“Mother, I’m fine…”
Zhao Taohua told Mrs. Qian everything that had happened today and over the past three days.
She had intended to share with Mrs. Qian that she had earned ten taels of silver for the family. With that money, the family’s debts could be paid off, with two taels left over.
Unexpectedly, Mrs. Qian wasn’t happy to hear this at all. Instead, her face darkened terrifyingly!
That damned Sun Zhaodi and Zhao Sanshi couple actually tried to sell her daughter for money while she was away from home, bullying her precious little one like this!
“Mother?” Zhao Taohua called out.
Mrs. Qian snapped back to reality and saw her daughter looking at her timidly, thinking she had frightened her.
Mrs. Qian immediately hid her anger and smiled at her. “Taohua, don’t be afraid. Mother is here.”
Mrs. Qian was no pushover. Work in town was scarce, and to compete for jobs against so many people, one couldn’t survive a single meal if timid and fearful.
Just now, when she heard that Grandmother Sun had locked Taohua up and starved her for three days, and was going to send her to Landlord Li as a concubine, her anger surged. She wished she could go beat up those three right now!
That was when she revealed her fierce expression, which frightened her Taohua.
“Taohua, go back to your room and rest first. Mother will make you something to eat.” Mrs. Qian said softly.
“Mother, I’m fine. Aunt Zheng just gave me a bowl of cornmeal porridge. You just got back, so rest for a bit first.”
Mrs. Qian repeatedly thanked Aunt Zheng. Although Aunt Zheng’s family was better off than hers, everyone’s food supply was tight, so that bowl of cornmeal porridge was a great kindness.
Aunt Zheng genuinely cared for Zhao Taohua, so she said to Mrs. Qian, “Hongyan, that old woman Sun is a piece of trash. Today Taohua was almost sold into Li Fu by them, and they starved her for three days. Thank goodness Taohua survived by luck…”
Mrs. Qian’s expression was extremely grim. She turned to Zhao Taohua and said, “From now on, Mother will stay home.”
It was because both she and Ershu were away that Taohua had been bullied by the old house.
Before, she had thought about earning money in town with Ershu, paying off the family’s debts sooner, and saving up more dowry for Taohua, so that in the future she could find Taohua a good family and marry her off gloriously.
Who would have thought that today Taohua almost had her life ruined by Grandmother Sun and the others?
She couldn’t leave Taohua alone at home anymore. She had to stay home and protect Taohua!
Zhao Taohua was momentarily stunned. She looked at Mrs. Qian’s thin, dark face and felt a warmth rise in her heart.
This must be what family care felt like. In her previous life, she had no parents and no relatives. She never expected that after transmigrating, she would actually have a mother who doted on her~
After Aunt Zheng left, Mrs. Qian saw the wild rabbit on the ground and said, “That Shen boy really has a good heart. Rabbit sells for fifteen coppers a catty, and this one weighs over three catties. Taohua, Mother will stew the rabbit for you.”
“Mother, aren’t you afraid of being tainted by Shen Ming’s Sha Qi and having bad luck?” Zhao Taohua asked in surprise.
“In times like these, being able to eat meat is already good enough. If you can barely keep your life, you can’t afford to be picky.”
With that, Mrs. Qian swiftly picked up the rabbit and went into the kitchen to prepare it.
Zhao Taohua admired Mrs. Qian’s way of thinking. However, the rabbit Shen Ming gave did indeed carry Sha Qi.
“Let foulness disperse, and the Dao’s energy remain eternal!”
Zhao Taohua softly recited the incantation. The moment the words left her lips, a wisp of Ling Qi followed the movement of her fingertip and flew toward the wild rabbit in the kitchen, instantly dispelling all the Sha Qi on it!
The Ling Qi she had just accumulated was now used up. She missed her charging device.
She had just transmigrated here, and for some reason, her Xiuwei as a Xuanxue Zunshi hadn’t come with her. For now, she could only rely on Shen Ming to replenish it.
Before long, the aroma of meat wafted from the kitchen. Even plain boiled rabbit was made to smell as tempting as a delicacy by Mrs. Qian.
Finally, Mrs. Qian poured the cornmeal into the pot, making rabbit meat cornmeal porridge. Every grain of cornmeal was cooked in the rabbit broth, each one crystal clear and glistening!
Mrs. Qian filled two bowls with the chipped ceramic bowl first and placed them in a basket, then covered them with an old cloth:
“Taohua, take these two bowls to Shen Ming. Not only did he save you today, but he also gave you a rabbit. As people, we must know gratitude.”
“Mother, I understand.” Zhao Taohua happily took the basket. She had been wanting to go see him anyway!
“Hurry along now. Come back and eat the rabbit cornmeal porridge.”
Mrs. Qian lovingly smoothed the stray hairs by Zhao Taohua’s cheek and tucked them behind her ear.
The Shen family wasn’t far from Zhao Taohua’s home, and she arrived in no time.
Although the village had originally been all surnamed Zhao, as outsiders later settled in Zhaojiacun, families like the Shens with different surnames came to live there too.
“Thump! Thump! Thump…”
The Shen family’s courtyard gate was wide open. When Zhao Taohua arrived, Shen Ming was bare-chested, raising an axe to split firewood.
With each forceful swing of the axe, the muscles in his arms bulged high. Sweat slid down his forehead, flowing over his solid chest. His pectoral muscles were clearly defined, like two hard iron plates.
The sweat continued downward, tracing over eight abdominal muscles arranged neatly like small mountain peaks.
The tempting lines of his muscles made Zhao Taohua blush, yet she couldn’t help stealing a few more glances.
She remembered that Shen Ming was eighteen this year, wasn’t he?
Her gaze was so intense that Shen Ming couldn’t help but notice it. Turning his head, he saw her staring straight at his upper body.
For some reason, Shen Ming instinctively reached for the clothes lying nearby.
Zhao Taohua smacked her lips, lamenting that such a good physique was being covered by clothes.
Then, she put on a sweet, obedient smile and walked toward him, cooing:
“Brother Shen Ming, thank you for the rabbit you gave me today. My mother made rabbit meat and cornmeal porridge, and I’ve brought some for you.”
Only then did Shen Ming notice the cloth-covered bamboo basket hanging from her arm.
But just as she reached him, she suddenly grabbed his hand.
The harder he tried to pull away, the tighter she held on.
“Brother Shen Ming, why are you just standing here? Let’s go to the kitchen and empty out the bowls!
We only have a few bowls at home. If I leave them here, my mother and I won’t have anything to eat from.”
Zhao Taohua pretended to look pitiful, but inside she was overjoyed—she’d just absorbed more Ling Qi!
Hearing this, Shen Ming’s expression softened, and he let Zhao Taohua lead him to the kitchen.
When the cloth over the basket was lifted, the entire kitchen filled with a rich, savory aroma.
Zhao Taohua gave Shen Ming’s hand one last squeeze and said, “Brother Shen Ming, I’m off now!”
“Thank you, Sister Taohua. Thank you, Auntie Qian.”
As Shen Ming looked at the two bowls of steaming rabbit meat and cornmeal porridge Zhao Taohua had brought, a flicker of complexity passed through his eyes.
When the warmth of the food seeped through the bowl into his palm, a gentle heat slowly rose in his heart.
That warmth seemed to dispel the gloom that had lingered within him for so long, cracking a fissure in his long-frozen heart!