Unparalleled medical and martial arts skills, saving the CEO's fiancée at the start.

By the third day of Jiang Ruoxi's stay in Medicine King Valley, she was already able to accurately identify seven kinds of medicinal herbs.

This achievement is nothing special among the disciples of Medicine King Valley throughout history.

But Ye Chen knew that she grew up in the city and the only plants she had ever seen were those in green belts and roses in flower shops. The fact that she could distinguish between astragalus and codonopsis, dandelion and sow thistle within three days was all due to rote memorization and an indomitable spirit.

Every morning at the crack of dawn, she would follow Ye Chen to the back mountain to gather herbs.

Ye Chen walked ahead, using his sickle to part the dewy grass blades, telling her which ones she could touch and which ones would make her hands itch.

Jiang Ruoxi followed behind, carrying a bamboo basket. She wanted to touch everything she saw, but Ye Chen called her back several times. In the end, she simply put her hands behind her back and looked at everything with her eyes, like a primary school student.

"You're better than Dahuang. The first time Dahuang came up the mountain with me, he lost his way while chasing a wild rabbit. He wandered around the back mountain for three days before finally finding his way home. At least you won't get lost."

Jiang Ruoxi kicked him lightly.

Jiang Ruoxi wore Ye Chen's old T-shirt today, which was loose and baggy with the cuffs rolled up several times. Her pants were loose cloth pants that Su Qinghan had given her, and she wore a pair of cloth shoes that were covered in mud.

"Your master said he'd teach me how to make mugwort rice cakes tonight." Jiang Ruoxi placed the bamboo basket on the stone platform, where half a basket of fresh mugwort was neatly stacked.

"I also said I'd make some mugwort ointment to apply to your arms. You've had several mosquito bites on your arms, so I can't let all that good blood go to waste."

Ye Chen looked down at the few red and swollen bumps on his arm and said dismissively, "It's just a few bumps. I have thick skin. My mouth gets sore after being bitten by mosquitoes. But the mugwort ointment is really good. When I was a child, I was bitten by a centipede, and my master used that to apply to me. Now that I think about it, she used to experiment on me. She would rub any kind of herb on me first to see if it would work."

Jiang Ruoxi couldn't help but laugh: "No wonder you're immune to all poisons, you grew up soaking in medicine pots." After saying that, she stopped laughing and looked at Ye Chen seriously.

"I don't remember, maybe seven or eight years old. But I'm tough, no matter what I do, I'm still alive and well. My master said that's called... a chosen one, a tough life." He patted his chest and winked at Jiang Ruoxi.

"Who wants to marry you?" Jiang Ruoxi glared at him, but the tips of her ears turned red.

Jiang Ruoxi turned around to arrange the mugwort, her head down, but the corners of her mouth were slightly upturned.

As evening approached, Su Qinghan indeed began teaching Jiang Ruoxi how to make mugwort glutinous rice cakes.

The glutinous rice and mugwort in the stone mortar were pounded into a sticky paste with a bluish-green tinge.

Su Qinghan sat on a small stool, demonstrating the technique while kneading, saying, "To do this, you need to be quick with your hands and calm with your mind. You've been restless lately, doing this is a good way to temper your temper."

Jiang Ruoxi followed her example, pressing the kneaded green rice dumplings one by one into the wooden mold. Her movements were a bit clumsy, and half of the printed patterns were blurred.

Ye Chen watched from the side, and when they weren't looking, he secretly stole a half-finished product and stuffed it into his mouth. Su Qinghan smacked his arm with her chopsticks: "You eat it raw? Aren't you afraid of getting diarrhea?"

Jiang Ruoxi laughed so hard she couldn't stand up straight.

Night falls especially quickly in the mountains. After dinner, the three of them sat in the courtyard enjoying the cool air.

The bamboo chair creaked and groaned, fireflies flitted up and down beside the medicinal herb field, and Big Yellow dozed off at Ye Chen's feet.

Jiang Ruoxi looked up for a while, then suddenly said, "When I was little, I went back to the countryside with my mom and stayed for a few days. I saw so many stars then. After my mom passed away, I never went back to the countryside again. I've been busy with company matters all these years and haven't even had time to look up at the stars."

Ye Chen turned his head to look at her.

Ye Chen looked at it for a while, then suddenly said, "Then I'll bring you back to stay for a few days every year. If you like, you can stay for a month. I'll ask Master to plant more flowers in the yard and raise a few chickens. You'll be in charge of feeding the chickens and I'll be in charge of collecting the eggs."

Su Qinghan came out of the main room carrying a plate of sliced ​​pears and placed it between them: "Ruoxi, eat some pears. This pear tree was planted by Ye Chen when he was ten years old. It's bearing a particularly good fruit this year. If you hadn't come, all those pears would have been ruined by the sparrows."

Jiang Ruoxi took a piece and bit into it; the flesh was crisp and tender, and the juice was sweet and refreshing.

Ye Chen also took a piece, munching on it while muttering, "That's because you wouldn't let me climb trees, saying that if I fell and broke my leg, you'd have to take care of me."

"Go ahead and climb again, or I'll hit your legs with a bamboo pole." Su Qinghan sat down on the bamboo chair, fanning himself with an old palm-leaf fan. His tone was still cool, but there was a faint smile in the corner of his eye.

Jiang Ruoxi found herself starting to like this kind of life.

There are no endless meetings and social engagements, no undercurrents of business competition, and no enemies that may appear at any time.

Every day, he gathers herbs, cooks, sunbathes, feeds the dog, and argues with Ye Chen.

She even began to understand why Ye Chen always had a sense of detachment from this city.

He grew up in a place like this.

His roots lie in this misty valley.

Jiang Ruoxi thought that these peaceful days could last for a few more days.

On the fifth night, He Jianping's phone call was like a stone thrown into calm water.

"President Jiang, I don't know who spread the word, but they said you ran off to the mountains with a young man. Several partners have called to ask about the situation, and the old guys on the board are getting restless. They're all guessing if you're going to quit. You'd better come back soon. If you don't show up, I'm afraid someone will take this opportunity to cause trouble." Secretary Wang's phone call made Jiang Ruoxi a little uneasy.

Jiang Ruoxi stood under the eaves with her phone in her hand, her expression changing.

Ye Chen sensed something was wrong from her expression and walked over to ask, "What happened?"

"Someone made up a good story for me, saying that I eloped into the mountains with the head of security. The story is quite convincing."

Ye Chen was taken aback at first, then laughed: "Elopement? I'd like to, but I don't have the guts. You know I'm notoriously afraid of my wife. But this rumor is really low-class. Just take some pictures of me getting scolded at the company when you get back and post them, and that will dispel the rumor."

"It's not a matter of whether or not the rumors can be dispelled." A hint of coldness flashed in Jiang Ruoxi's eyes; the decisive and ruthless CEO Jiang in the business world was back.

"What's the problem?"

"Someone is deliberately spreading rumors while I'm away, trying to undermine morale. If I don't go back to oversee things, who knows what those opportunists in the company might do. We have to go down the mountain first thing tomorrow morning."

When Su Qinghan heard that they were leaving, he didn't try to stop them. He just took out two bottles of ointment and a few packets of camellia from the cabinet and stuffed them into Jiang Ruoxi's hands: "Take these. You have a lot of liver fire, so don't stay up all night when you get back. If this kid makes you angry, just tell me, and I'll go down the mountain and break his legs for you."

Ye Chen was squatting on the ground wiping his shoes when he heard this and almost fell headfirst into the shoe basin.

Jiang Ruoxi thanked Su Qinghan and then gave her a gentle hug.

The next morning, before dawn, Ye Chen and Jiang Ruoxi descended the mountain.

Da Huang chased the car for a long distance before Su Qinghan called it back.

"I'll bring you back after this is all settled. We can stay a few more days, buy the chicks, and then you can leave." Ye Chen held the steering wheel with one hand and reached out to shake her hand with the other.

Jiang Ruoxi gripped his hand tightly, her gaze fixed on the increasingly wide mountain road ahead: "Let's go back and dismantle the stage first. Once we find out whoever spread the rumor that I eloped, I, Jiang Ruoxi, am going to discuss a project. Minister Ye is my entourage, carrying my bag."

Ye Chen's lips twitched: "Okay, whatever President Jiang says goes. I'll carry your bag when we get back, I won't let go of you for 24 hours."