As Wen Ruan had predicted, the man who rescued the damsel in distress was Chen Jianwei.
The gears of fate began to turn, and that's how the two met.
It wasn't until later that Dong Ya learned that Chen Jianwei was a villager from the brigade. In winter, while the villagers were staying at home to hibernate, he would often go up the mountain to hunt some game and sell it on the black market to supplement his family's income.
His experience was also somewhat tragic; he had only a widowed mother at home, and the two depended on each other for survival.
Before the ten years of turmoil began, the Chen family was quite wealthy. If it weren't for Chen Jianwei's father's kindness and good reputation in the brigade, and the relative protection of the villagers, the Chen family would have been labeled as a landlord family.
Later, through the collaborative efforts of various parties, the Chen family was classified as a rich peasant family. Even so, the family was still subjected to considerable torment by the Revolutionary Committee and the Red Guards.
Chen's father died young amidst the daily grind of labor reform and the frequent public criticism sessions in town.
Fortunately, after Chen's father passed away, only Chen Jianwei, who was a teenager at the time, and Chen's mother, who had been in poor health for many years, remained in the family. The higher-ups gradually forgot about them, which is how they were able to live safely to this day.
Therefore, Chen Jianwei's position in the team was just as awkward as that of Dong Ya and her father.
Fortunately, he was very intelligent and strong. In winter, he would sometimes go into the mountains to hunt, and during the busy farming season, he would earn work points. With the mutual care among the people in the brigade, he lived a fairly good life and even managed to secretly save some money. Of course, Dong Ya only found out about this later after they became more familiar with each other.
Dong Ya's memory returned to that day. She only remembered that in the snowstorm, a man isolated her from danger. The man's back was very tall, and his profile was sharp and handsome. He was very calm in the face of the wolf's attack, with a peaceful and indifferent expression. The scene of that day is still deeply imprinted in Dong Ya's mind.
After the wolf was dealt with, he quickly covered the bloodstains on the ground with snow, put the wolf's body into a burlap sack next to him, and judging from the distance the snow had sunk into the ground, he estimated that there was quite a lot of stuff.
After finishing tidying up, Chen Jianwei saw Dong Ya still standing there staring blankly at him, and frowned: "Why aren't you leaving yet?"
"Don't go into the mountains in winter. Didn't your family tell you that?" Chen Jianwei scolded him in a harsh tone.
Dong Ya shrank back, somewhat frightened. The shock of facing danger had not yet faded from her eyes. She was only 18 years old and had just been sent to the countryside. Her family had suddenly suffered a huge blow. Everything had happened too fast, and she had almost lost her life. She couldn't help but cry out in fear.
Chen Jianwei had never been in contact with any other women except his own mother. When he suddenly saw a woman crying in front of him, he was at a loss and even became flustered.
"You...you don't cry...I'm not talking about you...I'm saying this is dangerous..."
“It’s winter, and there’s not much food on the mountain. The wild animals and wolves are also looking for prey. They’ve been starving all winter. You’re just a young girl, you shouldn’t come to such a dangerous place…” Chen Jianwei quickly explained.
"I came up the mountain to find some herbs. My father has a high fever that won't go down. If we don't do something soon, she will..." As she spoke, she choked up even more, wiping away her tears haphazardly.
"Don't cry, let's go down the mountain quickly. It's dangerous for a girl like you to go down the mountain alone. I'll take you down first. You go first, and I'll follow behind," Chen Jianwei comforted her.
"I...I twisted my ankle, I can't walk fast..." Dong Ya was on the verge of collapse.
Chen Jianwei lowered his head and pondered for a moment, then squatted down and said, "Come on up."
Dong Ya was stunned for a moment, hesitated for a second, and then leaned on Chen Jianwei, asking him to carry her down the mountain.
Dong Ya hadn't felt such warmth since going to the countryside, and felt that the winter chill had been dispelled. She couldn't help but hug Chen Jianwei tightly.
He paused briefly, then continued carrying Dong Ya down the mountain.
"Are you an educated youth?" Chen Jianwei usually stayed on the fringes of the villagers and didn't know much about what was happening in the brigade. He noticed that Dong Ya had fair skin, her hands were red from the cold, and she even had a lot of frostbite, but you could still see that her fingers were delicate.
In addition, Dong Ya's overall demeanor was clearly different from that of the girls born and raised in the brigade, which is why Chen Jianwei had such questions.
"No, you can just come down the mountain and put me down." Dong Ya didn't say much, afraid that her status as a child sent to the countryside would implicate him.
Chen Jianwei knew beforehand that the brigade leader had held a special meeting with the entire team to inform them that two people being sent to the countryside were going to be sent there, a father and daughter, and that everyone should pay attention to them.
Chen Jianwei also attended that meeting. The cowshed was at the foot of the mountain. After hearing Dong Ya's explanation, he understood everything.
Without saying much or putting Dong Ya down, he turned and walked towards the cowshed.
"Stop right now, put me down... I can walk by myself." Dong Ya was a little anxious. Her identity was rather special, and she was afraid of implicating him. After all, he had saved her, and she couldn't let her benefactor get hurt. If others saw this, it would have a very bad impact on him.
Chen Jianwei remained silent and continued walking with his head down.
Dong Ya was a little excited and wanted to struggle to jump down, but after twisting her ankle, she was in a lot of pain and felt somewhat restrained.
"Don't move, don't be afraid, we're all the same. I'll take the back path, no one will see me," Chen Jianwei said calmly.
Dong Ya had some questions in her mind, wondering what he meant by "we are all the same," but before she could ask him in detail, Chen Jianwei walked quickly and soon entered the cowshed.
After putting Dong Ya down, he didn't leave. Instead, he went straight in and saw that Dong Shuangqun's face was flushed, clearly indicating that she still had a high fever. He then turned around and left.
Dong Ya felt that not long after, Chen Jianwei reappeared in the cowshed, holding a broken porcelain bowl with some liquid inside. Dong Ya could clearly smell the alcohol in it as he passed by.
Dong Ya was pleasantly surprised and looked at Chen Jianwei with deep gratitude.
Chen Jianwei remained silent throughout. After asking Dong Ya for a strip of cloth, he told her to go to the kitchen to boil herbs and began applying white wine to Dong Shuangqun's body to cool her down physically.
When Dong Ya brought the prepared herbal medicine into the house, Dong Ya went over and saw that the blush on Dong Shuangqun's face had begun to fade considerably. She gradually felt relieved and then fed him the medicine.
After Dong Ya finished administering the medicine, she looked around. There was no one else in the room except Dong Shuangqun. Chen Jianwei must have already left.
Suddenly, on a chair that was frequently used but missing a leg, she found a tube of ointment and a small bottle. Dong Ya went over and took a closer look. It was a tube of frostbite ointment. There was no marking on the small bottle. She opened the bottle and smelled it. It should be an ointment for sprains and bruises.
Holding the frostbite ointment and medicated oil in his hand, Dong Ya became lost in thought, a warm current slowly rising in his heart...
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