Cui Ling had no choice but to let the bearded man rub his body against her side.

  The ground above the cave was uneven, and the bearded man stumbled several times, bumping into protruding rocks, leaving a deep red mark on his forehead.

  She helplessly sighed and gently stroked his head onto her lap.

  The fire burned warmly in the cave, and the flames illuminated the whiskered man's face, reflecting his straight nose and handsome eyebrows.

  Choi Yong had a moment of distraction.

  There was a moment when she seemed to have returned to the place where her previous life had ended.

  In that mountain villa far away from the city, she experienced the worst mood and the most terrible fate.

  A massive disaster, the earthquake shook the ground, destroying her hard-earned house in an instant. She was blocked by two horizontal beams in the corner of the room, although she was not injured, but trapped and unable to move.

  No food, no drink, her life was withering away quickly.

  At that time, she was disheartened and imagined her short but turbulent life.

  In this life, no one has ever truly loved her, protected her, and been willing to give up everything and sacrifice their life for her.

  She was an unwanted product of her parents' overproduction, she wasn't the boy they had wished for, all they had for her was disappointment and disdain, not a shred of love.

  In order to raise money to continue giving birth to sons, she was not allowed to go to school very early on.

  If she hadn't been exceptionally clever, the school teachers would not have exempted her from tuition fees and helped her earn pocket money to support herself, she wouldn't have been able to finish high school.

  She has been supporting herself since she was ten years old.

  He later relied on student loans and national scholarships to finish college, working two jobs to earn a living, and also squeezing out a portion to support his younger siblings.

  When she was down on her luck, neither her parents, sister, nor younger brother and sister who had received favors from her showed up.

  Later she prospered, and these people immediately swarmed around her like flies smelling honey.

  Is it familial love?

  Choi Yeong sneered, "A family like that doesn't have affection, only interests."

  She spent her entire life in poverty and never felt a shred of warmth from her family. Those relatives who only cared about their own interests would not make any sacrifices for her, let alone give up their lives. Even asking them to spare some money was probably impossible.

  As for love...

  She and her first love were both poor and miserable children, and they cherished each other.

  But when facing a choice, most first loves have hardly struggled and chose fame, wealth and nobility instead.

  Yes, he is using the name of a filial son, and it sounds like there are many helplessness.

  But if he truly loved her, there were ways to have it both ways. He just didn't want to give up the shortcut to success.

  She also wondered, if she hadn't succeeded later on and was still just an ordinary woman living a poor and aimless life, would the first love who had already achieved success come to find her and ask to rekindle their romance?

  Yes. It is definite.

  At that time, their status was vastly different, he was in a high position, she was at the bottom, how could they still have any intersection?

  He has already tasted the goodness of wealth and will not retreat. He lived a poor and simple life with her.

  So is this love?

  Maybe there was a pure heart move at first, but later it slowly changed.

  That man didn't even have the courage to go through hardships together, how could he give up everything and even his life for her?

  But at this moment, Cui Ying looked at the handsome face of the bearded man and thought, what about this man!

  Whether he was motivated by a sense of justice or following orders from above, he arrived at her most critical moment and rescued her from the clutches of the soft-hearted thief, fighting valiantly and risking his life.

  When she wiped his body for him, she saw it.

  There were several vital spots on his back that were densely covered with knife scars of bright colors, which were new wounds he had just received.

  Although the wounds were not deep, it was only because his martial arts skills were high, if the opponent was stronger, these injuries on the vital parts might have cost him his life.

  The man really risked his life to save her.

  This moved her, and at the same time, a certain string in her heart was gently plucked by the spring breeze, playing out an infinitely beautiful melody, full of hope and tenderness.

  Choi Yong thought so, and for a moment, his emotions surged, his eyes becoming so tender they seemed to be on the verge of tears.

  But soon, she came to her senses and slapped herself twice, "You're just grateful he saved you, it's just a temporary compromise! Right, you're just being kind-hearted, can't bear him getting hurt again!"

  It will all be over when he wakes up or reinforcements arrive.

  She waited for Shi Xiuren to finish handing over the winter clothes and then followed him back to Shengjing, continuing her carefree and leisurely life as a rice worm.

  And he was like a cloud at the edge of the sky, blown away by the wind and scattered.

  This dream hadn't even started yet before I woke up.

  Cui Ling's heart was quiet and still, she closed her eyes and leaned against the stone wall to conserve her energy, but perhaps due to her exhausted body, she fell asleep without realizing it.

  In a daze, she felt the person on her leg move, a pair of warm arms reached forward and wrapped tightly around her waist.

  She was too sleepy, and I also felt unable to resist such warmth in my heart, so I simply stopped caring, buried my head, and continued sleeping.

  Choi Yong woke up again when the sky was about to darken once more.

  She looked down and found that the sick Hu Xu sleeping on her lap was gone.

  Just a few hours ago, he was still on the verge of death, and now he's gone. Has he recovered so quickly that he can get up and walk away, leaving her alone here?

  She hastily stood up and had just taken two steps when her foot slipped and she fell to the ground with a thud.

  "What's wrong? Are you awake? What happened?"

  It is the mustachioed man's magnetic voice.

  Choi Wing let out a sigh of relief.

  It's okay, this person still has a conscience and didn't sneak away while she was sleeping. He also didn't disappoint her numb legs.

  She leaned against the mountain wall and climbed up, answering, "It's okay, it's okay, I just wasn't careful."

  The bearded man came in from outside, carrying two pheasants and a wild rabbit.

  His footsteps still looked a bit empty, and he didn't have much spirit, but at least he could walk, move around and hunt now.

  And just like a moment ago, that sickly man was lying on the ground. A man who looked like he was about to die didn't seem human at all!

  This doesn't make sense. Although this man is still injured, he's already out of danger? At least, there's no need to worry that he'll die anymore?

  Cui Ling was amazed at the strong vitality and physical strength of the bearded man, thinking that he must be a sturdy tough guy who would immediately recover after being burned, whereas if it were someone like Yuan Wulang, who was as thin as a bamboo pole, he might not even survive an illness.

  She first pointed at what was in his hand. "Where did it come from?"

  She didn't wait for his response and continued, "Your fever has just subsided, how can you be running around everywhere? What if wild beasts find and eat you? Or what if you catch a chill and the fever comes back. That wouldn't be good."

  She speaks like a burst of beans popping, with a loud and forceful tone.

  Yuan Wulang looked at him and thought it was funny, he held back his smile and waved the game in his hand at Cui Ying, "I hunted pheasant and wild rabbit. You must be hungry? If you're hungry, come help me clean them up, and we'll roast them to eat later."

  He glanced at the pine nuts that had been blackened on the firewood and said with a suppressed smile, "That thing is probably inedible. I just think if we don't go out to hunt for something, we'll all starve to death."

  Cui Ling was speechless for a moment, seeing that the bearded man looked fierce and powerful, as if nothing was wrong with him, so she let it go.

  She took the little wild rabbit from Yuan Wulang's hand, hugged it in her arms, and blinked her eyes to ask, "Let's deal with the pheasant first, if there's enough to eat, don't think about catching it, okay? Look at it, how pitiful!"

  This is a lovely little grey rabbit, born with thick rabbit hair, fluffy and cute, warm.

  She held him in her arms and couldn't bear to let go.

  Yuan Wulang saw that she liked it, and a rare pampering expression appeared on his face. "You like it, so keep it. If it's not enough to eat, I'll go out and hunt a few more mountain chickens."

  For him, although he was physically exhausted and couldn't handle large animals at this time, it wasn't a difficult task to catch a few mountain chickens or wild birds, but just go out again.

  If it can win a beauty's heart, then going out ten more times is worth it!

  Cui Ling heard this and couldn't help but laugh, she tightly hugged Xiao Hui Tu, smiling and said to the mustachioed man, "You're really great, thank you!"

  Like a child who has finally gotten some candy after much begging and pleading.

  Wulang Yuan was melted by this sentence "You're really good" and his whole body felt warm.

  He turned his head and looked at Cui Ling, who was disheveled but still beautiful, gently stroking the smooth fur of Xiao Ye Tu.

  Her expression was focused and serious, her face filled with joyful expressions, not showing any signs of the hardships they had gone through, having just escaped from a life-or-death situation.

  He was stunned for a moment, and suddenly heard the clear and cheerful voice of a woman beside his ear, "Little Grey Rabbit, from now on you can call me Little Hu, okay?"

  Little fox?

  Yuan Wulang hastily said, "This isn't a fox, how can you call it Little Fox?"

  He hastily waved his hand, "Calling a small rabbit a little fox, let alone whether it likes it or not, doesn't the person calling it feel awkward?"

  This fox is not that fox!

  Chui Rong glared at him fiercely.

  If it weren't for the fact that she wanted to commemorate the little grey rabbit brought by Hu Xueman, why would she give the lovely rabbit a name that was so masculine?

  Xiao Hu, it's not the "Hu" of fox, but the "Hu" of whiskers!

  Watching the mustachioed man being so dull, she also felt somewhat disheartened.

  Yuan Wulang still lingered on this topic, "Otherwise, should we call it Little Rabbit? Or Xiao Hui? Look at its gray color!"

  Cui Ying hugged Xiao Hu and didn't want to reason with him.

  But thinking that he still had to deal with the pheasant's entrails and feathers, he could only say stiffly, "What's in a name anyway, people will know it's a rabbit at a glance."

  "She argued strongly, 'Besides, calling a rabbit Little Hu sounds so cool and handsome, I guarantee it's one of a kind in this world.'"

  Yuan Wulang asked suspiciously, "Pulling wind?"

  Cui Ling grabbed her head and cried out in pain, "Alright, alright! Don't mind what my rabbit's name is, hurry up and deal with the pheasant, I'm so hungry, I'm about to starve to death!"

  "To shut him up, she said seductively, 'You've also tasted my cooking skills, right? You know I'm good at cooking food? Well, hurry up and clean the pheasant, then come taste my Choi's stir-fry!'"

  ps：

  Today's second update, didn't eat or drink and didn't take a nap, finally finished writing, felt relieved, today's task is done, see you tomorrow!