And here I thought he was going to ask for something heinous. When she heard Li Xingye finally stammer out a request to hold hands, Chi Wan couldn't help but roast him in her mind. 'This Li Xingye is a big boss who survived ten years in the apocalypse. He can't possibly be a Love-Struck War God, can he?'
Li Xingye hadn't expected Chi Wan to be so nonchalant about it. The words he had prepared got stuck in his throat, leaving him speechless for a moment.
On second thought, he even felt a little wronged.
After all, ever since he was ten years old, Li Xingye had only had one thought in his mind: how to survive.
Although chaos reigned in the apocalypse, and plenty of people used their bodies to achieve their goals.
But all of this was a bit beyond the scope of a ten-year-old's world—and no one would be bored enough to use such tactics on a kid who hadn't even hit puberty.
It could only be said that, thanks to his superpower awakening early, Li Xingye never had to depend on others to live.
Later, when he got a bit older, his top-tier strength and striking good looks naturally attracted swarms of ordinary people and even superpower users who threw themselves at him.
But having drifted through the apocalypse and witnessed countless sordid scenes, Li Xingye only found it all disgusting. How could he ever let himself indulge in it?
So, what Chi Wan didn't know was that, in a sense, the twenty-year-old Li Xingye, who had never even held a girl's hand, really was an innocent boy...
Seeing Li Xingye remain silent for a long moment, Chi Wan asked tentatively, "So, Boss, should we give it a try?"
'In the world Chi Wan lives in, relationships are probably much more sincere and simple,' Li Xingye instantly snapped back to his senses and silently cursed himself. 'To her, this might just be holding hands, nothing more. Li Xingye, oh, Li Xingye, how could you impose your own views on someone else?!'
Quickly adjusting his mindset, Li Xingye cleared his throat. "Then let's give it a try. After you take my hand, place your other hand on a fruit tree."
Chi Wan agreed and casually reached her hand into the space.
Although Li Xingye had mentally prepared himself, he couldn't help but feel a strange sense of awkwardness as he looked at her fair, delicate hand.
He gently took Chi Wan's hand. The delicate smoothness of her palm sent a flush creeping up to his ears.
It was strange. In an apocalypse where the floor for morality and ethics was constantly being lowered, Li Xingye had long since seen plenty of things he should and shouldn't have.
Yet he, who had once been able to remain as calm as still water no matter how shocking the scene, was now...
In the end, Li Xingye could only conclude that Chi Wan was different. It was precisely because she had never been tainted by that darkness that he subconsciously wanted to protect this pure land.
Forcing himself to ignore the heat spreading across his face, Li Xingye closed his eyes and began to try and sense everything coming from Chi Wan's side.
Just as he'd thought, as the two parties connected across the space, he could indeed perceive the plants and soil of another world through Chi Wan.
Yes, not only the fruit trees, but he could even clearly "see" the developed root systems beneath them, as well as the stratified soil they were entwined with.
Meanwhile, Chi Wan, who was trying to press her entire palm against the rough tree trunk, afraid that insufficient contact area would hinder Li Xingye's efforts, was spreading her hand as wide as she could while asking expectantly, "How is it? Can you save them?"
"I can."
As Li Xingye gave his short reply, the ground of the entire orchard rippled like the surface of a lake before Chi Wan's widening eyes!
Then, a long, snake-like ridge swiftly slithered across the entire orchard.
The fruit trees swayed involuntarily with the undulations of the earth, as if they were about to pull their roots right out of the ground.
Yet despite this commotion, not a single one of the unripe fruits on the branches fell off. They just swayed steadily along with the trees.
A closer look would reveal that the fruits all seemed to have grown a size larger!
By the time the fruit trees finally settled, the soil of the entire orchard had been completely tilled. The once-wilted leaves had also completely regained their vitality, as if they had drunk their fill of dew.
Without Li Xingye needing to say a word, Chi Wan could see that their family's orchard was saved!
But it wasn't over.
The seeds for the thorny bushes and slope-protecting shrubs that Chi Wan had bought and placed in the space flew out on their own. They landed at the edge of the orchard, and in no time, a ring of extremely sturdy bushes sprouted up, firmly enclosing the orchard.
The orchard already had a fence, but the wire mesh was the type to deter a gentleman, not a scoundrel. After all, on a hill this large, anyone who really wanted to sneak in only needed to find a remote corner and snip a couple of wires.
Even back when Liu Dali was managing the orchard, he never thought of completely stopping people from stealing fruit.
As long as they weren't showing up with baskets, he would turn a blind eye.
For Chi Wan, her concern wasn't villagers who might pick a few fruits, but villains like Liu Dali who would destroy the entire orchard.
These bushes engulfed the wire fence, sandwiching it in the middle. Though only about half a person's height, their branches were interwoven with dense thorns, leaving nowhere to get a foothold.
If someone were to try and force their way over, they'd probably get to personally experience what Ziwei went through with Nanny Rong.
What's more, as the thicket appeared, Li Xingye's voice sounded again. "These bushes are aggressive. If someone tries to force their way in, they'll actively entangle them."
As if worried Chi Wan might be scared, he added, "It's not lethal. At most, they'll just suffer a bit."
Scared? Not a chance. Chi Wan wished she could have Liu Dali and his cronies pricked until they looked like pincushions.
Already pleasantly surprised, her eyes lit up even more when she heard this. "Waaah, Boss Li, you're just too thoughtful! Hey, could you maybe plant a circle of them around my house, too? This would be so useful for security! Pretty please?~"
'Bushes that can restrain enemies on their own! What could be better for protecting her family, who had made quite a few enemies in the village?'
At least she wouldn't have to lose sleep worrying about someone climbing over the not-so-high earthen wall around their house.
Having been pampered her whole life and always doted on by her parents, Chi Wan instinctively knew that asking for a favor required a better attitude. She not only softened her voice subconsciously but also skillfully took Li Xingye's hand and gave it a little shake.
This was her usual method of wheedling. Even Chi Yuanshan, who had seen it for over a decade, couldn't resist it in the slightest, to say nothing of a Li Xingye who got nervous just from holding hands.
And so, hearing the sweet, soft tone unique to a girl from the south, Li Xingye felt a tingle in his ears as his entire face grew hot.
If Qiangzi and the others were to see this, they'd probably think their Brother Ye had been possessed!
Forcibly suppressing the tingling sensation spreading from his palm, Li Xingye's Adam's apple bobbed. He finally squeezed one word through his teeth: "Okay."