Chapter 26: So Sweet
Hua Linye poured out the brewed medicine. It was still a bit too hot to drink, so he set it aside to cool. He then went to dispose of the dregs and clean the pot.
After tidying everything up, he returned to drink the medicine. His expression was calm as he downed the entire bowl in one go, without a single pause.
Seeing his placid, almost numb expression, Su Muyao guessed he must have endured a great deal of hardship in the past. She had prepared the medicine herself, so she knew exactly how bitter and unpleasant it tasted. Yet, he hadn’t even frowned.
After a moment’s thought, Su Muyao took a few pieces of rock sugar from her dimension. “Hold out your hand!”
Hua Linye instinctively held out his hand.
Su Muyao placed the sugar in his palm. “This is candy. Let it dissolve in your mouth, and it will get rid of the medicinal taste.”
Although he had never seen this kind of candy before, Hua Linye didn’t overthink it and popped it into his mouth.
A moment later, an indescribable sweetness spread through his mouth, a sweetness that seemed to seep straight into his heart.
“It’s so sweet!”
Su Muyao smiled. “See? The medicine isn’t so bitter now.”
Hearing this, something stirred in Hua Linye’s heart. In all his years of being tormented and controlled by the fire poison, no one had ever cared whether his medicine was bitter. No one had ever given him candy.
He was deeply shaken. For once, his foxy eyes looked serious, though a film of moisture welled up in them, shimmering with a gentle, rippling light.
“Wife Master, you are so good to me!”
Meeting his gaze, Su Muyao thought, Could he actually be moved by this? If so, then perhaps when he was freed in three months, he wouldn’t try to harm her. That thought put her at ease.
Hua Linye might appear wild and untamable, but deep down, he was someone who had never experienced much warmth. She figured that showing him kindness was the most effective way to bury the hatchet.
Of course, Hua Linye had no idea what was going through her mind. At that moment, his foxy eyes tilted upward, bewitching and shimmering as if rippling with gentle waves. His voice was a low, husky whisper. “Wife Master, can you always be like this?”
“Like what?”
“Can you… not go back to how you were before?”
For a moment, Su Muyao didn’t know how to answer. She herself didn’t know why she had transmigrated to this beastman world.
She asked the System, “System, is the original owner’s soul still here?”
“Host, there was a problem with the original owner’s soul. It has long since dissipated into nothingness. This body was always meant to be yours. It has simply returned to its original trajectory. From now on, you will be its sole occupant. You don’t need to worry about any unexpected changes.”
Hearing this, Su Muyao felt something was not quite right, but before she could dwell on it, a sharp pain shot through her hand.
Hua Linye was gripping it tightly, a hint of panic in his eyes. “Wife Master, you… you will stay, won’t you?”
When she didn’t answer right away, a genuine fear had crept into his heart. He didn’t want to face the old Wife Master ever again.
Su Muyao smiled and nodded. “Don’t worry, I won’t change back. I’ll always be like this.” The person she was now was her true self.
At this, Hua Linye finally relaxed. Seeing the smile on her face, a wave of sweetness washed over him. He didn’t know if it was from the sugar or something else entirely. He had drunk so much bitter medicine to fight the fire poison that he had become numb to the taste. This was the first time drinking it hadn’t felt like torture, the first time he didn’t feel a deep-seated revulsion.
Because his Wife Master had candy.
After drinking the medicine, Hua Linye reluctantly departed. He had to go hunting and bring back more food. Otherwise, when the snow season arrived, they would freeze or starve to death without enough stored food and firewood. He couldn’t let his Wife Master suffer from hunger and cold.
…
After Hua Linye left, Su Muyao got back to work. She took the wheat she had stored in her dimension and spread it out in the courtyard to begin threshing.
Normally, the primitive method for threshing wheat involved using a stone roller to separate the grains from the stalks. However, the wheat in this world was two to three times larger than the wheat from the apocalypse, so she could simply peel the grains off by hand.
After working for a while, she glanced over at Xiao Jihan. She wanted to ask for his help, but with Wen Nanxi and Hua Linye gone, she was genuinely afraid of angering him. What if he sent an ice blade straight through her?
Xiao Jihan was neatly stacking the firewood he had chopped yesterday. Though he was working silently, he could feel her gaze on him. When he turned to look at her, she quickly lowered her head and pretended to be busy.
After this happened a few times, Xiao Jihan spoke in a low voice, “Is there something you need, Wife Master?”
“N-no, it’s nothing!”
Xiao Jihan said, “I have finished chopping and stacking the firewood. I am awaiting your instructions on what to do next.” He was like a jade tree, noble and refined, yet his posture was utterly submissive. As long as she wasn’t trying to drug him into bed or beat him, he could handle anything.
Su Muyao looked up at him and saw that while his expression was cold and aloof, his eyes were serious, without a hint of reluctance or unwillingness.
She pursed her lips. “Um, these wheat stalks… the grains need to be peeled off. Then we can dry them and use them for food.”
“Very well. I will do it.”
Su Muyao gave him what she hoped was a friendly smile. “Then I’ll have to trouble you!”
She still felt an instinctive distance and restraint around Xiao Jihan, and he could sense it.
“It is no trouble.”
With that, Xiao Jihan stepped forward. Su Muyao naturally scrambled out of the way, keeping a safe distance between them so he wouldn’t think she was using this as an excuse to get close to him.
Of course, according to her predecessor’s memories, that’s exactly what she would have done. The one she had wanted to conquer most was Xiao Jihan, simply because his cold, aloof aura was similar to Jiang Mochuan, the man she had loved. Unfortunately for her, she had tried countless methods and failed every time.
Su Muyao didn’t even want to recall those memories. Even though she wasn’t the one who had done those things, it was still her body. The memories filled her with a sense of shame.
Xiao Jihan simply used his ability, and in an instant, all the wheat grains were separated from the stalks. With a flick of his fingers, the grains flew neatly into a wooden bucket nearby.
Su Muyao watched in astonishment. She had no idea abilities could be used like that. It was far faster than doing it by hand.
“Thank you!”
Xiao Jihan’s expression flickered, and he gave her a deep, meaningful look. She had never said ‘thank you’ before.
“It is what I am supposed to do.” So there is no need for thanks.
With the task done so quickly, Su Muyao spread the wheat grains out on one side of the courtyard to dry. The sun was bright and strong. If they dried until noon, she could take them to the mill in the afternoon. They could have pasta for dinner.
A look of anticipation shone in her eyes. Now that the wheat was taken care of, she could start curing and smoking the bacon.
Just then, a cool voice drifted from the gate. It was as ethereal as snow falling in a silent valley—beautiful, yet carrying a biting chill.
The sound of laughter was mocking, yet strangely familiar.
She looked up towards the gate and saw a peerlessly handsome man dressed in black standing there. He was so beautiful he didn’t seem real, like a rose blooming in the dead of night.
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