Chapter 19 Triggered

Since there were no teacups at home, Xiao Yu took two ceramic bowls. The ceramics were somewhat rough, and there weren't even any simple decorative patterns on the surface.

"Take a break and have some water. Thank you all for your help today." Xiao Yu poured two bowls of water, handing one to Chen Yiyi and the other to Chen Yu.

Chen Yu had already realized she had misunderstood Xiao Yu while they were inside the house. Seeing that Xiao Yu wasn't angry with her, she felt a little awkward and awkwardly accepted the water, saying, "Thank you."

"Don't be so polite, I should thank you for your help. Please stay for dinner tonight," Xiao Yu said.

"No, I don't want to go back too late and worry my aunt." Chen Yu waved her hand.

She knew Xiao Yu's situation better than anyone else. She was already lucky to have food to eat; if she stayed to eat as well, would Xiao Yu even be allowed to live?

Let's forget about it.

When Chen Ziyi heard Chen Yu say this, he quickly made an excuse that he had something to do at home and had to go back later.

Seeing that the two were unwilling, Xiao Yu did not force them.

After working for a while longer, Chen Ziyi finished cutting all the remaining bamboo into strips. By then, it was completely dark. He stood up and laid out the cut bamboo strips in the yard to dry.

"Let it dry first, and I'll come back to help you weave it in a few days."

"Okay, thank you for your help."

Seeing that the two were about to leave, Xiao Yu glanced at Chen Yu and said, "Let me take you back." People in the village go to bed early, and there are hardly any people outside at this time. It's not safe for a young woman to walk alone at night, especially since the other person came to help her with chores. It's only right that her safety be guaranteed.

"No need for that trouble, I'll just go back with A-Yi, it's on the way anyway," Chen Yu said.

“Yes, I’ll take her home,” Chen Ziyi chimed in from the side.

Xiao Yu pondered for a moment. Although the two families had begun to arrange the marriage, they were not yet married. In modern times, it wouldn't be a big deal for a man and a woman to be alone together late at night, but this was ancient times after all, and it wouldn't be good if Chen Yu's reputation was damaged because of this.

"I'll go with you. I have something to ask my mother," Xiao Yu said.

"What is it?" Chen Yu immediately became alert upon hearing this. Was she going to ask her aunt for money again?

She firmly refused: "We can talk about it tomorrow. Aunt should be resting at this time."

After saying that, he pulled Chen Ziyi out of the courtyard gate, and the two figures disappeared into the night in no time.

"My lord."

Xiao Yu responded.

Yes, she should go cook; the young lady is still hungry.

"You go inside and wait a moment, I'll go cook right away."

Xiao Yu returned to the kitchen, put the mushrooms in a wooden basin, washed them with water, and diced them. She originally wanted to make mushroom soup, but there wasn't even an egg at home, let alone diced meat. So she had to settle for making mushroom porridge instead, adding some salt to make it savory, nutritious and appetizing.

After cooking the porridge, she soaked the medicine she had picked that day in cold water before bringing it into the house. Song Luo sat upright at the table, holding a storybook in her hands. Under the dim yellow pine oil lamp, she exuded a gentle and quiet aura.

"Don't read at night, it's bad for your eyes." A crisp voice broke the peaceful atmosphere.

Xiao Yu placed the porridge in front of Song Luoning: "Try this, it's picked from the mountain, is it good?"

The thick rice porridge is mixed with tender yellow mushroom pieces and topped with a sprinkle of chopped green onions.

The rice has a rich aroma and a fresh, clean taste.

It looks very appetizing.

Song Luoning looked up, puzzled, and asked, "What kind of porridge is this? I've never seen it before."

Xiao Yu looked on expectantly: "Try it quickly."

Song Luoning scooped up a spoonful of rice porridge and put it in her mouth. The rice porridge was so fragrant and tempting that she couldn't help but drink another spoonful.

Seeing that she couldn't help but take another sip, he guessed that it must be to the young lady's liking, and then asked in suspense, "Guess what I used to make this porridge?"

"It's fresh, fragrant, and smooth; it must be some kind of mushroom." Song Luoning stirred the rice porridge with a spoon. "Did you pick it in the mountains today, my husband? It's certainly a rare find."

When we were in the Prime Minister's residence, we could occasionally eat this in the kitchen. Most of the time, it was when the servants of the residence went home to visit their families, and some of them would bring back some things from the mountains.

Because it was a rare item, not many were allocated to each courtyard.

Each time, Father and Brother would have someone deliver it to their courtyard.

Thinking of this, Song Luoning felt inexplicably sad. She wondered how her father and brothers were doing in the capital. She had asked a neighbor to deliver the letter a few days ago, and her father should have received it in a few more days.

Xiao Yu was surprised that she had guessed it so easily, and sat back down with a bored expression.

"But my husband's cooking is really delicious. This is the first time I've ever eaten this. I really like it. Thank you, husband." As she spoke, Song Luo Ning took another bite, and soon the bowl of mushroom porridge was empty.

This shows how much they like it.

Normally, the young lady would only eat half a bowl, not a single bite more.

Xiao Yu was delighted that the cook's skills were recognized. It was a rare moment to get along so well with the young lady, and Xiao Yu kept talking about her tips for making porridge.

Song Luoning gave a few perfunctory replies and then excused herself to go back to bed, without even mentioning taking a bath.

Xiao Yu was somewhat disappointed.

She hadn't finished speaking yet.

However, the young lady is probably really tired today. Based on past experience, Song Luoning would have given her instructions by now.

A wave of sorrow washed over Xiao Yu.

"Song Luoning, are you still going to take a bath?"

"No, if my husband wants to take a bath, Luo Ning won't peek." Song Luo Ning curled up slightly, her back to Xiao Yu, and spoke in a weak voice.

At this moment, Song Luoning was like a sick cat that couldn't be provoked even by sharp claws.

They're so pitiful.

When have I ever seen such a young lady?

Xiao Yu's heart skipped a beat. She turned her face away and muttered under her breath, "What? That's not what I meant."

She stood up: "Don't sleep yet, I'll go make you some medicine."

After clearing away the dishes, she quickly went into the kitchen. The medicinal herbs had already been soaked, and she immediately started a fire to decoct them.

The medicine was ready in about half an hour, and when they returned to the room, the young lady was already asleep.

Xiao Yu sighed, slowed her pace to the bedside, and gently called out through the bed curtains, "Song Luoning."

Seeing that she didn't react, Xiao Yu raised her voice a little: "Song Luoning, get up and take your medicine."

After a while, Song Luoning slowly woke up, responded softly, and slowly released the hairpin from her palm, hiding it under her pillow.

She had indeed fallen asleep. She was a light sleeper and woke up as soon as Xiao Yu stepped in. The reason she didn't respond immediately was simply to confirm whether this lecherous man would take advantage of her while she was asleep.

Now it seems I was just overthinking things.

However, it is indeed suspicious that this lecherous man spent three hundred taels of silver for himself today.

"Drink your medicine before you sleep." With that, Xiao Yu lifted a corner of the bed curtain and handed in a bowl, along with two dried red dates.

Song Luo Ning was taken aback.

"I found the jujube in the medicine, but I've already washed it clean. If the medicine is too bitter, eating one will help," Xiao Yu said.

Song Luoning had been taking medicine since she was a child, and she was used to even the bitterest medicine. When she was little, the nanny around her would give her a piece of candy after she finished taking her medicine. As she grew up, she no longer needed candy when taking medicine.

Song Luoning looked at the two dry dates in her hand, lowered her eyelids, and concealed the emotion in her eyes.

Actually, she was very afraid of bitterness and didn't want to drink any medicine. However, she drank the bitter medicine so that the people around her wouldn't worry.

"What are you standing there for? Drink it quickly, it will taste even more bitter when it gets cold," Xiao Yu couldn't help but urge.

Song Luoning glanced at the black medicinal liquid, then drank half a bowl of it in one gulp. She ate a jujube, which was sweet and quickly replaced the bitterness of the medicine.

His furrowed brows slowly relaxed, but his heart was filled with more doubt.

Considering that she was still sick, Xiao Yu put away the bowl, said "Get some rest" and left the house.

After returning home, I lay on the floor, but I couldn't fall asleep. My mind was filled with the experiences of the past few days, and the words of the female doctor from today kept echoing in my head.

If Song Luoning's health had been poor before, why didn't she feel anything except for coughing a few days ago?

Could it be because of the cough syrup provided by the system?

When Song Luoning first arrived, she did cough constantly, but after I gave her cough syrup, the frequency of her coughing decreased.

At the time, I just thought that the young lady was delicate and didn't take it seriously. Later, when the cough syrup ran out, Song Luoning's illness relapsed, which shows that the cough syrup was effective for Song Luoning's illness.

Since the medicine in this world has no effect on Song Luoning, can she obtain medicine through system rewards? However, since the rewards are random, is there any way to get the one she wants?

Moreover, the system hasn't issued any tasks these past two days, keeping things quiet. If it weren't for Song Luoning's illness, she would have almost forgotten that she had a system with her.

Putting the rewards aside for now, the most important thing right now is to figure out under what circumstances the system task can be triggered.

Xiao Yu mentally reviewed the system tasks twice. The first was a purchasing task, for which the system rewarded her with a bottle of cough syrup. The second was a task to start a family and build a career, for which the system rewarded her with a bowl of medicinal porridge.

What is the connection between these two tasks?

Xiao Yu racked his brains but could only think of two rewards that were related to medicine; he had no other clues.

The only hope is that a new quest will be triggered soon to determine if the rewards are always related to medicine.

For the next two days, Xiao Yu did nothing but think about how to trigger the system task and went to the fields to plow the land. At noon, he would rush back to cook and brew medicine for Song Luoning. Finally, on the third day, he finished plowing all the land.

The little girl came again with the two men. This time, the two men were carrying a bamboo pole that could be held with both hands. One end of the bamboo pole was sharpened, and each of them had a basket hanging from their waist.

The little girl saw Xiao Yu and handed her a bamboo pole and a basket. The basket contained rice seeds. Xiao Yu followed behind the two people and imitated their actions, using the tip of the bamboo pole to poke holes in the ground one by one in a straight line, and then taking a handful of rice seeds from the basket and scattering three seeds in each hole.

This process requires a lot of skill and practice. Once you're skilled, it's quick to do. The three of them completed this step in half a day.

Finally, all that was left was to cover it with soil. One of the men took a machete and cut a branch with tender buds nearby. He dragged it back and forth in the field, and the hole that had just been poked with the bamboo pole was covered with soil again.

Immediately afterwards, a line of text appeared in his mind: "Congratulations to the host for completing the seeding task. The system will randomly reward you with a bottle of Qi-replenishing pills."

Then a white porcelain bottle appeared in the void.

? !

Xiao Yu was stunned, then her face lit up with surprise. She had actually triggered a system task. Although she didn't know the effects of this Qi-boosting pill, she knew from the name that it was for nourishing the body.

She couldn't wait to open the instruction manual next to the porcelain bottle and start reading.

Dosage instructions: 100 capsules, one capsule per day.

Suitable for: Everyone.

Efficacy: Nourishes Qi and blood.

The effect is similar to that prescribed by the female doctor at Ming Shan Tang, so perhaps she should go to Ming Shan Tang again.

Now that the rice planting was finished, Xiao Yu had no reason to stay in the fields. After saying goodbye to the little girl, he hurriedly returned home.

Song Luoning was sitting by the window. When she saw her return, she put down the storybook in her hand, stood up to greet her, and her spirits had improved significantly after taking the medicine these past two days.

"My lord, you've returned earlier than usual today. Is something the matter?"

"Mm." Xiao Yu responded, walked to the sink to wash her hands, and dried them with a towel. "I'm going to the county town later. Is there anything you want?"

Go to the county town?

Song Luoning was wary; she had never heard her mention what she was going to the county town for before.

Is she still planning to sell herself?

Song Luoning lowered her eyes.

The "consideration" I've shown these past two days has almost made me forget the true nature of the person in front of me.

That's right. Three hundred taels is no small sum. She didn't believe that scoundrel would spend three hundred taels on her for no reason.

This person loves money the most; she has seen how her eyes light up when she sees money.

It seems suspicious that someone would spend three hundred taels of silver on themselves and then "do their best without complaint" to take care of them.

Is there no more room for pretense?

Seeing that she remained silent for a long time, Xiao Yu assumed that she was embarrassed to ask for it, and said while putting the saddle on the horse, "Then I'll take care of it myself."

I never expected that the young lady could be shy.

Song Luoning didn't speak, just stood there. Her porcelain-white skin glowed in the sunlight, but it had a sickly look that made people feel sorry for her.

"I'm leaving." Xiao Yu led the horse out. Today she was going to the county town alone, so she didn't use a carriage. Besides, riding a horse would be faster.

Song Luoning's gaze passed over the low wall, and her slender figure leaped onto the horse's back. The horse's hooves made a "clattering" sound, and her figure gradually disappeared into the distance.