that he had a wife? Li Xiuman immediately felt even more uneasy and reached out to remove Zhang Chunfeng's hand, but Zhang Chunfeng held him even tighter.
Zhang Chunfeng not only hugged him, but also slipped his hands inside Li Xiuman's clothes and began to knead him.
The rubbing made Li Xiu's face turn bright red with embarrassment.
"Wake up! I'm a man, not your wife!" Lee Soo-man couldn't help but shout.
Zhang Chunfeng felt that the skin in his hand was delicate and soft to the touch, and he didn't want to let go at all.
They kneaded it even more vigorously.
Li Xiuman felt as if Zhang Chunfeng was going to rub off a layer of skin, and he couldn't care less anymore, so he grabbed Zhang Chunfeng's hand.
"Spring Breeze! Wake up, it's me!" This time his voice was loud.
Zhang Chunfeng had no choice but to pretend to be dazed and open his eyes.
"Wife?"
"No, it's me."
Zhang Chunfeng rubbed his eyes. "Oh, it's Brother Li! Where am I? I remember now, I'm in the cave!"
After Zhang Chunfeng finished his act, he asked seriously, "Why did you wake me up?"
"Me." Lee Soo-man hesitated, unsure how to say it.
He straightened his clothes and said slowly, "You just mistook me for your wife, but you're already married?"
"No." Zhang Chunfeng stretched lazily. "I just had a dream. I dreamt that I married an extremely beautiful wife. It was our wedding night when my brother woke me up."
The words carried a clear hint of reproach, leaving Lee Soo-man speechless.
"If my brother doesn't disturb me, this dream can continue."
Lee Soo-man hesitated for a moment, then apologized, "I'm sorry, but I think we should be leaving too."
Zhang Chunfeng nodded, "Well, considering my brother apologized, I won't hold it against him."
Lee Soo-man remained silent, got up, and pushed aside the stone at the entrance of the cave.
The rain had stopped outside, and it was still barely dawn. Zhang Chunfeng took a torch, climbed onto Li Xiuman's back, and the two slowly walked down the mountain.
When they were almost at Zhang Chunfeng's house, Li Xiuman put the person down.
"Go back by yourself. I'm afraid I won't be able to explain it to your parents if I carry you." Li Xiuman kept sighing all the way. Fortunately, it was still dark and no one saw him carrying Zhang Chunfeng. Otherwise, such behavior, plus the fact that the two of them spent the night together in the cave, would have caused gossip.
Zhang Chunfeng nodded, thanked Li Xiuman, and hurried home.
She was so hungry. At sixteen, she was still growing and hadn't eaten for two meals. She was so hungry she could have swallowed a whole cow.
Without saying anything to Lee Soo-man, he hurried home.
As soon as I entered the house, I heard Li cry out, "My son!"
With red marks all over his face, Zhang Chuntian shouted in a rough voice, "Sister!"
Hearing this voice from a distance, Lee Soo-man felt a deep sorrow in his heart.
It's so nice to be greeted when I get home.
Unlike him.
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