Dragon, Truly Shameless (Yuri Futa, Farming) - Chapter 8

Shen Qingming slept for a very long time, not stirring until dusk the next day.

She had a dream last night, a bizarre and terrifying dream. In it, her father didn’t love her, her mother didn’t care for her. Her parents, who should have had the deepest affection for their child, abandoned her separately, leaving her to endure scorn in the village. No matter how hard she worked, how little she ate, how little food she wasted, everyone in the village pointed fingers at her, and the malicious gossip that reached her ears caused her great pain.

Among them, there were also pitying gazes. However, whenever she swallowed her pride and dignity and begged for their help with a hopeful look, she found that this pity remained in mere words, and no one was ever truly willing to lend her a helping hand. Over time, this pity became even more burdensome than the hurtful words. Now, whether it was harsh words or pitying sighs, she avoided them like a frightened bird.

Then she dreamed of Shen Jinbao. In the dream, Shen Jinbao was snatched and eaten by a tiger. The old Shen family, having lost their only male heir, was shrouded in a lingering despair. Her family sighed constantly, and her grandparents couldn’t withstand the blow and soon passed away from illness. Her two uncles divided the family property, and she lost her last place of refuge.

Having lost her shelter, she became like cat feces on a shrine, ending up hated by both gods and humans. Rumors and unfounded accusations all pointed directly at her. She was labeled a jinx, condemned by everyone, with no way to defend herself. She tried to beg her two uncles to take her in, and she tried to prove that she wasn’t a jinx, but everyone ignored her, even watching her misfortune with amusement. It wasn’t until she wanted to throw herself into the river that a pair of hands forcibly pulled her back.

The figure that pulled her back stood in the light, facing away from the light, so she couldn’t see its face. She only knew that it was tall and thin, not a powerful figure, yet it was this figure that pulled her back.

Trapped in the process of drowning, she felt herself enveloped by another gentle breath, carrying a cool fragrance. It was clearly cold, yet it was like a dark plum blossom blooming in the snow, its purity arousing a longing in her. The breath also had no emotion, but it was this just-right calmness that gave her a chance to breathe.

Like a dying person grasping at the last straw, she desperately clung to that cool fragrance, greedily absorbing it, wanting more. Then, this cool fragrance became even stronger, and all her unease and pain disappeared.

She slept very soundly, and only now, when she woke up, did she feel a bit… dazed.

So it was a dream?

Her head still hurt a lot, but it was much better. She wondered if it was because she had eaten the rice porridge. The wounds on her body had actually scabbed over, healing quite quickly. In the past, she had often injured herself while working, and it would take a long time to heal. Sometimes they wouldn’t heal and would become inflamed and fester. She didn’t dare to spend the family’s money, so she endured it for so many years. It was the first time her wounds had healed so quickly.

At this time, she noticed that the light outside the cave was already tinged with the color of the setting sun. The sunlight shone in obliquely, and it was already dusk. Could it be that she had slept for a whole day and night? Thinking of sleeping embraced with Long Qing last night, Shen Qingming felt a little embarrassed. She was sleeping at someone else’s place, and she had slept so soundly.

Thinking about whether she should do something to make up for it, although Long Qing had told her to rest and recover, Long Qing’s conditions here didn’t seem very good. They were living in a cave, and they didn’t even have a small wooden house. How easy would it be to suddenly feed another mouth?

Looking around, she found that there was a bag of rice, several bowls and plates, and pottery pots here, more than yesterday. She laboriously got up and walked over with slightly heavy steps. The rice in the bag was all white rice. She carefully noticed that the scorch marks at the bottom of the pottery pots were very light, clearly newly bought.

For her sake, did she specially go to buy white rice and pottery pots? Shen Qingming’s eyes grew hot. She scooped a little rice into a pottery pot and went to get the bamboo tube placed in the corner. The bamboo tube was very heavy, and there were still scattered water droplets on the outside, indicating that it had just been filled with water.

She didn’t see anyone when she walked out of the cave. Long Qing and the big tiger were both gone. Outside the cave was a meadow, located in a low slope, with a small patch of ground that seemed to have been cleared by humans. There were traces of burning on the ground, probably from Long Qing roasting meat. She looked around this place. The surrounding forest was dense, and there was no sign of human habitation. How remote a place did Long Qing live in?

She followed the cooking stove, circled around, and simply returned to the cave entrance. There was nothing here. Just as she was hesitating whether to go and collect some firewood, Long Qing returned.

Long Qing sat on the tiger’s back. The two of them, one human and one tiger, slowly approached from the mountain stream against the breeze. The setting sun shone on their side, casting long shadows. Their posture was leisurely, and their clothes fluttered in the wind. At first glance, they looked like a wandering immortal. Shen Qingming’s gaze was a bit dazed. Although she already knew that Long Qing kept a tiger, she still couldn’t help but feel afraid every time she faced such a fierce beast directly.

Seeing her, Long Qing raised her hand, her smile sincere and lovely.

“Little girl is awake?”

“Yes, thank you, Miss Long, for saving my life.”

Shen Qingming thanked Long Qing, her voice soft and shy. Although she didn’t understand what was going on, a voice in the dark told her that something else had happened last night, and it was Long Qing who had saved her again.

“No need for thanks. Are you feeling better now?” Long Qing came to Shen Qingming’s side and looked her over. The little girl could actually get out of bed, so her dragon saliva hadn’t been wasted.

“Yes, much better,” Shen Qingming lowered her head again, shyly hunching her shoulders. Even though Long Qing was a girl, she always felt uncontrollably shy when Long Qing looked at her.

“That’s good. Since you’re awake, let’s eat. We have venison tonight.” Long Qing smiled and took the deer down from Ah Hu’s back. Shen Qingming didn’t notice the deer but was lost in thought for a long time over her words “eat venison.” Did she mean for her to eat it tonight?

Shen Qingming didn’t dare to hope presumptuously. Having rice porridge to eat was already great luck, so how could she expect meat? She held the pottery pot and stood aside, watching Long Qing process the venison by herself.

Perhaps seeing her hesitating for a long time, Long Qing looked up. “Little girl, why are you standing aside? Oh right, you want to eat rice porridge, bring it over and cook it.”

Long Qing casually picked up some firewood and piled it on the ground, using flint to light the tinder. After a moment, a bonfire started. The bonfire could provide light and repel mosquitoes. Under the firelight, Long Qing’s face looked indescribably gentle. Shen Qingming came back to her senses, walked over with the pottery pot, and placed it on the fire with Long Qing’s silent consent.

Long Qing had hunted another sika deer today. The summer forest was rich in food, and this deer was very fat and strong. When its belly was opened, oil could still be seen. Long Qing removed two deer legs from it, and threw the rest to Ah Hu. She seemed to only eat the leg meat. Yesterday, she had also seen Long Qing gnawing on a deer leg.

The two deer legs were very plump, all lean venison. Long Qing found two tree branches and directly skewered the deer legs, her movements unusually rough.

Shen Qingming curiously watched Long Qing’s movements. There was no doubt that Long Qing’s appearance was proper and beautiful, but her behavior was very rough, which she didn’t understand. Why would such a person live in the deep mountains?

Long Qing said she was a hunter in the mountains, living by hunting, but why did a hunter look like this? Although she was just a village girl who didn’t understand literature, both her parents could read. In the few years of her childhood when she was accompanied by her parents, she had also been exposed to some etiquette. Long Qing, whether in appearance or behavior, didn’t look like a hunter but more like a noble lady in distress.

Lost in thought, Long Qing had already used branches to set up a simple grill to roast the meat. Shen Qingming thought of something and instinctively stopped Long Qing’s movements.

“What’s wrong?” Long Qing looked at the little girl in confusion.

“Venison is coarse. Roasting it like this will make it hard to chew.” Yesterday, she had noticed that the deer leg Long Qing roasted was like it was wrapped in a layer of scorched earth. Venison was already coarse, and roasting it would undoubtedly make it even coarser.

“What’s wrong with that?” Long Qing asked back. Seeing the hopeful look on the little girl’s face, she asked again, “Do you have a way to make it tender?”

Shen Qingming’s face lit up with joy, and she nodded. Her small head bobbed like a roly-poly toy. In the old Shen family, she was responsible for all the meals, so she naturally knew how to make things more fragrant and delicious. There was a saying among the common people that food was the most important thing. Regardless of its quality, it deserved to be treated seriously.

Long Qing was intrigued and simply handed her the deer legs. Shen Qingming smiled happily. She placed the deer legs on a washed banana leaf and didn’t directly cook the meat but dug a pit in the ground.

This made Long Qing even more curious. Why dig a pit instead of cooking? However, seeing the little girl’s small hands stained with mud and her movements labored, Long Qing felt sorry for her and gave Ah Hu a look.

Ah Hu growled softly and reluctantly walked over. Shen Qingming immediately shrank to the side in fear and then watched the tiger dig the pit. Only when a pit large enough to hold the deer legs was dug did Shen Qingming tell it to stop. Ah Hu was very displeased with this. It licked its dirty paws and growled at Shen Qingming, as if swearing something.

“What are you growling about? Since it’s done, go eat your meat,” Long Qing walked over and stood in front of Ah Hu, warning it.

Ah Hu’s ears drooped in grievance. Ever since this Bean Sprout was saved, its master’s attention had been entirely on Bean Sprout. Her partiality was obvious, and it had lost favor.

“Okay, don’t be willful,” Long Qing had no choice but to hug the tiger’s head and kiss it. Ah Hu instantly revived, eagerly licking Long Qing’s lips. The taste of dragon saliva instantly transformed this fierce beast into an infant suckling milk, which was quite strange.

Long Qing pushed Ah Hu away and sighed. “Go eat your meat.”

Ah Hu was satisfied this time and lay down to continue gnawing on the venison.

Over here, Shen Qingming added firewood to the pit and lit it. When the firewood had burned out and the moisture in the pit had completely dried, leaving a pit of charcoal, she wrapped the deer legs in banana leaves, placed them in the pit, added some more charcoal, and then covered them with soil.

“This?” Long Qing was quite surprised. Could it cook like this?

“Meat cooked this way is more tender,” Shen Qingming explained. While Long Qing was in a daze, she took out one of the bamboo tubes filled with water and began to wash rice to cook.

The little girl’s movements were unusually skillful, so practiced that it was heartbreaking. Even though she was unwell, she still worked seriously and diligently, as if she had long been accustomed to it. Long Qing watched, a feeling of sourness rising in her heart. With such hard work, how would the girl recover? If things continued like this, even if her injuries healed, she probably wouldn’t live long.

Seeing the girl about to fetch water again, Long Qing couldn’t bear it anymore. “That’s enough. I’ll do these things.”

“I can,” Shen Qingming was eager to make herself look capable. In her understanding, if she couldn’t work, what awaited her was abandonment.

Long Qing took the bamboo tube. “What I mean is that you are injured and shouldn’t overwork yourself. You watch the heat here, and I’ll go fetch water.”

Long Qing carried the bamboo tube towards the back of the mountain. She didn’t see Shen Qingming’s small face turn deathly pale as she turned away.

The color drained from Shen Qingming’s face in the blink of an eye. She pursed her lips and watched Long Qing’s receding figure, her big eyes gradually filling with tears. Being so eager to let her rest and recover meant she was thinking of letting her leave quickly once she was healed. Sure enough, she was still disliked.