Su Zhi’s ankle had swollen from the earlier sprain. She sat on the kang, stretching out her injured leg, while Yue Chunhan knelt before her, calmly gripping her calf with one hand and her foot with the other, preparing to set the bone.
Su Zhi had removed her sock, and her fair foot rested easily in Yue Chunhan’s palm as he gently kneaded it back and forth. Beside them, Yue Tiantian watched curiously, leaning over the edge of the kang.
Under the gaze of the two people in the room, Su Zhi’s cheeks flushed, and even her toes curled, an inexplicable sense of awkwardness making her want to withdraw her foot.
Yue Chunhan’s hands were cold. As Su Zhi tried to pull her foot back, Yue Chunhan grasped it firmly, his cool palm pressed against her skin, his rough, calloused fingers stroking the top of her foot. Su Zhi shivered and turned her face away to hide the blush spreading across her cheeks.
To distract her, Yue Chunhan glanced at her. Still crouching and massaging her ankle, he spoke casually, “You probably noticed I came back early today. Aren’t you curious why?”
Su Zhi, indeed drawn in, lifted her still-flushed face to look at him and asked curiously, “A little. So what’s the reason? Did you catch prey earlier than expected?”
A faint smile curved Yue Chunhan’s thin lips, a rare display of genuine pleasure. “You guessed right.”
Beside them, Yue Tiantian let out an exaggerated “wow” and tugged at Yue Chunhan’s sleeve, asking, “Daddy, daddy, what did you catch? Where is it? I want to see, I want to see!”
“Hmm… what did I catch?”
Yue Chunhan lowered his head nonchalantly. His dark, narrow eyes, thick and long eyelashes, and tall nose bridge made for a particularly pleasing sight from Su Zhi’s angle.
Su Zhi was still waiting for him to name the day’s catch when, one moment he was chatting with them, and the next, he suddenly exerted force. With both hands, he twisted her ankle. A distinct “crack” echoed as the bone joint shifted. Su Zhi’s eyes widened in disbelief, but before she could cry out in pain, Yue Chunhan had already rotated her foot a few times.
“All set.” Yue Chunhan held her foot, his thin lips curling slightly.
Su Zhi bit her lip and instinctively moved her foot. Sure enough, the searing pain from before was gone, and she could move it normally again.
She let out a soft sigh of relief, hand over her chest, feeling much more at ease, though she couldn’t help stealing a few extra glances at Yue Chunhan.
No wonder he had brought up hunting earlier—it was all to distract her.
But if Yue Chunhan returned so quickly, he probably hadn’t caught anything, right? After all, Su Zhi had heard from Yue Tiantian that hunting depended on luck and sometimes took several days up in the mountains to catch anything.
Perhaps Su Zhi’s gaze was too direct. Yue Chunhan raised an eyebrow, his dark eyes meeting hers, easily guessing what she was thinking.
“I wasn’t lying earlier when I said I caught prey. I was lucky enough to catch a wild boar.”
His lighthearted remark left both occupants of the room staring at him in shock.
Yue Tiantian, needless to say, began jumping up and down with excitement, eager to see the wild boar Yue Chunhan had brought back.
Su Zhi’s beautiful eyes widened even more, her lips parting, her face a picture of astonishment.
…That fast? Didn’t they say hunting took a long time? Yue Chunhan had been gone for what—not even a full day?
No wonder Yue Tiantian always praised Yue Chunhan’s skills. He was this capable? No wonder he was the male lead praised unanimously by readers in the original novel. And a wild boar—she had never seen one before.
Su Zhi shared Yue Tiantian’s curiosity and anticipation about the wild boar. She wondered how different it was from domestic pigs and whether it would taste the same if cooked or roasted.
But Yue Chunhan’s next words quickly dampened their eager enthusiasm.
“I already sold the wild boar. It’s not here.”
Yue Chunhan glanced at them, noting the obvious disappointment on Su Zhi and Yue Tiantian’s faces. His expression remained unchanged as he went outside to wash his hands, then stepped out the gate.
Su Zhi didn’t know what Yue Chunhan was going to do outside. She and Yue Tiantian were staring at each other in confusion when Yue Chunhan returned, carrying a sack over his shoulder.
The sack was heavy, emitting a dull thud when Yue Chunhan set it down. Su Zhi leaned in for a closer look and realized it was a sack of flour.
A sack this size must have weighed at least 20 pounds—enough to feed the three of them for quite a while.
Su Zhi was surprised. She knew Yue Chunhan’s financial situation was tight, to the point where they could only survive on coarse, crumbly corn cakes. This sack of flour must have cost quite a bit, a relatively extravagant expense for them.
…Why would Yue Chunhan suddenly buy such a large sack of flour?
Su Zhi pondered for a moment when a sudden realization dawned on her—she remembered the white steamed bun a village man had offered her while she was cutting corn stalks in the fields the other day.
Could it be that Yue Chunhan had spent the whole day hunting just to earn money to buy this sack of flour?
Su Zhi fell into thought, a vague idea surfacing in her mind. She couldn’t help glancing at Yue Chunhan beside her, her eyes filled with doubt.
…Could it be that Yue Chunhan had bought this flour for her? Because he noticed she hadn’t been eating much lately and thought she might not be used to the corn cakes?
But Yue Chunhan’s expression was as calm as ever, his dark eyes deep and unreadable. Su Zhi couldn’t discern anything from his face and shook her head inwardly.
How could that be? She must be overthinking things. Yue Chunhan wouldn’t go hunting in the mountains specifically to buy flour for her. He probably just wanted to improve their meals in general.
Pushing aside her other thoughts, Su Zhi lightly touched the large sack of flour—enough to last them a year or so—and felt a sense of relief.
Yue Chunhan didn’t seem to be the irritable, hot-tempered, and fierce person she had imagined. In fact, ever since she arrived, he had always been calm and composed, even showing signs of being perceptive and considerate.
He seemed like someone who was cold on the outside but warm on the inside—sharp-tongued at times but reliable when it mattered.
Su Zhi’s impression of Yue Chunhan began to shift, and her mood lightened. She smiled, looking at Yue Chunhan and Yue Tiantian as she said, “Since we have flour now, what would everyone like to eat tonight? I’ll make it for you.”
Yue Chunhan glanced at her and raised an eyebrow. “You know how to cook?”
Yue Tiantian clung to Su Zhi’s arm affectionately and boasted, “Auntie cooks really well! I ate so much at lunch today—it’s way better than what Daddy makes!”
Su Zhi, whose cooking skills were merely passable, felt a bit shy at Yue Tiantian’s praise and modestly replied, “Not at all, my cooking is just enough to fill our stomachs.”
“No, Auntie’s food is super delicious! I haven’t had enough yet—I want more tonight!”
Yue Tiantian licked her lips, savoring the memory of the meal Su Zhi had made at noon. The crispy-skinned, soft-inside small potatoes and the deeply flavorful stewed beans had left her thoroughly satisfied.
Having Auntie here was wonderful—no more tasteless corn cakes!
Yue Chunhan gave Su Zhi an inscrutable look before shifting his gaze away. “Then let’s have steamed buns tonight. Steamed buns to your heart’s content.”
Did she think he hadn’t noticed? Back when she was cutting corn stalks, Su Zhi had clearly wanted to eat that man’s steamed bun desperately.
Well, steamed buns—they had them here too.