“I’m sleeping with him?”
Luo Mingchen looked at Huo Yan. “Aren’t there three rooms?”
Huo Yuhui said seriously, “Little Daddy, I’m planning to use that room as a study. Dad promised us before.”
Huo Xiang looked very confused. “Little Daddy, don’t you want to live with Dad?”
“Uh…”
Before Luo Mingchen could answer, Huo Xiang continued, “But married couples and husbands all sleep together. Little Daddy, do you really dislike Dad? Will you leave us in the future?”
Hearing that, Huo Xinyue, who still couldn’t speak clearly, became anxious. Hugging Luo Mingchen’s leg, she said, “Duo duo! No… go…”
She was telling him not to leave, right?
Luo Mingchen couldn’t help laughing as he picked her up. “Okay, Daddy won’t leave. Be good.”
The intentions of these two children couldn’t have been more obvious.
“It’s not a problem if I sleep with Huo Yan, but he probably doesn’t want to sleep with me.”
As he spoke, Luo Mingchen winked at Huo Yan, signaling for him to be the “bad guy.”
Unexpectedly, Huo Yan said, “Then let’s sleep together.”
Luo Mingchen: “…!!!”
Was this guy messing with him?
“Yay! Once Little Daddy and Dad get along better, Little Daddy won’t leave!”
In her excitement, Huo Xiang accidentally blurted out the truth.
Huo Yuhui could barely stand to watch.
Realizing what she had said, Huo Xiang shrank her neck and stuck out her tongue.
Since things had already been said this clearly, Luo Mingchen could only accept reality.
After washing up, Luo Mingchen deliberately changed from a robe into pajama tops and bottoms. If the weather hadn’t been so hot, he would have preferred long sleeves and long pants too.
He had originally planned to fall asleep before Huo Yan returned so he could avoid the awkwardness.
But the more he wanted to sleep early, the more awake he became. When he heard the door open, Luo Mingchen opened his eyes miserably. Seeing Huo Yan looking at him, he asked, “Which side do you want?”
Huo Yan sat on the bed and said, “Move over.”
“Oh.”
Luo Mingchen took his pillow and scooted inward, handing him the pillow on the inside.
When Huo Yan noticed the kitchen knife in his hand, his eyelids twitched. “It’s very safe here.”
Caught off guard by the comment, Luo Mingchen thought it was a bit strange. Following his gaze, he saw the knife and finally understood.
“I’m already used to it. I can’t sleep without a knife beside me. Don’t worry—you used my body wash, so you have a familiar scent now. I won’t chop at you again.”
“Oh.”
Huo Yan casually wiped his loose hair and took out a bundle from the cabinet.
Luo Mingchen stretched his neck curiously. “What’s that?”
“Money.”
Hearing that, Luo Mingchen’s eyes lit up. He moved closer and asked, “How much?”
“A few thousand taels, I think. Haven’t counted it yet.”
“A few thousand taels?!”
Luo Mingchen was stunned. “Where did you get that much money?”
And more importantly, how could someone remain so calm in the face of several thousand taels of silver?
Taking out a thick stack of banknotes from a large wooden box, Huo Yan said, “Reward money for capturing mountain bandits, payment from this escort job, and money I’d previously deposited with the guild.”
“You just keep that much money in a cabinet?!”
Luo Mingchen could hardly believe it.
Huo Yan showed him the wooden box. “There’s a mechanism. It can’t be opened.”
“But couldn’t someone just chop the box apart?”
Without realizing it, Luo Mingchen moved even closer. To be honest, seeing all those banknotes made his hands itch.
Huo Yan turned to look at him. “The wood is very hard, and there are hidden weapons inside. If it’s opened without the key, poisoned darts will be fired.”
“The ones you shot me with?”
A droplet of water from Huo Yan’s black hair landed on the back of his hand. Luo Mingchen scooted farther away. “Dry your hair first. It’s dripping everywhere.”
Huo Yan said, “Help me dry it.”
“…You really don’t stand on ceremony.”
Even though he said that, Luo Mingchen still took the cloth draped over Huo Yan’s shoulder and started drying his hair.
“I’m too lazy to move.”
As Huo Yan spoke, he continued counting the banknotes.
Luo Mingchen frowned. “Then what did you do before?”
“In summer, I just went to sleep. In winter, I waited.”
“But this is a bamboo pillow. Aren’t you afraid it’ll get moldy if you sleep on it like that?”
Huo Yan answered calmly, “If it gets moldy, throw it away and buy another one.”
Luo Mingchen: “…You’re really wasteful.”
Hearing that, Huo Yan thought for a moment and tilted his head at him. “Then should I take it out to dry in the sun in the future?”
“You’re not allowed to go to bed with wet hair! Your head doesn’t hurt now, but when you’re old, you’ll know you were wrong.”
Luo Mingchen rubbed his hair harder in annoyance.
However, Huo Yan showed no reaction at all and simply let him do as he pleased.
Seeing how obedient Huo Yan was being, Luo Mingchen’s movements gradually softened. He only stopped when the hair was no longer dripping.
“Still not done counting?”
“Wait a moment.”
Huo Yan finished counting the remaining notes. Seeing Luo Mingchen looking at him with eager little eyes, he curved his lips slightly and said, “Six thousand taels in silver notes, one hundred taels in gold notes, ten taels of loose silver, and two hundred thirty-five copper coins in total.”
Luo Mingchen had thought there would be at most two thousand taels in silver notes. He never expected there to be so much. His eyes sparkled.
“Big Brother! Reward me with one note!”
“Sure.”
Smiling faintly, Huo Yan pulled out a one-hundred-tael silver note and handed it to him.
Luo Mingchen froze.
He had only been joking.
With great difficulty, he tore his gaze away from the note and laughed awkwardly. “I was just kidding.”
“I wasn’t. It’s for you. Do you want it?”
As he spoke, Huo Yan waved the silver note in front of Luo Mingchen’s eyes.
Squinting slightly, Luo Mingchen said, “You’re testing my self-control.”
Huo Yan laughed. “Consider it a household subsidy. You spent quite a bit of money while I was away.”
“…Are you reminding me to pay you back?”
“No. I mean that if it isn’t enough, you can come ask me for more. Take this first.”
With that, Huo Yan placed the one-hundred-tael note into Luo Mingchen’s hand.
Holding the note, Luo Mingchen found himself completely unable to refuse.
“Fine. Let’s call it an investment from you.”
“Hm?”
“I’m planning to grow vegetables and open a shop. First I’ll sell tofu for a while, and when the weather cools down, I’ll start selling spicy hot pot.”
After listening to Luo Mingchen’s plans, Huo Yan nodded slightly.
“Sounds good.”
“You’re not going to ask how I plan to run the shop? If I lose money, it’ll be your money.”
But Huo Yan said, “Profits and losses are normal in business. If you lose money, just summarize what went wrong and pay attention next time.”
After hearing that, Luo Mingchen had only one thought:
“Your mentality is really good.”
After chatting for quite a while, Luo Mingchen felt much more relaxed around Huo Yan. Then he suddenly remembered something.
“Are your injuries really healed?”
“Mm.”
Huo Yan rolled up his sleeve for him to see. The bandages had already been removed, and only a healed scar remained.
“The medicine was good.”
Luo Mingchen was astonished.
But after thinking about it, it made sense. That medicine had been specially made for ability users. Ordinary medicine wasn’t very effective on them, so some mutated herbs had been added to it. He had planted quite a lot of that mutated hemostatic herb in his space for emergencies.
He had never expected it to work so well on the people of this world…
After Huo Yan lay down, Luo Mingchen still felt a faint sense of pressure.
Mainly because Huo Yan was simply too big.
Luo Mingchen was about 1.75 meters tall, while Huo Yan was probably around 1.9 meters.