Chapter 36 Chapter 36

Jia Guoye raised two fingers.

"Tap, tap, tap..."

He knocked on the door slowly and unhurriedly.

?

Jia Guoye was a little confused.

Usually at this time, Xiaorui would already be standing behind the door.

Hasn't she gotten up yet? He thought.

......

In the past, Jia Guoye would carry keys with him when he went out.

But these few days, he tried to knock on the door first, and after finding that Jia Yourui would open the door for him every time, he got used to not carrying keys.

Imagine, after knocking on the door a few times, you can see a smiling little pink face, welcoming you into the house, and speaking softly to you, who would be willing to carry keys?

Even if Jia Guoye carried keys before, he pretended not to, but today he really didn't carry them.

He knocked on the door again, thinking that if there was still no response, he would climb over the wall and enter the house.

...

With a "click", the courtyard door was opened.

Seeing Jia Yourui, Jia Guoye was startled.

The delicate Xiaorui had become a little sloppy.

The little face that used to be as beautiful as a pear blossom had now become gray, with several black marks prominently imprinted on Xiaorui's originally pink and tender face, and a pair of flawless jade hands had also become black.

It was as if a little white cat had dug into the firewood pile, and the soft and clean white steamed buns that had just come out of the cage fell into the stove ashes.

Jia Yourui looked apologetic: "I'm sorry, I was in the kitchen just now and didn't hear you knocking on the door."

Jia Guoye was about to say it was okay, but soon, he frowned, looked at Jia Yourui, and asked in disbelief: "Kitchen?"

Jia Yourui nodded. She probably didn't know that her face was dirty now, so she looked up at Jia Guoye without covering it.

Guilt was revealed in her evasive eyes. Jia Yourui twisted her fingers and said embarrassedly, "I was idle and had nothing to do, so I went to the kitchen to see what I could do. I wanted to light the fire in the stove."

"But."

She rubbed the back of her hand, her little face full of regret, and her watery eyes looked at him helplessly, "I tried several times, but I couldn't light the firewood. It's really strange."

Jia Guoye didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Her little face, coupled with her aggrieved look, was so cute that people wanted to laugh and pinch her.

He put the farm tools against the wall, nodded seriously, and said, "Okay, I'll go and take a look."

Jia Yourui followed him and they went into the kitchen.

......

The pile of firewood that he had originally arranged neatly became a little messy, the axe was thrown on the ground, straw, matches and unevenly chopped firewood were scattered around the stove, and the wood chips and wood bark from the chopped firewood were scattered all over the place.

...

Jia Guoye raised his eyebrows, which was completely within his expectations.

He chuckled, not annoyed at all. He

was just extremely grateful that the little girl did not hurt her hands.

Jia Guoye turned his head to look at Jia Yourui and asked, "Did you chopped the firewood?"

Jia Yourui's watery eyes were shy and timid, obviously knowing that she seemed to have made things worse.

She nodded gently and said in a low voice, "Yeah."

Jia Guoye lied with his eyes open and praised, "You did a good job. It saved me time. Thank you."

Really?

Jia Yourui's eyes lit up, and she, who was originally depressed, suddenly became happy.

"And that one."

She stretched out her hand, and her originally white and tender fingers were pitifully stained by the dust.

Jia Yourui pointed at the winter melon on the chopping board, looked at him, and said as if to take credit, "I cut it." Jia Guoye

walked up, looked at it carefully for a few times, looked up and said to her, "It was cut very well."

This sentence was sincere.

Jia Yourui laughed: "Because it's very simple."

She stuck out her tongue in her heart, so as not to say that she cut it carefully for a long time.

...

Jia Guoye looked at her proud look and felt very happy.

He said, "You go and have a rest. I'll do the rest. I'll call you when the meal is ready."

"Wait."

Jia Yourui shook her head. "Show me how to light a fire."

She tilted her head, frowned, and looked very confused. "Why can't I light the firewood?"

Anyway, Jia Guoye coaxed her anyway.

"Okay." He said.

Jia Guoye squatted beside her and took out the firewood she put into the stove.

He said to Jia Yourui, "You chopped it well, but you need to chop it a little finer."

As he said that, Jia Guoye picked up the axe and put the firewood on the big wooden block specially used for chopping firewood.

"Oh."

Jia Yourui nodded, showing a look of understanding.

She vaguely remembered that her mother used to chop the firewood first when she lit a fire to cook.

Jia Guoye chopped the wood with great vigor and energy, two points, four points...

He put down the axe and picked up the chopped firewood.

"Can I try?" Jia Yourui asked excitedly.

Jia Guoye looked back at her, her eyes sparkling.

"Okay, you do it." He made way and whispered, "Be careful with your hands."

"Yeah."

Jia Yourui nodded.

She couldn't wait to lift the axe, aim at the firewood, and chop it down.

"Pah."

The firewood rolled, and she completely chopped the wooden block.

?

Jia Yourui looked back at Jia Guoye aggrievedly, as if she was bullied by the firewood, and said innocently, "It ran away."

"Yeah." Jia Guoye raised the corners of his mouth slightly.

"You have to do this."

He took the axe from her hand, and their hands touched for a moment.

Jia Guoye demonstrated, holding the firewood in one hand and the axe in the other, and put the firewood on the wooden block.

"Aim at the center of the wood and chop it down." Jia Guoye said, "Be quick."

With one swipe of the axe, a piece of firewood was split into two halves.

Jia Yourui felt strange. She did the same thing, so why did the firewood roll?

Jia Guoye estimated that she was not strong enough, so he took another piece of firewood and continued to demonstrate.

He restrained his strength and chopped it lightly, saying, "If the axe is embedded in the firewood, you don't need to pull it out, just chop it together."

"Snap!"

The firewood was split into two halves again.

Jia Yourui became interested again.

Jia Guoye looked at her and asked, "Do you want to try again?"

"Yes,"

she answered immediately, and then took the axe from Jia Guoye's hand, followed the movements he taught, held her breath and concentrated, and actually succeeded in splitting a piece of firewood in half.

"Look."

She turned back to look at Jia Guoye, very happy and proud: "I can do it."

"Yeah." He nodded and praised: "Very good."

Jia Yourui split the whole log into four small pieces in one go. Although she could not split the firewood into smaller pieces like Jia Guoye for the time being, the huge sense of achievement had already overwhelmed her.

Jia Guoye lit a match, lit a small handful of straw, put it into the furnace, and then put the thin wood strips into the fire with a pair of flints.

Soon, the fire grew bigger and bigger, and thicker firewood could be added.

The fire burned steadily.

Jia Yourui thought back to her previous fumbling and wondered why it couldn't be lit.

Jia Guoye: "You go and have a rest, I'll cook."

"Okay."

Jia Yourui was in a good mood because she understood the process of burning a fire.

She nodded with satisfaction.

Jia Guoye looked at her dirty face.

"Come in." He said gently.

...

Jia Yourui washed her hands and walked back to the room briskly.

?

Seeing the mirror, she was stunned.