As she approached the bathtub, she realized that Xi Yi had already finished washing and returned, still wearing the same unique animal hide around his waist from the night before, fastened with her delicate beaded chain and tied the way she had shown him.
Xi Yi had always been quick to learn.
The bath took a long time. By the time Sha Yi hung her damp nightgown on the edge of the bathtub, the sun was already high in the sky, indicating that noon was not far off. With that in mind, she carefully placed the toiletries back into the bathtub one by one.
Xi Yi wanted to help, but Sha Yi took the opportunity to check his wounds again before shooing him away to sit down while she busied herself.
Tidying up small items was a tedious task, and it took Sha Yi quite a while to organize the essentials. Though slow, she managed to keep things orderly, leaving only what was needed for lunch outside.
During this time, Xi Yi sat and watched her bustling around. Several times, he started to stand up but only made it halfway before sitting back down, his conflicted expression making Sha Yi almost laugh.
By the time she finished, Xi Yi could no longer stay seated. He strode over, took her hands in his, and gently kneaded them, his eyes filled with concern.
Sha Yi found it incredible. Perhaps in Xi Yi’s mind, he didn’t want her to overwork. She didn’t know the reason, but at that moment, she shared the same sentiment—she didn’t want him to exhaust himself either, especially in this ancient world. Mutual care and support were the most sustainable approach; overburdening either side would be detrimental. So, she needed to convince him of this and stick to it.
As for the tenderness and reluctance in Xi Yi’s heart—as long as the intention was there, it was enough.
Sha Yi suddenly felt at ease. She withdrew her hands and patted his, signaling that she was fine, then pressed him back into his seat. Grabbing the stainless steel basin and his bone knife, she turned toward where he had stored the shrimp.
It was as if fate was playing tricks on her. The moment she turned, she stepped on something sharp. The pain nearly made her cry out, but she managed to stifle the sound just in time.
Xi Yi was still sitting behind her, and she hadn’t forgotten. If she wanted to share his burdens, she couldn’t let him notice. Making a fuss would only worry him more, and that would defeat the purpose of trying to help.
After a brief pause, Sha Yi continued walking calmly.
In that same instant, the man sitting on the ground frowned slightly, a complex emotion flashing in his eyes as his fingers tapped lightly—almost imperceptibly—on the edge of the bathtub.
Sha Yi couldn’t possibly notice these subtle details from behind. To avoid giving Xi Yi any ideas, she kept moving forward without looking back.
In the shallow depression, the large shrimp still clung dumbly to the spot, just like the ones from the night before. Aside from occasionally twitching their long antennae, they were otherwise lethargic, seemingly too lazy to move.
Sha Yi counted them—there were over thirty shrimp in the shallow water. For lunch, they’d probably need to prepare half of them. Xi Yi had a big appetite, so she’d have to prepare more to ensure he wouldn’t go hungry.
Without hesitation, Sha Yi picked up the bone knife and got to work.
Truth be told, the shrimp shells were quite hard, and with their large size and numbers, processing them wasn’t easy. The night before, with only five shrimp and her curiosity driving her, she hadn’t noticed. But now, swapping the fruit knife for the bone knife made the chopping so laborious that tears nearly welled in her eyes. Sha Yi suddenly had a twisted understanding of the phrase “not to be mentioned in the same breath.”
After spending a considerable amount of time preparing the shrimp, Sha Yi retrieved the grass stems from last night and rinsed the cleaned shrimp in the shallow water. Then, she carried them in the stainless steel basin to the river for a final wash before considering the task complete.
When she returned to the bathtub, the nearly extinguished fire had been fed with dry branches and was now blazing. But Xi Yi was nowhere to be seen. Sha Yi checked the items she had left by the fire for their meal and noticed that both fruit knives were missing. She relaxed slightly.
Xi Yi must have gone hunting again.
But now, without his help, roasting that large basin of shrimp would be no easy feat. Sha Yi propped her chin in her hand and stared gloomily at the fire for a while before shaking off her lethargy.
There would likely be many such moments in the future. If she sighed at every difficulty, how could she ever share Xi Yi’s burdens? She needed to find ways to overcome challenges on her own. Even if her survival skills were lacking, she had handled plenty of things independently in the modern world. How hard could preparing a primitive meal be? Besides, Xi Yi had already set up a few sturdy branches around the fire. Even if their weight-bearing capacity was limited, it shouldn’t be too difficult for her—she could just roast them in batches!
She was worrying over nothing, making a fuss over trivialities and only confusing herself in the end!
With that thought, Sha Yi grabbed a large leaf, poured out some of the shrimp, and left a small portion in the basin on the branches. She added more firewood, wrapped her hands in the slightly burnt animal hide, and gripped the edge of the stainless steel basin, flipping it to evenly distribute the heat.
But her skills were nowhere near Xi Yi’s. It took her nearly twice as long to roast one batch. By the time she finished, it was already midday, and her stomach was growling.
Xi Yi still hadn’t returned. Sha Yi waited patiently for a while longer, reheating the shrimp in the meantime, but he remained absent. Growing anxious, she finally couldn’t bear the worry any longer and stood up, ready to search for him in the forest.
Just then, Xi Yi emerged from the trees, dragging a massive animal over his shoulder as he walked toward her. Spotting her, he brightened and waved from a distance.
As he drew closer, she saw that the animal resembled a deer but had four antlers—a rather strange sight. Its body was covered in wounds, with the fatal one on its neck, its blood seemingly completely drained.
Xi Yi wasn’t faring much better. He was covered in fresh scrapes, many of them reopening old injuries. When her gaze landed on his face, she was shocked—a deep gash ran from his forehead down to his temple, blood still seeping from it.
Sha Yi’s heart ached at the sight. She hurried to the bathtub to search for her bathrobe—it had a sash that could be used to bandage Xi Yi’s forehead.
But the more urgently she searched, the harder it was to find. She didn’t even bother keeping the clothes neat, tossing aside anything that wasn’t what she needed. Meanwhile, Xi Yi curiously picked up each discarded item to examine it.
After countless repetitions, she finally found the sash—only to hear an odd ripping sound. She froze, then slowly turned her head.
Xi Yi stood on the other side of the bathtub, holding a familiar and mortifying object in one hand—a sanitary pad—and the torn-off adhesive strip in the other, looking utterly fascinated.
Seeing her wide-eyed stare, he gave her an ingratiating smile before turning his attention back to the pad, studying it in confusion for a long moment before finally seeming to reach an epiphany.
Sha Yi’s heart sank. She reached out to stop him, but it was too late—Xi Yi promptly slapped the sanitary pad onto his forehead!
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