Since Yu Yuan and Yan Mu were about the same age, Father Yan had pitied him from the start. So from just her suggestion, Father Yan enthusiastically dragged Yu Yuan away to help apply the medicine.
Once he finished, the rabbit stew was almost done. The earth-shaking rain continued outdoors while gentle candlelight and the strong smell of meat filled the house.
Father Yan looked at Yan Mu lovingly, “Eat more, daughter. You’ve been getting thinner and thinner lately.”
“Am I?” Yan Mu pinched her face and laughed, “I still feel like my face has gotten fatter recently.” Actually, she knew that she was almost as thin as a skeleton, and that her face wasn’t fat but swollen.
Her body was getting worse and worse, so she had to kiss Yu Yuan soon. Yan Mu took a bite of the vegetable millet dumpling with a heavy heart.
“Silly daughter.” Father Yan shook his head, the worry in his eyes becoming more obvious. He picked up a piece of rabbit meat and placed it in Yan Mu’s bowl. “Here, eat some meat.”
Yan Mu pretended not to see Father Yan’s concern and smiled at him.
Yu Yuan watched all of this expressionlessly, but his hand holding the chopsticks had turned pale.
He had never dared to imagine such a warm house and such a kind father. Perhaps in some quiet night, in some untold dream, he would have smiled as brightly as Yan Mu.
As he stared at Yan Mu blankly, many images flashed through her mind, but in the end, he just clenched his hand, looking miserable. His nails dug into his palm, causing a dull pain.
Yan Mu was about to take a bite of the rabbit meat when she saw Yu Yuan looking at her in a trance.
What’s wrong with Yu Yuan? Yan Mu looked confused. But when she lowered her head and looked at the rabbit meat in her bowl, she suddenly realized.
She could only think that Yu Yuan wanted to eat the meat but was too embarrassed to take it. Thus, she smiled faintly at him, “Yu Yuan, this is the rabbit you brought, you should have the first bite.” After speaking, she picked up the piece of rabbit meat and gave it to him.
Yu Yuan looked stunned, surprised that Yan Mu would notice him, and even more so that she would actually serve him food.
Father Yan finally noticed his discourtesy. He awkwardly smiled and apologised, “Yes, yes. You were the one who sent this rabbit, you should eat the first bite.” He was used to there being only Yan Mu and him at home, so he subconsciously ignored Yu Yuan.
Yu Yuan pursed his lips and was about to refuse, but Yan Mu interrupted him.
“Here, eat a vegetable millet dumpling, my father’s are the best.” Yan Mu picked up another vegetable dumpling and placed it in his bowl. With Yu Yuan’s withdrawn personality, if she didn’t serve him personally, she was afraid Yu Yuan would only keep staring at it.
Yu Yuan lowered his eyes and gazed at the food in his bowl for a long time before picking it up and slowly eating it.
Actually, Father Yan’s cooking skills were average, and due to the lack of seasonings, the rabbit even tasted a little fishy. But thankfully the rabbit was still fresh and the three of them eagerly ate.
Yan Mu hadn’t eaten meat for a long time and was greedy for it. Even after eating four pieces of meat, she still wanted more.
“Alas daughter, your body is weak, it’ll be hard to digest if you eat too much. You can’t eat anymore.” Father Yan hurriedly stopped her with a straight face.
“I’ll just eat another piece, one last piece!” Yan Mu boldly coaxed and pleaded. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
The rabbit meat was already very delicious, not to mention that there was a ‘Yu Yuan’ sitting next to her. As soon as she saw his face, Yan Mu deeply understood the term “a feast for the eyes.”
Just from being next to Yu Yuan’s face, Yan Mu felt that she could eat ten vegetable millet dumplings. She glanced at his overly handsome features and felt even hungrier.
Father Yan couldn’t stand being cajoled and was about to yieldingly agree, but he saw a pair of chopsticks suddenly appear in Yan Mu’s bowl.
That pair of chopsticks quickly placed down the rabbit meat, thinking that no one was paying attention, and tried to quietly sneak away, but Yan Mu and Father Yan caught him red handed. Yu Yuan held up his chopsticks and his entire body stiffened.
Yan Mu took advantage of the opportunity and quickly stuffed the rabbit meat into her mouth.
It’s even an entire piece of meat without bones! Yan Mu held her face, full of pleasure, feeling happy enough to burst.
“Yu Yuan, you’re so nice.” Yan Mu vaguely said, giving him a ‘nice person’ stamp of approval. She ate the meat like a precious treasure, slowly savouring the fine taste because she couldn’t bear to swallow it all at once.
Yu Yuan lowered his head and nibbled on the vegetable millet dumpling. An unnatural blush started to colour his ears.
Is Yu Yuan blushing? Yan Mu froze and subconsciously swallowed a large mouthful of rabbit meat. She suddenly choked on it, her eyes rolling.
She thumped her chest with all her might and downed a glass of water. Finally, she felt that the piece of meat had gone down.
When she returned to her senses and looked again, she saw that Yu Yuan’s expression was the same as normal. Even the unnatural blush on his ears just now had disappeared.
…… It must have been an illusion. Yan Mu looked away, somewhat perplexed.
How could a person with a cold and withdrawn nature like Yu Yuan possibly blush? Yan Mu shook her head and stopped thinking about it.
Yu Yuan turned his head and quietly sighed in relief where Yan Mu couldn’t see.
Yu Yuan and Father Yan were both people who worked hard. At first, Yu Yuan felt somewhat guilty, but later Father Yan pretended that he couldn’t eat anymore and left about half of the rabbit for Yu Yuan. Only then did he stop retraining himself and eat. And just like that, a whole rabbit was devoured[1] by the trio.
Outside the house, the rain was still pouring, blending with the sound of rumbling thunder, and it seemed to be getting heavier and heavier. There wasn’t any entertainment in ancient times, and working class people couldn’t afford to light up lamps for too long, so it was almost time to go to bed when they had finished eating.
After gathering the dishes, Yan Mu wiped the table clean.
“Yu Yuan, I’m sorry but today you’ll have to sleep on the table.” Yan Mu smiled apologetically.
Although she really wanted to sleep on the same bed as Yu Yuan, this was ancient times after all. Even if she wanted to, with his personality, he wouldn’t agree. Father Yan’s room only had a single bed, and Yu Yuan, a half-grown young man, couldn’t even squeeze in.
The south was humid, and it rained more heavily in the summer. Instead of making a bed on the floor, it was better to sleep on the table.
Anyway, as long as Yu Yuan sleeps at home today, I’ll have a chance to steal a kiss. Yan Mu inwardly comforted herself.
“It doesn’t matter. I usually sleep in the woodshed.” Yu Yuan was washing the bowls. He had taken them and Father Yan was unable to stop him.
Yan Mu’s smile stagnated. Remembering the disgusting behaviour of Hunter Zhang and Zhang Goudan, she inwardly sighed. This story is hosted at g.com.
She hung the cleaning rag back up in the kitchen, then washed her hands and carried a set of bedding out of her room.
“There’s only one extra set at home, so you’ll have to make do with it.” Yan Mu spreaded the bedding on the table with some conspiring. Actually, most of the farmers in this era had only one set of bedding, but Father Yan was concerned about her weak body, so he had bought her bedding of the best quality. He had bought two sets in total so there was a spare, and spent a lot of money.
The corners of Yu Yuan’s mouth twitched as he looked at the pink quilt with little flowers printed on it.
He slowly spoke, “Actually, without the quilt, I can also……”
“That won’t do!” Yan Mu grew anxious, “You mustn’t catch a cold!” In this era, getting a cold or fever is a big deal. If Yu Yuan burns to death, I’ll have to die with him!
In his heart, Yu Yuan didn’t think it was a big deal, but the expression of the young girl in front of him was so serious and earnest that Yu Yuan couldn’t help being a little confused.
He originally wanted to refute a little, but when he saw the persistence in the young girl’s apricot eyes, he was suddenly unable to say anything.
His heart was somewhat burning, like a burning flame, burning his whole body hot.
So, this is how it feels to be cared for by someone…… He silently took that pink bedding and laid it carefully on the table.
“Come and tell me if you need anything, ok!” The young girl seemed delighted with his response and was even humming as she left.
It was a song he’d never heard before, but coming from Yan Mu it was pleasing to hear.
He followed Yan Mu and softly hummed a few lines with his hoarse voice. His adolescent voice was currently changing, so it was rough and raspy. When it came out, it was so unpleasant to listen to that he couldn’t continue.
He couldn’t help but cover his mouth, his bright eyes flickering in the darkness as countless emotions seemed to surge. It eventually dissolved into a clear, shallow sigh.
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The author has something to say:
One night, when it was dark and windy, Yan Mu, who still couldn’t get a chance to kiss Yu Yuan, couldn’t take it anymore and decided to tie him up to forcefully kiss him. After some shenanigans, she succeeded, but after being kissed, Yu Yuan was traumatized and avoided Yan Mu ever since.
—— Ending 1, Since then, Yan Mu could no longer kiss Yu Yuan (she couldn’t even find him), and died a month later.
—— Ending 2, Yan Mu found Yu Yuan every month and tied him up to forcefully kiss him. This left a serious psychological shadow in his heart, and after achieving meteoric success in his career, he moved away from Qingshui Village. Yan Mu’s main mission failed and she died.
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So forcing a kiss isn’t possible, don’t make things hard for Yan Mu hahahahaha
[1] If you can’t remember, this rabbit was the “evidence” of Yu Yuan stealing Zhang Goudan’s hunt.