To be fair, when Mu Yunchuan smiled, he gave people the feeling of being as gentle as jade, extremely warm, and having the demeanor of a modest gentleman. Even though Shen Cui knew that the gentle and harmless appearance was not his true face, it was difficult for her to feel any dislike for him.
But when the smile faded from his face, there was a hint of coldness on his face that made people afraid to approach him.
At that moment, Chen Cui seemed to see from his figure in coarse cloth robe that he would become a high-ranking official in the future, looking down on the world.
When Chen Cui came over, he did not try to hide himself, so Mu Yunchuan had already seen him out of the corner of his eye.
But he still washed his hands slowly, then looked down at the candy at his feet, a faint smile appeared on his lips, and he asked, "Why is mother like this? Have I done something wrong again? Mother wants to teach me a lesson?"
Only the original body who was ignorant of the immensity of the world would think that Mu Yunchuan was weak and easy to bully, but how could the current Chen Cui dare to do that?
And she wouldn't blame Mu Yunchuan for anything just for a piece of candy.
The candy was smelly to begin with, but he took it in front of everyone and didn't hurt the old woman's feelings. Naturally, it has to be dealt with after death. How to deal with it is his own business.
But for some reason, she always felt that the candy seemed to be thrown to her on purpose. After all, with Mu Yunchuan's tactfulness and meticulousness, he could have dealt with it calmly. There was no way he would have been so bold as to throw the candy here.
Chen Cui forced a smile, "Mrs. Zhou was so happy that she forgot to take your bowl and chopsticks. I came back to get them. You too, why did you throw the candy in the yard? It will attract rats and ants."
As she spoke, Shen Cui picked up the candy and threw it into the kitchen waste bin, then quickly washed her hands and took another set of bowls and chopsticks.
Mu Yunchuan followed her without saying a word.
Normally, she could finish the journey in the blink of an eye, but today, Chen Cui felt like a thorn in her back and had difficulty walking as she felt Mu Yunchuan's probing gaze from behind her.
After finally reaching the academy, Mu Erpang just came out.
Seeing him, Shen Cui breathed a sigh of relief and asked him with a smile: "It's time to eat, where are you going?"
Mu Erpang also smiled. When he heard his sister-in-law talk about his elder brother's return, his smile became brighter than usual. "I'm not going anywhere. I just saw that mom was slow to come, so I thought you couldn't get it, so I came to help."
After answering her question, Mu Erpang looked at Mu Yunchuan and gave him a scholar's salute in a proper manner.
Mu Yunchuan smiled gently and returned the greeting, "Hanshan has really made great progress now."
Before, he, like everyone else in the family, called Mu Erpang by his nickname, but now they have changed their way of addressing him, treating him as half an adult.
Without saying too much, Mu Erpang felt the meaning of his words and scratched his head with both happiness and embarrassment.
"Let's go, it's time for dinner." Chen Cui really didn't want to stay with Mu Yunchuan any longer, so she pulled Mu Erpang into the house.
Zhou had already placed the food on the table, including refreshing stir-fried vegetables, stewed meat with rich sauce, and a pot of fragrant tofu and bone soup. The staple food is steamed buns and pancakes made by Shen Cui.
Although Chen Cui's cooking level has been improved, it is still only level 1. The food she makes cannot be considered dark cuisine, but it also cannot be described as delicious.
The vegetable pancake was slightly larger than an adult man's palm, the crust was thick and thin, and the vegetables inside were distributed very unevenly.
Shen Cui had cut it with a kitchen knife before coming and divided it into six pieces.
After cutting it open, the various vegetables inside were mixed together softly, with some sticking out from the edges, making it look even more horrible.
Compared with the dishes that Zhou prepared with great care today, it looked particularly shabby.
Fortunately, this food was only for a few people in the academy, and they were all used to it.
It was the first time for Lao Buyu and Wei Xi to meet Mu Yunchuan, but they were familiar with his name.
The three of them greeted each other in turn and then took their seats.
There was not much time left for the daily tasks, so Chen Cui divided the cakes first - Lao Buyu, Mu Erpang, and Wei Xi each got one, and the remaining three were still on the plate.
After the three of them finished eating one after another, the system prompt [IQ of Training Subject No. 1 +1] appeared, and then Shen Cui started eating.
During meals, no one followed the rule of not talking while eating or sleeping. Everyone was talking and laughing, and before they knew it, they had finished eating.
Mu Yunchuan is back today, so Chen Cui will definitely not bring up any topics. Wei Xi doesn't have a good impression of Mu Yunchuan, so he was a little quieter than usual.
Lao Buyu and Mu Erpang were both perceptive, and seeing that they didn't say anything, they didn't say much.
Zhou was not a talkative person. She only occasionally used the serving chopsticks to pick up food for Mu Yunchuan and gently urged him to use more.
The meal was extremely quiet, with only the occasional clinking of chopsticks and dishes. When Shen Cui finished the first piece of cake and reached for the second, Mu Yunchuan pursed his lips and said softly, "I haven't seen mother cook before. I wonder if I can taste your cooking skills?"
Originally, no one was eating, so she was asked to be responsible for the bottom of the meal. Shen Cui generously pushed the plate in front of him.
After pushing it over, Mu Yunchuan picked up the vegetable cake with chopsticks and slowly began to eat it.
Just like how it looked, the taste of the baked vegetable cake was not as good as expected. It was messy and mushy and definitely not delicious.
Mu Yunchuan did not give any hypocritical compliments, but simply ate the whole piece without changing his expression, as if this vegetable cake was no different from the other delicious dishes on the table.
After dinner, Zhou quickly cleaned up the dishes and wiped the table as usual.
Normally, Chen Cui would go home with her to wash the dishes, but today she didn't go with her - Mu Yunchuan was worried about him, and she was also worried about Mu Yunchuan, but she didn't dare leave him alone with other people in the academy, for fear of getting something out of Lao Buyu's mouth. Lao Buyu is definitely not as smart as Mu Yunchuan.
When spring just started, people would easily feel sleepy after eating. Lao Buyu and his two children would take a nap after eating.
But now the Dragon Boat Festival is approaching and summer is about to come. It is easy to sweat during the lunch break, and if you don’t sleep well, you will feel tired the whole afternoon. So I changed my schedule to practice calligraphy for a while after meals to get through the period of food drowsiness.
After the dishes were removed, Mu Yunchuan helped Lao Buyu move the eight-immortal table from the main room, and then asked, "Is it convenient for me to sit in for a while?"
There is actually nothing inconvenient about this. Wei Shu used to visit Wei Xi once a month, but now he comes every ten-day holiday. He even asked the Wei family to send him an extra set of tables and chairs, pens, ink, paper and inkstone.
If Mu Yunchuan wants to sit in on the class, he can just use Wei Shu’s desk and chair. Wei Shu will never argue with him about that.
Lao Buyu had actually always been quite curious about his senior brother’s ideal disciple, but he did not agree immediately, but looked at Shen Cui inquiringly.
Shen Cui nodded without comment, then moved the recliner to the corridor and lay down.
Soon, the main room became quiet. Mu Erpang and Wei Xi began to practice calligraphy. The only sound was the rustling of pens hitting paper. Occasionally, when they encountered some problems, Lao Buyu would quietly give them some pointers.
After practicing calligraphy, it was time for spot checks and question-answering. The spot checks were mainly aimed at Mu Erpang, to see if he had missed anything in the book that was discussed the night before.
The Q&A room is shared by Mu Erpang and Wei Shu, where they can ask any questions they encounter in their studies.
The sound of soft conversation lingered in her ears. The sky was bright outside, with a gentle breeze and the occasional chirping of cicadas. Chen Cui was half lying on a reclining chair under the porch and soon fell into drowsiness.
I don’t know how long I slept, but Shen Cui heard a light cough from the system.
The system always speaks directly when there is something to say, and when there is nothing to say, it waits for Shen Cui to find it and will not take the initiative to disturb her rest.
Chen Cui was about to complain in her mind, but when she opened her eyes, she was met with a pair of cold and indifferent eyes.
It was a feeling that Chen Cui couldn't describe. It was like she was resting in the wilderness deep in the mountains and forests, and then being stared at by a wild beast lurking in the dark. She couldn't help but feel her hair stand on end and cold sweat dripping down her face.
Mu Yunchuan was standing a few steps away, holding a coarse porcelain teacup in his hand. He seemed to have come out of the house to add water, but it was unknown how long he had been standing there.
They looked at each other in silence, neither of them spoke.
[System, how long has he been out? 】
[It didn't take long, but he was staring at the host for about 1 minute. So I woke you up. 】
What is he staring at me for? What did I reveal when I talked in my sleep? 】
[No, if the host was talking in his sleep, I would have woken him up long ago. 】
After a few moments of stalemate, Mu Yunchuan smiled apologetically and broke the silence: "I felt a little thirsty, so I came out to add some water. I'm sorry for disturbing my mother's rest."
He was still as gentle and kind as usual, as if the coldness and alienation in his eyes just now was not meant for him.
Shen Cui also fully woke up and said no with a smile.
Then, Mu Yunchuan turned and went to the kitchen.
After adding warm water into the teacup, Mu Yunchuan closed the lid and tapped it lightly with his slender fingers.
Her stepmother's behavior has completely changed. She is no longer irritable, angry and manipulative. It is no exaggeration to say that she has become a different person.
She is also very capable. Everyone in the academy, including the Zhou family, trusts her and follows her lead.
People are not good at disguising themselves when they are half asleep and half awake. When she opened her eyes and saw him, there was no usual hatred and contempt in her eyes, only vigilance and... a hint of fear.
How could those who had treated him harshly and insulted him when he was young be afraid of him now?
Mu Yunchuan seemed to have encountered something funny and chuckled softly.
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