Chapter 29

 The bright sun streamed through the small wooden window, casting a radiant glow over the kitchen hearth. In the pot, stewed crucian carp with tofu soup emitted wisps of steam, carrying a fragrant aroma.

Baoning sat by the hearth, with Ah Huang lying at her feet. She used a small wooden stick to play with the leeches in the jar. Just after slaughtering the fish, she gathered a bit of blood and scooped it into the jar. The fat leech sniffed the scent, poked its head out, wiggled its bottom, and promptly sucked up the blood.

After a night, having eaten two egg yolks, its belly seemed noticeably swollen. Baoning now looked at it with less apprehension than before and even felt like playing with it a bit.

The leech, not yet satiated, tilted its head up, mouth gaping, wanting more.

Its mouth resembled a circular disk with saw-like teeth inside, arranged in a circle, cheeks pulsating. Baoning dripped two more drops of blood into it, akin to dropping them into a large vat, which vanished in an instant.

Baoning felt sorry seeing the remaining fish blood, coaxing it, "Eat sparingly, I'll give you more next time."

It was unwilling and continued to open its mouth wide, waiting. Baoning hesitated for a moment, wondering whether to save some for its eggs or give it all. Satisfied, the leech closed its mouth, twisted its fat body, and burrowed back into the mud.

Baoning closed the lid.

Listening closely, she heard the sound of chopping firewood outside.

Baoning leaned against the door, seeing Pei Yuan's back. He was shirtless, chopping wood. Today, the sun was strong, and he was sweating. The light glinted on his sturdy shoulders as if coated with oil.

His waist was slim, extending downward, blocked by the waistband of his trousers, and his spine was sunken.

With each movement, his back muscles flexed and relaxed, exuding strength.

Baoning remembered what Pei Yuan had said to her in the eastern wing that day, "You can trust me, anytime."

She was easily moved, feeling touched when Pei Yuan said that, her heart tingling. But after a while, she calmed down and thought of other things.

Was Pei Yuan really treating her well? Baoning couldn't say for sure.

He wasn't bad, but not overly good either. With his temper, he often hurt others with his words, and on ordinary days, he didn't show much care. When he was in a good mood, he would play with her a bit, but when he wasn't, he wouldn't even look at her.

But in dangerous situations, he would protect her fiercely, a kind of strong protection she had never encountered before. Jiyun was too young to protect her, her father too weak, but when she met Pei Yuan, it was an exception.

Baoning recalled her original intention for marrying Pei Yuan. She had hoped for a quiet place, raising chickens, growing vegetables, living a comfortable life.

But time and again, Pei Yuan had dragged her into storms. The peace she had hoped for had long been shattered. But she hadn't thought about leaving.

Perhaps it was the sense of responsibility hidden deep in her heart.

Baoning had always felt that since she had accepted this marriage, accepted Pei Yuan, she would accept everything, good or bad. She would accompany him, help him become the person he wanted to be. She hoped Pei Yuan would be healthy, recover from his leg injury quickly, and they would support each other, living a stable life.

At that time, she hadn't thought of asking for more. She hadn't thought that one day, Pei Yuan would become her reliance, someone she could trust unreservedly, like her aunt and Jiyun, who she could believe would always stand by her side.

But now, she had become greedy. She hoped Pei Yuan could treat her the same way.

Baoning had always wanted to live soberly, but now she was becoming more and more confused. She didn't know what to do.

The chickens in the yard ran around, catching Baoning's attention. A red-feathered rooster cracked peanuts, pecking lightly twice to open the shells, but not eating them, flapping its wings and clucking. In the blink of an eye, a gray-feathered hen popped out of the chicken coop, approached it affectionately, and ate the two peanuts on the ground.

Baoning felt a sourness in her heart.

She felt envious. She wanted to eat too.

...

"The soup is boiling." Pei Yuan walked up to her at some point, tousled her hair, frowned, "What are you daydreaming about again?"

Baoning jumped in surprise, only then noticing the faint burnt smell at her nose, hurriedly running back into the house.

Ah Huang was spinning around in place, licking its own tail. It dozed off, its tail tip stuck into the stove, catching fire. Ah Huang was the most ordinary kind of small local dog, with yellow fur all over, except for its four paws and tail tip, which were white. Now, its tail was charred black.

It stared at Baoning pitifully, extremely wronged.

Baoning felt sorry, bent down to hug it, comforting its face against hers, "Don't cry, don't cry. I'll give you an extra bowl of food later." Ah Huang wagged its tail at her.

Pei Yuan said, "Don't spoil it too much. If you spoil it, it won't obey you later. Dogs have a territorial sense. When it's young, you have to tell it you're the master."

He made sense, but Baoning didn't like to hear it. She didn't reply, just put Ah Huang down, washed her hands, and went to check the crucian carp stew in the pot.

"Take a break. We'll eat in another moment." Baoning said.

"I'm not tired." Pei Yuan said.

"It's better to rest..." Baoning didn't turn around, scooped a spoonful of soup to taste the saltiness, "The female leech is about to give birth. In another month at most, we can try if it can detoxify."

She paused, thinking positively, "It surely can."

Pei Yuan wrapped his arm around her waist from the side, lowly asking, "What if it can't?"

Baoning hesitated, partly because of his question and partly because of his intimate gesture. Pei Yuan stood slightly sideways, Baoning's ear pressed against his shoulder, feeling his warmth.

He wasn't wearing clothes...

Baoning forcibly suppressed the strange feeling in her heart and whispered, "Don't talk like that."

Pei Yuan chuckled lightly. He didn't mention that topic again, turning to look at her soup, "Is it salty enough?"

"It's just right." Baoning blew on the remaining half of the soup in the spoon, asking, "Would you like to try it?"

Pei Yuan "Hmm"ed, took the long-handled spoon from her hand, tasted it, and praised her, "Delicious."

Baoning smiled and turned to fetch bowls and plates from the shelf.

Pei Yuan licked his lips with his tongue, the aroma seeming to linger in his nose, staring at her petite figure bustling around. Pei Yuan took a step forward, picking up her bowl, "Do you want to wash it?"

"Just rinse it with water." Baoning was surprised. Pei Yuan was acting very unusually today. He had never bothered with these trivial activities before, yet today he even wanted to help her with these little things. Chopping wood, washing dishes...

Pei Yuan washed the bowl and placed it on the hearth, watching Baoning serve soup, rice, and fetch the food box.

He stopped her, "What are you getting that for?"

"The bowl is too hot, I can't hold it. It's convenient to use that." Baoning said.

"Don't." Pei Yuan frowned, "It looks like a meal from the imperial kitchen." He went to move the kang table and set it up, turning back to meet Baoning's blank gaze, raising his eyebrows, "So, are you going to watch me eat in my room?"

Baoning asked, "Are you going to eat in my room?"

"Otherwise," Pei Yuan leaned closer to her and pinched her earlobe when she wasn't paying attention. Bao Ning exclaimed, hastily dodging and twisting her neck, gasping in pain.

Pei Yuan comforted her, "After dinner, I'll massage it for you." Bao Ning, in considerable pain, agreed.

This was their first time eating at the same table.

Today, he was different from before, sitting opposite her with his bare arms, earnestly eating his vegetables. Bao Ning served him soup, which he didn't find too hot, blowing on it a couple of times before slurping it down.

"Hey, there's a bone!" Bao Ning stopped him, but too late.

Pei Yuan flicked his tongue and spat out the bone. "Already swallowed the rest." He looked up. "Won't kill me, right?"

Bao Ning asked, "Do you feel like it's stuck in your throat?"

Pei Yuan swallowed some rice. "No, it's fine." He picked up a piece of tofu with his chopsticks and offered it to her. "Eat more, you're as skinny as a kitten."

"Oh," Bao Ning looked down at the tender tofu in her bowl, then glanced up at Pei Yuan's face.

He ate quickly, sweating on his forehead. In his casual manner, he seemed like an ordinary man eating a home-cooked meal.

Momentarily, Bao Ning felt he wasn't so unapproachable anymore, as if he had fallen from a lofty height into the mundane world, tainted by its everyday life. Before, though close, they always seemed distant.

Pei Yuan finished his first bowl quickly and went for seconds. Bao Ning reached out, "Let me."

"You eat yours." Pei Yuan went to fetch his cane. "I'll get something to wear." He took a few steps, then turned back, looking somewhat puzzled. "Where did I leave my clothes?"

"Over by the firewood stack, on that hook on the wall," Bao Ning replied.

Pei Yuan acknowledged and left. Soon he returned, dressed, and holding something strange—a piece of wood connected to cloth. He didn't recognize it.

"What's this?"

Bao Ning looked over and suddenly remembered making this walking aid for Pei Yuan. She had started it yesterday but couldn't finish because she encountered that thief.

Feeling flustered, she dropped the item on the ground in her haste, and in her busy night, she forgot about it today.

"It's something useful." Bao Ning swallowed her food, at a loss for words to describe it, and vaguely said, "I'll finish it tomorrow and show you. Maybe it'll be a pleasant surprise."

She didn't have much confidence in this thing herself and didn't dare promise Pei Yuan too much, fearing disappointment.

Pei Yuan didn't think much about it, put it aside, and went back to eating. Silence followed.

Bao Ning calmly picked fish bones for Ah Huang. The catfish bones were soft and thin, making them difficult to extract, but thinking of how frightened Ah Huang would be, Bao Ning still wanted to prepare something tasty for him.

As she busied herself, she heard his voice from across the table. "You've never treated me like this."

... Compared to a dog. Bao Ning choked up a bit and asked him, "Have I treated you poorly?"

Pei Yuan thought for a moment. "No, very well." Bao Ning pursed her lips.

"But I haven't treated you well enough."

Bao Ning was surprised and looked up at him. Pei Yuan leaned on his elbow on the table, sitting askew, his dark eyes fixed on her. Bao Ning's heart tightened, listening to him say,

"Bao Ning, I know what you're thinking."

Pei Yuan paused. "I've never lived that kind of life, never seen an ordinary couple, never known how to get along. Teach me, hmm?"

He took her hand, brought it to his lips, and gently kissed it.

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