Chapter 17 Something's Wrong

He never expected Jiang Ru to be waiting at the door. There was clearly no sound of footsteps. Pei Wu was speechless and just looked at Jiang Ru in silence.

He was so close just now that he almost thought Jiang Ru would crash into his arms, but luckily he backed away quickly enough.

Jiang Ru didn't wear makeup; all that wafted towards him was a fresh, grassy scent. For a moment, he didn't know whether to call Jiang Ru reckless or to sort out his own chaotic thoughts.

It was highly inappropriate for someone to stand guard outside his bedroom in the dead of night.

Pei Wu took a deep breath, looking at Jiang Ru's smiling face, and said helplessly, "If you get less injured, I won't bring you medicine."

Jiang Ru pouted: "You're so boring."

Pei Wu didn't care much about whether it was boring or not. He just glanced at Jiang Ru's hands and looked away. He said, "Go apply the medicine."

Such a small wound would normally heal on its own without needing any attention, but only Pei Wu would take it seriously. Jiang Ru originally wanted to ignore it, but when she met Pei Wu's hesitant gaze, she smiled and applied a thin layer of ointment to the back of her hand.

After applying the ointment, she held out her hand to Pei Wu and asked, "Is this better?"

Pei Wu gave a soft "hmm," as if praising someone: "Very good."

After saying that, he suddenly remembered something and asked Jiang Ru, "Do you know how to sew?"

Even though she was in such a godforsaken place, Jiang Ru somehow managed to learn how to sew her own clothes when they got torn.

Of course she can.

After receiving an affirmative answer, Pei Wu turned around and went back to his room. After rummaging through the wardrobe, he took out a sewing kit.

He handed the sewing box to Jiang Ru: "Since your clothes are torn, you'll have to sew them yourself."

Just then, Jiang Ru was about to ask him for it. She took the sewing kit, put the things in her hand, and went back to her bedroom.

The sleeve was only torn in one place, the tear was small and easy to sew up, otherwise Jiang Ru wouldn't have enough clothes to wear.

When she came to find Pei Wu, she only brought two sets of clothes with her and traveled light. After all, carrying too much stuff would affect her movement, and if this jacket was damaged, she would have no clothes to wear.

By the light of the oil lamp, Jiang Ru sat by the window and sewed up her torn sleeves stitch by stitch.

Actually, when she first transmigrated, she didn't know anything and didn't have much money. She saved money wherever she could and gradually learned many skills.

She would go to the village entrance to learn from the older women how to sew clothes, make shoes, weave straw sandals and straw stools, and she also learned life skills such as carrying water and starting a fire.

After transmigrating here, she adapted to reality in just a few days. Fortunately, the older women took pity on her and always took good care of her as long as they were kind to her. They also generously shared their knowledge with her. Jiang Ru met many kind people.

Actually, Pei Wu is a good person. He cares about Jiang Ru, pays attention to her emotions, and even buys her medicine. Of course, it would be even better if he didn't drag Jiang Ru down with him.

Having a cousin like this is good; at least Jiang Ru is no longer alone.

Jiang Ru sewed the clothes, carefully folded them, put away the sewing box, and went to bed.

The next day was market day again, and Jiang Ru was craving the sesame cakes at the market, but Pei Wu refused to go. Pei Wu was a man of principle, so since he wasn't going, Jiang Ru simply didn't go either.

She washed clothes in the yard and even took the time to water the vegetables, which made her feel quite fulfilled.

Pei Wu opened the courtyard gate, glanced at the sun that had not yet fully risen, and reminded Jiang Ru, "You can still catch up now."

Jiang Ru gave him a disgruntled look and turned away to read her book.

She managed to steal one of Pei Wu's books, and she memorized it while learning the characters, occasionally asking Pei Wu a question. Her efficiency was quite good.

She sat quietly without losing her temper, which made Pei Wu feel even more guilty. He hesitated for a moment, then sat down opposite Jiang Ru, waiting for her to ask him questions.

Seven of the words on this page were words he hadn't taught Jiang Ru, and Jiang Ru skipped them without asking him about them.

Seemingly harboring some resentment, Pei Wu pondered for a moment, then casually opened a book. Just as he was about to look at it, Jiang Ru pointed to a word in the book and asked Pei Wu, "What is this?"

Pei Wu looked at the character she was pointing to and told Jiang Ru, "This character is pronounced Jia."

Jiang Ru nodded, listened to Pei Wu's brief explanation, and then continued reading.

Pei Wu was about to look down again when Jiang Ru coincidentally pointed to a certain character: "What's this pronounced like?"

Pei Wu patiently explained it to her.

After this happened several times, Pei Wu probably realized what Jiang Ru meant, so he stopped trying to challenge her authority and just stayed by her side, ready to answer her questions promptly.

However, when he didn't read, Jiang Ru ignored him and instead pondered the book, which was as difficult to understand as a divine text.

Pei Wu was left standing to one side. He followed Jiang Ru's gaze to look at her book, but Jiang Ru was engrossed in reading and didn't notice him.

However, just as Pei Wu picked up the book he had neglected for a long time, Jiang Ru asked him at the opportune moment, "What's the pronunciation of this character?"

Pei Wu paused for a moment before answering Jiang Ru.

The word Jiang Ru just pointed to was one that Pei Wu had taught her just a few days ago. Perhaps she forgot it, or perhaps she did it on purpose.

Her little scheme wasn't hard to guess, so Pei Wu went along with her wishes and completely stopped reading.

Perhaps because they went along with Jiang Ru's wishes, the two of them got along very well in the following days, keeping to themselves and living in peace.

By the afternoon, the villagers who had gone to the market had returned one after another, exchanging the food they had bought. Jiang Ru, who had been reading all morning, sat down to rest at the gate of the courtyard.

A group of people appeared on the yellow path in the distance; it was Aunt Zhang and her companions.

Aunt Zhang carried a basket on her back, while Zhang Xingjun beside her was idly tossing a few leaves around. From a distance, Aunt Zhang called out, "Young Lady Jiang, what you wanted is here."

Jiang Ru stood up. She didn't remember buying anything, so it must have been Pei Wu who bought it.

She glanced at Pei Wu urgingly, and Pei Wu, standing beside her, took a few steps forward to greet her.

Soon, Aunt Zhang approached. She put down her basket, which contained a bamboo basket with two pale yellow, lively chicks inside.

Aunt Zhang first handed the bamboo basket to Pei Wu: "These are the chicks you wanted."

Then, Aunt Zhang lifted the cloth on her basket, revealing two pieces of sweet cake underneath. She handed the sweet cakes to Pei Wu, saying, "These are sweet cakes."

After handing over the items, Aunt Zhang wanted to share the food she had bought with Pei Wu, but Pei Wu declined.

After Aunt Zhang left, Pei Wu carried the chicks and sugar cakes ahead, while Jiang Ru followed behind, her eyes glued to the chicks in the basket.

Just before entering, Jiang Ru couldn't help but ask, "Didn't you say you didn't like it? Why did you ask Aunt Zhang to buy it for you?"

Pei Wu really didn't like it. He put the basket on the table, looked at the two chicks peering curiously into the basket, and nodded: "I don't like it."

Then he added, "But I thought about it, and it would be good to raise a few, like you said, so we can have eggs to eat."

Chicks are cutest when they are young, with fluffy, pale yellow down, about the size of a palm, and they will wiggle their little wings slightly, which is extremely cute.

Jiang Ru lay on the basket, looking at the chicks inside. The chicks looked back at her with their tiny, sesame-seed-like eyes.

The chicks were still small, just the right size to be kept in the basket. Jiang Ru laid a layer of straw underneath and fed the chicks some food.

She knew why Pei Wu had asked Aunt Zhang to help take care of them; it was because she had mentioned it before, and Pei Wu thought she really wanted to raise them, so he convinced himself and even asked Aunt Zhang to buy two for him.

Pei Wu refused at the time, but probably felt bad about it later, since he always cared a lot about other people's feelings.

She squatted down beside the basket and glanced back at Pei Wu. Pei Wu was also looking at the basket in front of her. Noticing that Jiang Ru was looking at him, he pointed to the sweet cakes on the table: "I bought these last time I saw you. I thought you liked them, so I asked Aunt Zhang to buy two for you. Do you want some?"

Pei Wu was being overly attentive. Jiang Ru did indeed like the sweet cakes, so she turned her attention away from the chicks in the cage and accepted the sweet cakes from Pei Wu.

The sugar cake was as delicious as ever. Jiang Ru took a bite, enjoying its sweet aroma, and asked Pei Wu, "Have you ever eaten a sesame seed cake?"

Pei Wu nodded: "I've eaten."

"Actually, I think the sesame seed cake is tastier. After you stop observing mourning, I'll take you to the market and let you try all the delicious food." Jiang Ru happily ate the sugar cake and casually made this promise.

Pei Wu paused, looking at Jiang Ru. Jiang Ru was holding a sweet cake, her eyes crinkling with delight as she ate. Pei Wu looked at her, his eyes as dark as ink, unfathomable, with a hidden undercurrent surging within his calm gaze. He looked at Jiang Ru and said, "Okay, it's a deal."

Jiang Ru ate the sweet cake and smiled at Pei Wu, a genuine smile.

Sunlight streamed into the courtyard. The small vegetable garden had just been watered; the fence was neat, the soil was slightly damp, and the planted seeds had not yet sprouted. The chicks in the basket chirped as if trying to attract their attention, but unfortunately, neither of them noticed them.

After eating the sweet cake, Jiang Ru briefly told Pei Wu what to feed the two chicks on a daily basis, so that Pei Wu wouldn't be at a loss as to how to feed them if she wasn't home one day.

Pei Wu, after hearing this, asked, "Did they always live in the basket?"

Jiang Ru immediately looked at him with a "what nonsense are you talking about" look: "How could that be? The chicks grow very fast. In a few days, we'll make them a big cage."

Hearing this, Pei Wu breathed a slight sigh of relief and was about to speak when Jiang Ru continued, "When they get a little bigger, they can be free-range. At that time, with the gate open, they will go out for a walk by themselves and catch insects to eat."

Pei Wu was speechless, but still unwilling to give up, he asked, "Can't we keep them in a cage forever?"

The question seemed silly, but Jiang Ru still answered him: "It's possible, but if they're kept in cages, the meat quality won't be as good as free-range ones."

Pei Wu was completely heartbroken. His lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but he swallowed it all back down.

Although he didn't like them, everything was fine as long as the two chickens didn't bother him.

However, the next morning, as soon as Pei Wu stepped out of his bedroom, he stepped into a puddle of unidentified liquid.

Pei Wu silently lifted his foot, his mood on the verge of collapse, when he met the eyes of the yellow chick that had successfully "escaped".

A note from the author:

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