The evening breeze was cool and refreshing. Luo Mingchen sat quietly, observing the contents of his space.
To anyone else, it looked like he was carefully watching the tofu being pressed.
After checking on everything inside his space, Luo Mingchen thought that he needed to find time to harvest the vegetables and rice stored there. Otherwise, his food reserves would become too low.
For Luo Mingchen, only having grain in storage could truly put his mind at ease.
When he finally came back to himself and glanced to the side, he discovered that Huo Yan had already fallen asleep against the wall.
Looking at Huo Yan’s sleeping face, Luo Mingchen pressed his lips together and smiled.
He’d said he would keep watch…
At this rate, he’d probably sleep until the middle of the night and not even know if the tofu got pressed into bean curd scraps.
Resting his chin on one hand, Luo Mingchen tilted his head and studied Huo Yan.
That face was exactly his type.
The only flaw was that the man had a talent for saying things that left people speechless.
Just lying there quietly asleep, he looked very much like the Sleeping Beauty from the fairy tales Luo Mingchen had read as a child.
Imagining Huo Yan wearing a princess dress, Luo Mingchen couldn’t help laughing out loud. Afraid of waking him up, he quickly covered his mouth.
After staring for a while longer, his fingers began to itch.
He wanted to touch that face.
After some thought, Luo Mingchen cautiously leaned closer. Seeing no reaction from Huo Yan, he carefully reached out and lightly poked his cheek with a fingertip.
The moment he touched him, however, Huo Yan grabbed his wrist.
Only then did Luo Mingchen see that the supposedly sleeping man was looking at him with perfectly clear eyes, showing no sign of having just woken up.
“You… weren’t asleep?”
Huo Yan replied calmly, “You stared at me for so long just to poke me once?”
Luo Mingchen: “…”
This guy had probably been awake the whole time, just waiting for him to make a move.
Looking into those captivating eyes from such close range, Luo Mingchen awkwardly looked away.
“If you were awake, why didn’t you open your eyes sooner?”
It was completely turning the blame onto the victim, but if he didn’t do that, Huo Yan would definitely have something to say. Better to shift the responsibility onto him first.
“Hm. My fault.”
Before Luo Mingchen could sigh in relief, Huo Yan added,
“I want to poke you too.”
The corner of Luo Mingchen’s mouth twitched.
“Are you a child?”
Huo Yan answered confidently,
“Yes.”
Seeing that he was completely serious, Luo Mingchen had no choice but to close his eyes.
“Hurry up, then.”
The moment he finished speaking, he was kissed.
Unlike the brief contact before, this time Huo Yan lingered for a long time.
Luo Mingchen’s eyes flew open.
Instinctively, he shoved Huo Yan away and stared at him in shock. After holding it in for a long while, he finally managed to squeeze out a sentence.
“Didn’t you say you were just going to poke me once?”
Huo Yan blinked.
“Then why don’t you kiss me back?”
Luo Mingchen: “…”
He had never met someone so shamelessly good at flirting.
Seeing Luo Mingchen glaring at him, Huo Yan added,
“You still owe me thirty-five more.”
“Then why don’t you just collect them all at once?”
Luo Mingchen had only been joking.
But when he saw Huo Yan staring at his lips, he immediately backed away.
“The tofu’s ready. Go to sleep.”
Huo Yan didn’t press the issue.
“Oh.”
Before going to bed that night, Luo Mingchen silently warned himself not to kick people anymore and to stay farther away from Huo Yan.
Yet when he woke up the next morning, for some unknown reason, he had rolled right back into Huo Yan’s arms.
He was also informed that he had kicked Huo Yan twenty times in his sleep—slightly better than last time.
“Maybe I should just buy my own bed.”
Luo Mingchen felt utterly exhausted.
Seeing Huo Yan silently looking at him, Luo Mingchen inexplicably sensed danger and forced out an awkward laugh.
“Or maybe not?”
“Hm.”
While Luo Mingchen cooked porridge, Huo Yan taught the two boys some martial arts.
After breakfast, the two adults took the three children to Peach Blossom Town. Just before entering town, they placed five boards of tofu onto the cart.
One piece of tofu sold for one copper coin. A board contained thirty-six pieces. Five boards totaled one hundred and eighty copper coins—a considerable amount of income.
Moreover, the soybeans were homegrown, the gypsum cost nothing, and the wrapping could be done with lotus leaves from Luo Mingchen’s space after a simple wash.
Actually, by the time they arrived in town, they were already among the last vendors to show up.
After dropping the children off at the academy, the two rented a stall for ten copper coins a day.
The street bustled with people coming and going.
Luo Mingchen had Huo Yan carry Huo Xinyue while he skillfully called out:
“Fresh tofu for sale—soft and silky water tofu! Delicious and affordable—”
His clear, slightly gentle voice quickly attracted an older woman.
The woman’s eyes lit up when she saw the tofu.
“This tofu really is tender. Give me two pieces.”
“Coming right up.”
Smiling, Luo Mingchen wrapped two pieces in a clean lotus leaf and handed them over.
“Auntie, here’s your tofu.”
“Good.”
The woman placed two copper coins onto the empty plate and left with the tofu.
After receiving his first two copper coins, Luo Mingchen flashed Huo Yan a smug grin.
Thinking the smile was directed at her, Huo Xinyue immediately grinned back.
Huo Yan said, “Why don’t you hold the child? I’ll sell the tofu.”
“I don’t think you can do the shouting. I’d better handle it myself.”
Huo Xinyue had already stretched her arms toward Luo Mingchen.
Seeing that her little father had no intention of carrying her, she pouted but obediently withdrew her hands and continued hugging Huo Yan’s neck.
The tofu business turned out to be far better than Luo Mingchen had expected.
In less than an hour, all five boards of tofu were sold out.
Mainly because Luo Mingchen was young, his voice carried well, the tofu looked noticeably softer and fresher than everyone else’s, and the price matched the market rate. It was only natural that it sold so quickly.
Luo Mingchen had originally thought people here didn’t like soft water tofu.
Apparently, that wasn’t the case.
After packing up early, Luo Mingchen felt that paying ten copper coins a day for a stall was a bit wasteful if all he sold was tofu.
If adding another five boards tomorrow still resulted in a quick sellout, he could try making snacks as well, such as bowl cakes.
Back when he had been gathering supplies, he had collected quite a lot of medicinal materials from traditional medicine shops. Among them was saltpeter, which could be used to make ice.
In the middle of summer, who could resist a bowl of icy-cold bowl cakes?
Of course, if he wanted to sell bowl cakes, he would need plenty of bamboo skewers, as well as bamboo leaves or oiled paper for wrapping. That way, customers who wanted to take food home would have proper packaging.
Planning ahead was always better than what happened today.
If Huo Yan hadn’t reminded him after breakfast, he wouldn’t even have remembered to use lotus leaves as wrapping.
On the way home, Luo Mingchen was in such a good mood that he bought a duck and a chicken, planning to make spicy diced chicken and rice-flour steamed duck.
Summer heat tended to suppress appetites, and overly greasy dishes often went unfinished.
The three siblings had rarely eaten good food before, so they never complained no matter what Luo Mingchen cooked.
But while they weren’t tired of it, Luo Mingchen himself was starting to get a little bored.
When he needed more lotus leaves, he remembered the lotus roots growing in one of the water vats.
By noon, the lotus leaves that had nearly been stripped bare had completely regrown, filling the entire vat again. Pink-and-white lotus flowers had even bloomed among them.
“Yueyue, help Daddy count the money here and see how much Daddy earned today. If you don’t understand something, ask this daddy.”
As he spoke, Luo Mingchen pointed at Huo Yan.
Huo Xinyue obediently nodded.
“Okay.”
“Such a good girl.”
Luo Mingchen kissed her chubby cheek and went into the kitchen to prepare lunch.
Originally, Huo Yan had intended to help with the fire, but Luo Mingchen told him to stay and teach their daughter how to count.
So he sat beside Huo Xinyue and watched her count coins.
Soon, Huo Yan discovered that the little girl could only count from one to ten.
Whenever she counted ten copper coins, she would push that pile aside and start counting a new pile.
After organizing all the complete groups of ten, she stared helplessly at the remaining coins—fewer than ten—and the many finished piles that exceeded the range of “ten.”
Finally, she looked at Huo Yan with pleading eyes.
“Little Daddy!”
Huo Yan: “…I’m your daddy.”
Huo Xinyue pointed toward the kitchen in confusion.
“Daddy!”
Hearing the commotion, Luo Mingchen poked his head out from the kitchen.
“What’s wrong, Yueyue?”
Huo Xinyue then looked back at Huo Yan.
Her expression clearly said:
You’re the Little Daddy.
Huo Yan: “…”