Niu Er didn't catch the hidden meaning in An Jing's words, He only saw An Jing's mischievous smile, which made his scalp tingle, and he wanted to leave quickly.
"You must be possessed by a ghost," Niu Er glared at An Jing fiercely again. He turned his head and looked at Xiao Changyi, "Changyi, are you leaving or not? If you don't leave, I'm going to."
Xiao Changyi remained silent.
"Forget it, I'm done with you!" In a huff, Niu Er slung the carrying pole onto his shoulder, picked up the firewood, and left.
An Jing crossed her arms and pointed with her chin in the direction Niu Er had left, playfully saying, "Your companion has left, aren't you going too?"
Xiao Changyi didn't respond to her question, instead, he looked down at her injured right foot and asked indifferently, "Does it hurt?"
An Jing was taken aback at first, then she smiled, "It hurts."
Xiao Changyi immediately turned his back to her, crouched down in front of her, and said, "I'll carry you down."
An Jing was stunned again. She looked at the long path down the mountain and thought, limping down, it would probably be dark before she reached the bottom. "Are you sure?"
Xiao Changyi didn't say anything but remained crouched in front of her, his meaning quite clear.
An Jing didn't immediately climb onto Xiao Changyi's back, instead, she picked up the wood-chopping knife that Lin Anjing had dropped on the ground earlier. As for the half bundle of wood Lin Anjing had chopped, An Jing didn't plan to take it.
With the wood-chopping knife in hand, An Jing climbed onto Xiao Changyi's back without any shyness.
Xiao Changyi took the bamboo basket that was set aside; aside from the thick hemp rope that had pulled An Jing up earlier, there was nothing else in it.
He had actually just come up the mountain when he heard An Jing's cries for help and came over to see what was happening, and then he ran into Niu Er, who had also heard the cries for help.
"Hold this," said Xiao Changyi, passing the bamboo basket back to her.
Knowing that it would be difficult for Xiao Changyi to carry her with items in his hands, An Jing obediently took the bamboo basket from Xiao Changyi and even tossed the wood-chopping knife into it.
Fearing she might fall off Xiao Changyi's back, An Jing wrapped one arm around his neck.
"Does this count as skin-to-skin contact?" An Jing teased with a laugh.
Xiao Changyi, who had just straightened himself, paused slightly but said nothing, and intended to pick up the half bundle of wood Lin Anjing had chopped to take down the mountain.
An Jing quickly said, "I don't want that wood." It wasn't because she was worried about adding to Xiao Changyi's burden, but because Lin Anjing had accidentally fallen into a trap and died because of that wood; she found it creepy and didn't want it.
Seeing how readily An Jing dismissed the wood, as if the half bundle meant nothing to her, Xiao Changyi then retracted his hand and carried An Jing down the mountain.
Xiao Changyi's back was broad, and An Jing, lying on it, didn't feel any jolts; in fact, a thought rose in her heart that it wouldn't be so bad being carried by this man for life.
"If I just let you carry me like this and decide to cling to you, what will you do..." An Jing sighed in a pitiful voice, actually intending to tease, to flirt with Xiao Changyi.
She found that teasing Xiao Changyi was pleasing to both body and mind.
Xiao Changyi remained silent.
"Or, why don't you just marry me?" An Jing continued to tease Xiao Changyi, her words growing more and more bold.
"Okay."
An Jing didn't expect Xiao Changyi to speak, and certainly not to agree with a single word. Her heart skipped a beat, and she hurriedly laughed, "I'm just joking, don't take it seriously."
Xiao Changyi fell silent again.
"...You really are a man of few words." But, she quite liked that. She didn't like men who talked too much.
Xiao Changyi continued to stay silent.
An Jing looked up at the sky, then remembered something, "Right, Niu Er called you Changyi. What's your surname?"
"Xiao."