Country Villagers

Qingshui Town, Kao Mountain Village.

Night had fallen, and the entire village was shrouded in tranquility. Wisps of blue smoke gently rose from the chimneys of each household as people who had labored all day began to start fires for cooking.

"Isn't that Zhang Ling, the most beautiful girl in our village?"

"Haha, Zhang Ling, I heard you graduated, how about it? Be my girlfriend?"

Zhang Ling, carrying a basket, was returning from the fields, and as they looked at her graceful figure, a few of Kao Mountain Village's ruffians blocked the road, laughing and joking.

"Little Erhei, get out of my way!"

"Hey, why are you speaking so harshly, Zhang Ling? I thought you were a college student from the city? Let me tell you, you are now a phoenix that has lost its feathers, not as good as a chicken!"

Little Erhei, looking at Zhang Ling's frosty face, still kept a rascally demeanor and teased her with a grin.

"Come on over here, Zhang Ling! Once you're Brother Hei's girl, we'll see if you're still so arrogant!"

As Little Erhei spoke, he couldn't wait any longer and stretched out his arms, charging directly towards Zhang Ling.

"Stop!"

Just at that moment, a thunderous shout echoed by the river.

"Heh, I thought it was some big shot, but it's just you, kid, get out of the way! I'm flirting with a girl here, and I don't have time for you. If you want to learn, go squat in the corner." Little Erhei looked at Li Xiaobao, who had yelled, with displeasure on his face.

Before Little Erhei had finished speaking, he suddenly saw Li Xiaobao holding a brick, rushing towards his head, and instantly felt the world spin, then saw fresh blood continuously flowing down his head.

"Damn you, flirting with my goddess right in front of me? Watch how my brick teaches you a lesson in minutes!" Li Xiaobao glared furiously.

Bloodied, Little Erhei was furious and somewhat shocked by the usually docile Li Xiaobao's behavior, wondering why he would do such a foolhardy act today.

"Brothers, beat him up! Beat this bastard to death!"

Upon Little Erhei's command, his gang immediately started punching and kicking Li Xiaobao, beating him down to the riverside.

"Stop it, stop it!" Zhang Ling cried as she watched Li Xiaobao, throwing herself on top of him to protect him.

"Beat him, beat him to death!"

Seeing Zhang Ling protecting Li Xiaobao only fueled Little Erhei's anger, but just as he was about to kick Li Xiaobao, he suddenly saw Li Xiaobao stand up furiously and swing another brick at him.

"Damn it!"

Little Erhei screamed strangely, kicking directly at Li Xiaobao's chest, and Li Xiaobao fell straight backwards.

"Ah! Help..."

Li Xiaobao hadn't been aware as he stepped on the slippery river weeds and before he could scream, the river swallowed him.

"Crap, the plot isn't right! I'm supposed to win the beauty with heroics, aren't I? Why do I feel like I'm about to drown?"

Li Xiaobao in the river waved his hands towards Zhang Ling, wanting her to save him, but he felt his consciousness slowly become heavy, continually sinking.

Having swallowed a few mouthfuls of river water, Li Xiaobao's consciousness became completely blurred, and just as he was about to lose consciousness, he felt something enter his body, then he realized he could breathe freely underwater.

"Big Brother? What do we do now?"

"Run!"

Being village ruffians, as soon as Little Erhei saw Li Xiaobao fall into the river, he was instantly panicked. The great river beside Kao Mountain Village claimed many lives each year, and few came back up.

Therefore, Little Erhei instantly concluded that Li Xiaobao's chances were very slim, and, terrified, he and his gang instantly disappeared.

Meanwhile, Li Xiaobao in the water, besides feeling like something had entered his body, was still heavily disoriented as his body continuously sank towards the riverbed.

"What exactly entered my body?"

The heavily sinking Li Xiaobao quietly felt the thing moving continuously inside him.

"Li Xiaobao, how are you doing now?"

A lot of time had passed and the sky had completely darkened. Not seeing Li Xiaobao emerge, Zhang Ling grew anxious.

At this point, let alone others, even Little Erhei had already run off somewhere far away.

"Li Xiaobao, come out quickly, Little Erhei has already run away."

As time passed, Zhang Ling's voice included a note of sobbing.

Li Xiaobao, lying quietly at the riverbed, saw the glistening tears in Zhang Ling's eyes and couldn't help but feel his heart tremble. He wanted to emerge, but he felt drained of all strength.

The unknown entity that had entered his body seemed to be continuously draining his life force, making him feel extremely exhausted.

"What's wrong with you, Li Xiaobao? Don't scare me!"

Zhang Ling, standing at the shore, was completely shaken. Although both had grown up by the river as village children, Zhang Ling had never seen such a scene.

"I..."

At the riverbed, Li Xiaobao wanted to reply to Zhang Ling, who looked as forlorn as a pear blossom bathed in rain, but he felt like he didn't even have the strength to speak.

"Never mind!"

Finally, Li Xiaobao watched as Zhang Ling, kneeling at the river's edge, wiped tears from her face—then with a splash, before Li Xiaobao could react, he saw Zhang Ling dive into the river, searching ceaselessly.

"Here, here."

Li Xiaobao, whose consciousness was already foggy, used all his strength to wave at Zhang Ling.

Perhaps sensing Li Xiaobao's call, Zhang Ling slowly swam towards him.

At that moment, Li Xiaobao deeply felt that even though Zhang Ling was often harsh towards him, their bond from growing up together was still strong.