Lin Peiru tilted her head back. Not only was she not afraid, but she smiled sweetly, her eyes curving into crescent moons.
She shook the scallion in her hand, her tone light and innocent.
“Because I’m going to be living at your house now.”
Upon hearing this, Huo Yunshen looked as though he had just heard the biggest joke in the world. His chest heaved violently, and the veins at his temples throbbed.
He practically gritted his teeth as he forced the words out between them.
“Who gave you permission?!”
The low roar was filled with barely restrained fury, making the entire courtyard fall silent.
“I did.”
A calm voice came from the kitchen doorway.
Mu Xinyao walked out carrying a basin of freshly washed vegetables and stood firmly between her son and Lin Peiru.
Although she felt a little guilty, she still tried her best to maintain her authority.
Huo Yunshen stared at his mother, his face turning completely dark.
“Mom!” His voice was low, filled with intense displeasure. “How could you let her stay at our house without even asking me?”
“A young woman living together with the two of us, mother and son, is so inconvenient!”
“Besides, who knows what kind of person she really is!”
Mu Xinyao’s expression darkened as well.
“What do you know?!” Her tone carried a hint of exasperation at her son’s stubbornness.
“My old illness acted up just now, and Peiru happened to have emergency medicine with her. She saved my life!”
“She’s just a young girl who wants to find a clean and respectable family to stay with for a few days. Are you really going to be this heartless?”
Those words left Huo Yunshen completely stunned.
The anger in his eyes instantly faded, replaced by shock and lingering fear. His mouth opened and closed, but not a single word came out.
Seeing her son rendered speechless, Mu Xinyao softened her tone slightly, though she still sounded reproachful.
“The girl came down to the countryside and has no relatives or acquaintances here. She just wants a clean and safe place to stay. How much trouble can it possibly be for our family to add one more pair of chopsticks?”
“And yet you come home and, without even asking what happened, try to drive away the woman who saved your mother’s life?”
Huo Yunshen’s face went from green to pale and back again, displaying every possible shade of embarrassment.
He stood stiffly with his neck held high, his chest heaving, but he could no longer find a single word to argue with her.
Lin Peiru had been squatting quietly to the side. At this moment, she slowly stood up and dusted the dirt from her hands.
She walked up to Huo Yunshen, raised her fair and beautiful little face, and curved her eyes into sly crescent moons.
“Comrade Huo Yunshen.”
Her voice was sweet and soft, carrying a hint of deliberate triumph.
“I just saved Auntie, you know~”
She deliberately dragged out the last syllable, tilting her head as she smiled brightly at his extremely aggrieved face.
“So you wouldn’t really be so heartless as to kick your lifesaver out, would you?”
Huo Yunshen stared daggers at that dazzling, irritating smile on her face. He could feel his temples throbbing.
His face was now so dark it looked as though ink might drip from it.
This woman! She was doing it on purpose!
Seeing that Huo Yunshen clearly wasn’t going to object anymore, Mu Xinyao immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
“Alright, stop standing there like a door god.”
“Peiru’s luggage is still at the village chief’s house. Go bring it back for her now.”
The moment she finished speaking, the kitchen curtain was lifted, and Huo Yunqiao poked her head out, cheerfully adding another blow.
“Brother! Peiru’s room still needs fresh straw laid down. Sleeping on just a straw mat will be uncomfortable! Go to the haystack and bring back some clean, fluffy dry straw!”
Huo Yunshen’s face grew even darker.
He felt that the ball of fire lodged in his chest had been completely extinguished by the mother-and-daughter duo working together. All that remained was a cloud of suffocating smoke.
Without saying a word, he turned around and strode out of the courtyard.
“Bang!”
The courtyard gate slammed heavily against the doorframe, making everyone’s hearts jump.
Watching him leave in a fury, Lin Peiru was secretly delighted, though a hint of uncertainty appeared on her face.
She cautiously tugged on Mu Xinyao’s sleeve and asked softly, “Auntie… did he really go to get my luggage? He isn’t angry and hiding somewhere, is he?”
Looking at her hopeful yet slightly frightened expression, Mu Xinyao couldn’t help laughing.
She reached out and gently smoothed the stray hair from Lin Peiru’s forehead, her eyes warm and affectionate.
“Don’t worry.”
“That boy is just stubborn and soft-hearted. He looks like he has a terrible temper, but he’s actually a very good person.”
Upon hearing this, all of Lin Peiru’s hesitation and uncertainty vanished instantly.
She raised a smile brighter than the setting sun and nodded firmly.
“I know.”
She spoke softly, her voice filled with a certainty and nostalgia no one else could understand.
I know, Auntie.
He has always been the best person.
Sure enough, Auntie was right.
That man’s heart really was soft.
Before long, heavy footsteps sounded outside the courtyard.
Huo Yunshen was back.
He had Lin Peiru’s rolled-up bedding slung over his shoulder, several bags in one hand, and a bulging cloth sack in the other.
His handsome face was still as dark as the bottom of a cooking pot, as though someone owed him eight hundred strings of cash.
Without even looking around, he walked straight into the courtyard and seemingly tossed Lin Peiru’s luggage onto the ground with roughness that was, in fact, surprisingly gentle.
Then he carried the cloth sack to the kitchen doorway and spoke in a voice as cold as ice shards.
“The village chief said this is the grain ration allocated to you.”
Just thinking about what had happened at the village chief’s house made his expression darken another few shades.
Village Chief Li Dashan had been smoking his pipe when Huo Yunshen arrived to collect Lin Peiru’s luggage. His eyes had nearly popped out of his head.
“Well, well, Yunshen, have you suddenly had a change of heart?”
“Just a moment ago you said you wouldn’t agree to anything, and now you’re carrying a young girl’s luggage for her?”
What could Huo Yunshen say?
He could only grit his back teeth and squeeze the words out.
“She… convinced my mother.”
Upon hearing this, Li Dashan chuckled and gave him a thumbs-up, wearing an expression that said he understood everything.
“That girl from the Lin family is impressive! What a clever move—cutting off your escape route by winning over your mother first. That’s some real skill!”
What could Huo Yunshen do?
He could only carry her things with a dark expression.
At this moment, hearing him speak, Lin Peiru immediately fluttered over like a butterfly that had caught the scent of honey.
Her eyes sparkled brightly, as though they contained two mischievous stars.
She stepped forward, raised her little face, and spoke in a sweet, soft voice, deliberately drawing out the words.
“Thank you, Big Brother Yunshen.”
Huo Yunshen froze for a moment.
Then, with a sudden “whoosh,” a wave of heat shot straight to the top of his head.
The four words “Big Brother Yunshen” seemed to carry an electric current, leaving his entire body rigid.
His dark face visibly turned red, starting from his forehead and spreading all the way down to his neck.
Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, he abruptly shoved the grain sack into the kitchen.
“Who’s your brother?!”
He lowered his head and tossed out the intimidating yet obviously flustered remark before turning around and rushing out of the courtyard.
His footsteps were fast and disorderly.
As a result, he accidentally tripped over his own feet, staggering and nearly taking a spectacular fall right in the middle of the courtyard.
Although he quickly regained his balance, the embarrassment remained.
Lin Peiru stood where she was, watching him practically flee. She finally couldn’t hold back any longer and covered her mouth with her hand, her shoulders shaking as she nearly laughed herself into the floor.
This man was way too innocent!
She laughed for quite a while before finally turning and entering her new room.
Her luggage had already been tossed onto the floor by Huo Yunshen and now lay quietly there.
She bent down and carefully untied the knot in one of the packages.
Lin Peiru rummaged through her belongings and eventually picked out two cans of meat.
Carrying the cans, she headed straight for the kitchen.
“Yunqiao, cook these too!”
Huo Yunqiao was tending the fire beneath the stove. When she saw what Lin Peiru was holding, her eyes went wide.
“Sister Peiru, you…”
Lin Peiru placed the two tin cans on the stove and smiled brightly.
“Let’s add another dish to dinner tonight.”
When Huo Yunqiao saw the picture of fatty pork on the cans, she immediately waved her hands.
“No, no! We can’t!”
Her face flushed with anxiety.
“Sister Peiru, these were brought by your parents for you. They’re for you to eat yourself. How can we eat your food?”
In those days, who could afford to see meat on their table? These two cans were incredibly precious.
But Lin Peiru took her hand, her attitude firm.
“What’s yours and what’s mine?”
She looked at her earnestly.
“You were kind enough to take me in, give me a place to stay, and even help me clean up my room. I should be thanking you.”
“Besides, they’re only two cans of meat. I don’t have much else with me that I can give you.”
She paused, then softened her voice as she glanced toward the main room.
“And Auntie isn’t in good health. She should eat more meat and build up her strength.”
That one sentence completely silenced all of Huo Yunqiao’s objections.
For the sake of her mother’s health, she simply couldn’t argue with that reason.
Huo Yunqiao looked at Lin Peiru’s sincere smile, then at the two heavy cans of meat. Her heart warmed, and her eyes even became slightly moist.
This girl from the city, Sister Peiru, was truly a good person.
Huo Yunqiao’s movements became almost reverently careful.
Using the tip of the kitchen knife, she slowly pried open the edge of the tin. With a soft “pop,” a rich aroma of meat instantly exploded throughout the tiny kitchen.
It was a pure, rich fragrance, thick with the scent of fatty meat.
She took a deep breath, her eyes unable to conceal her longing, yet her movements remained incredibly restrained.
She carefully scooped out only a small corner of the meat, roughly one-fifth of the entire can.
She wrapped the rest carefully in a clean sheet of oil paper and placed it in the very back of the cupboard.
Lin Peiru watched from the side. She wanted to say something, perhaps tell her to use more and not be so stingy, but the words reached her lips and she swallowed them back.
She understood.
In an era when food and clothing were scarce, even this tiny bit of meat was enough to give a family the confidence to survive a few more days.
Frugality was an instinct carved into their bones.
Although she had brought some money and ration coupons with her, and her mind was filled with countless ideas for making a fortune in this era, for now, those things were still nothing more than castles in the air.
Meals had to be eaten one bite at a time.
The road had to be walked one step at a time.
That was fine.
Let them slowly get used to her presence first.
Soon, the small piece of meat was sliced into thin strips and stewed with the Chinese cabbage they had grown themselves in an iron pot.
“Gurgle, gurgle.”
The aroma of meat mixed with the fragrance of vegetables and filled the entire courtyard, overwhelmingly rich and utterly unreasonable.
Once the dishes were served, Huo Yunqiao looked at the pot of stewed cabbage and meat, a satisfied smile spreading across her face.
Lin Peiru wiped her hands and volunteered.
“Yunqiao, you eat first. I’ll go call Auntie.”
She said this and walked briskly out of the kitchen.
However, the moment she stepped through the doorway, she stopped.
The curtain of the east room was lifted, and Huo Yunshen walked out.
It was the very room she was about to move into.
The man had apparently just straightened up, and a conspicuous strand of pale yellow straw was caught in his hair.
He looked like a big cat that had just rolled around in a haystack.
Lin Peiru’s eyes immediately lit up.
Like a cat that had discovered a new toy, she happily went over to him.
Her footsteps were light, her voice sweet and soft, as though coated in a layer of honey that would never melt.
“Big Brother Yunshen, did you go lay out my bed for me?”
She raised her little face, blinking her almond-shaped eyes. They were filled with undisguised amusement and the sly delight of having caught him red-handed.
“Thank you, Big Brother Yunshen. You’re such a good person.”
One “Big Brother Yunshen” after another was like a barrage of sugar-coated bullets, hitting Huo Yunshen with perfect accuracy.
The man’s face instantly turned bright red.
The redness spread from his ears down to his neck, and even his usually cold eyes were tinged with panic.
He stiffened his neck, as though she had hit a sore spot, and his voice rose several octaves.
“Don’t call me Big Brother Yunshen!”