Chapter 57

Huo Jilin watched Chen Jue walking ahead as if on flat ground and said, "His legs are his own—how am I supposed to control that?"

Zhou Hehua called it exactly right: "That just means you don't make enough money. If you brought down a wild boar, that'd feed us through the New Year. Then Chen Jue wouldn't need to go up the mountain. Am I right or what?"

Huo Jilin gritted his teeth. Zhao Chun quickly jumped in to smooth things over: "You can't hunt a boar if there aren't any around. With Dalin's skills, even a tiger wouldn't stand a chance, let alone a wild boar... When a boar does show up, you'll see..."

Zhou Qingshan walked alongside, genuinely worried: "Don't go hoping for boars to come down the mountain."

As they were about to head up the mountain, Zhou Qingzhu reached out to help Chen Jue, but Chen Jue waved his hand: "No need, I can walk by myself."

Zhou Hehua said worriedly, "But your belly's this big now..."

Chen Jue had to explain to her: "I'm moving around more specifically to make the delivery easier." It wasn't that he wanted Zhou Hehua to rag on Huo Jilin—he just needed more exercise before the baby came.

He used to love running and hiking, but now with his belly, running wasn't really an option, so hiking was the only thing left.

Since he needed to exercise, of course he'd choose something he was familiar with.

It was a two-in-one deal: making money and getting exercise.

Zhou Hehua let out a surprised gasp: "You're supposed to exercise before giving birth?! Didn't you say you had to be careful at first?"

This was new to her—she'd never had a baby, and she figured when she got pregnant, she'd treat it like a golden egg and not move a muscle.

Chen Jue said, "The first three months you gotta take it easy, but as you get further along, you need to move more. Pick something you like doing—nothing too strenuous, but you gotta keep at it."

Zhou Hehua was different—her family didn't need her to work, so Chen Jue figured he'd give her a little extra advice.

Zhou Hehua nodded like a bobblehead and completely forgot about giving Huo Jilin a hard time.

Huo Jilin stayed right behind him the whole time. On the outside, Chen Jue really did look fine—he was slim but had muscle, and all that daily chopping and slicing kept his knife skills sharp.

His body was fine, but who knew if one day he might get a wild hair and throw himself off a cliff?

Once they got to the woods, everyone split up to look for herbs. Over the last few days, Chen Jue had taught them the basics of autumn and winter medicinal plants—besides caterpillar fungus, they'd dig up whatever else they could find along the way.

So as they dug, it eventually ended up with just Huo Jilin following Chen Jue.

Huo Jilin handed him the reins. "You hold the horse. I'll do the digging."

Walking was fine, but bending over to dig was awkward.

Chen Jue looked at him, wanting to say something—like bring up the divorce again. He'd almost saved up enough silver. Ever since he taught Zhou Qingzhu and the others how to dig caterpillar fungus, he'd been making money a lot faster.

What Zhou Hehua said earlier about Huo Jilin not being able to provide for the family was actually wrong.

He was gonna leave sooner or later—no point in dragging it out.

But Huo Jilin had been acting so meek and submissive these past few days that Chen Jue didn't know how to bring it up.

One look at his face and Huo Jilin knew what he was gonna say. He wasn't gonna give him the chance, grabbing his hoe and heading off: "There's a patch over there—lucky you!"

"..."

Chen Jue said nothing.

He led the horse along slowly. This pine forest was who knows how old, with a thick layer of pine needles and debris under the trees, and most caterpillar fungus grew in exactly such places.

Chen Jue was being careful, but he still slipped a bit. He grabbed the saddle and caught himself almost immediately, but it still scared the hell out of him.

Huo Jilin stormed over to him, his face dark as thunder.

He closed the distance in a few strides, like he was about to chew him out: "Didn't I tell you to stick to the easy paths? You know how to tell others what to do, but can't do it yourself? Were those few caterpillar fungus worth digging for?!"

Chen Jue got irritated by his sudden outburst: "What does it have to do with you?"

He hadn't done it on purpose—what right did Huo Jilin have to talk to him like that?

"Nothing to do with me?"

Huo Jilin laughed in exasperation: "I'm your husband, and you're telling me it has nothing to do with me?!"

He didn't give Chen Jue a chance to react, continuing:

"Even when you're fine, people are already talking about me. If something happened to you, what do you think they'd say? That I'm a scumbag who can't even support his own wife? That I made you dig for herbs with a belly like that?!

If you don't want this child, then let's not have it—but don't mess with your own body, alright?"

He didn't like children, didn't care whether the child lived or died, but the child's fate was tied to Chen Jue's life.

Huo Jilin didn't know why he was so tense. His hands were still trembling slightly.

Huo Jilin was insane, wasn't he?

Chen Jue didn't want to talk to him and turned to leave, but Huo Jilin grabbed him and pulled him all the way to flat, solid ground.

Chen Jue shook him off: "From today on, you go your way, and I'll go mine. Whatever happens to me has nothing to do with you."

Huo Jilin whirled around. He was too close—almost an aggressive, intimidating posture, his eyes fierce, his sharp-featured face looming before Chen Jue. Chen Jue's pupils dilated, and he instinctively leaned back. Behind him was flat ground—if it had been a cliff, he would have fallen, just like when he'd been pushed down the stairs.

Huo Jilin caught his waist as he stumbled, and when he steadied him, asked: "Scared?"

Chen Jue's heart was pounding so fast he didn't even register the position Huo Jilin was holding him in. Looking into Huo Jilin's dark eyes, he finally understood—he was testing him.

He was testing him with the thing he feared most.

Chen Jue finally cursed at him: "Are you insane?!"

Huo Jilin even smiled: "I didn't notice you had a violent streak, Doctor Chen. Why are you so quick to want to hit people? With all that skill, how did you end up getting pushed down the stairs, hmm?"

Huo Jilin tightened his grip on Chen Jue's waist, feeling his trembling body.

Huo Jilin watched him go from cold to furious, inches apart.

No one would ever dare speak to Chen Jue like this normally, because few people could even get close to him—whether it was his striking looks or his cold, ruthless personality, both made anyone who wanted to approach keep their distance.

Those who admired him feared they weren't good enough, and feared being hurt or rejected by him;

Those who dared to get close couldn't see through his heart.

He was the sole exception.

He was the one who understood Chen Jue best, the one he had once hated most—hurting each other carried no psychological burden. He could make Chen Jue lower his defenses without reservation.

To help Chen Jue escape the mire in his heart, he needed to dissect his pain—only through pain could one feel alive.

Huo Jilin wasn't a doctor, but he knew the principle of cutting to the bone to reach the marrow.

To revive the dead, one must use drastic measures; for deep-rooted ailments, strong medicine is required.

Chen Jue was pushed down the stairs and died, and the person he hated most was himself.

He knew Chen Jue must hate himself to the core, so when he saw Chen Jue raise a hand, he quickly grabbed that wrist.

But with one arm around Chen Jue's waist, he could only grab one of his hands.

Chen Jue was trembling all over, and Huo Jilin, with his mocking tone and that arrogant face of his, was practically begging for a slap. Chen Jue couldn't pull that hand free, so he used his other hand to slap Huo Jilin across the face.

A sharp "smack" echoed through the mountain forest.

Zhou Qingzhu, who had just come to report on the herb-digging results, was frozen in place.

He thought, oh no, these two are fighting now—last time they just argued, this time they're throwing punches.

Is it still because of the kid?

Why can't Brother Dalin just let it go?

Isn't it just a little green on his head?

The whole mountain is green, and does the mountain complain?

Last time Huo Jilin retreated in defeat, and now he's come back for round two, only to get slapped by Chen Jue.

Though he'd anticipated that drastic measures would anger Chen Jue, he hadn't expected to get slapped.

He'd never been hit before. Huo Jilin froze in disbelief, and when he snapped out of it, his whole body gave off a murderous vibe.

He gripped Chen Jue's wrist hard, like he meant to crush it.

Chen Jue couldn't break free, so he just stared at him coldly. He had his own sore spots too, and being pushed down the stairs was one of them.

The two stood locked in a standoff like fighting bulls, and even the wind around them seemed to stop.

Really.

The wind had picked up earlier, and the weather was about to turn. His brother had said they should head back early because it might rain tonight.

But now he felt like a storm was brewing between these two as well.

Zhou Qingzhu watched the two of them, so close yet so tense, and had no idea what to do.

These two used to be quiet types. When he visited their home before, he rarely saw them exchange many words. How had it come to this—fighting so fiercely in such a short time?

Was it really because of the child?

Zhou Qingshan had already returned, carrying two rabbits. He'd checked the traps earlier and hadn't caught much, but with the weather turning, it was best to head home soon.

He was about to call out to Huo Jilin when Zhou Qingzhu quickly grabbed him: "Don't go over there yet!"

Zhou Qingshan now saw the two in their odd pose. From behind, they looked... pretty intimate, with Huo Jilin gripping his husband's wrist like he was about to do something.

But a closer look at their grim faces told him something was wrong.

"...Did they get into a fight?"

Zhou Qingzhu nodded: "Brother Chen slapped Brother Dalin."

Zhou Qingshan let out an "ah," then said after a moment: "It must be that Dalin said something to make Doctor Chen angry."

Zhou Qingzhu nodded: "Definitely."

After that slap, Chen Jue seemed to deflate. He stared coldly at Huo Jilin: "Let go!"

He didn't want to look at Huo Jilin at all. Huo Jilin wasn't the one who caused Jiang Xinhe's death—Chen Jue himself was, and he accepted that.

He'd been pushed down the stairs by Jiang Xinhe's younger brother, and he'd died from it. He accepted that too.

He accepted everything! Why did Huo Jilin have to tear open his wounds?!

What right did he have to judge him from some moral high ground?

"I said let me go! Let go of me!"

Huo Jilin gritted his teeth: "You slap me like that and expect me to just let go?!"

Chen Jue couldn't free his hand, so he raised his foot to kick Huo Jilin, but with his pregnant belly, he couldn't land a precise hit.

He put too much force into it and nearly hurt himself, and Huo Jilin, damn him, kept a death grip on his wrist, refusing to let go no matter how he kicked.

For the first time, Chen Jue felt the difference in their physical strength. His face flushed red with anger, and his glare at Huo Jilin was venomous—if looks could kill, Huo Jilin would have died several times over.

"Go ahead, hit me back. Or how about I push you down the stairs once to make it even?" Chen Jue said coldly, looking at the handprint on Huo Jilin's face.

Huo Jilin took a deep breath, then another, and another, before finally lowering his hand.

Watching Chen Jue step back a few paces, his pregnant belly swaying with each step, Huo Jilin wanted to reach out and steady him, but halfway through, he yanked his hand back harshly.

The slapped side of his face was still stinging. Especially when he caught sight of the Zhou brothers sneaking peeks from behind—his face felt like it was on fire.

Huo Jilin had never been slapped in the face in his entire life.

Chen Jue was the first, and probably the only one.

Good for you, Chen Jue!

He'd remember this.

Huo Jilin gave himself an out: "I won't bother with you right now. We'll settle this after you give birth."

Chen Jue couldn't be bothered to respond, didn't even want to look at him, and headed down the mountain on his own. Zhou Qingzhu quickly followed: "Brother Chen, slow down, slow down."

Halfway down the mountain, they ran into Zhou Hehua and her husband. Zhou Hehua's sharp eyes caught the handprint on Huo Jilin's face and let out a gasp: "Dalin, what happened to you? Did a wild boar get you?"