Facing the concerned villagers, Ye Jian raised her hand to cover her forehead, as if she was a bit embarrassed. "My headache is gone. I was tripped by Ye Ying and accidentally fell. Perhaps I was too nervous about the examination at noon that I passed out."
"Look at you! Why are you nervous about exams? Ye Ying is so good at school, just ask her to give you answers during the examination," said the villagers jokingly. They felt great compassion for this orphan girl who was staying with her uncle's family.
Currently, they were looking at her with kindness in their eyes, instead of judging her.
Ye Jian pursed her lips gently. Pretending to be anxious, she lowered her head, curled her hair with her fingers and murmured, "Long before the exam was over, she had handed in the paper and left. I couldn't copy her answers even if I wanted to. I dared not hand in mine until the bell rang."
Her words made the villagers burst into laughter. What an honest girl Jian was.
What they did not know was, Ye Jian was behaving in this way to prepare for the things that would be happening subsequently.
"Aunties and uncles, I'm going back to my home. I'll see you around." Ye Jian thanked them politely. With a gentle smile on her delicate and small face, she said, "I haven't returned home in ages. I'm planning to clean my house."
It was not until then that the villagers realized that she was going back to her home at the very end to the village. "Grandpa Gen should be at your house. He has kept a dog, so do remember to inform him before you enter the house."
Of course, Ye Jian still remembered that dog. At that time, when she was wronged, she ran back to her house, crying. A big, black dog barked and rushed out from the house. If it was not Grandpa Gen who had appeared in time, Heiga would definitely have bitten her.
Later, as Grandpa Gen had told her, his black dog was no ordinary dog but a juvenile Tibetan Mastiff.
Across layers of peach blossom, Ye Jian saw her home hiding deep inside the sea of flowers. It was the same house from her memory.
The green and black bricks, as well as the pure white walls, still looked as new as before.
This was the time when peach flowers were blooming. The gentle spring breeze was stroking her face, and the flower petals were flying in the air.
After walking out of the forest of peach blossoms, Ye Jian returned to her home.
"Grandpa Gen, Grandpa Gen." A few steps before Ye Jian walked out from the forest, she had raised her voice and yelled. Heiga was a Tibetan Mastiff. She yelled in advance to avoid repeating the episodes in her past life.
Before hearing any response from anyone, she had trotted out the forest of peach flowers.
Ye Jian halted her steps as she saw four unknown men eating noodles while sitting on the ground.
She nodded gently and asked calmly, "Is Grandpa Gen here?"
She glanced at them, and then subtly lowered her sight.
She saw that someone had secretly and swiftly put down an object that was placed on the wooden table. It… was a gun.
As she lowered her head and looked again, she saw that four men were wearing boots that civilians wouldn't. Those… were military boots.
Their sitting positions were textbook-like. Their backs were upright straight, just like poplars.
Besides, they had the crew cut hairstyle, which was mandatory in the army.
These four men were soldiers.
They were sitting before her own house. Judging from their smiles, it seemed like they were having a relaxed conversation. They were a bit surprised at her appearance.
With an apron, which had turned white after being washed too many times, wrapped around his waist, Grandpa Gen smiled and said, "Here comes the Lao Tan pickled cabbage. I know you guys… Oh, Jian."
She was a girl from this village. The four men stood up quickly. One good looking men, perhaps the leader of the four of them, said with brisk laughter, "Girl, don't be scared, we are not bad people."
Of course, she knew that they were not bad guys.
Besides, what sort of villains had she not encountered?
Scared? She had never been daunted by anyone.
Ye Jian nodded at them and smiled. Although they were strangers, she showed no fear on her face. Instead, she went near Grandpa Gen, who was holding a few plates and said softly, "Let me carry these. Your feet ache every spring. You'd better sit down."
Hearing these words, the four soldiers felt rather uneasy.
They were aware of Grandpa Gen's feet-ache.
It was the injuries that he had gotten from the battlefields that caused him severe pain every spring and winter.
This time, they were here to deliver Grandpa Gen the special medicinal liquor of the army to help him keep colds away.
Nevertheless, not long after the noodles cooked by themselves were ready, this bright and beautiful girl had appeared, so they hadn't had a bite of noodles yet.
Alas, she had also misunderstood them.
Grandpa Gen was surprised that Jian knew about his foot ailment because no other person in the village did.
"I'm fine, I'm fine. Girl, you just take care of yourself." Grandpa Gen was referring to the incident of Ye Jian falling and passing out yesterday. Since there were others around, he didn't say it out to embarrass the girl.
Ye Jian pursed her lips and smiled a bit awkwardly, "It was an accident, but thanks for everyone's care for me."
She deftly put several plates of crispy and sour Lao Tan pickled cabbage on the wooden table. Then, adeptly, she picked up a bottle of sesame oil on the table and dipped some onto the cabbage. With sesame oil and a spoon of red pepper oil, the pickled cabbage seemed even more appetizing.
The cap of the soy sauce bottle on the table was not tightened properly. Ye Jian closed the cap tightly.
Few children in the village were spoiled, not to mention the orphans.
Though the girl was young and thin, the dexterity she showed made Grandpa Gen feel like she had been working for over a decade. He felt sorry for her and sighed, "Girl, no rush. They will clean the table when they finish eating."
"Young lady, take a break. We can help ourselves."
"Thank you, thank you. We can do it ourselves."
Their company commander would definitely scold them harshly if he knew that these men let a little girl serve them.
Too embarrassed to keep a little girl busy working for them, the four men stretched out their hands to stop her. Accidentally, a pair of chopsticks on the noodle bowl was knocked off and fell onto the ground.
As the soldier—who was closest to the dropped chopsticks—was about to pick them up, a pair of hands with long and thin fingers had grabbed them before him.
Putting the chopsticks back on the noodle bowl, Ye Jian smiled gently with a detached facial expression. "Not dirty. No need to wash them."
"Thanks." The younger soldiers became increasingly embarrassed and thanked her repeatedly.
The good looking soldier who was around his thirties smiled at Ye Jian and said briskly, "You have a rather fast reaction speed, girl. How about sitting with us and having some noodles? We haven't had a bite of them. Just grab a bowl and we can share some with you."
"I have had my meal, thanks." Although Ye Jian's smile was subtle, they seemed especially comfortable, because she smiled with her eyes.
From their first meeting, the soldier could tell that this was a young lady with good manners.
After calmly turning down the invitation from this primary level military officer, Ye Jian turned around and whispered to Grandpa Gen, "Grandpa Gen, let's go inside the house, I want to discuss some…"
Before she could finish the sentence, a black shadow had rushed out like a flying arrow. It was so fast that the petals on the ground were swirled up several centimeters.
Although there were other people present, the black shadow dashed towards Ye Jian only. It was so swift that Grandpa Gen didn't realize what was going on.
Ye Jian didn't move. Because she couldn't.
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