Being an adult at heart, Sheng An quickly regained her composure after a brief emotional outburst.
Staring at the man before her who wore a worried expression, she couldn’t help but recall the wild events of last night. As the older partner who’d “grazed on young grass,” she felt an uncharacteristic blush heat her cheeks.
Mentally scolding herself for “creating trouble,” Sheng An slapped away the hand resting on her waist:
“It’s all your fault! Last night I begged you through tears, but you refused to stop. You made me have nightmares after falling asleep and scared me awake.”
The original host and Xu Jinnian had only met two or three times before marriage and weren’t familiar with each other. Moreover, the original host had a straightforward personality, similar to Sheng An’s younger self, so she wasn’t worried about arousing Jinnian’s suspicion.
Sure enough, these bold and direct words made Xu Jinnian so flustered he didn’t know where to put his hands.
An invisible heat rushed to his head, his handsome face growing increasingly red as he fluttered his eyelashes and avoided Sheng An’s teasing gaze:
“This husband was at fault. Please forgive me, Niangzi.”
Pfft—
Sheng An couldn’t help but laugh aloud.
This guy was too naive—so naive it made people want to tease him even more!
But with her mind in turmoil, Sheng An wanted to be alone with her thoughts. Without ceremony, she directed Xu Jinnian:
“Then hurry up and make breakfast. I’m so hungry I can barely stand.”
Xu Jinnian breathed a slight sigh of relief, the heat in his face receding somewhat:
“Please rest, Niangzi. This husband will prepare the meal immediately and call you when it’s ready.”
With that, he hurried away as if chased by dogs.
Tsk, so pure!
Watching the man’s fleeing figure, Sheng An clicked her tongue mentally before leaning back and sprawling lazily on the bed like a cat, not moving an inch.
Her eyes shifted as she glanced toward the slightly open window, where the sun had already risen high in the sky.
It was early summer, and dawn came early.
After rolling around in bed a few times without managing to feel sleepy, Sheng An got up, put on her shoes, and walked somewhat uncomfortably to the dressing table.
Rubbing her sore lower back that felt utterly drained, the petty Sheng An mentally noted this against Xu Jinnian.
His technical skills were like food delivery knocking at the door—utterly amateur.
But… his stamina wasn’t bad, ahem!
Rubbing her flushed cheeks, Sheng An turned her gaze to the bronze mirror and met a pair of bright eyes reflected in it.
Almond eyes and peach-blossom cheeks, relaxed and radiant—it was a beautiful face without any sharpness, exceptionally charming.
“So similar!”
Sheng An stroked her own eyebrows, murmuring softly.
To be precise, her features were identical to how she looked at sixteen in her previous life.
If this face were slightly fuller and her complexion better, even she might not be able to tell the difference.
In her previous life, she had been terminally ill with no cure, and when she opened her eyes again, she was here.
So where had the original host gone?
The original host’s memories ended at the moment they drank the Hejin Wine, and then… there was nothing.
Sheng An felt vaguely uneasy.
Her sudden transmigration and the original host’s mysterious disappearance inevitably invited conspiracy theories.
Well, since she was already here, she’d take things one step at a time.
Maybe the original host would return after a good sleep. For now, being healthy and pain-free, every extra second of life was a bonus.
The Sheng family was poor and couldn’t afford a dowry for the original host.
The original host only had two sets of old clothes from home for early summer, both patched in several places.
Sheng An changed into one of the soft blue dresses, casually tied up her hair, and stood to open the door and walk out.
Unlike the Sheng family’s dilapidated thatched hut, the Xu family had purchased this blue-brick house with tiled roof in the city many years ago.
The large tiled house was spacious, with three main rooms, a kitchen, and a storage room, each with a courtyard in the front and back.
The central hall was the largest area, serving as the dining and reception space.
The room to the left of the hall was divided into two sections: the front room, facing the sun, was the bedroom of Xu Jinnian’s father, while the back room served as a guest room.
The Xu family rarely had visitors, so the guest room remained empty year-round.
The room to the right of the hall was similarly divided: the front room was the newlyweds’ bridal chamber, and the back room was Xu Jinnian’s study.
With few family members—previously just Xu Jinnian and his father—the house felt quite spacious.
Even with Sheng An now added to the household, it didn’t feel crowded.
Hearing noises from the kitchen, Sheng An walked over.
Through the open door, she saw her husband standing by the stove, his wide sleeves rolled up high, revealing well-defined muscular arms as he stirred a pot with a ladle.
His practiced movements showed he was no stranger to cooking.
With his handsome features, upright posture, and graceful movements, it seemed less like he was cooking and more like he was painting a picture.
Sheng An patted her rumbling stomach, feeling hopeful about breakfast, and stepped into the kitchen to peer into the pot.
It was noodle soup.
No side dishes, no scallions—just a pale, unappetizing pot of food.
Instantly, her stomach seemed to lose all interest, as if afflicted with impotence.
Xu Jinnian noticed someone approaching and turned to see his wife looking at him with pity.
Meeting his puzzled gaze, Sheng An gave him a once-over, patted his shoulder, and sighed:
“You’re so easy to feed!”
With such bland and tasteless food, he’d still managed to grow to six feet tall and develop eight well-defined abs that felt great to the touch.
If that wasn’t being easy to feed, what was?
Xu Jinnian paused, ladle in hand, and spoke gently:
“We used up all the meat for the wedding banquet yesterday. I’ll go to the market after breakfast and buy some to cook for you at noon.”
Seeing his misunderstanding, Sheng An didn’t explain. Instead, she took the ladle from him and said, “Let me handle this.”
With that, she took a bowl from the nearby cupboard, scooped a little of the soup to taste for saltiness.
It was a bit bland.
Sheng An picked up the salt jar, tasted the salt to gauge its strength, and added half a spoonful to the pot.
After stirring and tasting again, the flavor was just right—barely passable.
It wasn’t that Sheng An was overly picky. In her previous life, she had started a restaurant from scratch with her exceptional culinary skills, and it had become an instant hit. Her palate had long been spoiled by her own cooking.
She would have liked to add some scallions or chopped greens, but a quick look around showed none were available. There wasn’t time to pick fresh ones from the garden, so she had to let it go.
She stirred the pot slowly to prevent the bottom from burning.
The rising steam blurred Sheng An’s delicate features, making her seem almost unreal, as if she might fade away at any moment.
A sudden, inexplicable panic seized Xu Jinnian, and he called out involuntarily, “Niangzi!”
Sheng An turned her head. “What’s wrong?”
Xu Jinnian snapped back to reality. Seeing the clarity and liveliness in her eyes, he slowly unclenched his fist and handed her an earthenware basin to cover his earlier lapse.
“Father is awake. Should we serve tea first or eat first?”
As a new bride, she was expected to serve tea to her parents-in-law on the second day.
“Let’s serve tea first. The noodle soup needs to cool down a bit anyway.”
Sheng An took the basin to serve the soup, accepting her new identity as a married woman with a husband and father-in-law quite well.
She had already time-traveled and, last night, even mistaken a living person for a ghost. What else couldn’t she accept?
Anyway, she hadn’t lost out.
She just felt a little sorry for the original owner… if the original owner could ever return.
“I’ll carry this, you go wash up. There’s a new towel on the stone table outside.”
As soon as the noodle soup was ladled out, Xu Jinnian stepped forward to pick up the ceramic pot. After giving Sheng An these gentle instructions, he walked out.
Sheng An paused for a moment, staring at the man’s retreating back before suddenly breaking into a smile. She walked out of the kitchen into the courtyard, immediately spotting the washing supplies arranged on the stone table.
Not only was there a brand new face towel, but also a wooden cup and contemporary-era toothbrush and tooth powder.
Quite thoughtful indeed.
Inside the room, Xu Jinnian was helping his father Xu Chenglin get dressed.
Xu Chenglin was seriously ill and bedridden, needing medicine with every meal. The air was thick with the bitter scent of herbs that even open windows couldn’t dispel.
The elderly man on the bed was over fifty, his hair graying, face sallow and withered from prolonged illness. He coughed intermittently, breathing heavily with chest tightness and shortness of breath.
Watching his son’s gentle movements and patient care, Xu Chenglin felt both comforted and guilty:
“A-Nian, your father is useless, I’ve become a burden to you.”
Xu Jinnian carefully wiped his father’s hands, responding seriously:
“Father, it’s only right that I take care of you. Please don’t talk about being a burden anymore.”
From the moment he was born, he had been unwanted. If not for his father insisting on adopting him and raising him through hardships, he wouldn’t be who he was today.