Chapter 439: First Encounter with Peony
Just as a flurry of fanciful thoughts was running wild in Qi Han's mind—enough that even Ru Yi was on the verge of stepping in to stop him—the woman approaching within the food realm finally made her next move.
Qi Han heard a slightly dull thud. The sound was somewhat similar to that of bowls and dishes being set down on a wooden table. Immediately afterward, he felt a hand slowly reach toward the back of this body.
Qi Han: "???"
"Eeya!"
That hand exerted a bit of force, as if trying to help the body sit up. Yet after quite a while without success, the girl exhaled softly and let out a quiet cry, clearly using all her strength before she finally managed to prop the body up with some difficulty.
Good grief.
At this point, Qi Han was certain that this body wasn't merely asleep—it must have passed out for some reason.
Otherwise, with this much commotion, it would have woken up long ago.
After helping the body sit up, the girl took a pillow and tucked it behind his lower back to keep him from falling over again. Then she released her grip. Very soon, Qi Han felt a warm, soft sensation touch his lips.
What is that?!
But he quickly realized it wasn't anything like what he'd imagined.
The girl was simply scooping up some steaming food with a spoon and feeding it to the body.
Hmm… plain rice porridge?
After a couple of mouthfuls, Qi Han smacked his lips mentally. It was cooked a bit too thin—but whatever, it would do.
Anyway, it wasn't like he was the one drinking it.
As she fed him the porridge, the girl spoke with a hint of worry, "It's already been four days, and you still haven't woken up…"
Huh? Unconscious for four days?
Qi Han was briefly surprised by what her words implied, and then a sense of familiarity followed.
It wasn't that her voice itself felt familiar, but rather the dialect she was speaking.
This was… Hunan dialect?
Recalling the variety shows from Mango TV he'd watched in his previous life, Qi Han quickly confirmed it—she really was speaking a Hunan dialect.
So this place was in the Hunan region?
Everything was only just beginning, and all the clues had to be pieced together little by little by Qi Han himself. It even felt somewhat like a live-action mystery role-playing game from his past life.
After speaking, the girl continued feeding him the porridge while softly muttering to herself.
She was the talkative type—a gentle, soft-spoken girl whose voice naturally lifted one's mood.
And that, to a large extent, made it easier for Qi Han to grasp the situation at hand.
Before long, from the girl's self-talk, Qi Han roughly understood what had happened to this body earlier.
First of all, this body was male, which made Qi Han breathe a sigh of relief.
As for why he felt relieved—well, we won't say, and we won't ask.
Apparently, about four days ago, the owner of this body had collapsed by the shore of Dongting Lake. He'd been discovered by the girl while she was washing clothes by the lake. Realizing that he was still alive, she immediately asked two fellow villagers for help, and together they carried him back to her home to take careful care of him.
And that care lasted four full days.
Such simple, honest folk.
Qi Han couldn't help but praise them inwardly, then grew curious again—what exactly had happened to the owner of this body?
Soon, the girl finished feeding him the entire bowl of porridge. After helping the body lie back down, she left behind a gentle, "Get better soon," and quietly stepped out of the room.
Not long after the girl left, Qi Han's eyebrow twitched.
His perception clearly sensed that he—or rather, this body's fingers—had moved slightly.
About to wake up?
Brother, you picked the wrong timing to wake up—the girl's already gone.
After silently complaining, Qi Han was still delighted by the fact that the body he was temporarily inhabiting was waking up.
That meant he could finally open his eyes and see this world.
Just as Qi Han expected, not long after the fingers moved, the eyelids twitched and slowly opened.
And Qi Han finally beheld the world within the creator's memories.
A somewhat dim beam of light streamed in through the window beside the bed, illuminating the room and making everything clearly visible.
An old-fashioned wooden house, a tamped earthen floor—everything looked ancient and timeworn. But considering that this was most likely some era in ancient times, Qi Han didn't pay it too much mind.
However, the owner of this body clearly cared a great deal.
As if struck by electricity, he suddenly sat upright. His body swayed weakly for a moment before he slowly threw off the blanket and stood up from the edge of the bed. After stumbling a couple of steps, he shakily made his way toward the door.
Recalling what it had been like when he himself had first transmigrated, Qi Han immediately felt a strong sense of empathy.
Of course, the owner of this body hadn't transmigrated—he had merely ended up somewhere else after falling unconscious.
He slowly pushed open the half-closed door and stepped outside. Beyond the room was a hall, somewhat similar to the most old-fashioned halls in rural villages from Qi Han's childhood. With no real lighting, the space was dim and shadowy.
Apparently hearing the sound of the door opening, a pretty young girl emerged from a neighboring room, her face lit with surprise and joy as she looked at the man now standing and holding onto the doorframe.
"Ya! You've woken up?"
The girl's clothes were not luxurious—she wore a plain light-blue short jacket on top and a white pleated skirt below. Her smooth black hair was styled into twin buns, and her figure was a bit slender, giving her the impression that she hadn't fully grown yet. Yet her features were especially beautiful. Seeing the man awaken, genuine happiness filled her face, and when she smiled, it was dazzling.
After looking at the girl in silence for a moment, the original owner of the body spoke his first words since waking up.
"What on earth are you saying, little girl?"
Qi Han: "???"
What the hell—
The owner of this body was actually from Sichuan?
Oh, wait… Peony Fish Fillet is a Sichuan dish…
Never mind then.
"You…" The girl frowned, pondered for a moment, and then managed to squeeze out, "Gang mo zi lie?" ("What are you saying?")
Qi Han was already laughing so hard he sounded like a snorting pig. If this body's stomach were his, he'd be clutching it in pain from laughing.
When Sichuan dialect met Hunan dialect—
One word: brilliant.
Only then did he realize that in ancient times, there was no Standard Mandarin, and dialects back then were even harder to understand than modern ones. These two youths from different regions probably had more than a little trouble communicating.
That only made him watch with even greater interest.
After several rounds of talking past each other, the man seemed to realize this wasn't going to work. He gestured in midair as if writing with pen and paper. The girl, however, panicked and waved her hands, gesturing as she explained that her family didn't have any paper or writing tools.
The man quickly realized that the girl was illiterate as well. In the end, he gave up on words altogether, and the two began communicating through gestures instead.
Though their dialects were completely different, by guessing and piecing things together, they could still understand a few words here and there. Combined with their hand gestures, it never devolved into total cross-server miscommunication.
After the initial awkwardness, the man soon understood the situation. He hurriedly thanked the girl for saving his life, while she waved her hands, saying there was no need to thank her.
The man then explained that he was traveling by water from Sichuan toward the Jiangnan region. Along the way, his boat had encountered river bandits. He'd jumped into the water to save his life and had drifted downstream all the way here.
Qi Han also learned their names.
The unlucky Sichuan lad was called Qin Shi, and the girl who had saved him was named Peony.
From then on, Qin Shi built a simple thatched hut near Peony's home and settled down by the shores of Dongting Lake.
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