Lunch was quickly finished, and Chen Jie patted his belly before heading back to his room for an afternoon nap.
Su Yunjin busied herself with the housework, washing dishes and doing laundry.
But Daisy, having listened to what Chen Jie said, took a bowl of pork trimmings and sat on a small stool at the doorstep, crunching away. In no time, she had devoured half the bowl.
She feared the kids wouldn't arrive before she finished the entire bowl of pork trimmings.
But the kids were right on time, drawn by the delicious aroma, and a group of children, big and small, gathered around, watching Daisy enjoy the pork trimmings and swallowing their saliva with envy.
Daisy didn't even give them a glance, focusing solely on her own feast.
At that moment, a five-year-old boy couldn't resist anymore and approached Su Yunrui, asking, "What are you eating?"
Daisy glanced at the boy and said, "Pork trimmings!"
He gulped, commenting, "They smell so good, I think I had some during New Year."
"Really?"
"Yeah, can I have one?"
The boy tentatively asked.
Daisy thought for a moment and said, "Will you play with me later then?"
Taken aback, the boy pondered for a moment and replied, "If you give me some, I'll play with you."
"Here's one for you."
Daisy handed a piece of pork trimming to the boy, who took it and popped it straight into his mouth, savoring it with gusto!
Seeing that the boy actually got a piece of pork trimming,
the other children also crowded around saying, "I'll play with you too."
"I'll play with you too…"
Suddenly, all the children wanted to play with Su Yunrui, who gave out pieces of pork trimmings one by one until there was only one piece left for a four-year-old boy who came up last.
Only one piece of pork trimming remained in Su Yunrui's bowl.
"I'll play with you too,"
the boy said, his eyes fixed on that last piece of pork trimming, while Su Yunrui also eyed the final piece, longing to eat it.
She looked at the boy seriously and asked, "Can I not play with you?"
Hearing this, the boy glanced at Su Yunrui, then at the remaining pork trimming in the bowl, and promptly burst into tears. Su Yunrui immediately felt cornered and said, "Alright, alright, we'll play together, we'll play together."
She handed over the last piece of pork trimming to the boy, who grabbed it while crying and eating. Watching him munch, Su Yunrui asked, "Does it taste good?"
"Mm-hmm."
The boy nodded, and Su Yunrui said helplessly, "It looks so tasty... munch, munch."
That afternoon, Su Yunrui experienced what it was like to be treated like a princess. The world of children is so pure; by eating Su Yunrui's food, they felt obliged to take care of her.
The pork hocks that they used to keep to themselves were now offered to her first.
The children who previously ignored her now started chatting with Su Yunrui.
Suddenly, Su Yunrui seemed to become the queen of the children.
Su Yunjin watched everything from the yard with a smile on her face, then turned to look inside the house; all these changes had originated from that man's transformation.
When Chen Jie woke up and found Su Yunrui happily playing outside but didn't see Su Yunjin, he asked Su Yunrui, "Where's your sister?"
At that moment, Su Yunrui was riding on a boy's back, play-fighting as if riding horses.
"Sister went out with a basket, seems like she went to dig for wild vegetables."
Chen Jie was taken aback, reflecting on how she really couldn't sit still.
Chen Jie felt bored, so he sat cross-legged at home and began to cultivate the Yang Chun Skill. As his practice of the skill progressed, he noticed that his physical fitness was getting increasingly better. This must be what was referred to as Qigong in his previous life, right?
Chen Jie wanted to learn the world's Martial Arts. However, he knew that before embarking on martial training, he needed to lay a solid foundation — there could be no mistake in that.
And so, the afternoon passed.
For dinner, Su Yunjin came back to cook. They had wild vegetable soup with dregs of oil, accompanied by pancakes made from sorghum flour.
It was a simple meal, but the family enjoyed it immensely. After all, such a lavish meal was not something other villagers could afford unless it was a festival.
In this era, it was common for the common folk to go all year without tasting meat or fish.
To both Daisy and Su Yunjin, however, a bowl of wild vegetable soup with oil dregs was more than satisfactory.
After a full meal, Su Yunjin started to clean up the dishes while Daisy had already run to Chen Jie to share her day's joys and how much fun she had.
Watching her like this, Chen Jie smiled and affectionately patted her head.
Once everything was tidied up, night had fallen. Su Yunjin, bending her waist, helped Chen Jie spread out his quilt. Watching Su Yunjin lower her body, Chen Jie appreciated the delicate curve of her figure with a look of admiration.
It was a pure admiration for beauty from a man.
After Su Yunjin spread out the quilt and turned around, she caught Chen Jie's undisguised gaze, felt a sudden panic, and hurried into the inner room.
Chen Jie reached out to pull Su Yunjin into his embrace, and she couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "Ah!"
He wrapped his arms around her waist and leaned close to her ear, his breath as fragrant as an orchid, whispering, "Tonight, sleep in the outer room."
Su Yunjin's face flushed red at once, but she replied, "Ruirui is still here. Let me go quickly."
"What if I don't?"
As Chen Jie breathed on her, Su Yunjin felt her whole body go weak. Just when she thought she would have no escape from Chen Jie's 'clutches' that day,
Chen Jie suddenly released her. She turned to look at Chen Jie, not understanding why he let her go, and at that moment, he smiled and said, "If you're not willing, I won't force you."
Su Yunjin felt an inexplicable warmth in her heart. This man was so gentle.
As she stood there unsure how to respond, a voice suddenly called out from the inner room, "Sister~"
Su Yunjin looked up at Chen Jie.
"Go ahead."
Chen Jie was considerate, and Su Yunjin bit her lip, lifting her gaze. Her eyes were like the waters of an autumn lake as she said, "Let's wait a few more days."
After saying that, she ran off to the inner room like she was fleeing, closed the door behind her, and leaned against it with a heavy heart.
Daisy, puzzled, looked at Su Yunjin and asked, "Sister, what's wrong? Did brother-in-law bully you?"
"No, let's go to sleep."
Su Yunjin slowly climbed into bed, and Daisy said, "Sister, you didn't bolt the door."
Su Yunjin glanced at the door bolt and said, "It's not necessary."
"Oh."
Daisy voiced a response, half understanding.
Previously, Su Yunjin would bolt the door at night for fear of Chen Jiu's advances, but tonight she did not.
Chen Jie watched Su Yunjin retreat and shook his head. One can't eat hot tofu in a hurry. He had hurt her too much in the past; if he were to be forceful now, he might cause her psychological trauma. Best to take it slow.
At least everything was heading in the right direction now. He believed it wouldn't be long before he could have that "swan meat," and it would be the swan offering itself to him voluntarily.
Lying in bed, Chen Jie soon fell asleep. Around midnight, he slowly opened his eyes. Despite having slept only about four or five hours, his spirits were still quite robust, thanks to the continuous use of the Yang Chun Skill.
The reason for waking up wasn't merely that he had gotten enough sleep; rather, he had heard the sound of the information update.
The daily intelligence had been updated.
"Panel."
Chen Jie called out for the information panel.