Chapter 47: The Wind Blows, and the Chill Follows

Zhou Sinian came over with a miserable look on his face. He was carrying several sheep, and the strong smell had soaked into his clothes, leaving him in a foul mood. Before Ming Dai could say a word, he reached out and yanked her down from the tree.

Her protest—just forming on her lips—was interrupted by the unmistakable sound of fabric tearing. Once she steadied herself on the ground, she looked back with a blank expression. As expected, her cotton trousers were ripped in several places, tufts of cotton poking out. The wind blew, and a chill crept across her bottom.

Zhou Sinian bent down for a closer look, curiously tugging at the fluttering strips of fabric.

Rip!

Marvelous—now the seat of her pants had split as well!

Face burning, Ming Dai smacked his meddlesome hand, but he nimbly dodged, leaping three steps away and hiding his hands behind his back, eyeing her warily.

A cold shiver ran through Ming Dai’s heart. Damn, she’d forgotten this guy was a bit unhinged.

She forced a smile more wretched than tears. “Don’t be afraid, I’m not going to hit you. I’m just really upset. You tore my pants—look.” With great embarrassment, she pointed to the gaping seam.

Luckily, she had long underwear underneath, or this would have been mortifying beyond words!

“If I tore your pants, wouldn’t you be upset?” she asked.

Zhou Sinian glanced at her split trousers, then at his own worn cotton ones. Seemingly realizing his mistake, he pulled his hand back and looked at her with obvious unease.

Ming Dai let out a silent sigh of relief, feeling the sweat dampen her back. She resolved then and there—this winter, she must find a way to cure his madness. Otherwise, she truly feared she’d provoke him one day and get hurt.

Taking a deep breath, she said, “Alright, let’s go round up the sheep.”

Zhou Sinian nodded obediently and led the way up the small hill, but as he walked, he kept glancing back with worry at her trousers.

Though she knew Zhou Sinian had no sense of propriety between men and women, being stared at like this by such a handsome young man—especially in that particular spot—was supremely awkward.

Fortunately, they quickly reached the place where Zhou Sinian had hidden the sheep.

Ming Dai reached out and gathered the lambs into her space. With a word to Zhou Sinian, she brought him inside as well.

Once inside, the very first thing she did was go to her room and change out of the ruined cotton trousers. Thankfully, her space warehouse held plenty of identical pairs, so finding a replacement was easy.

Zhou Sinian stood among the toppled sheep, still looking uneasy and sneaking glances at her when she emerged. Ming Dai could only sigh inwardly and remind herself not to fuss with a madman. “Go change your clothes,” she told him.

Hearing her speak, Zhou Sinian brightened, skipping into the little villa with a spring in his step.

Ming Dai shook her head. He was already so much more cheerful than when she first met him, his emotions far more transparent—a good sign.

With their moods settled, Ming Dai looked at the lambs scattered across the floor, thinking she’d have to give one to the village. Not out of charity, but to lay the groundwork for her work in the coming year.

Although the work season in the North was shorter than in the South and she had Zhou Sinian’s help, she still wanted to continue her job as a doctor. Building good relations with the village was the first step; otherwise, even if she became the village doctor, those jealous would seize on her exemption from collective labor as an excuse to stir trouble—especially those at the educated youth camp.

But if all the village men supported her becoming the doctor, well, that would be a different story.

As she mulled this over, she suddenly felt something lick her slippered foot. Startled, she leapt up—straight into Zhou Sinian’s arms as he came out.

“Mm!” they both grunted in surprise.

She’d bumped his chin, making him bite his tongue in pain, while she herself was bruised by the protruding bone in his thin chest.

The space allowed her to adjust the temperature at will, so for convenience, she always set it to a constant, mild warmth. As a result, both of them were lightly dressed, which made her all the more aware of how thin Zhou Sinian was—his bones could practically be used as weapons.

Zhou Sinian put her down, eyes watery with pain, drawing in a mouthful of saliva—pitiful in the extreme.

Ming Dai quickly apologized. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to—I was startled by the lamb.”

She looked at the sheep on the ground, expecting that Zhou Sinian had broken their necks. To her surprise, he had only knocked them out.

“Zhou Sinian, you’re amazing! You managed to catch them all alive!” Her sincere praise made Zhou Sinian forget the pain in his mouth. He gave her a crooked smile. “Bleed them out. Tastes better! Dead ones aren’t good!”

She gave him a thumbs up. “You’re right! Let’s do it this way from now on.”

Zhou Sinian nodded, a cold gleam flashing in his eyes as he drew a military dagger from who knows where and strode toward the sheep, who were only just regaining consciousness.

Ming Dai hurried to stop him. “Wait, wait!”

He paused, dagger raised, confusion written all over his face.

She pointed to the sheep. “Let’s keep these alive. Big sheep will have lambs, and then we’ll have an endless supply for the future!”

Zhou Sinian frowned at the big sheep lying on the ground and the trembling, tongue-lolling lambs. “They stink too much!”

Ming Dai paused and looked again. They really did stink—overwhelmingly so.

She thought for a moment. “No problem, we’ll give them a bath. There’s a pool out back, right? We’ll wash them there and they’ll be fine.”

Zhou Sinian considered this. He’d been just as smelly in summer, but after a bath, the odor disappeared. He nodded in agreement.

Ming Dai pointed at the sheep. “You take them over; I’ll get the shower gel. Since we’re washing them, we might as well do it properly.”

Zhou Sinian perked up at once. “Rose-scented, please!”

The corner of Ming Dai’s mouth twitched, but she nodded. “Alright, rose-scented—just like you.”

As she walked to fetch the shower gel, she couldn’t help but grumble inwardly. Who knew if Zhou Sinian, once fully recovered, would find his current rose-perfumed self a bit too effeminate. After all, at the moment, he smelled of roses from head to toe.

Grumbling aside, she still washed the sheep with rose-scented gel. The poor lambs were soon covered in foamy bubbles under their merciless hands. If Ming Dai hadn’t stopped him, Zhou Sinian would have washed them all over again.

Each one was like an oversized bath puff, frothing with bubbles even without scrubbing—quite entertaining.

Once the freshly-scented lambs were ready, Ming Dai realized they weren’t a flock of yellow mountain sheep after all, but white ones—just stained yellow from never having bathed before.

She fetched some wire mesh from her warehouse and fenced off a pen in a clear patch of ground, herding the sheep inside to dry in the sun.

Then she took out Zhou Sinian’s large basket, tied up the ram she’d set aside beforehand, and after much persuasion, got Zhou Sinian to agree to carry it down the mountain.

By the time they emerged, darkness was falling.

Zhou Sinian, displeased that Ming Dai wanted to give the ram to the brigade leader, made sure that as they descended the mountain together, her face was pressed right up against the basket—so much so that Ming Dai nearly fainted from the stench.

She was finally released only after promising to make pine nut candy for Zhou Sinian before the New Year.

The smell—unbearable! Absolutely dreadful!