“What? Braised pork?!”
There really was some!
“Yay! Mom is the best!”
The three children immediately cheered and hurried to sit down properly.
When the braised pork was brought out, its glossy red color and rich, tender aroma filled the air. Even Huo Mingfeng was taken aback.
“Mingyu, your cooking is even better than the chef at Jufulou!”
Jufulou was the best restaurant in the county. Since the town was only about a kilometer and a half’s walk from the county, Jiang Mingyu planned to go there the next day.
If she could earn her first pot of gold from Jufulou, it would mark the first step on her path to starting a business.
“You’re exaggerating. Eat while it’s hot.”
Jiang Mingyu smiled and sat down, only to realize that Huo Mingfeng had already served her a bowl of rice. She picked up a piece of meat and placed it in his bowl, then served some to the children as well.
Huo Mingfeng looked at the glossy piece of meat in his bowl, warmth spreading through his chest. He couldn’t help but pick up a piece for her too.
“You should eat as well.”
“Ew~ Dad is being so mushy!”
The three children suddenly looked at him with exaggerated disgust.
Who would have thought that such tender, affectionate eyes could appear on their usually cold-faced father?
Jiang Mingyu couldn’t help but laugh.
Quietly touching her slightly burning ears, she cleared her throat and said,
“Alright, let’s finish eating first before chatting.”
“Mom, we’ll serve you too!”
Not wanting to be outdone by their father, the three kids eagerly piled food into her bowl. Before long, Jiang Mingyu’s bowl was heaped high with braised pork.
There was no way she could finish all that.
She could only smile wryly and, under the children’s expectant gazes, force herself to eat the meal filled with their affection.
After dinner, Huo Mingfeng washed the dishes as usual.
Jiang Mingyu bathed the three little ones until they were fresh and clean, applied cream and lotion, and then sent them up to the top bunk.
The bed, the mattress, the quilt, the pillows—everything was so comfortable that the children fell asleep the moment they lay down, warm and cozy.
She gently kissed their foreheads.
“Goodnight, my little ones.”
After leaving the room, Jiang Mingyu planned to bathe in the west room next door. But it was still a mess, so she returned to the kitchen, intending to boil some water and bring it into her space for a bath.
Just as she pushed the door open, she saw steam billowing from behind the small inner door of the kitchen.
“Could it be a thief?”
She muttered softly, immediately pulling out her anti-wolf stun baton. Moving quietly, she approached the door and grabbed the handle, ready to push it open—
Click!
The door suddenly swung open.
A tall, well-built figure appeared before her.
Not a stitch of clothing on him…
“Ah! Pervert!!”
“Ming—ugh—!”
Heat rushed to her face instantly, turning her red as a radish. Without thinking, she activated the stun baton—
Buzz! Buzz!
Thud!
The man collapsed to the ground.
Only then did Jiang Mingyu lower the stun baton, quickly grabbing a rope and crouching down to tie him up.
But the moment she saw his face, she froze.
“Huo Mingfeng?!”
Huo Mingfeng felt completely numb.
Where had this little woman gotten such a stun baton?
It was even more powerful than the ones used by their security unit!
“Help me up.”
He pressed his lips together, not angry, though his fingers trembled slightly.
Jiang Mingyu coughed awkwardly, took out a towel from her space to drape over him, and helped him up.
“Sorry… I thought you were a thief…”
Huo Mingfeng couldn’t help but laugh.
“If there really were a thief, you shouldn’t confront him directly. You should’ve gone to the room and called me.”
“Call you?”
Jiang Mingyu looked puzzled.
“Yes. I can take a beating,” he said lightly.
“At least after that shock you gave me, I’m still alive.”
He glanced at the stun baton in her hand.
Twenty thousand volts…
“Uh… that’s quite the sense of humor.”
Jiang Mingyu chuckled dryly, though her hand supporting him couldn’t resist sneaking a feel.
His muscles were so firm!
Under the lamplight, her flushed face only grew redder.
Soon, the couple quietly returned to their room. After helping Huo Mingfeng lie down and giving him some hot water, Jiang Mingyu said,
“Rest for a bit. I’m going to take a bath.”
Huo Mingfeng told her there was still hot water left on the stove—enough for her to use.
Without ceremony, Jiang Mingyu carried it all into her space, poured it into a bathtub, and enjoyed a comfortable soak.
To her surprise, the food-preserving property of the space seemed to apply to the water as well. Even after half an hour, it hadn’t cooled at all. Only after her whole body had relaxed did she step out, change into a fresh set of pajamas, and think about what to do with the water.
Not wanting to waste it, she filled buckets with the bathwater and poured it over the newly planted vegetable plot.
What happened next made her eyes widen.
“This… isn’t scientific!”
The long bean seeds she had planted just three hours earlier had all sprouted!
Tender green shoots broke through the soil, full of life.
At this rate, she might be able to harvest by the next day!
Overjoyed, Jiang Mingyu quickly watered the plot again.
Sure enough, the seedlings seemed to grow even more vigorously upon contact with the water.
The soil absorbed the moisture rapidly, like a greenhouse protecting the roots, with no excess water leaking out.
For Jiang Mingyu, this was a moment worth commemorating.
She rummaged through her supplies, found a Polaroid camera, inserted film, and took a picture of the vegetable plot.
Then she set up a drawing board, stuck the photo onto it with double-sided tape, and soon created a small memory board.
After leaving the space, Jiang Mingyu returned to the room and saw that Huo Mingfeng was still awake, waiting for her.
She gestured for him to be quiet, quietly climbed up to the top bunk to take a photo of the sleeping children, then returned to the lower bunk and raised the camera toward him.
“Darling, smile.”
He had just been shocked by a stun baton.
His muscles were still twitching.
When he forced a smile, it came out as a strangely roguish curve—completely different from his usual serious demeanor.
Jiang Mingyu burst into laughter and snapped the photo, then lay down beside him, holding it between her fingers and waving it in front of his eyes.
“How is it? Not bad, right?”
Looking at her—so different from people of this era—Huo Mingfeng began to believe, just a little, that she really came from the future.
Because her actions, her mannerisms…
They reminded him of a dream he had long forgotten.
In that dream, a woman lay beside him just like this, calling him “darling” over and over.
But every time he woke up, he couldn’t remember.
Now that the memory resurfaced—
Could she be the woman from his dreams?
Could that fortune-teller have been telling the truth after all?
Huo Mingfeng looked at her calmly, though his thoughts churned beneath the surface.
Fortunately, his strength had recovered somewhat.
He gently rubbed her hair.
“Go to sleep.”
Pulling the blanket up to cover her as well, he closed his eyes, forcing himself to stop overthinking.
Just as the room grew quiet, he suddenly spoke.
“I have something to do tomorrow. I’m going to the county.”
“The county?”
Jiang Mingyu had just put the camera back into her space when she heard that. She immediately said,
“I’m going too. I happen to have something to do there as well.”