At that critical moment, how could Fan Jing dare to let go?
If his hand slipped, Kang He would be in grave danger.
Enduring the searing pain in his arm, Fan Jing forcefully dragged Kang He, moving his arm away from the wooden stake.
It took immense effort, but Kang He finally managed to climb up.
Both were drenched in sweat, mingled with the rain, making it impossible to tell what was sweat and what was rainwater.
Kang He, still shaken, quickly got to his feet and hurriedly checked Fan Jing’s arm for wounds.
The torn sleeve was soaked with blood, and even from a distance, the metallic smell was unmistakable.
Kang He furrowed his brows, his heart filled with guilt and urgency.
He regretted venturing out unfamiliar with the path, stirring up trouble for no reason.
But Fan Jing suddenly raised his hand to cover the wound on his arm, not letting Kang He examine it closely.
Instead, his eyes grew cold.
“You can speak the official dialect.”
The familiar words struck Kang He’s ears, leaving him momentarily stunned.
He looked at Fan Jing, noticing a clear wariness in his otherwise calm eyes.
In the heat of the moment earlier, Kang He had instinctively shouted in the familiar official dialect, not thinking about local speech.
He hadn’t expected that Fan Jing, a hunter living in the countryside and frequenting the mountains, would understand the official dialect.
Not only that, but he could even speak it fluently.
Kang He was momentarily speechless, caught off guard by the sudden exposure.
He didn’t know how to explain himself.
“Why pretend to be a fool?”
Seeing Kang He’s silence, Fan Jing pressed further.
“…To avoid conscription.”
After some thought, Kang He gave this reason, based on what he knew.
He couldn’t exactly say that the original person was gone, and a new soul now inhabited the body.
In this remote wilderness, such mysterious talk would either be dismissed by Fan Jing or, if believed, make him suspect Kang He was possessed by some mountain spirit.
Seeing Fan Jing’s silence, Kang He adopted the local way of speaking, trying to make his story more convincing:
“Later, I really did hit my head and was foolish for a while. But I gradually got better, not completely foolish anymore. Still, I didn’t dare let anyone know, fearing conscription again. Plus, I genuinely couldn’t understand or speak the local dialect, and I don’t know if I’ll ever fully recover.”
Fan Jing paused, perhaps weighing the truth of Kang He’s words.
“Your family doesn’t know about your current state?”
Kang He nodded.
“I didn’t dare let them know.”
Fan Jing figured the Kang family likely didn’t know either.
If they did, would they marry off a healthy young man to another family?
If it was for money, that might make sense, but they’d married him into a poor household.
Based on Kang He’s explanation, the previous inconsistencies started to add up.
Kang He, pretending to be a fool, didn’t want to be married off but couldn’t reveal his true state at home.
So, he reluctantly attended the matchmaking, but due to a twist of fate, it went through.
Unaware of his condition, the Kang family sent his contract over, leaving him no choice but to join the Fan family.
That explained why, in the county, he paid close attention to inquiries about his contract when visiting the cloth shop.
Kang He’s half-true, half-false words made sense to Fan Jing, who had already been somewhat suspicious of him.
Now that everything was clear, Fan Jing remained silent for a long time.
Amid a mix of emotions, he felt mostly relieved and at ease.
He had always known that good things don’t come without a catch.
For the Fan family to gain a clever and healthy son-in-law was no easy feat.
Looking at Kang He, Fan Jing felt neither deceived nor mocked.
Instead, he was calm.
He said, “I know you want your contract back. I can return it to you.”
Kang He’s brow twitched at the words.
Fan Jing wasn’t some great saint, but he calculated clearly.
“You can leave if you want, but you’ll need to repay the five strings of cash the Fan family gave to the Kang family first.”
Kang He was surprised Fan Jing would say this but quickly replied, “Of course.”
That had been his intention all along.
Yet, hearing those words from Fan Jing’s mouth left him feeling uneasy for some reason.
Fan Jing said no more.
Covering his arm, he turned and walked ahead alone.
Kang He watched the slim, silent figure disappear into the rain-soaked curtain.
He stood there for a while before hurrying to catch up.
By the time they returned to the wooden cabin, it was almost completely dark.
Kang He rekindled the extinguished fire and boiled water to clean Fan Jing’s wound.
The wooden stake had been sharp, piercing a hole in Fan Jing’s arm.
The wound, torn further by pulling, was a mangled mess of flesh and blood.
Though it hadn’t damaged the tendons or bones, the sight of the ruined flesh was enough to make one’s heart clench.
There was no medicine in the cabin.
Fortunately, Kang He had found some dried hemostatic herbs while tidying up that afternoon.
He used them to make a simple bandage for Fan Jing.
“Let’s go down the mountain tomorrow,” Kang He said as he wrapped Fan Jing’s arm with a strip of cloth torn from his sweat-soaked shirt.
Since Fan Jing already knew he could speak the official dialect and could understand it, Kang He used it to communicate more easily.
“No need. It’ll heal in a couple of days.”
Kang He frowned tightly.
“Your hand was injured days ago—has it even healed? If your arm gets worse and you don’t see a doctor, will you still be able to use your right hand in the future?”
Fan Jing sat on the edge of the bed, glancing at Kang He’s tense expression.
He thought to himself that this man sure had a lot to say—pretending to be a fool hadn’t stifled him.
“Going back will just worry the family. They’ll panic, and I’ll find it annoying.”
Kang He paused, thinking of the Fan couple, and understood Fan Jing’s concern.
This trip up the mountain had yielded nothing, and now he was injured.
If he recuperated at home, Fan’s father and Chen might not blame him, but the couple loved to argue.
When they did, Fan Jing would feel uneasy.
Kang He sighed inwardly.
Dutiful children always bear the heavier burden.
“Why was the family arguing before?”
Fan Jing didn’t want to say much, unwilling to let Kang He know.
Kang He, seeing this, asked, “Because of me?”
“It’s not about you,” Fan Jing said.
“They wanted to hold a banquet but didn’t have the money.”
“A wedding banquet?”
Fan Jing fell silent again.
Kang He paused, then said, “If I leave, the banquet might not happen. But if it does, wouldn’t it be a waste?”
“I never planned to let them hold it,” Fan Jing said without looking at Kang He.
Originally, he had no intention of holding such an event.
Their family had little money, and throwing a grand feast wouldn’t necessarily earn others’ respect.
In recent years, plenty of families skipped banquets, and no one mocked them for it.
But the family kept arguing for it, leaving him no peace, so he reluctantly agreed.
Now, things had turned out as he’d initially intended.
Kang He hesitated, then said, “If… if I leave, after staying with you so long, what about outside…”
Fan Jing looked at Kang He, seeing his furrowed brows and genuine concern.
He regarded him a bit higher.
To think like this showed some conscience, not entirely selfish.
“I don’t care. You don’t need to worry.”
Fan Jing truly didn’t care.
He wasn’t looking to remarry, so he had no fears.
At worst, the villagers would gossip for a few days, saying the Fan family’s son was so overbearing that he scared off his son-in-law.
Seeing Kang He’s worried expression linger, Fan Jing added, “These days, ‘thick marriages’ are common. Some families can’t find a suitable son-in-law and fear their sons or daughters will have no support in old age. So, they hire men to pose as sons-in-law, staying with the family for a while, claiming to be married in, until the son or daughter is settled, then leaving.”
Such things weren’t uncommon in rural villages these days.
It was like in peaceful times when poor men, unable to marry, would hire a healthy woman to bear a child for the family.
Every era has its way of surviving.
Kang He was shocked, unaware such practices existed.
He coughed awkwardly and said to Fan Jing, “I’m not that kind of son-in-law.”
Fan Jing replied calmly, “I know. Those types get paid to do it.”
Kang He gave an embarrassed smile.
“Right, and I still owe you money.”
He understood that Fan Jing was saying all this to ease his burden.
Who said Fan Jing was overbearing?
No one could be more reasonable than him.
Kang He had taken every advantage, yet he felt uneasy.
“Today’s incident was my fault. If I hadn’t insisted on following you up the mountain, you wouldn’t have gotten hurt.”
Kang He genuinely felt guilty.
Dragging Fan Jing into this hurt him more than if Kang He had been injured himself.
“If you don’t want to go down the mountain, I’ll go tomorrow. I won’t return home—I’ll go to the county, buy some medicine, and come back. It’s the same.”
“No need for the trouble.”
Kang He said earnestly, “If the wound festers, that’s the real trouble. In the future, when you’re older, your arm will ache terribly in rainy weather. If this happens, I’ll feel so guilty I won’t be able to leave, even after paying you back.”
To stop Fan Jing from arguing, he teased, “Unless you’re trying to use this to keep me here? Then I won’t bother, and I’ll just take care of you when you’re old and in pain.”
Sure enough, Fan Jing shot him a glance and fell silent.
Once the arm was bandaged, he kicked off his shoes and lay on the bed, turning to the side, done arguing.
Kang He, seeing this, was slightly stunned but couldn’t help a slight smile.
He pulled the cloth curtain over the small bed.
“Sleep for a bit. I’ll call you when the flatbread is heated.”