"Where is A-Yi's mother?" Jiang Hua asked casually.
“He died after giving birth to him,” Jiang Xingzhou replied.
His tone involuntarily turned cold, and Jiang Hua did not miss the fleeting murderous intent in his eyes.
"So compared to people his age, he's a bit more simple-minded. He lost his mother at a young age, which is why he's so attached to you and hopes you'll reciprocate his feelings," Jiang Xingzhou added.
“Ayi is very cute, and I like him a lot,” Jiang Hua said. “Besides, it’s great to be a mother without pain.”
"Painless motherhood?" Jiang Xingzhou was taken aback at first, then realized what the words meant.
An hour passed in the blink of an eye. Jiang Hua got up and lifted the lid of the pot to take a look. The pork offal was cooked, and a fragrant aroma of braised meat wafted out. Even Jiang Xingzhou, who was standing next to her, couldn't help but look at the steaming pot in surprise.
"That's enough, no need to add more firewood. Just burn this much." Jiang Hua said, stirring the pot with a spoon.
"It's late, let's go back to sleep." Jiang Hua put the lid back on and looked at Jiang Xingzhou.
The two walked out of the kitchen together. It was pitch black all around, with the occasional bark of a dog in the distance. The night air was particularly chilly.
Upon entering the inner room, Jiang Jingyi was already fast asleep. The space inside was empty, so Jiang Hua got into bed, covered herself with the blanket, and then the candles in the room were extinguished.
The room suddenly darkened, with only moonlight streaming in through the window. Jiang Hua closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep...
The next day, Jiang Hua was awakened by her biological clock, which was ingrained in her bones. She had just gotten out of bed and hadn't even opened the door to the inner room when she heard the sound of Jiang Xingzhou wielding his sword in the courtyard.
Upon going outside, Jiang Hua saw that the man's figure was elusive, and the sword in his hand seemed to be alive. He moved with agility and speed, and Jiang Hua was so impressed that she wanted to go up and ask him for advice.
"Why are you up so early?" Upon seeing Jiang Hua come out, Jiang Xingzhou immediately sheathed his sword and stepped forward to ask.
“I’m used to it. Getting up and walking around is good for my health.” Jiang Hua thought for a moment and then asked, “Could you teach me the moves you just used?”
"Teach you?" Jiang Xingzhou looked at Jiang Hua suspiciously, wondering if he had misheard.
“Yes, is that okay?” Jiang Hua repeated.
It's okay if you don't agree. Just get up a little earlier and watch it a couple more times, and you'll remember it. Then you can practice on your social media when you have time.
"Okay." Jiang Xingzhou hesitated for a moment, but still agreed.
So, Jiang Hua would get up before dawn every day to practice swordsmanship with Jiang Xingzhou.
By the time Jiang Hua was drenched in sweat, it was already dawn. She threw down the bamboo stick in her hand, washed her face by the well, and went into the kitchen.
She removed the meat from the pheasant she killed last night and set it aside, intending to make chicken porridge today.
The kitchen originally had two stoves, but now one stove is occupied by braised pig offal, leaving only one. Jiang Hua then put the boneless pheasant meat into the pot of cold water to blanch it.
Taking advantage of Jiang Xingzhou's absence, Jiang Hua took out half a bowl of spiritual spring water from her spatial storage, diluted it with well water, and set it aside for later use.
"I'll go up the mountain to check if there are any prey in the traps," Jiang Xingzhou said as he walked in.
"no!"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Hua immediately objected, recalling what the system had said last night: if Jiang Xingzhou went up the mountain today, he would definitely be murdered by this damn system.
Jiang Hua was very satisfied that Jiang Xingzhou would always inform her before going out.
"What's wrong?" Hearing her confident tone, Jiang Xingzhou looked at her in confusion.
"I need your help now. The offal in the pot needs to be reheated. I'm making breakfast," Jiang Hua said.
"Okay." Jiang Xingzhou nodded in response and did not leave.
"Hey, what are you doing?" The system's angry voice rang in Jiang Hua's mind:
"Didn't you promise me yesterday that you'd cooperate with me? You really are a vicious supporting character! Do you want to steal my leading lady's man?!"
Jiang Hua acted as if she hadn't heard anything, her attention focused on the pheasant meat that was already cooked in the pot.
Seeing Jiang Hua's unyielding attitude, the system changed its usual cold and indifferent mechanical tone and said through gritted teeth, "I don't believe you can stop him from going up the mountain today!"
Jiang Hua ignored him and scooped the chicken out of the pot, then put it into the well water to cool it down.
He took a few more handfuls of rice from the rice bag, rinsed them, set up a new pot, put the rinsed rice in, and added the pre-diluted spiritual spring water to cook.
Then, peel the skin off the chicken that was soaking in cold water, shred the chicken into strips, and set it aside. He also took a piece of ginger from the vegetable basket, cut it into strips, and added it to the porridge later to remove any fishy smell.
The pig offal on Jiang Xingzhou's side was heated up again, and the aroma wafted out from the kitchen. Jiang Jingyi had also woken up at some point and was standing at the doorway.
"Father, stepmother, it smells so good!"
"Awake?" Jiang Xingzhou looked at Jiang Jingyi following the voice, and reached out his hand to him. The little guy ran over to him happily.
"Father, what are you and stepmother doing? I could smell it from the yard," Jiang Jingyi asked, leaning against his chest.
"The offal, it's the kind we bought from town yesterday. You said it smelled bad," Jiang Hua said.
By now, the rice in the pot had already cooked and bloomed. Jiang Hua poured in the shredded chicken. The wild pheasant had been deboned and its fat removed, and the remaining chicken meat was just enough to cook a pot of chicken porridge.
She added shredded ginger and then stirred the porridge in the pot with a spoon. Jiang Hua could smell the aroma of the porridge. The porridge, cooked with spiritual spring water, was especially fragrant.
After extinguishing the fire, Jiang Hua added an appropriate amount of salt, stirred it well, picked up a handkerchief, and carried the casserole away from the stove.
"Breakfast is ready," Jiang Hua said.
"I'll take it out," Jiang Xingzhou said, standing up.
"Okay." Jiang Hua took out a plate from the cabinet, scooped some offal from the pot, cut a little of each, arranged them on the plate, and finally poured on the braising sauce before serving it.
"Jiang Xingzhou, how do you like this braised pork offal?" Jiang Hua said, sitting down and looking at Jiang Xingzhou.
Jiang Xingzhou did not refuse, but picked up a piece of pig intestine and ate it. A hint of surprise flashed in his eyes, but he pretended to be calm and said, "It tastes good."
After thinking for a moment, he added, "It's delicious."
“Really? Father, I want to try it too!” Jiang Jingyi said quickly.
Jiang Xingzhou picked up a piece and put it in his bowl.
"Stepmother, what you made is so delicious! It's even better than the food at Mingyue Restaurant!" The little guy's mouth was full, and he didn't forget to praise it aloud.
"Eat more if you like it," Jiang Hua said with a smile.
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