This is terrible! My future prime minister keeps trying to kiss me forcibly.

Ye Xiaoxiao stopped in her tracks, her peach blossom eyes darting around, as if annoyed by my chatter.

Here's a song about winding mountain roads for you!

"Children of the mountains! You love the sun! The sun loves you so much! People of the mountains..."

She clearly saw the person in front of her stumble, and her smile widened as she sang even more joyfully.

He Jing quickened his pace, trying to widen the distance between them, but the woman behind him kept chasing after him, like a tail that he couldn't shake off no matter how hard he tried.

Her handsome brows furrowed; was she doing it on purpose?

Ye Xiaoxiao: I did it on purpose!

The two walked for another quarter of an hour, and He Jing stopped on a hillside. He took a sickle from his waist, bent down and began to cut the dense vegetation on the slope.

Ye Xiaoxiao looked at it and saw a thin, straight, brownish-brown stem and feather-shaped leaves.

Isn't this a sedge?

Her eyes lit up, and she blurted out, "He Jing, so you know a bit about pharmacology too?"

He Jing grabbed a handful of severed iron stalks and casually tossed them onto the open ground beside him. He straightened up and stared calmly at Ye Xiaoxiao.

Before he could even speak, the woman opposite him began to speak fluently and eloquently.

"The entire plant of this iron stalk can be used in medicine."

"It has many uses. It can clear heat and detoxify, disperse blood stasis and reduce swelling, and it can also set bones, relieve pain and stop bleeding."

"It can be used for hemorrhoids, metrorrhagia, epistaxis, centipede bites, snake bites..."

He Jing frowned and interrupted her: "This is for starting a fire. The pine needles we used to start the fire yesterday have all burned up."

Upon hearing this, Ye Xiaoxiao felt as if a flock of crows had flown overhead.

The words he wanted to say were abruptly cut off. His face flushed red and then turned pale, showing considerable unease.

"Ahem—this is also a medicine. I'll cut some down and sell it, hehehe."

Unfortunately, the tools she was using were not suitable; the hoe was heavier than she had imagined, and she soon found herself panting heavily.

The roots of the iron stalks grew horizontally underground, and it took her a lot of effort to dig out a small pit.

Supporting his aching back with the hoe, he saw that He Jing had already cut down a mountain of iron stalks.

Fine beads of sweat covered his face, with one or two occasionally falling into the iron stalks. His bangs were soaked, and a few beads of sweat clung to his brows.

The short, brown sleeves were rolled up to mid-arms, and the collar was slightly open, revealing...

Seemingly noticing Ye Xiaoxiao's intense gaze, He Jing paused in his actions, stood up, and a hint of doubt flashed in his usually calm eyes.

"Is something wrong?"

Ye Xiaoxiao felt embarrassed, as if she had been caught red-handed, and awkwardly raised her hand to scratch the end of her eyebrow.

"No, no, I just wanted to see you..."

He's handsome!

She didn't dare to say it...

She paused, then said, "Well done!"

He Jing walked calmly to a tall tree not far away and cut a few vines about the size of his little finger.

They braided the vines together tightly on the spot, laid them flat, and picked up the iron stalks one by one and placed them on the vines.

Ye Xiaoxiao, with her keen eye, ran over and took one of the heads.

The last bunch of iron spikes had been piled up, taller than Ye Xiaoxiao.

Here! This one is for you.

She tiptoed, stretched out her hand, and forcefully handed the vine to He Jing at the other end. The leaves of the iron vine were long and thin, and she was so close that she was worried about being pricked in the eyes by the leaves, so she simply closed her eyes.

He Jing took the other end of the vine, and saw a small hand reaching out from behind the tall iron vine. He naturally took the vine from her hand.

Rough fingers accidentally touched the woman's soft and delicate hand, and a strange feeling, indescribable, spread from the fingertips to the heart.

He grabbed both ends of the vine, exerted force with both hands, and stepped on the iron stalks with one foot, binding them firmly with the vine.

What was originally a tall pile became a large bundle that a man could wrap his arms around.

Before the inexplicable emotions in his heart had subsided, he saw the woman in front of him carefully examining the vines he had cut.

She had a pair of beautiful eyes with dark pupils and thick eyelashes that looked like small brushes. The corners of her eyes were slightly upturned, giving her a charming and bright look.

At this moment, her attention was entirely focused on the vine, and he had never seen her so serious before.

"I know!"

The woman who was squatting suddenly looked up at him. He Jing was at a loss for words and quickly avoided her gaze.

He Jing: I didn't peek at her!