The Return of the Seventh Young Lady-Chapter 192 - 191

Chapter 191

If it were just her falling into the raging river, she would certainly be able to survive, though perhaps with some minor injuries. But she never expected anyone to follow her down foolishly, attempting to save her.

Before long, Lu Jiu’s falling body finally drew close to Mu Yingying. He reached out and grabbed her, pulling her into his embrace and turning his back to take the brunt of the impact with the water.

As their bodies plummeted towards the river below, Mu Yingying gripped his clothing around his chest tightly, overwhelmed by a torrent of emotions.

"You fool..."

Her voice faint but clear enough for Lu Jiu to hear. He cupped her head, pressing it against his chest, and replied with a slight smile,

"...I told you, I would follow you anywhere."

Hearing this, Mu Yingying hugged Lu Jiu tightly, and he tightened his embrace as well. He was determined not to let her get hurt again and would not be separated from her. He hoped they could stay together, no matter where the current might take them.

Splash!

Their bodies hit the water forcefully, and then they disappeared into the raging river without a trace...

...

..

.

The first image Mu Yingying saw upon waking was that of a small, unfamiliar room. The room was cramped, and judging by the condition of the dwelling, the owner must be a poor villager living a hard life.

Hurt...

As Mu Yingying tried to sit up, she felt a sudden pain in her head. Her slender hand reached up to touch the area, finding a bandage wrapped tightly around it. She had no idea how long she had been unconscious.

She recalled the incident before she blacked out, remembering only that Lu Jiu had held her tightly as they fell into the river, and then everything went dark as she fell unconscious.

The wound on her head likely occurred while she was unconscious, possibly hitting a rock or something else as the current carried her away.

As her mind cleared, Mu Yingying looked around for Lu Jiu. She stood up and walked out of the room, discovering that the house she was in was a small, dilapidated dwelling with only two rooms. While she searched for any sign of Lu Jiu, a voice called out nearby.

"You’re awake, dear?"

Mu Yingying turned towards the voice and saw an elderly woman with a frail body, dressed in old, tattered clothes. The elder’s face radiated kindness and compassion.

"You just woke up and are already outside. You might catch a cold again," the elderly woman cautioned with concern because Mu Yingying still had a head injury and bruises scattered across her body.

"Did you save me, Granny?"

"Yes, I did. A few days ago, I found you unconscious by the river while I was picking vegetables in the forest. I didn’t know what to do, so I brought you back here to take care of you,"

The elderly woman explained as she led Mu Yingying to sit at an old wooden table. Upon hearing this, Mu Yingying sincerely thanked her savior. Without the elderly woman’s help, she couldn’t imagine what would have become of her.

"Thank you so much, Granny, for saving my life. I will never forget your kindness."

"It’s nothing, dear. I helped you because I wanted to. You don’t need to repay me," the elderly woman said warmly, her smile full of gentle affection.

"May I ask your name, Granny?"

Mu Yingying inquired politely, feeling that she should at least know the name of her benefactor. "My name is Ma Ping, but you can call me Granny Ma."

"Yes, Granny Ma," Mu Yingying responded with a smile that made her eyes curve into crescent moons.

"Alright, dear, let’s have some food. You’ve just woken up and haven’t eaten anything. You shouldn’t be out and about without resting. Come, let me get you some porridge."

Granny Ma stood up and headed to her small kitchen. She carefully ladled some clear broth-like porridge into a bowl for Mu Yingying. It couldn’t be helped; she had very little rice, so the porridge was mostly water with a few grains at the bottom.

Seeing the meal, which consisted only of vegetables and no meat, Mu Yingying’s eyebrows furrowed slightly. She hadn’t realized how difficult Granny Ma’s life was. From the surroundings, it seemed that she lived alone here.

Granny Ma, seeing that Mu Yingying had been quiet for so long, assumed she might have lost her appetite. However, due to her poverty, she only had simple rice porridge mixed with water and some vegetables, unable to find a better meal than this.

"I’m sorry, dear, this is the best I can do. My rice stock is almost gone, so I have to ration it. The meat I used to have ran out long ago, and I don’t even remember its taste," Granny Ma said with a soft laugh, feeling somewhat pitiful.

After her son passed away and her daughter-in-law left to remarry, she had been living alone in this rural village. Her frail body and old age made it difficult to earn much money, so she survived day by day by foraging for vegetables.

"No, Granny, this is more than enough. I’m grateful for your kindness in making something for me to eat,"

Seeing that Granny Ma’s expression was somewhat bad, Mu Yingying quickly reassured her, not wanting Granny Ma to think she was looking down on this meal. She was truly thankful for the elderly woman’s help and hospitality, giving her a place to stay and enough food to eat.

Hearing this, Granny Ma’s worries dissipated. She looked at the young woman in front of her with growing affection. Then, the two of them shared a meal in a relaxed atmosphere, passing stir-fried vegetables back and forth. Anyone seeing them would think they were grandmother and granddaughter.

"Thank you for the meal, Granny,"

Mu Yingying said, rubbing her full belly. Her actions were so endearing that Granny Ma couldn’t help but laugh heartily.

The young woman made Granny Ma feel as though she had a family again. Mu Yingying’s care, as she placed food on Granny Ma’s plate and made her laugh, brought back memories of her children and grandchildren before they had gone far away.

"Oh, right. When I fell into the river, I was with a man. Did you happen to see him?"

Mu Yingying asked as soon as they finished eating. She believed that Lu Jiu couldn’t have been swept far from her and might have already been rescued by someone else.

"When I found you, dear, you were alone, lying still by the river. There was no one else around,"

Granny Ma answered truthfully. She had been quite startled to find Mu Yingying lying still on the riverbank. After carrying her back home for treatment, she decided to use her meager savings to hire a doctor to treat the young woman’s head injury.

Upon hearing Granny Ma’s response, Mu Yingying didn’t press further. If Lu Jiu wasn’t swept to the same side of the river, he must be on the other side or somewhere around here, possibly not too far.

"Let me do the washing, Granny. You go rest inside,"

Mu Yingying offered with a slight smile. Now that she was staying at Granny Ma’s house, she felt obliged to help with what she could, as a small token of her gratitude. After finishing the dishes, she returned to the room where she had first awoken, which Granny Ma had generously given her to use while she stayed.

Late that same night, no matter how hard Mu Yingying tried, she couldn’t sleep. Her mind was filled with worry about Lu Jiu’s situation. Although part of her felt certain that Lu Jiu was safe, she had no idea where he was or how he was faring, making her anxious.

Was he injured?

The more she thought about it, the more concerned she became. Her worry for him enveloped her whole heart unknowingly. What she needed to do now wasn’t just to think about returning to Qingzhou, but to find Lu Jiu. After that, they would travel back to the capital of Qingzhou together.

The next morning.

A bright morning began, bringing good news as Mu Yingying’s injuries had improved. She decided to accompany Granny Ma into the forest to help gather food. With her martial arts skills, Mu Yingying could easily assist Granny Ma in hunting small animals like wild chickens or rabbits for cooking.

"Granny, can we collect these wild mushrooms?"

Mu Yingying, spotting a cluster of large mushrooms, hurriedly asked the local, Granny Ma, who had been foraging for years. She was cautious not to pick anything randomly, fearing they might have problems later if the ones she found were poisonous mushrooms or vegetables that had negative effects on her body.

"Yes, we can. You’re really good at finding forest food, dear. It’s probably because you’re young. I can barely see anything nowadays," Granny Ma chuckled in a good mood.

With Granny Ma’s approval, Mu Yingying quickly gathered as many mushrooms as she could. For now, this was the best way she could repay Granny Ma—by helping to collect forest food to cook. She then moved away from Granny Ma to hunt small animals on her own.

In a short time, Mu Yingying managed to catch two wild chickens, shocking Granny Ma. The old woman couldn’t believe that this beautiful young woman had such exceptional skills, almost like a celestial being.

"Looks like I’ll be enjoying some of Granny Ma’s wild chicken stew today,"

Mu Yingying said playfully, holding up the two wild chickens. Granny Ma couldn’t help but praise her.

"You’re truly talented. Is there anything you can’t do?"

Granny Ma laughed softly after saying that, her wrinkled face beaming with joy. It seemed that today’s and the upcoming meals would be the best she had had in years. If she had a granddaughter as lovely as Mu Yingying, it would be great...

Mu Yingying and Granny Ma spent almost half the day gathering vegetables and hunting before it was time to return. With two wild chickens, mushrooms, and plenty of other vegetables, they wouldn’t need to forage for at least a week.

"Thank you so much, dear. We collected so much today. In the past, I’d spend half a day and not gather even half of what you did,"

Granny Ma said, carrying a basket of wild vegetables. Mu Yingying, not wanting Granny Ma to exert herself further, volunteered to carry the two wild chickens and the basket of other forest food herself.

As they walked back to Granny Ma’s house, they encountered a couple arguing by the roadside. The closer Mu Yingying got, the more she could inevitably hear their conversation.

"Husband...is there anything special you’d like to eat today? Your wife will cook it for you with all her heart,"

The woman asked sweetly, but the man, called husband, didn’t respond even after a long wait. He walked away, seemingly trying to avoid her, prompting the woman to step in front of him again.

"Husband, how long will you continue to ignore me!? I am your wife!"

The woman’s voice grew louder with frustration before softening again. She reached out to grab her husband’s arm, but he pulled his arm and evaded in time, leaving her grasping at nothing.

"I’ll eat whatever,"

The man said dismissively, his voice cold with a hint of irritation, clearly annoyed by the woman in front of him. However, the woman seemed overjoyed that he finally spoke to her.

As Mu Yingying was about to walk past the couple, she suddenly stopped, feeling a surge of confusion. The man’s voice sounded familiar. Her heart began to race. She slowly turned to look at the two figures on the other side, and her eyes fell upon the familiar back of the man.

Could it be...

Before she could think further, the man seemed to sense her gaze and immediately turned to meet her eyes. The moment he did, Mu Yingying’s eyes widened in shock, quickly replaced by a clear expression of joy.

The man was none other than Lu Jiu!

"Lu Jiu..."

She called his name but immediately felt something was wrong. His eyes were now cold and empty, devoid of the warmth and gentleness he always had for her. His face was expressionless, showing no sign of happiness at seeing her again.

It was as if he didn’t recognize her at all...

Seeing the gentle look that Lu Jiu always had for her now replaced by indifference, Mu Yingying felt as if a heavy hammer had struck her heart. She felt so heavy-hearted that she couldn’t speak for a moment.

What on earth had happened?

Why was Lu Jiu acting as if he didn’t know her?

And who was this woman who kept calling him her husband?

What was going on...

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