Gao Yuan woke up, and it was the cold that had roused him.
He sat up and moved his somewhat stiff body slightly, then looked out of the window to see it was already getting light outside. Accustomed to waking up early due to his consistently poor sleep quality, he quietly climbed down from the heated brick bed.
Once off the bed, he looked at Luo Xingyu, who had hoarded all the sleeping bags around herself. Gao Yuan didn't get angry about the stolen sleeping bags that had resulted in him waking up cold, but instead couldn't help but smile.
Having lived in painful solitude for two months before a compliant and sensible girl appeared by his side, a girl who was also very pretty, Gao Yuan would merely be proving himself deserving of lifelong loneliness, pettiness, and unworthy of manhood if he were to get angry over the stolen sleeping bags.
So Gao Yuan wasn't angry. Not only was he not angry, but he also intended to make Luo Xingyu a nutrition-rich breakfast.
Gao Yuan glanced once more at Luo Xingyu, who was still in deep sleep.
Luo Xingyu looked very pretty while asleep, her cheeks flushed red, neither dirty nor troubled, her face both lovely and endearing, which made Gao Yuan smile again.
But as he chuckled to himself, he noticed something seemed off with Luo Xingyu's breathing—it was somewhat heavy.
Wait, heavy breathing, very red face, this isn't right.
Gao Yuan immediately touched Luo Xingyu's forehead, and then he knew—Luo Xingyu was feverish.
Luo Xingyu was deep in a stupor, but the touch on her forehead still woke her up immediately. Still unable to shake off long-formed habits, she startled awake and swiftly sat up, looking at Gao Yuan in panic before finally remembering where she was.
Luo Xingyu stared blankly at Gao Yuan and, upon regaining her senses, visibly relaxed, then weakly asked, "What's wrong?"
"You have a fever, a high fever."
Luo Xingyu continued to stare blankly at Gao Yuan, the wariness in her eyes fading, then she collapsed back onto the bed, weakly saying, "I'm so tired, so sleepy, let me sleep, brother, I'm so cold…"
Despite being hungry, frightened, and freezing, Luo Xingyu had never fallen ill, and now, after finally being fed and warmed, she had just barely made it through the night before getting sick, which really left Gao Yuan feeling helpless.
But it was normal because if Luo Xingyu had gotten sick and suffered a high fever before, she would have died—not might have, she definitely would have. So, she couldn't afford to get sick, and because of that, she truly held on until now.
Luo Xingyu was indeed very weak, dangerously weak, and now that both her mind and body could finally relax, her body immediately succumbed to sickness as a form of backlash.
If there were a lack of medicine, Luo Xingyu might not have been able to get up again, but Gao Yuan wasn't a doctor, yet, he had medicine.
It must be a cold, definitely needed to reduce the fever first, then, Gao Yuan thought about it and felt she should also take some antibiotics, because if the cold developed into pneumonia, that would be troublesome. Of course, drinking cold medicine was definitely right.
Gao Yuan immediately took out the medicine he had prepared. The water in the kettle wasn't too cool, so he quickly helped Luo Xingyu up and had her take the medicine.
The fever had made Luo Xingyu delirious, and she quickly fell back into a deep sleep.
No need to share the sleeping bag this time, Gao Yuan wrapped Luo Xingyu up tightly with the sleeping bag.
Indeed, he had brought back trouble, but Gao Yuan was willing nonetheless.
Why? Because humans are social animals. While Gao Yuan didn't like too much commotion, he couldn't stand loneliness. Even if Luo Xingyu couldn't do any work and could only talk to him, it would prevent Gao Yuan from going mad in prolonged isolation.
After handling all this, Gao Yuan's next task was to go outside and rekindle the stove.
Gao Yuan went out, only to discover everything outside was cloaked in silvery white.
Snowflakes were still falling, he caught some with his hand, feeling their icy touch.
No wonder it was so cold, it had started to snow.
There was no time to admire the snowy landscape or to feel sad or delighted about the first snowfall of winter. Gao Yuan got the stove lit first, then set about lighting another fire to boil water and cook rice.
He cut off a small piece of the wild boar's heart that he had refrained from eating the day before, minced it finely, and added it to the pot with water. Once it was boiling, he put two small compressed biscuits into the pot to cook into porridge.
If it weren't necessary, Gao Yuan wouldn't use the compressed biscuits, but now, of course, was the necessary time.
Bringing a box of porridge inside, Gao Yuan didn't need to call Luo Xingyu. She was already sniffing in her sleep, and by the time he sat by her side, Luo Xingyu's eyes were already open.
Without being called, Luo Xingyu struggled to sit up.
Appetite often suffers when one is sick, but Luo Xingyu seemed to be the exception.
She devoured the entire box of porridge, then, still wanting more, licked her lips contentedly and said, "It's delicious, so delicious, just too little."
After speaking, Luo Xingyu promptly fell asleep again.
The day was still not fully bright, and with Luo Xingyu taken care of for the moment, Gao Yuan needed to look after himself too. After going out and cooking himself a meal box of wild boar meat, he came back to see Luo Xingyu's temperature had dropped slightly, then decided to go outside and practice throwing his stones.
The necessary training couldn't be overlooked, but now with Luo Xingyu around, and her having a fever, Gao Yuan couldn't go check the traps he had set.
If going out wasn't an option, he'd find something to do at home. The spear had broken the day before, and today was a good day to fix the spear shaft.
The reason the spear shaft broke the day before was that when Gao Yuan went into the mountains, he only brought the spearhead, having cut an elm wood shaft on the spot to serve as a temporary pole, which was never really sturdy to begin with.
The spear was very important, perhaps the most important weapon, and Gao Yuan had been preparing to change the spear shaft for some time. He had cut down an ashwood pole almost two months ago, which had been air-drying since. It was a bit early to use it now, but since the spear shaft had broken, he had no choice but to replace it ahead of schedule.
The front end of the ashwood pole was slightly thinner, and the back end was about as thick as an egg. This had been meticulously chosen by Gao Yuan, and he was certain of its suitable length and thickness. However, as the pole was a branch sawed off from a tree, it was not perfectly straight, so some adjustments were needed to make it into a spear shaft.
He carefully scraped off the bark, whittled the front end of the pole into a cone shape, and then began to sand the pole until it was smooth—a very time-consuming job.
When Gao Yuan had nearly finished sanding the spear shaft, Luo Xingyu finally woke up.
"Brother, what are you doing?"
Luo Xingyu's voice was still weak. Gao Yuan looked up and said, "I'm making a spear shaft. How do you feel now?"
Gao Yuan set aside the spear shaft and got up to touch Luo Xingyu's forehead, then frowned and said, "You're burning up again. Take another fever reducer, and I'll make you something to eat."
As Luo Xingyu struggled to rise, Gao Yuan quickly supported her. Once seated, she whispered, "I need to use the toilet."
"Uh..."
It was slightly troublesome.
It was too cold outside, but it was definitely not appropriate to do it inside. After hesitating for a moment, Gao Yuan said, "Put on an extra piece of clothing, and I'll help you go outside to the toilet."
"I can do it myself..."
"No more talking."
Helping Luo Xingyu down from the kang, Gao Yuan held her arm and said, "Let's just solve it nearby. Put on my coat and hurry back in."
As they stepped outside the house, Luo Xingyu's first words were, "Wow, it's snowing. It's so pretty."
After she spoke, Luo Xingyu coughed twice from inhaling the cold air. Then she looked at Gao Yuan and said, "If I hadn't met you, I'd probably have frozen to death by now."
"You certainly won't die now. Hurry up and use the toilet, then come back. Call me when you're done."
After taking Luo Xingyu behind the house, Gao Yuan turned around and went back out front. Without his coat, he was indeed very cold. He warmed his hands with his breath and stomped his feet, scanning the entrance of the village on instinct, but he froze the moment he did.
A dark figure was there, which would have been difficult to spot at such a distance if it weren't snowing. But now, Gao Yuan could make out that it was a person, even from afar.
Who would come to this deserted mountain village?
Gao Yuan was greatly shocked. His first thought was that perhaps his friend had finally come, but at the same time, he was also panicked.
After a brief consideration, Gao Yuan quickly ran into the house and grabbed a pair of compact binoculars from his backpack.
Coming back out, he ran a few steps to a spot where he could conceal himself while still observing the path. After peering through the binoculars, Gao Yuan knew at once that the visitor was no friend of his.
So, he immediately went to find Luo Xingyu.
At that moment, Luo Xingyu had just finished and was standing up, which in this situation made for an extremely awkward encounter.
Luo Xingyu was stunned, but Gao Yuan extended his hand and whispered urgently, "Don't speak."
He approached Luo Xingyu and, while helping her pull up her pants, Gao Yuan said in a rush, "Someone is coming. Don't make a sound. Hide here, and run when I shout for you!"
Luo Xingyu was dumbfounded and whispered, "Who is it?"
"I don't know, wait."
Gao Yuan hurried back to the house again, grabbed the sleeping bag, his bob backpack, and the two knives Luo Xingyu had left on the kang.
Returning to the back of the house, Gao Yuan yanked off the coat he had draped over Luo Xingyu and handed her the bob backpack.
"I told you to keep the knife with you and you didn't! This is the last time I'll remind you. Now strap on the backpack, take the knife, wrap yourself in the sleeping bag, and remember—there's a lot of medicine in the bag. If I shout for you to run, it means I can't beat them, and you must run far away. There's snow, so there will be footprints. Make for the woods, got it?"
After speaking hurriedly, Gao Yuan dressed himself and then said to Luo Xingyu, "If the visitor is a bad person and I can't handle them, I'll try to lead them away. This shelter is too important; I won't abandon it easily. But if I'm about to die... you run! Got it?"
Tears were starting to stream down Luo Xingyu's face. She grabbed Gao Yuan and pleaded in a low voice, "Don't sacrifice yourself! Don't die, let's just run now. Please, don't go outside, okay?"
Gao Yuan sighed softly and said, "I have to see who is coming. Hold this binoculars and stay hidden at a distance. We'll see what happens. I'll definitely try to take you with me if there's danger. But if I die, or if I shout for you to run, then you run. Enough said, I'm off!"
Gao Yuan pried Luo Xingyu's hands off himself and walked away.
Luo Xingyu covered her mouth with her hand but after shedding a couple of tears, she pursed her lips, drew the knife Gao Yuan had given her, and followed him.
Gao Yuan stopped in his tracks and turned around, glaring at Luo Xingyu as he said, "Didn't you understand what I said? Go back!"
Luo Xingyu shook her head and whispered, "I won't hold you back, trust me. I definitely won't. We can hide. If it comes to a fight, I'll distract them first, then you can make your move. Brother, I really don't want to be alone anymore. If we're going to live, we'll live together, if we're going to die, let's die together!"