Upon opening it, I found two sets of clothes made of decent fabric, including even underwear.
Then Jiang Xingzhou brought a bucket of boiled water from the kitchen.
"Wipe yourself off inside. Ah Yi and I will wait for you outside. Come out when you're done." With that, she pulled Jiang Jingyi out of the inner room and closed the door behind them.
Jiang Hua looked at the still steaming water. She had worked up a sweat while gathering herbs on the mountain today. After thinking about it, she decided to just soak in the spiritual spring water in her space. She still felt sticky after wiping herself down.
"Master, you've come in." The little white snake saw Jiang Hua appear in the space and quickly crawled over happily.
"You go inside first, I want to take a bath," Jiang Hua said, glancing at the little white snake.
After she finished her bath, she felt much lighter. When she got out of the pool, the water had automatically been replaced.
After putting on the clothes Jiang Xingzhou had bought, she left the space and opened the door to the inner room.
"How is it? Does the clothes fit?" Jiang Xingzhou stepped forward and asked.
"Perfect." Jiang Hua nodded, and the wooden bucket she was carrying was taken by Jiang Xingzhou.
While Jiang Xingzhou was helping Jiang Jingyi take a bath, Jiang Hua moved a stool to the yard to look at the stars. It was still early; in modern times, it would only be eight o'clock in the evening.
Jiang Xingzhou's house was at the end of the village, where there were not many other houses nearby, so it was quite quiet.
After sitting in the courtyard for an unknown amount of time, Jiang Xingzhou came out from the inner room, moved a stool, and sat down next to her.
"Is Ayi asleep?" Jiang Hua glanced at Jiang Xingzhou, then looked away and asked.
“They’re already asleep,” Jiang Xingzhou said. “The bed is made up. You sleep on the inside, and A-Yi will sleep in the middle.”
As if remembering something, Jiang Xingzhou added, "Don't worry, I won't do anything to you."
"Okay," Jiang Hua nodded, "I'll earn money and pay you back."
“No need. We each get what we need. Ayi needs a mother. I just hope you will take good care of him in the future. I will protect you.” Jiang Xingzhou said after a moment of silence.
"I will."
As he said, everyone gets what they need. As for Jiang Jingyi, according to that damn system, his identity must be extraordinary.
Jiang Xingzhou was even more so; the two were said to be father and son, yet they didn't resemble each other at all in their eyes or eyebrows.
Jiang Xingzhou didn't stand there for long before going back inside. No sooner had he gone in than the system on Jiang Hua's body started beeping again.
"Did you know that because you rejected the male lead today, the relationship between the male and female leads has taken another step forward?"
"Thanks to you, you vicious female supporting character, but how can you be so ungrateful?"
Jiang Hua: "Hmm?"
"Didn't you see the male lead's hands? He was covered in wounds from making the hairpin for you by hand. Doesn't it hurt you?" the system asked with a hint of reproach.
"What does this have to do with me? Why should I feel sorry for you?" Jiang Hua sneered and retorted.
"Don't you like him?" The system belatedly realized and asked in alarm, "Could it be that you like Jiang Xingzhou?"
"You can't like Jiang Xingzhou. How could you, a vicious supporting character, even dream of him?"
"He belongs to my heroine!" the system said indignantly.
"You'd better give up that little thought you're having. Everyone in the book is there to serve the female lead!"
"If you keep doing this, I'm going to punish you!"
"Oh, really? I don't believe it," Jiang Hua replied nonchalantly, letting it ramble on in her mind.
"Then I'll teach you a lesson!"
Upon hearing the dog system's words, the little white snake in Jiang Hua's space began to stir.
The next second, Jiang Hua felt a tingling sensation from the electric current through her fingertips, but it ended before it even began.
The electric shock punishment that the dog system supposedly imposed has all been stored in the space by the little white snake.
Seeing that she was stunned and didn't speak, the dog system assumed that Jiang Hua was stunned by the lightning it had released.
"Now you know how powerful I am, right? This time I only used one-tenth of my power, but next time I won't hold back so much."
The system's smug voice rang in Jiang Hua's ears once again.
"It's late, come in and sleep," Jiang Xingzhou said as he came out of the house.
"Okay," Jiang Hua replied, then turned and followed him inside.
"What happened? What's wrong with you? How come you're perfectly fine?"
Even after Jiang Hua lay down on the bed, the system was still shouting desperately in her mind.
However, Jiang Hua ignored it and automatically blocked its incessant chatter.
Without the torment of the Xu family, Jiang Hua slept soundly through the night. However, following her biological clock from her previous life, she woke up at five o'clock.
Jiang Jingyi was still asleep beside him, but Jiang Xingzhou had already disappeared.
Jiang Hua got out of bed quietly.
"Why don't you feel anything?" The system's nagging voice rang out again.
"This system is really persistent," Jiang Hua thought to herself, shaking her head inwardly.
Why are you awake?
Just as he stepped out of the inner room, Jiang Xingzhou's voice came from the courtyard.
"I'm used to it." Jiang Hua leaned against the door frame, watching him practice swordsmanship in the courtyard.
Watching Jiang Xingzhou wield his longsword with ease, Jiang Hua felt a little eager to try it herself.
But I held back.
A quarter of an hour later, Jiang Xingzhou sheathed his sword and walked towards her.
"Are you hungry? I'll make breakfast."
"I'll do it," Jiang Hua said, remembering the undercooked rice from last night.
"Then I'll go check out the game traps on the mountain. I'll be back later. You and A-Yi wait for me at home." Jiang Xingzhou didn't insist.
As dawn broke and the thick fog had not yet dissipated, Jiang Hua watched Jiang Xingzhou's figure disappear into the swirling mist ahead.
Jiang Hua picked up the tinderbox on the table, lit the candle that had gone out last night, and turned to go to the kitchen.
Among the vegetables Jiang Xingzhou bought from town yesterday, there were still a few scallions left; resources at home are limited.
Jiang Hua grabbed two handfuls of rice, cooked a pot of thin porridge, and then made a few scallion and egg pancakes.
By the time I finished and put the egg pancakes in the pan to heat up, it was already dawn.
Suddenly, Jiang Hua heard a faint crying sound coming from the inner room.
"Father!"
When Jiang Hua entered the inner room, Jiang Jingyi was sitting on the bed crying, his eyes red.
Seeing her walk in, he immediately climbed off the bed and hugged her tightly.
"stepmother!"
"Sweetie, your stepmother is here, don't cry."
Jiang Hua was momentarily stunned by his sudden embrace, but quickly recovered, reached out to wipe away the tears from the corners of his eyes, and gently comforted him.
"Go wash up first, your dad will be back soon," Jiang Hua coaxed.
Once he was sure Jiang Hua was still there and hadn't left, Jiang Jingyi felt relieved and took the face towel hanging in the inner room to the courtyard to wash up.
Sure enough, after Jiang Jingyi finished washing up, Jiang Xingzhou returned from Black Wind Mountain, carrying two plump wild pheasants.
"Ayi just finished washing up. Go wash your hands first, and we'll have breakfast together in a bit." Jiang Hua went into the kitchen and brought out the breakfast she had prepared.
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