With Jiang Ning’s encouragement, Nong Chun dug even more vigorously.
Jian Tiantian crouched beside her with a branch, helping to dig in the soil.
Wang Ye held a hoe in his hand, digging up another yam on the other side.
"Director Wang, take a break, I’ll do it." Jiang Ning stepped forward to help, and Qi Xingzhou, who was following her, immediately took action and started digging yams for the first time in his life.
About half an hour later, everyone persevered and finally dug out all the yams in the pit.
Picked up one by one, the yams of varying lengths and sizes were collected into a bamboo basket. Looking at the bountiful harvest that afternoon, Nong Chun was thrilled, "So many, enough for us to eat for several days!"
"Don’t forget the yam beans." Jian Tiantian brought over a small basket, which was half-filled with the small yam beans.
"We owe it to Jiang Ning, otherwise we wouldn’t have found them." Wang Ye said with a smile.
The group packed up their things and set off for home.
It was still early, and when they reached the river, Wang Ye thought of his fishing gear and handed the things he was carrying to Nong Chun, saying, "You guys go back first, I’m going to try my luck at fishing."
If he could catch fish and cook a pot of yam fish soup, it would be a blessing.
Wang Ye was somewhat expectant.
Having had noodles for two consecutive meals, Jiang Ning felt a hint of blandness in her mouth and started to miss the big fish she saw in the morning.
Jiang Ning stopped, took what Qi Xingzhou was carrying into her own hands, and then nudged him towards Wang Ye, "Director Wang, wait for a second. Xingzhou knows how to fish as well. Let him go with you."
Qi Xingzhou looked at Jiang Ning with puzzled eyes, somewhat confused, "?"
"I want to drink fish soup."
Jiang Ning whispered, "I want to drink fish soup. Can you follow Director Wang to catch some fish? I will go and put these things back in the storage."
Because she didn’t want others to discover Qi Xingzhou’s secret, Jiang Ning deliberately tiptoed and whispered to him after leaning in close.
The moment she moved in close, the unique scent of her swept over him, and Qi Xingzhou tensed up instantly.
His head felt dizzy, and he barely managed to catch what Jiang Ning was saying.
As Jiang Ning stepped back after speaking, Qi Xingzhou subconsciously lifted his hand, wishing to hold her back, longing to enfold her in his arms like he did after the fight that morning.
Previously, Qi Xingzhou particularly disliked physical contact, even despising going out and crowded places.
Yet, when he was with Jiang Ning, he never felt any aversion; on the contrary, he always felt incredibly comfortable and secure whenever he saw her, which is why he liked to follow her around.
After embracing Jiang Ning that morning, just once, Qi Xingzhou had fallen for the feeling of holding her tightly in his arms, as if a long-missing piece of him had finally found fulfillment, leading him to seek closeness with Jiang Ning at every opportunity.
Jiang Ning pulled away, inadvertently denying Qi Xingzhou the hug he sought.
Qi Xingzhou looked at her with a hint of grievance, his beautiful eyes downcast.
The Qi Family ancestors once married a girl from the Western Regions, and Qi Xingzhou inherited some of that heritage. He had distinctly sculptured features, a high nose bridge, and even a touch of beautiful dark green in the depth of his eyes, resembling exquisite jade washed clean by clear water, difficult to notice unless one looked closely.
[Ahhhhhh!! With his looks, I’m directly turning into a groundhog!]
[So handsome! Truly handsome! How can Jiang Ning manage to whisper to him without changing her expression or getting flustered!]
[I can’t even imagine, if I could sleep in the same blanket with such a living Bodhisattva every night, how happy I would be.]
[Ying ying ying, I feel the same.]
[Whose underpants, stop throwing them around!]
Actually, the viewers overestimated Jiang Ning. When Jiang Ning noticed Qi Xingzhou looking at her with such concentrated grievance, she nearly lost her composure.
She was used to Qi Xingzhou doing things without saying anything, so when she suddenly realized that he seemed a bit wronged, she thought he didn’t want to go fishing. Just as she was about to tell him that it’s okay not to fish if he didn’t want to, Qi Xingzhou touched the back of her hand gently, as if restraining himself. After the touch, he turned and quickly walked toward Director Wang.
Jiang Ning looked at Qi Xingzhou’s tall and straight silhouette, then looked down at her hand, feeling baffled: Could it be that Qi Xingzhou saw something dirty on her hand and helped her to brush it off?