“Cheng An’an, don’t mess arou—”
Before he could finish.
Cheng An’an snapped her fingers. “Transform, Pikachu.”
In the span of a single breath—
Shen Yu suddenly found that his perspective had changed again.
He looked down and saw himself holding a hen, staring into its tiny eyes.
Meanwhile, on the bed, “Shen Yu” looked completely relaxed. In Cheng An’an’s unmistakably irritating tone, she said, “Ah, a man’s body really is useful. Even lying down, I can feel how sturdy this waist is. Go, Shen Yu-chu. Mom is still waiting outside for chicken soup. Remember, stew it until it’s nice and tender. My teeth aren’t very good.”
Shen Yu: “…”
He took a deep breath and wanted to curse.
But then he remembered that this was Cheng An’an’s body, and even if he cursed, he would sound like a woman complaining. That made it even more frustrating.
“Cheng An’an, just you wait,” Shen Yu gritted out.
“I’m waiting. Waiting for the soup,” Cheng An’an said cheerfully. “And steam that cured meat too. Add plenty of chili. I like strong flavors.”
Shen Yu carried the chicken and walked out with a dark expression, pushing the door open.
In the courtyard, Wang Xiulan was happily boiling water. When she saw her “daughter-in-law” come out, she immediately greeted her.
“An’an, do you know how to slaughter a chicken? Maybe Mom should do it instead. Don’t get blood all over yourself.”
Shen Yu glanced at the chicken in his hand.
Slaughter a chicken?
When he had been stationed in the border jungles, what living creature hadn’t he dealt with?
A chicken was nothing. Even a two-hundred-pound wild boar could be reduced to a skeleton specimen with nothing more than a dagger in his hands.
“No need.”
He walked over to the chopping board and pressed the hen down.
The chicken was quite spirited, flapping its wings and squawking loudly.
Shen Yu lightly pinched a certain spot on its neck.
Crack.
With a crisp snap, the hen went limp like a pile of mud without even having time to let out a final scream.
Wang Xiulan stood beside him, completely stunned.
Next came plucking the feathers, gutting it, and cleaning out the insides.
Shen Yu moved incredibly quickly.
As the blade flashed, the organs were cleanly removed, and the chicken was chopped into evenly sized pieces.
Wang Xiulan swallowed.
“An… An’an, your knife skills… When did you learn those?”
Shen Yu didn’t stop what he was doing and didn’t even raise his head.
“I practiced just now at the Cheng family’s house.”
Wang Xiulan: “…”
Just now at the Cheng family’s house?
Were the Cheng family members even still alive?
The fire in the stove burned brightly.
Shen Yu expertly heated the wok, added oil, then tossed in slices of ginger to stir-fry until fragrant before adding the chicken pieces and stir-frying them.
Although he was a grown man, his time helping out in the army kitchen hadn’t been wasted.
On top of that, he was a perfectionist about everything he did. As long as he decided to do something, there was nothing he couldn’t do well.
Before long, the rich aroma of meat wafted out of the kitchen.
Wang Xiulan took a deep breath, her face full of delight.
“Smells so good, so good! My An’an really can do everything, both inside and outside the home. How come I never knew you had this kind of cooking skill before?”
Shen Yu expressionlessly added water to the pot.
Before?
Before, that had been the real Cheng An’an, a fool who could only burn sweet potatoes.
The person standing here cooking for you now was your unfortunate son.
“Mom, steam the cured meat too.”
Shen Yu hadn’t forgotten Cheng An’an’s request.
“Add plenty of chili.”
“Sure thing.”
Wang Xiulan was now completely obedient to her daughter-in-law and happily went off to slice the cured meat.
Half an hour later—
The dishes were served.
A large basin of stewed chicken, its broth rich and savory with tempting droplets of oil floating on top.
A plate of steamed cured meat, glistening enticingly, with bright red chili peppers that made one’s mouth water.
There were also freshly steamed white-flour buns, still piping hot.
This kind of meal would have been a feast even in the city, let alone at Hongxing Production Brigade.
Shen Yu untied his apron and was just about to serve the rice when he heard a knocking sound coming from the bed in the inner room.
A vein on Shen Yu’s forehead twitched.
“Mom, you eat first. I’ll take some food to Shen Yu.”
Shen Yu picked up a large bowl and put the chicken leg and best pieces of meat inside, then took two large steamed buns.
Wang Xiulan looked pleased.
“Go on, go on. Look at how much you care about your man. If Shen Yu knew, he’d definitely be moved to tears.”
Moved to tears?
Shen Yu genuinely wanted to cry.
He was furious enough to cry.
He carried the bowl into the inner room.
Inside—
Cheng An’an was sprawled on the bed like a pampered young master.
When she saw Shen Yu come in, she gave the bowl a critical glance.
“You saved me a chicken leg? You’re not bad. Hurry, hurry, I’m starving.”
Shen Yu sat down beside the bed with a dark expression, picked up a piece of chicken, and roughly stuffed it into her mouth.
“Mmph… Hot, hot, hot!”
Cheng An’an protested incoherently.
“Are you trying to murder your own husband? Couldn’t you blow on it first? Don’t you have any sense of service?”
“You should be grateful you have something to eat.”
Shen Yu sneered.
“Keep talking and I’ll dump this entire bowl on your face.”
That was what he said, but he still instinctively blew on the next piece of meat before handing it over.
Cheng An’an chewed the chicken and sighed indistinctly.
“I never expected this rough-looking guy to be such a good cook. From now on, you can handle all the cooking at home. I’ll just be responsible for looking pretty and eating.”
Shen Yu looked at the ridiculous grin currently plastered across his own face and couldn’t help complaining.
“Can you at least pay attention to your image? That’s my face. Stop grinning like an idiot.”
He was just about to make another sarcastic remark when a sudden cramping pain struck his abdomen.
The pain came incredibly strangely.
It wasn’t the sharp pain of an external injury, nor the dull ache of internal damage.
Instead, it felt as though all the strength in his body was leaking out through his pores.
“What’s wrong?”
Cheng An’an noticed something was off.
“Are you upset because you didn’t get enough chicken? Did you work yourself into an internal injury?”
Shen Yu clutched his lower abdomen tightly, cold sweat appearing on his forehead.
“Did you poison the chicken soup?”
“Poison?”
Cheng An’an snorted.
“If I wanted to kill you, I could just smother you with a pillow. Why would I waste a perfectly good hen?”
Shen Yu had to admit that made sense.
But the cramping pain in his stomach was becoming increasingly severe.
And then—
He felt that something was wrong down there.
A warm flow surged out uncontrollably.
“No.”
Shen Yu gritted his teeth and got to his feet.
“I need to go to the latrine.”
He staggered out of the room.
Cheng An’an watched his retreating figure and thoughtfully rubbed her chin.
Counting the days…
It seemed like it was about time.
Oh dear.
This was truly unfortunate.
Cheng An’an whistled gleefully.
Inside the latrine—
Shen Yu didn’t even have time to worry about the difference between men and women. He reached down and undid his waistband.
He pulled down his trousers and looked down.
What he saw nearly stopped the heart of a man who had survived countless battles.
Blood.
It was all blood.
Bright red and glaring, staining his coarse cloth underwear crimson.
His mind buzzed.
It was over.
With this amount of bleeding, it had to be a ruptured internal organ.
Or perhaps a perforated intestine.
He had experienced countless brushes with death in his lifetime.
If he died on the battlefield, it could at least be called an honorable death.
But if he died in a latrine from unexplained heavy bleeding from below—
His lifelong reputation would be completely ruined.
His trembling hand reached out, intending to examine the injury.