Chapter 25: Finally Here

"Don't worry, I have a way," Xia Juncheng said.

Hearing this, Hua Ning decided not to ask any further questions.

"Fine, then let's settle the price based on one hundred and twenty catties."

The thought of the meat she had almost secured slipping through her fingers left Hua Ning feeling incredibly irritable. She had already decided that once Xia Juncheng left, she would definitely go back and trap another wild boar to stock up. That way, she would have meat to eat whenever she wanted.

Xia Juncheng did not refuse. He had already made up his mind; once Hua Ning agreed to provide the secret formula that could enhance physical fitness, he would apply for more subsidies for her.

Hua Ning took the two hundred and forty yuan from Xia Juncheng and turned to leave.

"Comrade Hua Ning!" Xia Juncheng called out to her in a rush.

She turned around again, her face full of impatience as she asked, "Now what?"

She had already made a concession once because of him. If he dared to push his luck again, Hua Ning decided she would no longer hold back.

"N-nothing, I just wanted to remind you that if you're heading down the mountain, you might want to find a stream and wash your face first!"

This was the first time Xia Juncheng had encountered a girl like Hua Ning, who treated him as if he were a poisonous snake or a scorpion. Yet, thinking of the secret formula in her hands, he felt her behavior was only natural.

When Hua Ning heard that he was simply reminding her to wash her face, her expression softened slightly, though she still didn't give him a pleasant look. After all, the man who had captured her heart was someone she could never hope to touch, and that alone made her feel extremely disgruntled. Now, she also had to risk exposing her secrets to provide game potions out of a moment of soft-heartedness. The more she thought about it, the more depressed she felt. If it weren't for Xia Juncheng's handsome face, she would have beaten him to a pulp by now.

Hua Ning gave a cold snort as a response and quickened her pace to leave. Watching her frail figure walk away, Xia Juncheng felt a strange pang of heartache.

Hua Ning, who left with such ease, was completely oblivious to Xia Juncheng’s thoughts. On the mountain, she casually raided a rabbit burrow, leaving only one in her basket while stashing the rest into her game inventory. As she approached the foot of the mountain, she suddenly noticed someone lying on the ground in the distance.

Initially, she wanted to avoid unnecessary trouble, but in the end, the moral bottom line in her heart prevented her from ignoring a human life, so she walked over.

The old man lying on the ground had sunken cheeks, graying hair, and clothes covered in layer upon layer of patches. The skin exposed to the air was dark and rough. Digging through her memories to identify him, Hua Ning sighed softly and crouched down. She wasn't a doctor, but judging by the old man's condition, he had either fainted from overwork or was suffering from some other ailment. A small red bottle suddenly appeared in her hand, and she helped the old man up to feed it to him carefully.

A few minutes later, the old man slowly regained consciousness. When he saw the person who had been the subject of much discussion in the village recently crouching before him, his expression turned nervous. He glanced around anxiously, and upon confirming that there was no one else nearby, he urged Hua Ning anxiously, "Girl, hurry down the mountain! I'm fine now."

Hearing this, and connecting it with his earlier reaction, Hua Ning instantly guessed what he was thinking. Honestly, in the week she had been here, the kindness she had received from others was more than she had experienced in over twenty years of her previous life.

"Old sir, are you... not feeling well? Should I help you down the mountain to see the village doctor?" Since she couldn't ignore him, she decided to help him all the way.

The old man waved his hands repeatedly. "No need, I’m just tired, I’ll be fine after resting for a while." After saying this, seeing that Hua Ning's expression remained unchanged, he added with a bitter smile, "With our status, it's better for you to avoid contact with us."

Not wanting to cause trouble for Hua Ning, the old man tremblingly tried to use his hands to push himself up. However, his limbs were weak, he felt dizzy, and he had a slight fever. Seeing this, Hua Ning quickly reached out to support him. The temperature of his skin made her expression shift slightly.

"You have a fever? I’m helping you down the mountain to see the doctor!" Hua Ning's tone left no room for argument.

"Girl, I really am fine, just a bit of heatstroke. You should hurry down the mountain before someone sees you and it causes trouble." The old man truly didn't want to implicate this poor girl because of himself, and he struggled to break free from her support.

Hua Ning was speechless. She had finally decided to be kind, only to be repeatedly pushed away. For a moment, she really wanted to just walk away. But then, she thought about how most of the people living in the cowsheds were talented individuals who had been wrongly accused, and her compassion forced her to stay. *Sigh, it's hard to be a good person.*

Just as she finished this thought, she felt the weight in her hands increase suddenly. She looked closely and saw that the old man, who had just regained consciousness, had fainted again. *Fine, no one can refuse now.* But thinking about how he had mentioned heatstroke, Hua Ning was in a dilemma, as she didn't have any liquid heatstroke remedy in her game inventory or warehouse.

"What other way is there to quickly relieve heatstroke?"

Hua Ning muttered to herself while scanning her game inventory with her consciousness. She didn't know what she had touched, but she accidentally opened the game shop. As her eyes swept over the items available for purchase, her eyes suddenly lit up.

*Ice cream!*

Fifteen minutes later, the old man slowly regained consciousness again.

"You girl, why haven't you left yet?" He murmured, and then subconsciously licked his lips. *Why is there a sweet, cold taste in my mouth?*

"As long as you're okay, I'm heading down the mountain." Seeing that the old man had recovered some of his energy, Hua Ning didn't delay any further and turned to walk down the mountain.

The old man's mouth moved as if he wanted to say something, but he pressed his lips together. The child had kindly helped him; he couldn't cause her any more trouble.

***

"Ning, you're back from the mountain? Hurry home and take a look, your house is in an uproar!"

"Auntie, what happened?" Hearing the well-meaning warning from the middle-aged woman, Hua Ning feigned panic and asked anxiously.

"Oh, it's your second aunt's family; they've come to say they want to take the child, Haozi, back to their place to raise him!"

Hearing this news, Hua Ning sneered in her heart: *Finally.* However, her face displayed terror and unease.

"B-but Haozi is the only male descendant left in our Hua family!" Hua Ning’s eyes instantly filled with tears, and her voice choked with emotion as she turned and ran toward home. The wild vegetables in the basket on her back spilled out all along the way.

"Hey! Ning, your vegetables!" The aunt behind her looked at the fresh greens on the ground, reached out a hand as if to stop her, and pretended to call out. Seeing that she didn't even turn her head, the woman bent down to pick up the vegetables while muttering to herself.

"Such fresh vegetables, it would be a shame to waste them. Sigh, I suppose I'll just have to go to the trouble of picking them up!" In reality, the aunt was overjoyed. After all, she had received a free batch of fresh vegetables without having to climb the mountain, enough to stir-fry a dish for lunch.

Back home, as soon as Hua Ning reached the entrance, she heard a somewhat familiar woman's voice coming from inside.