Chen Yan also smelled it, stopped what he was doing, swallowed, and nodded.
After the meat porridge was cooked, Jiang Chan first served a bowl to Xiao Tao.
She filled another bowl and carried it to the next room.
"Aunt Zhou." Jiang Chan handed the bowl to Zhou Shi, who was looking around curiously, with a blank expression. "I cooked some wild vegetable porridge and added some minced meat that I had saved up before. It tastes alright. You can try it."
"Oh dear! I can't accept this..." Zhou looked at the tempting porridge and meat slices in the bowl, declining with her mouth, but her eyes couldn't look away.
"It's just a small token of my appreciation, Auntie, please don't be shy." Jiang Chan placed the bowl in Zhou's hands, but turned her gaze to Chen Yan and asked casually, "This gentleman looks kind. It's fate that we've met twice on the road. I haven't yet asked you what your name is?" She stared intently into his eyes.
During our last casual chat, I only mentioned that my surname was Chen.
Chen Yan suppressed the strange feeling in his heart, "My name is Chen Yan."
Chen Yan!
This name struck Jiang Chan like a thunderbolt!
Chen Yan!
It really is him!
The male protagonist in the original book is a "jinx" with an aura of "getting close means certain death"!
I see!
No wonder only he and I didn't lose our memories!
Jiang Chan felt a mix of emotions.
"Miss Jiang? What's wrong?" Chen Yan keenly noticed the fleeting, extremely complex shock in her eyes when she heard his name!
Although she tried to hide it quickly, she couldn't fool him.
"Oh, it's nothing, I just suddenly thought of something else..." Jiang Chan quickly regained her composure, suppressing her turbulent emotions, and tried to keep her tone calm. "So it's Brother Chen, nice to meet you. I won't bother you any longer..."
After saying that, he turned and left, his movements somewhat stiff.
"Thank you for the porridge, Miss Jiang." Chen Yan looked at Jiang Chan deeply and thanked her.
Jiang Chan returned to her room, closed the door, and leaned against it, her heart still pounding wildly.
Chen Yan! It really is the male lead! All the clues suddenly made sense!
The system only triggers the mission when you get close to him because he is the "protagonist" of this world and the core node of the entire plot!
Some missions may very well be the key events in the original work that revolve around the male protagonist and lead to the death of those who get close!
No wonder those who got close to the male protagonist died so strangely and tragically... Was the decapitation mentioned in the book due to the failure to complete the "courier mission"?
It was only because he possessed a spatial dimension and a system that he managed to break through and ultimately reverse the outcome!
That 100 jin of pork… Jiang Chan’s lips twitched.
This reward is a "passing bonus," no, it's "risking your life for money"!
Damn system! It almost killed her!
She subconsciously touched her abdomen and waist and legs, as if she could still feel the extreme exhaustion from those few hours.
Immediately, another, more practical worry came to mind.
100 jin (50 catties) of fresh pork!
How are we supposed to eat it if it's piled up in a corner?
Sneaking around and eating raw meat slices? Too fishy!
Now that we live in the same courtyard as Chen Yan and Zhou Shi, we can't cook braised pork or twice-cooked pork at all!
Send them away? Chen Yan is cunning as a devil; he'll definitely become suspicious!
Jiang Chan scratched her hair in frustration.
This sweet burden is really giving me a headache!
The mountain of fresh pork had become her biggest worry and... happy trouble at that moment!
...
Jiang Chan took Xiao Tao to the river to fetch water to replenish their supplies.
Near the riverbank, the atmosphere was unusually oppressive.
The old woman, Widow Wang, and several emaciated villagers squatted by the river, gazing at the water that had clearly become shallower, silently wiping away their tears.
"The river water... has decreased again..."
"No matter how much water we give the seedlings, it's no use... This year... I'm afraid there's no hope..."
“If it’s like this again next year…we’ll have to…flee the famine…” an old man choked up, his turbid tears streaming down his deep wrinkles.
A feeling of despair spread like icy river water.
The crowd remained silent, with only suppressed sobs and the low murmur of the river.
Jiang Chan pulled Xiao Tao along quietly to the shallow water, squatted down, and used a clay pot to fetch water.
Her movements were out of place with the somber atmosphere, appearing calm and detached.
The river water was murky and carried the smell of mud.
Hearing the desperate whispers in her ear, her heart felt like it was being submerged in ice water. In this messed-up world, struggling seemed pointless.
Just then!
[Ding!]
That cold, emotionless electronic voice, like a leech, echoed once again deep within her mind!
The tasks on the system panel remain unchanged.
Drought-resistant seeds... 10 jin (5 catties)...
Even if the system didn't display the penalty for failure this time, she knew that she might just be crushed to death in the mine pit...
Jiang Chan clenched her fists tightly at her sides! Her nails dug fiercely into her palms!
She really wanted to yell at the rubbish in her head, "Get out!"
But the river's wailing, the villagers' desperate sobs... everything felt like heavy shackles.
She took a deep breath, the icy river water filling her nostrils with a bitter taste.
The urge to say "yes" churned within me.
For those 10 kilograms... of seeds that might not even be useful? Or simply because... I don't want to see these tears of despair anymore?
When did I become so kind?
Thoughts swirled... and finally...
"Xiao Tao," she said hoarsely, "the water is ready, let's go back first."
Back at the Zhang family courtyard, Chen Yan and Zhou Shi seemed to have gone out, and the courtyard was quiet.
Jiang Chan settled Xiao Tao down, "Sister is a little tired, lie down for a while."
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