He carried me on his back?
"Are you alright? Do you want me to carry you down the mountain?" Lee Soo-man asked, his bright red lips moving as he spoke.
Zhang Chunfeng was so engrossed in watching that he lost his composure.
The person I've been observing all day actually looks like this?
She had a fox-like oval face, and her eyes were as captivating as her own, with long, curled eyelashes, a high nose bridge, and a noticeable black mole on the tip of her nose. Her most beautiful feature was her mouth; the shape was exquisite, the cupid's bow prominent, and the color a vibrant red, making her face appear even more fair and delicate.
When he met that face, Zhang Chunfeng was clearly stunned for a moment.
"Okay," she said.
Li Xiuman went to get the bamboo chair, but Zhang Chunfeng shook his head, "Just carry me downstairs. This chair got wet in the rain and will only add to its weight."
Lee Soo-man thought for a moment, then squatted down and let Zhang Chunfeng climb onto his back.
"You don't need to take anything else?"
"My brother will come to collect it. My legs hurt and I can't get wet in the rain, so I'll go now."
As the two left, Zhang Chuntian finally ran to a distance where he could see their figures clearly.
"Sister, sister!" Zhang Chuntian shouted at the top of her lungs.
Zhang Chunfeng waved to Zhang Chuntian, pointed to the things he had left behind, and told Li Xiuman to hurry up and leave.
Li Xiuman was originally wearing a straw hat, but after carrying Zhang Chunfeng on his back, he gave the straw hat to Zhang Chunfeng.
All the rainwater streamed down his wet hair, down his temples and face.
Zhang Chunfeng lay on Li Xiuman's back. His heart pounded; this man's face was undeniably alluring, yet his physique was remarkably straight and rigid. He was over eight feet tall, a head taller than most men in the south. His shoulders were broad and straight, and his waist seemed quite strong. Despite the muddy, rainy road, carrying Zhang Chunfeng and wielding a hoe, he walked steadily and firmly.
Zhang Chunfeng straddled his waist with both legs, and could feel that this body must have been working on the ground frequently, experiencing countless labors every day, and was toughened up by countless trials. Although thin, he was lean and wiry.
"My name is Zhang Chunfeng. What's your name?" Zhang Chunfeng asked, noticing that Li Xiuman's collar was wide open, and rainwater was seeping into his clothes. He was already fair-skinned, and his neck, hidden under his clothes, was so white that you could almost see the veins.
“Lee Soo-man.” Lee Soo-man squinted, the rain was so heavy he could barely open his eyes. “I know you.”
"Oh? How did you know?"
"Everyone knows that you've just passed the imperial examination and become a scholar."
"I've never seen you in the village." Zhang Chunfeng tried hard to recall, but still couldn't remember this person.
“You live in the west of the village, and I live in the east, so we rarely see each other,” Li Xiuman replied. “But I run into your brother almost every day.”
Zhang Chunfeng understood that Li Xiuman's family was probably extremely poor, and she had to work in the fields every day. The last time she came to the fields was probably five or six years ago. They were from the same village, which was why they hadn't seen each other since.
"What a pity, I wish I had met someone like you sooner." Zhang Chunfeng chuckled and deliberately whispered these words in Li Xiuman's ear.
Li Xiuman was anxious to get Zhang Chunfeng home as quickly as possible. The pebbly path, which was fine on a sunny day, was now hard and slippery after the rain. If they took the wrong step, he and Zhang Chunfeng would probably tumble down the mountain.
When Li Xiuman carried her on his back, he was careful not to touch her right foot. If she had accidentally rolled off, Zhang Chunfeng's right foot might have been ruined.
Unfortunately, the heavens showed no mercy, and the rain indeed poured down harder and harder.
Zhang Chunfeng was wearing a straw hat, but even when a drop or two occasionally hit his face, it still hurt.
"Is there anywhere to take shelter from the rain here? Let's wait a while until it stops," Zhang Chunfeng asked. She wasn't familiar with the area, so Li Xiuman thought for a moment and nodded.
"That's good too, there's a cave a little further on." Lee Soo-man slowly walked down the path for a while, then turned right and followed the path into a cave.
The cave was quite large, big enough to comfortably accommodate at least ten people. Inside, there were straw mats and a stone-built fire pit.
Although Zhang Chunfeng rarely worked in the fields, he was, after all, a native of the village. A quick glance was enough to tell him that this was a place where farmers working in the mountains, shepherds tending their sheep, or hunters would temporarily spend the night or take shelter from the rain.
Lee Soo-man carefully placed Zhang Chunfeng on the straw mat before sitting down beside him, panting.
Zhang Chunfeng then noticed that Li Xiuman's cloth shoes were already tattered, and after the rain, he wore them again. The road was full of stones, and his feet were sticking out of the shoes, with his big toe sticking out. His left big toe also seemed to have been cut by weeds or something, and bright red blood was flowing out.
"Your feet?" Zhang Chunfeng asked.
Lee Soo-man glanced down and felt embarrassed.
"It's alright."
"Take off your shoes and let me see, just in case you have any other injuries on your feet," Zhang Chunfeng said.
Lee Soo-man hesitated, feeling that since he wasn't familiar with Zhang Chunfeng, it seemed inappropriate for a man and a woman to be alone together, especially with their shoes and socks off.
Zhang Chunfeng also noticed Li Xiuman's awkwardness. They had just carried her down the mountain, where there were people around, but now they were in a confined space.
How old are you this year?
"Huh?" Lee Soo-man was taken aback, wondering why Zhang Chunfeng was asking this. "Twenty-six."
“He’s ten years older than me, the same age as my brother.” Zhang Chunfeng said, “Since he’s the same age as my brother, you should take care of me, your little sister, as your brother. There’s no need for those formalities.”
Lee Soo-man pondered for a moment and nodded.
"Alright, I've never had a younger sister before." He smiled, his rosy lips parting to reveal his white teeth, his eyes sparkling. He met Zhang Chunfeng's gaze, but only for a second before quickly lowering his head, unable to meet her eyes again.
In that instant, Zhang Chunfeng raised an eyebrow, realizing that this person's smile was somewhat similar to Zhang Chuntian's. It wasn't that Li Xiuman was also a fool, but both he and Zhang Chuntian had a kind of naive stupidity when they smiled.
Beautiful and innocent. Truly amusing.
Lee Soo-man took off his shoes and made sure there were no other injuries on his feet. He then used a flint to start a small fire.
To prepare for the night, the cave naturally had some branches and wood stored inside. Li Xiuman soon started a fire and made a clothes rack out of branches. He took off his clothes, shoes, and shirt and hung them on the rack to dry.
He was shirtless, yet felt awkward all over.
Most importantly, Lee Soo-man had dried his own clothes, but didn't know what to do with Zhang Chunfeng's.
Zhang Chunfeng's clothes were light white, and when they got wet, they clung to her body, revealing glimpses of what was underneath. Li Xiuman naturally wouldn't look, but even as siblings, they had to avoid any appearance of impropriety.
"You, your clothes..." Lee Soo-man asked, unsure how to continue.
“Turn your back, I’ll take it off and roast it myself.” Zhang Chunfeng disliked wearing wet clothes and couldn’t stand it at all.
Li Xiuman nodded, thinking that if Zhang Chunfeng really took off his clothes, no one else could enter the cave. So he stood at the cave entrance, shirtless, with his back to Zhang Chunfeng, to prevent anyone else from coming in.
Zhang Chunfeng quickly took off his clothes and sat around the fire, admiring Li Xiuman's beautiful back.
He was indeed snow-white all over, with little flesh but an excellent frame.
From shoulders to waist, there was a beautifully shaped curve. Those snow-white shoulders inexplicably made Zhang Chunfeng feel thirsty.
He was indeed born too well.
With his clothes mostly dried from the fire, Zhang Chunfeng told Li Xiuman to come back and sit by the fire.
Zhang Chunfeng's wet shoes were still damp. He sat barefoot on the straw mat, trying his best to bring his right leg close to the fire.
She wondered whether she should remove the bandage; it was soaked from the rain, and the bandage around her right foot was already wet. But she didn't have any medicine, and she didn't know if removing the bandage would cause the bone to grow crookedly again.
"Does your leg hurt?" Lee Soo-man asked.
Seeing the worried look in Li Xiuman's eyes, Zhang Chunfeng simply reached out and untied the bindings.
The bandages were wrapped so tightly, three layers deep, that Zhang Chunfeng felt tired as soon as he loosened them.
She glanced at Lee Soo-man.
"Please help me untie it," Zhang Chunfeng said softly, "Brother."
Li Xiuman was stunned. He had never been called "elder brother" before in his life. He felt a surge of tenderness in his heart. Looking at Zhang Chunfeng's tender face, which was only sixteen years old, he immediately felt that he should indeed act like an elder brother.
Lee Soo-man nodded, his fingers gently tugging at the bandage, wrapping it around Zhang Chunfeng's calf in circles.
His technique was very skillful.
Zhang Chunfeng stared at his hands. Those hands were as white as his face, with slender fingers and distinct knuckles. Because he had been engaged in manual labor for a long time, there were obvious shallow calluses on his fingers.
Lee Soo-man realized that Jang Chun-feng was watching him, but he assumed it was because he was admiring his skillful movements.
“It’s quite similar to twisting yarn,” he explained.
Twisting yarn is a village occupation. Even in poor villages, a good quality garment, once worn out, is not thrown away. Villagers will pull out the yarn from the garment, combine it with other yarns in a second round, twist a new batch of yarn by hand, and then weave a new garment.
"How many people are in your family?" Zhang Chunfeng asked.
"Me and my mother."
"You are not married?"
Li Xiuman nodded. "My mother is often ill." Zhang Chunfeng understood. His father was dead or missing, his mother was often ill, and he was a hard-working man.
At this point, Lee Soo-man suddenly turned his head to look at the rain outside the cave.
The two had been resting in the cave for half an hour. Normally, summer rains come and go quickly, but today the rain was continuous and even heavier than it had been half an hour ago.
"Your brother is probably going crazy with worry," Lee Soo-man muttered.
Zhang Chunfeng looked down at Li Xiuman as he focused on removing her bandages, her eyelashes fluttering like butterflies.
"It's alright. If the rain is heavy, we can just stay here for the night," Zhang Chunfeng said, a hint of joy rising in his heart.
Lee Soo-man did not answer. The sky outside the cave was already slightly dark, and with the rain continuing, it seemed they would really have to spend the night there.
He and Zhang Chunfeng spent the night alone there.
Why.
"What? You don't want to? My leg really can't get wet in the rain right now." Zhang Chunfeng smiled. "Just consider it saving my life."
“No, I’m just afraid of tarnishing your reputation,” Lee Soo-man said honestly.
"Brother is indeed thoughtful." The pleasure on Zhang Chunfeng's lips vanished the moment Li Xiuman removed the last layer of gauze.
"Ouch—" The pain from his calf made Zhang Chunfeng gasp.
Seeing Zhang Chunfeng in so much pain, Li Xiuman quickly let go of her hand.
"Does it hurt a lot? It's my fault for being clumsy." He apologized hastily.
Zhang Chunfeng waved his hand, "It's just a little pain, you can bear with it."
Zhang Chunfeng had initially thought it was because her shinbone hadn't healed properly. Now, after removing the layers of bandages, she ran her fingers down her shinbone and found it to be straight and smooth.
At her age, her bones should have grown to their full size in two months. The tearing pain was entirely due to the bandages on her legs being wrapped too tightly. For months, Li hadn't allowed her to touch her calves, and her skin had been constantly covered by layers of bandages, eventually breaking open in the middle of summer.
When the soaked bandage was torn off, it tore off the skin and flesh of her calf, causing Zhang Chunfeng to grimace and groan in pain.
"No wonder you're in pain, it's because the skin is broken here." Lee Soo-man exclaimed, but he didn't know what to do at this moment.
He tried to be gentle, but Zhang Chunfeng still winced in pain.
If it were up to him, he would have just gritted his teeth and torn off the skin, since it was only a small cut. But then he thought, Zhang Chunfeng is only sixteen, and Li Xiuman felt that he should be gentler with children.
The torn skin was on Zhang Chunfeng's calf, the slender, straight leg of a sixteen-year-old girl, wrapped in blood and soaked bandages. White and bright red blended together, and Zhang Chunfeng's eyes were tightly closed in pain.
Lee Soo-man was so anxious that his forehead was covered in sweat.
Just then, Zhang Chunfeng, who was closing his eyes and drawing in cold air, suddenly felt a warm current flowing through his calves.
The airflow was warm and comforting, making her feel as if all her pores were opening up; it felt incredibly comfortable.
She opened her eyes and saw Lee Soo-man's face close to her calf, his rosy lips pouting, his eyes as soft as the softest cloud in the sky.
"Whoosh—" Lee Soo-man made a sound like he was coaxing a child, blowing air into Zhang Chunfeng's calf.
In that instant, Zhang Chunfeng felt a sudden surge of agitation, which exploded along with the thunder outside the cave.
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