The bright sun shines through the small wooden window, and the stove is bright. In the pot, crucian carp and tofu soup is stewing, and white steam is rising. The delicious smell is so tempting.

Bao Ning sits on the edge of the stove, with Ah Huang lying at her feet. She uses a small wooden stick to tease the leeches in the pot. When she just killed the fish, she collected some blood and scooped a little into the pot with a small spoon. The fat leech smelled the smell and poked its head out, twisted its butt, and sucked up all the blood.

After a night, after eating two egg yolks, its stomach seems to be much bigger. Bao Ning sees it now. It is no longer as scared as before, and is in the mood to tease it a bit.

The leech is not full, and it raises its head and opens its mouth, wanting more.

Its mouth was like a disc, with saw-like teeth in a circle, and its gills were bulging. Baoning dripped two more drops of blood into it, just like dripping into a large vat, and it was gone in a blink of an eye. Baoning

looked at the little fish blood left with distress, and coaxed it, "Eat it sparingly, I'll give it to you next time."

It was unwilling, still opening its mouth wide and waiting. Baoning hesitated for a moment, thinking whether it had eggs or whether to give it all. The leech closed its mouth in satisfaction, turned its fat body, and burrowed into the mud again.

Baoning closed the lid.

Listening carefully, there was the sound of chopping wood outside.

Baoning walked out and leaned against the door, and saw Pei Yuan's back. He was sitting there chopping wood with his upper body naked. It was a good day today. He was sweating under the sun, and his strong shoulders and back were shining, as if they were covered with oil. His

waistline was tight and extended downwards, blocked by the waistband of his pants, and his spine was a concave line.

As he moved, his back muscles stretched and relaxed, full of strength.

Baoning remembered what Pei Yuan said to her in the east room at that time: "You can trust me, anytime."

She was really a person who was easily soft-hearted. When Pei Yuan said that, she was moved and felt sour and numb in her heart, but after a while, when she calmed down, she thought of something else.

Did Pei Yuan treat her well? Baoning couldn't tell.

It was not very good. He has such a bad temper, and he has said hurtful things more than once or twice. He doesn't care much about her on weekdays. He teases her when he is happy, and ignores her when he is unhappy.

But when she is in danger, he will protect her. This kind of strong protection is something she has never encountered before. Ji Lin was too young to protect her, and her father was weak, so he couldn't protect her even more. Meeting Pei Yuan was an exception.

Bao Ning recalled what her original intention was to marry Pei Yuan. She hoped to have a quiet little place, raise chickens, grow vegetables, and live a comfortable life.

But time and again, it was Pei Yuan who brought her into the storm. The peace she expected had actually been broken long ago. But she never thought about leaving.

Maybe it was the sense of responsibility hidden in her heart that was at work.

Bao Ning always thought that since she accepted this marriage and Pei Yuan, she would accept the good and the bad. She would accompany him and let him become what he wanted to be. She hoped that Pei Yuan could be healthy and his leg injury would heal quickly. They would support each other and live a stable life.

At that time, she didn't think about asking for more. She didn't think that one day in the future, Pei Yuan would become her support, a trustworthy existence. Just like Auntie and Ji Lin, she could believe without reservation that they would treat her well and always stand firmly by her side.

But now, she has become greedy, and she hopes that Pei Yuan can treat her like this.

Bao Ning has always wanted to live soberly, but now she is getting more and more confused. She doesn't know what to do.

The chickens in the yard were running around, and Bao Ning's eyes were attracted. A red-haired rooster was eating peanuts. It used its sharp beak to gently crack the peanut shells twice, but it did not eat them. It flapped its wings and clucked. In the blink of an eye, a gray-haired hen came out of the chicken coop, came to its side, touched its head affectionately, and ate two peanuts on the ground.

Bao Ning felt sour in her heart.

She felt envious. She wanted to eat too.

…

"The soup is burnt." Pei Yuan walked to her side without knowing when, stroked her hair, frowned, and said, "What are you daydreaming about again."

Bao Ning was startled, and then she smelled a faint smell of burning at the tip of her nose, and hurriedly ran into the house.

Ah Huang was spinning around in place, chasing his tail and licking it. It dozed off, and the tip of its tail was stuck in the stove, catching fire. Ah Huang was a common little dog, with yellow hair, only four small paws and the tip of its tail were white. Now its tail was burnt and black.

It stared at Bao Ning, feeling very aggrieved.

Bao Ning felt sorry for it, bent over to hug it, and coaxed it with her face close to its face: "Don't cry, don't cry, I'll give you another bowl of rice

later." Ah Huang wagged its tail at her. Pei Yuan said: "Don't be too nice to it. If you treat it like this, it will disobey you in the future. Dogs have a sense of territory. You should tell it when it is young that you are the master."

Bao Ning knew that what he said made sense, but he didn't like it, so he didn't answer. He just put Ah Huang down, washed his hands, and went to see the crucian carp in the pot.

"Take a break. We'll have dinner in a quarter of an hour."

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

"It's better to rest quietly..." Bao Ning didn't look back, and scooped a spoonful of soup to test the saltiness. "The female leech is about to give birth. In a month at most, we can try to detoxify it."

She paused and thought positively, "It will definitely work."

Pei Yuan put his arm around her waist from the side, and whispered in a low voice, "What if it doesn't work?"

Bao Ning paused, half because of his question and half because of the intimate gesture. Pei Yuan stood diagonally, Bao Ning's ear was against his shoulder, and she could feel his body temperature.

He was not wearing clothes...

Bao Ning suppressed the strangeness in her heart and whispered, "Don't say sad words."

Pei Yuan chuckled. He stopped talking about that topic and turned to look at her soup: "Is it salty?"

"Just right." Baoning blew on the half of the soup left in the spoon and asked, "Do you want to taste it?"

Pei Yuan said "hmm", took the long handle from her hand, drank a sip, and praised her: "It tastes good."

Baoning smiled and turned to get the dishes from the shelf.

Pei Yuan licked his lips with the tip of his tongue. The fragrance of her hair seemed to still linger on his nose. Staring at her petite figure busying around, Pei Yuan took a step and took her bowl: "Do you want to wash it?"

"Just rinse it with water." Baoning was surprised. Pei Yuan was very abnormal today. He never cared about these things before, but today he had to help her do these trivial tasks. Chopping wood and washing dishes.

Pei Yuan washed the bowl and put it on the stove, watching Bao Ning pour soup and rice and get the lunch box.

He stopped her and asked, "What are you doing with that?"

Bao Ning said, "The bowl is too hot, I can't hold it, so I use that."

"No." Pei Yuan frowned, "It's like serving food in the kitchen." He moved the table and put it away. He turned back to meet Bao Ning's blank eyes and raised his eyebrows: "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Bao Ning asked: "Are you going to eat in my room?"

"What else?" Pei Yuan approached her and pinched her earlobe when she wasn't paying attention. Bao Ning screamed "Ah", and hurriedly dodged, twisting her neck and gasping in pain.

Pei Yuan massaged her: "Wait until after dinner, I'll massage you." Bao Ning agreed in great pain.

This was the first time they ate at the same table.

He was very different today. He sat opposite her with his bare chest and focused on eating. Bao Ning served him soup, and he didn't mind the heat. He blew on it twice and gulped it all down.

"Hey, there are thorns!" Baoning tried to stop him, but failed.

Pei Yuan moved his tongue and spit out a thorn: "Swallow the rest." He raised his eyes: "You won't die, will you?"

Baoning asked: "Do you think your throat is stuck?"

Pei Yuan swallowed a mouthful of rice: "No, it's fine." He picked up a piece of tofu with chopsticks and gave it to her, "Eat more, you're as thin as a kitten."

"Oh." Baoning looked down at the tender tofu in the bowl, then raised his eyes to look at Pei Yuan's face.

He ate quickly, sweat on his forehead. He looked casual and natural, like an ordinary man eating a table of home-cooked meals.

In a trance, Baoning felt that he was no longer so high and mighty, as if he had fallen into the mortal world and was contaminated by the world. In the past, they got along closely, but there always seemed to be a gap between them.

Pei Yuan finished his bowl quickly and was about to get more. Bao Ning stretched out his hand and said, "I'll help you."

"You eat yours." Pei Yuan reached for his cane, "I'll go get some clothes." He took two steps, turned back, and looked a little confused: "Where did I take off my clothes?"

Bao Ning said, "It's in the firewood pile, hanging on the hook on the wall."

Pei Yuan responded and went out. He came back a few minutes later, his clothes were already on, and he was holding something else in his hand. It was a wooden board and a cloth belt connected together, with a strange shape, and he didn't recognize it.

"What is this?"

Bao Ning looked over and remembered that she had made a walker for Pei Yuan. She had finished half of it yesterday, but when she was drilling holes in the wooden board, she couldn't get it through. She wanted to ask Pei Yuan for help, but she met the thief.

She was in a hurry and threw the things on the ground. She was in a panic all night and forgot about it today.

"Good stuff." Bao Ning swallowed the food in her mouth, unable to find words to describe it, and said vaguely, "It will be ready tomorrow. I'll show it to you. It may be a surprise."

She actually had no confidence in this thing, and did not dare to promise Pei Yuan too much, fearing that he would be disappointed.

Pei Yuan did not think much about it, put it aside for her, and went back to continue eating. Silence again.

Bao Ning slowly picked the fish bones for Ah Huang. The crucian carp bones were soft and thin, and it was very difficult to do it, but thinking that Ah Huang would be frightened, Bao Ning still wanted to make something delicious for it.

She was busy and heard a voice from the other side: "You have never treated me like this."

...Compared with a dog. Bao Ning choked and asked him: "Am I not treating you well?"

Pei Yuan thought for a while: "Very well." Bao Ning pursed her lips.

"But I don't treat you well enough."

Bao Ning was surprised and looked up at him. Pei Yuan leaned his elbows on the table, sat sideways, and stared at her with a pair of dark eyes. Bao Ning's heart shrank and she heard him say:

"Baoning, I know what you are thinking."

Pei Yuan paused: "I have never lived that kind of life. I have never seen an ordinary couple, and I don't know how to get along with each other. You teach me, okay?"

He took her hand, put it under his lips, and kissed it lightly.