Chapter 22: The Arrival of the Eldest Miss—Make Way for Her!

One afternoon, Mingdai searched the surroundings thoroughly, but only managed to gather a small pile. Still, she had done her best.

Rubbing her sore waist, she looked up at the sky. There was still a bit more time to work. With no more branches within reach, she began to use her axe to trim some long, low-hanging branches.

Zhou Sinian had been sitting nearby, supervising. As dusk fell, he finally stood up, climbed a tree, and with a few swift movements—without even using the axe—broke off a pile of firewood.

Seeing this, Mingdai, who was still struggling to chop branches with her axe, felt deeply embarrassed! The difference between people—truly astonishing!

Zhou Sinian gathered up the firewood in his arms, not needing rope, and prepared to leave. Watching Mingdai still hopping to reach the branches, he frowned at her, as if blaming her for lingering.

Mingdai tucked in her headscarf. “I need to fill the cart. Otherwise, once I start working, I’ll have no firewood to burn, and I’ll freeze to death. You won’t have anything tasty to eat.”

What?!

Zhou Sinian immediately grew anxious, dropped the branches, and began circling Mingdai, scrutinizing how she could possibly die.

Mingdai felt that all her bewilderment today had been spent on Zhou Sinian.

“I mean, without firewood, I’ll be cold, fall sick, maybe die, and then I won’t be able to cook for you.”

Zhou Sinian stared at her for a moment, then snatched the axe from her hands.

Mingdai jumped in fright—this was a dangerous tool;