Xie Xiao, who had been lying down, finally couldn't help but sit up abruptly. "You want to burn me to death?"

Li Ruo seemed to only then notice him, "Hey? Boss, you're not asleep? I was just worried you'd catch a cold."

The other three couldn't help but chuckle.

"roll!"

"Oh." Li Ruo turned around.

Xie Xiao: ... "I wasn't calling you!"

The other three held back their laughter, for it turned out that the one who had subdued the eldest was Miss Li.

"Has Miss Li eaten yet? It's getting dark. Shall I have my wife make you a bowl of noodles?" the third leader asked.

Xie Xiao said unhappily, "Just one bowl?"

"Then two bowls?" the third leader quickly added, "and another chicken."

"Um."

"You want to eat my chicken as soon as you arrive?" Li Ruo looked at Xie Xiao.

"Do you want to eat two?"

Li Ruo: ...

"I can't refuse your kind offer, so I'll have two then. But don't roast them, just boil them. Your boss has a bit too much of a temper."

The third leader lowered his head slightly and said, "Okay, okay." There was another series of soft smacking sounds as he left.

Xie Xiao's forehead veins throbbed as he glared at Li Ruo, letting out a snort, "You came here just to mooch off my noodles and chicken?"

Li Ruo looked at Uncle Luo, "You are—"

"They all call me Uncle Luo."

"So you're Uncle Luo." Li Ruo said with admiration. This was the man in charge of money and warehouses at Black Wind Stronghold, and he couldn't afford to offend him. "I've heard so much about you."

Uncle Luo's smile was as warm as a spring breeze. "I've long admired you, young lady."

However, he was perceptive, and his gaze towards the boss was sharp as a knife. "I have many things to attend to, please make yourself at home, young lady."

Before leaving, he didn't forget to bring up Sun Ergou.

Only Xie Xiao and Li Ruo remained in the room.

One was arrogant, the other was speechless.

The atmosphere remained tense for a brief moment.

"Hey, you're not angry that I dragged your Black Wind Stronghold into this, are you? Why don't you think about it for a couple more days?"

"What are you thinking about? They've already started hiring." Xie Xiao lowered his arrogant head, glanced at her sideways, and snorted. "You think I'm angry about this?"

Li Ruo asked, "Then what are you angry about?"

"I—" Xie Xiao choked for a moment, then looked at Sun Ergou outside the house, "Oh, didn't you come to see Sun Ergou? He went out, why didn't you go out?"

Li Ruo calmly replied, "I'm not here to see him, I'm here to see you."

“Sun Ergou can handle a lot of things, he doesn’t need to come to me.” He continued, holding his head high.

From the angle of his chair, all Li Ruo could see was his supposedly chiseled jawline. "Hey, how many days has it been since you shaved?"

Sure enough, Xie Xiao lowered his proud head again, stroked his chin, and said, "How ugly?"

Seeing Li Ruo smile, he realized he had been tricked and glared at her slightly.

"From now on, if I need anything, can I just go to Sun Ergou?" Li Ruo picked up the gong on the table, her lips twitching.

Xie Xiao: "Hmph!"

Li Ruo looked at him and said, "Isn't it because I was afraid you'd say you couldn't live without me? You're injured and so busy, how could I dare to cause you trouble?"

Xie Xiao's breathing became erratic for a moment.

The next moment, she said, "I can't keep bothering you just because we're good friends, can I?"

Xie Xiao pressed his lips down, his tongue against his back teeth, and just stared at her without saying a word.

Li Ruo poured him a cup of tea. "Thank you for helping me detain Steward Liu these past few days and for bringing the witnesses to my rescue. I'll offer you this tea instead of wine."

Xie Xiao's gaze deepened, his eyes narrowing slightly. "You offered me my tea? Is that how you thank someone?"

Li Ruo put down her teacup. "So what do you want? I also cleared your Black Wind Village's name in front of so many people."

"Yes, should I return the three buckets of water to you?"

Li Ruo also stood up defiantly: "Three buckets aren't enough, at least ten!"

Xie Xiao, who also had a temper, stood up and said, "Fine, I'll give you twenty buckets!"

One person stands with their hands on their hips and head tilted back.

One is in a commanding position.

Strange sparks crackled in the air.

Sun Ergou and Uncle Luo, who had been eavesdropping by the wall, asked: "Why did you suddenly start talking about bathwater getting all clean?"

Is it progressing that fast?

"It's born! It's born!" The fourth leader ran over excitedly.

Sun Ergou and Uncle Luo: Alright, this one's even faster, the baby's already born.

The fourth leader ignored them and ran straight into the house shouting, "Boss, they had six!"

The two people who had been looking at each other turned around at the same time and said in unison, "Congratulations!"

Fourth Leader: ...

Li Ruo was a little confused, and looked at Xie Xiao with wide eyes, "Wow, amazing, six babies in one pregnancy? You're really something!"

The fourth leader nodded vigorously.

Xie Xiao's eyes widened. "What do you mean, 'mine'?"

"Piglets! Ah, no, no, no!" The fourth leader shook his head vigorously when he met the leader's deathly gaze. "I'm talking about the pigs in the pigpen. We have a sow that gave birth to six piglets!"

"Oh," Li Ruo said with a smile, "Congratulations on the arrival of your baby in the Year of the Pig."

Fourth Leader: "...Wait, what are you doing here?"

"Can I come and ask for that punch in return?"

The fourth leader then remembered that he still owed her an apology and a punch. "Sorry about what happened last time. Come on, hit me as much as you want."

"Really?" Li Ruo's gaze shifted downwards.

The fourth leader quickly squeezed his legs together, his voice trembling, "Except for that area."

Li Ruo said, "My hand hurts from hitting you too. How about something more practical? Give me a pig to take back and make up for it."

Xie Xiao scoffed, "You say you're thanking me, but you drink my tea, eat my noodles and chicken, and you still want to take a pig with you."

Li Ruo thought about it and realized it was a bit much. "How about I ask you to come back next time?"

"That's more like it." Chief Xie's expression softened slightly. "Should we go check on the piglets, or maybe the chickens or ducks?"

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