When Yinxing opened her eyes, she happened to lock eyes with a man’s silhouette researching the small morning glory by the doorway.
She gasped in surprise.
“How come you’re here?”
Had he arrived this early?
No, looking at the color of the sky outside, the sun had already set and night was fast approaching.
She had slept far too long; to her surprise, it was already evening. How wonderful—she had saved a lot of stamina, and her body was feeling quite alright.
The moment she opened her eyes, Ling Xiao had already sensed that she was awake. With a sequence rank as powerful as his, his five senses had long been exponentially sharper than those of ordinary people.
“Miss Yinxing, if I remember correctly, you said that since I paid for the meal, I could come over for dinner.”
She giggled softly. “I was a bit groggy from sleep. I found some good stuff today and even bought lots of seasonings, so we can have a delicious meal!”
Hurriedly scrambling off the cot, she added, “Wait for me~”
Just as Ling Xiao was about to say something and raised his hand, Yinxing ignored him completely, ducking her head to start sorting through her bamboo backpack.
After pulling out a large pile of chaotic clutter, she finally remembered that the bunch of shepherd’s purse she picked had been placed in a side pocket.
“Ah, found it! Ling Xiao, look—I picked this today. Fresh, right?”
Although it was shepherd’s purse picked in the morning and a whole day had passed, apart from being a tiny bit wilted now, it still looked extremely tender.
“Ta-da! Doesn’t it look delicious?” Yet looking at the wild vegetable, which still had a few specks of dust on it, she muttered with a hint of regret, “It’s just that I forgot to fetch water, and I don’t know where there’s water nearby.”
“Miss Yinxing, could you give me a chance to speak?”
“What?”
Finally, Yinxing realized that the person before her had something to say to her.
“Care to step outside and take a look? I think you might need this.”
With doubt in her eyes, Yinxing walked out. The moment she stepped through the door, she saw the changes in the cleared space outside.
There was actually an added hand-pump well, thoughtfully installed with a rain shelter over it.
“This is…” Yinxing could hardly believe her eyes. She had only just been nagging about wanting water, and now it was right before her eyes?
To verify whether it was real or fake, she specially stepped forward to touch it again and again, even pressing the handle down. Once water genuinely poured out, her smile broadened until her teeth showed.
“Ah, water really came out! Ling Xiao, did you help me build this?”
Seeing her happily cupping the water, Ling Xiao unconsciously found his own mood infected. “Thinking that I was coming to freeload a meal, I figured I ought to put in more effort, right?”
“That’s great! With water, I can cook right away!”
Excitedly planning to go cook, she didn’t forget to greet him in passing, “Ling Xiao, make yourself at home and sit anywhere.”
Holding her newly bought basin, she filled it with the shepherd’s purse and happily shuffled over to the water well.
Although the pumped-up water still smelled a bit foul, her body was in pretty good shape right now with plenty of energy. Releasing just a tiny bit of her power was enough to make the water smell fine.
Besides, she hadn’t taken a bath in a long time; her body was almost getting smellier than those peanuts.
Right after washing the vegetable leaves clean, she turned around and saw Ling Xiao holding a piece of familiar fabric, measuring it and preparing to get to work.
That fabric seemed to be the canopy tarp she had bought today, right?
“I saw that you bought quite a few outdoor supplies, so I figured you’d want to renovate your dwelling. Anyway, I have nothing to do—do you need my help?”
This friend was truly worth making!
“Sure! I want to set it up over this area by the doorway, but there’s nothing to tie it to here, so I’ll trouble you~”
Ling Xiao nodded. His eyes lowered, yet he couldn’t stop the corners of his mouth from curling up.
She sure ordered him around quite naturally!
“Alright, then I’ll go chop a few tree trunks.”
Having said that, he walked toward the perimeter wall. In the blink of an eye, his silhouette had already appeared in the woods on the other side of the wall.
A few bolts of lightning struck, a puff of blue smoke drifted past, and Ling Xiao’s silhouette carrying a bundle of tree trunks was already back in front of the house.
“Th-that fast?”
Looking at her dumbfounded expression, Ling Xiao seemed unable to suppress his good mood. Picking up a tree trunk, he thrust it directly into the ground.
His strength was terrifyingly immense. This land, scattered with ruins, was incomparably hard, yet he drove it in as effortlessly as sticking a pin into tofu.
“Because my sequence ability is lightning, my speed is a bit faster than ordinary people.”
Yinxing: That’s not ‘a bit faster’—that’s fast as lightning!!!
“Once your sequence ability improves, your physical body will also be strengthened accordingly.”
So that was how it worked.
Seeing Yinxing open her mouth to say something, he blocked her words even faster:
“Right now, the most important thing for you is still to nurse your body back to health.”
He drove another piece of wood into the ground. Yinxing nodded. “Alright then, I’ll go make dinner.”
The washed shepherd’s purse was tossed into heated water to blanch until cooked through, scooped out into cold water to rinse, and then drained dry. Adding salt and a small amount of chili powder and Sichuan pepper powder for seasoning, a very, very simple cold-dressed shepherd’s purse was ready.
Grabbing another handful of peanut kernels, she dropped them into the heated wok, using the absolute lowest flame to roast the peanut kernels until their skin changed color and turned slightly golden-brown. With a small pinch of salt sprinkled on top, they were ready to be plated.
Pinching one, the skin was already crispy. Even though no oil had been used, perhaps because these peanuts were a mutated strain with rich intrinsic oil, the roasted result was exceptionally delicious.
Chewing just one filled her mouth with flavor—no wonder that auntie said they were used for pressing oil; the oil yield on these must be quite high.
“How come you’re eating on the sly all by yourself?”
She hadn’t expected that taking a single taste of a peanut kernel would get her caught red-handed.
“I wasn’t eating on the sly; I was testing the flavor.”
“Is that so?” Ling Xiao leisurely unrolled his folded sleeves, a few droplets of water still lingering on his fingertips. “Shouldn’t tasting the flavor be done by the guest? Otherwise, how would I know if it tastes good?”
He pointed toward the outside. “I’ve already set it up. Do you want to go take a look?”
Only then did Yinxing remember that he had just been helping her set up the canopy tarp outside, and had even built a water well for her. She felt slightly embarrassed.
“Um…” She presented the roasted peanuts in her hands with both palms to Ling Xiao. “I was just afraid the peanuts weren’t roasted well and wouldn’t taste good, so I wanted to try one first. I think it’s pretty decent—why don’t you try some?”
Ling Xiao pinched one and put it into his mouth. Not only was the texture crispy, but the taste of this peanut kernel in particular genuinely astonished him a little.
The contamination value of this peanut was extremely low—it was likely even cleaner in flavor than the chestnuts she had brought back from the woods yesterday.
It seemed her ability was even more formidable than he had imagined.
“It tastes very good.”
“Right? Right!” A cook loves nothing more than having their creations praised by a diner. Overjoyed, Yinxing offered the peanuts in her hand a little closer to him. “Take a few more! I’ll roast some more—oh right, I’ll also make some steamed sweet potatoes. Eat your fill later~”
Although roasting them smelled nicer, roasting took a long time and burned easily. Steaming was faster and just as sweet and fragrant.
“Today, I’ll make sure you get a good taste of my cooking~”