Xiang Nanzhi turned her gaze back to the grass on the ground. "Is your mother's illness serious?"
"Yes, it needs to rest for a while."
How did you know my mother was sick?
“I went to the construction site to find you; I heard about it from your colleague.”
"It's a construction site again, and here again, and you still say it's nothing to look for me."
He knew better than anyone why she wanted to see him.
"I'm sorry, Xiang Nanzhi."
She paused for a moment, then Shen Shixun loosened his grip on the rope and patted the mastiff beside him. "I apologize for what happened that night."
He had been waiting to apologize for a long time, and he wanted to say it as soon as he came to his senses.
He looked at the mess and the blood on her body, and he couldn't believe that he had done it. But the Xiang family arrived too quickly and beat him half to death.
He wasn't given any chance to apologize.
Shen Shixun had forgotten how many times he had been beaten. Later, when Xiang Zhengyi met with him and asked him to marry into the family, he learned that the girl he had assaulted that night was pregnant.
He refused to marry into the family and was beaten again.
They got their marriage certificate, but he only stayed at the Xiang family's house for two days before continuing with his own life.
He wanted to take responsibility, but it seemed that the entire Xiang family, including Xiang Nanzhi himself, didn't need him to take responsibility.
When the two first discussed this issue, Xiang Nanzhi closed her eyes, clearly unwilling to recall it. "Let's not talk about this anymore, I..."
"Sister-in-law!"
Chen Jila waved to her, "Big brother, Rooney wants you to go hunting with him!"
She jogged over and said, "Rooney and the others said you've been in the city for so long that you've forgotten how to use a hunting rifle. They're going to steal your 'sharpshooter' title."
Sharpshooter?
Where is he?
"I'll be waiting for you in the woods."
"good."
The man stood up, and the two mastiffs followed suit. Xiang Nanzhi wasn't as scared as before, but their size still made her a little uneasy.
They say mastiffs won't let go until they've killed someone, and she's afraid of that too...
"Shen Shixun, where are you going..."
Xiang Nan felt a chill run down her spine. The man turned back and smiled at her, "Want to go hunting with me?"
"hunt?"
The man turned around and took her hand. "Don't be afraid."
"Come……"
"No, no!"
"Don't be afraid, I'm here. Touch them."
Xiang Nanzhi was pulled by a large hand and stroked the Tibetan Mastiff's head and ears.
The mastiff has thick fur and looks fierce; if it bites her, she'll probably lose her hand.
"Old Black, give me your hand!"
The mastiff reached out its hand to Xiang Nanzhi, but Xiang Nanzhi shook her head, "No..."
You touched its furry paws. "Hold its paw and let it remember you."
"Will it bite me?"
"Won't."
Xiang Nanzhi grasped the fluffy mastiff's paw with her small hand, shaking hands with it as if shaking hands with a person. Meeting the mastiff's sharp and determined eyes, Xiang Nanzhi felt uneasy, but still couldn't help but laugh.
She had never been close to such a fierce animal before, and the mastiff suddenly softened, letting her pet it and swaying at her feet.
——
Shen Shixun took his hunting rifle to go hunting, and Xiang Nanzhi followed behind him. She was not used to staying in this kind of place, but she did not dare to follow Shen Shixun. She took a few steps outside the tent and watched the man mount his horse.
What kind of life is this, seemingly isolated from the world?
The man, seated on his tall horse, disappeared from her sight. "Shen Shixun..."
"Are you going or not?"
"I'm not going."
"Then wait for me to come back."
Shen Jila will treat her well; she promised her brother she would take good care of her sister-in-law.
"Sister-in-law, shall we go milking goats together?"
Fearing encounters with wolves if they stayed in the tent, Xiang Nanzhi asked her, "Are you afraid of wolves?"
"What's there to be afraid of with wolves? There are so many people around in broad daylight! It won't dare to come."
Shen Jila smiled and pulled her along to milk the goats. Most of the cattle and sheep in the tribe were raised together, row by row. Shen Jila and the other women were milking the goats together.
Knowing that Xiang Nan was helpless and unable to exert any strength, Jira moved a stool for her to sit on.
A group of women from a tribe whispered among themselves, "What's the use of being fair-skinned? They can't even milk a goat. How will they survive on the grasslands?"
"Brother Xun is really out of his mind. What good is a handsome man like him marrying a spendthrift city girl? Can she put food on the table?"
Everyone communicated in Gong language, which Xiang Nanzhi couldn't understand at all. Jila couldn't stand it anymore, but she didn't know what to say in response.
"My sister-in-law is a very good person."
"What's so good about it? You're milking the goats all by yourself, and she doesn't even help."
"Yeah, she bursts into tears as soon as she sees Xun-ge. Oh dear, tears are so cheap, so worthless..."
After milking, Alan walked past Xiang Nanzhi carrying a wooden bucket.
She was indeed quite beautiful; even the most beautiful woman on the grasslands seemed a little insecure in front of her.
Alan had specially braided her hair into many small braids today and wore her most presentable clothes, but it still didn't overshadow her at all.
Gila set the bucket aside and filled it up as well. "I'll do it, you keep going."
Alan took the wooden bucket from Chen Jila, passed by Xiang Nanzhi, placed the bucket in front of her, and gestured for her to help.
Xiang Nanzhi understood. "Does it mean I have to carry it over?"
"Um."
She bent down slightly, trying to lift the bucket of milk to the other side, but she couldn't lift it no matter what she did.
It was too full; the wooden bucket itself was quite heavy, and after Xiang Nanzhi took a few steps, milk spilled out of the bucket.
Alan immediately became fierce and scolded her in a language she couldn't understand, "You can't even do this simple thing right, you've spilled your milk, what can you do?"
"past!"
She pulled Xiang Nanzhi away, and Jila rushed over when she saw this, "Sister-in-law... what happened to Sister Alan?"
"Your brother married a good wife, but she can't even lift a bucket. If you ask her to hunt or do chores in the future, she'll drag you to your death!"
"Brother Xun is a sharpshooter. No matter how skilled a man is, if he marries someone who's a burden, he won't have a good life!"
Alan was unwilling to accept this, so she deliberately spoke Chinese. Xiang Nanzhi could barely understand her words, but the general idea was that she was useless and incompetent, unable to even lift a bucket of milk, and a burden to Shen Shixun.
"It's alright, sister-in-law, please sit down."
Shen Jila never intended for Xiang Nanzhi to do any work. Her brother had said that city girls don't do any work; they stay at home and are waited on hand and foot.
I can't let her feel like I'm marrying down.
"I've never seen a woman who can't even lift a bucket of milk."
"Is she even a woman? She's not as useful as our mastiffs."
"Who can blame her for being beautiful and seducing men?"
After Alan had caused a ruckus in Nanzhi, he vented his anger and started speaking without thinking.
Gila glanced at her. "Sister Alan, you can't talk about my sister-in-law like that."
"Jila, what's wrong? Did I say something wrong? My sisterly relationship with you for so many years isn't as good as your relationship with her?"
"No, she's my sister-in-law, you can't talk about her like that, she's my brother's woman!"
"Even if Brother Xun were here today, I would still say this: a woman like this is useless and can't lift a finger. Let her go back to where she came from."
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