Song Yan
"Who's there?" asked the person who's making the sound.
Omy! A male god!
She covered her mouth to keep her silent, and reprimanded herself a little for her carelessness and drooling for the stranger.
What to do now? She thought
He's so hot though.
Stop!
She pinched herself with her other hand.
"I said who's there?"
The person asked again loudly this time, but Yun Tang remained silent and silently thought about the scenery.
*Cough*
About what she's going to do rather.
Meanwhile, the man became more vigilant and walked silently to where the sound came from earlier.
"If you don't show up, I will take it as you p-"
Before the man could finish speaking, Yun Tang finally ran.
What else could she do?
She didn't know the man even though he looks h-not evil but who knows what he's capable of.
And the man even has the guts to say she's peeking at him???
I'm sorry but this young independent lady doesn't stoop that low yet.
When the man realized that the person was running away he immediately ran after it. He also doesn't know why he ran after it.
"Stop! Don't run away!" he yelled at the person as he caught up.
There's no way I'm going to stop! Tangtang heard the man stopping and chasing her.
So, the scene became like that of a cat chasing a mouse after the former caught the latter stealing a cheese in the kitchen.
"Ahhhhh!"
The only difference is that the mouse was cornered by the cat, but Yun Tang was caught because she tripped herself.
"Hiss..Amp." She cussed in pain as she hissed simultaneously.
Why did she have to be tripped while running?
What kind of luck is this?
Why?
Her ankle hurts like hell.
Looking at the culprit, it's a root of a tree that is visible from the soil.
In no time, the man was able to catch up and was momentarily surprised to see her situation, but he recovered immediately.
"Stop! Don't go closer! Hiss.." Yun Tang yelled at him when she heard the man's footsteps, and the man really stopped in his tracks, which made her thankful.
Simultaneously, it made her resent the stranger. If he didn't chase her, she wouldn't run like crazy.
Sure, she ran first but that doesn't mean she persuaded him to chase after her.
Anyway, it's not her fault. It's the man and the tree roots' fault.
"Hiss.."
It f*cking hurts!
She could already imagine how it would swell later, if she didn't treat it immediately.
But where would she get the ointment? She didn't even know how to get out of her first. What's more, where to get the ointment.
With her mind preoccupied, she didn't notice that the man in ancient clothing walked closer to her, looked at the foot then looked elsewhere.
After cursing the man and the root internally multiple times she was appeased temporarily, but her ankle still hurts. She finally remembered the man behind her.
Unconsciously, she looked behind her, but saw no one, which made her mood that ease a little bad again.
Bad man, he just left her here. She just told him not to come closer and after a few minutes he already left.
'No conscience at all.'
She cursed internally, while gritting her teeth in annoyance.
However, she immediately calmed down and thought of what to do. She thought of finding a stick to help her stand up.
"Got you!"
Fortunately, God is still on her side. She found a right stick, a tree branch as thick as three fingers that was not far away from her.
"What are you doing?"
Yun Tang was startled when she heard the man's voice who she thought had already left and abandoned her.
She immediately sat up right from the posture of crawling to get the stick.
She hesitated but finally told him.
Okay, she admitted she has no backbone especially facing that handsome face. What can she do? She's a facecon.
"T-that stick." she stammered and pointed to the stick.
The man immediately realized what she wanted to do, so he picked the stick and gave it to her.
"Thanks!" she said to him and tried to use it to stand up.
"Don't stand up, let me check and treat your injury first." The man spoke to her which made her surprised, and realized the reason for his disappearance earlier.
"O-okay! Thank you!" she said in shame because of her thoughts earlier.
Getting her consent, the man got closer to her and checked her ankle.
The man's hand touches her ankle and the warm temperature on it makes her feet twitch a little.
She's not accustomed to someone's touch, especially a man touching her ankle. She also seldom goes to the salon and has it manicured as she only does it herself.
She looked secretly at him, and seeing he didn't notice made her sighed in relief.
Little did she know the man knew her every move from her peripheral vision.
Then she stared at him, or more precisely to his face.
A square shaped face, phoenix black eyes paired with strong eyebrows, high bridge nose, thin red lips and a defined jawline.
She once again came to one conclusion.
A handsome and high quality man. No doubt about that. Even the scars that run on his right brow doesn't lessen this man's handsomeness. His faded green and white ancient clothing also suit his looks and temperament.
Even if this person was put in her time, she bet that he can make it to the entertainment with this face and figure alone.
Oh~lalala.
Stop! You're a teacher for goodness sake!
"Hiss,.. What are you d-"
She was snapped to her senses when she felt a slight pain in her knee.
"--doing?" she questioned him.
"Massaging!" the man looks at her with an expression that says, 'isn't it obvious?"
She felt speechless.
This man is deliberately messing with her right?
"Hiss.., can you be more gentle?"
"This is already gentle." he replied, not looking at her.
She swears, this person is messing with her!
She takes back her admiration!
She inhales. Exhales.
Calm down, self! He is the only one who can help you.
After some massage the pain eased a little and she no longer protested.
He stopped after a while and she thought it was now done; hence, she was about to thank him. However, she stopped when she saw him get leaves from somewhere and hammered it with stone to push out the juice outside. Next he put the leaves on her ankle which made her feel a cold sensation on her ankle.
"Y-you don't need to do that. It's already enough." she told him when she realized he was applying herbal medicine on her ankle.
"Do you want your feet or not?" a cold husky voice asked her.
".....O-of course, I want it." she replied almost immediately.
The man didn't reply and just focused on treating her. He then ties the leaves on the ankle a little loosely with vines and leaves acting as a bandage he found earlier.
The cold sensation made the pain eased even more better than the massage. So, Yung Tang thought that the man was quite good and had a little skill in this regard.
"Thank you!" she genuinely thanked him again and this time for treating her.
The man didn't look at her and just continued on securing the herbs on her ankle.
"Just be careful next time and don't peek at someone bathing!"
The man's reply made Tangtang speechless again and angry.
"Y-you-".
What do you mean by peeking?
Sure, she looked at him because she was trying to figure out where the noise came from, but it's not intentional. Besides, she didn't even see it clearly.
Well, fine, a little.
But it was an accident!
"..I-I did not!" she said, denying it.
The man looks at her with a look that says,'go on, I'll hear your explanation'.
With her reputation on the line and being called 'shameless woman', she told him her encounters and the reason for the supposed 'peeking'.
The man listened attentively without interrupting her in between.
"So, basically I'm not peeking at you. It's just an accident, okay!?" she told him with gritted teeth.
"I understand, you're not peeking." the man said but his eyes say otherwise.
-_-
Fine. Think what you think! She doesn't care.
She looks elsewhere.
"Come up!" the man said after a few minutes.
She looked at him confused, but saw the man squat in front of her which made her realize his intention. The man wants to give him a piggyback ride.
"But I can-" he interrupted her.
"You obviously can't and if you insist, your ankle will definitely swell tomorrow."
Noticing her hesitation he continued to persuade her.
"Besides, it's already noon and if you walk on your own, it'll take a lot of time."
Seeing him saying a lot, Yun Tang finally 'admitted defeat' and did as she was told.
This is the first time after so many years that someone gave her a piggyback ride.
'Although he has a sharp tongue, he is also kind.'
"Thanks!" she muttered.
The man didn't say anything and started to walk out of the forest with her on his back.
Then, she remembered her small basket of wild berries and fruits. It's also a small basket.
"Wait!"
The man stopped.
"I-my wild berries." she said hesitantly.
She looked around and saw the small basket she made not far away from her. Some berries got scattered, but most of it was still inside intact as she securely covered it with another big leaf.
"Where?" the man asked.
"There." she pointed in his right direction.
The man let her stand first to get the basket and the scattered berries.
"Here. Come up now!" The man gave her the basket and let her climb on his back again.
She accepted it, "Thank you." and do as she was told.
She wasn't sure if he didn't hear her, so he didn't reply. She repeated it, a little louder this time, and close to his right ear.
She is not deliberate!
"Thank you!"
The man halted for a second, but immediately carried on walking; hence, Tangtang didn't notice the slight change in his behavior.
"It's nothing!" he replied shortly.
This made Yun Tang speechless. She was expecting him to talk more, but got a short reply instead. Now, how to continue the conversation?
She wants to talk to him because the atmosphere was so quiet, but she doesn't know how. She's an introvert; therefore, she doesn't really know how to start a conversation, nor how to make it longer.
She regrets not having a google to search for ways on how to start a conversation, or how to make the communication less awkward.
Without a google to rely on, Tangtang tried to think of another topic to continue the conversation.
"By the way, what's your name? I'm Yun Tang from Yun Village."
In the end, she just decided to start the conversation the usual way by introducing herself. She will pay him back in return later for treating and carrying her out of the forest.
The man looked surprised by the question, but Tangtang wasn't aware as she couldn't see it from behind.
"Song Yan, from Song Village." he answered afterwards.
Yun Tang became speechless again. This man is definitely a conversation ender! Who can associate this man from before who talks sharply and quite a lot? Now, he speaks like his words are more precious than gold.
Yun Tang didn't try to talk to him again, as he was obviously not willing to talk based on his response. She wasn't also the type to have deep and long talk; therefore, she just shut up.
She looks at the place they walk, so she can remember the way when she enters next time. She can't just always rely on the river, right?
The forest is abundant with many resources that she can use for her own consumption, and exchange for other consumable materials, especially in this age of short supply.
Silence envelope both of them along the way; however, it didn't seem awkward in the slightest.
Not long after they exit from the forest.
Before Yun Tang entered the forest the sun was still in the eastern sky, but now it reaches its highest point in the sky.
"Finally..," the woman whispered softly.
The man didn't comment and continued to walk to Yun village.
Realizing they are on their way to the village, Yun Tang immediately thought of how in this era single men and women cannot be seen together, for it will seriously damage the women's reputation. Unless they are an official pair or the man marries the woman; however, the latter is not a grand thing and will still create gossip for a long time.
Now that she thinks of it, from this person's look and age, it's unlikely that he doesn't have an official pair already. So seeing him with her will make her appear like a third party, and will also cause damage to her reputation.
"B-brother Song— I-I mean Master Song can just leave me here, it's not that far from my house and my ankle doesn't hurt that much now." She stammered and panicked a little when she used the word 'Brother/Gege' accidentally and immediately changed it to 'Master' to save the situation.
They are not that close for her to call him that and using 'Brother/Gege' to a man you are not connected with blood is quite intimate.
The man halted in his steps.
"I know a shortcut that people don't use much and you will definitely not be seen with me there." the man told her shortly.
"And just call me Brother Song." he continued after.
Yun Tang thought about it and nodded her head, but realizing that he couldn't see it she whispered.
"O-okay..,"
Then she realized what he said and blushed a little.
Ah, why did they try to make the word 'Brother/Gege' so intimate in modern times.
After a few seconds she spoke again.
"Okay Brother Song!" she didn't stammer this time.
The man clenched his left arm and opened it abruptly. Then he started walking again and took the shortcut on the way to the village.
As they continued their journey, she looked around quietly and began taking notes of the shortcut. She may use it later.
True to his words, they didn't really see anyone, nor were they seen by any villagers.
Aside from the shortcut, the timing also helped them. It was now noon at this time and most of the villagers were either working on the field or resting and eating their lunch nearby their farmland. While the others are in their own house because of the heat.
When they were already in the village, she directed him which way to go to her house.
After waking for a while, she saw in the distance the familiar ancient looking house. Then she told the man to leave her beside the bamboo forest just behind the house. She can't let him send her directly to her house, or their effort will be in vain.
Fortunately, she brought the stick she found earlier which she can use as a walking stick.
"Thank you again, Brother Song." She thanked him again.
She didn't know how many times she thanked this man today but she also deserves it. Her small gesture of thank you is not enough to show how grateful she is to him.
She will definitely repay him back later.
"No problem." the man replied shortly.
Before she could properly bid goodbye, she heard her stepmother's voice screaming her throat out calling her. It was then followed by her stepsister's voice fueling the fire.
So without further adieu, she bid goodbye hastily and went home albeit slowly, because of her cramp foot. Fortunately the house was just 10 steps away from the bamboo forest.
After the man saw her disappear from his sight, he also walked back and returned to the road they just walked through without knowing that this would not be the first and last time they would meet.