Placing the birdcage onto the stone table, Yan Fuliang looked toward Ji Yunzhao with a touch of surprise, “Senior must be joking.”
Whether intentional or accidental, when he set down the cage, his injured back of the hand was exposed right before Ji Yunzhao’s eyes.
It was a bruised scrape, with faint traces of blood still seeping from the wound, looking rather pitiful.
The injury was entirely too prominent against the cold, pale skin of his hand, and Ji Yunzhao spotted it at a single glance.
“Your hand?”
Ji Yunzhao’s brow furrowed slightly. His intuition told him this was a bit too coincidental, but he still gripped Yan Fuliang’s wrist and pulled the youth to his side.
“How did you end up like this? Were you slacking off while practicing your body-refining cultivation techniques?”
That should not be the case. Yan Fuliang knew exactly who the enemies were that murdered his parents and was bound to be anxious for revenge. How could he possibly neglect his cultivation?
Moreover, he had already reached the Qin realm. How could his skin be broken so easily, or get bruised from a mere bump?
Yan Fuliang kept his eyes lowered, looking thoroughly innocent, “Perhaps I accidentally hurt it while making the birdcage.”
Ji Yunzhao: “…”
He almost wanted to fling Yan Fuliang’s hand away, but he held himself back, asking with “patience”, “While making the birdcage?”
Yan Fuliang remained perfectly calm, as if he did not notice Ji Yunzhao’s slightly distorted expression, “Yes. This stalk of bamboo has a rather bad temper. I was struck by it when I chopped it down.”
Ji Yunzhao subconsciously looked at the birdcage on the stone table.
This time, he examined it a bit more closely. Sure enough, bursts of spiritual energy fluctuations were emanating from the cage, the bamboo Yan Fuliang had chopped down was no ordinary bamboo, but a slightly special one that belonged to the category of spiritual plants.
There were quite a few good things down at the bottom of this cliff.
But there was absolutely no need to use such high-quality bamboo.
Especially a bamboo with such a massive temper. Now that his hand was damaged from the strike, how was he supposed to cook dinner tonight?
Though, whether that injury was truly caused by a bamboo strike that remained questionable.
“You certainly went to a lot of trouble,” Ji Yunzhao said, twitching the corners of his mouth.
Yan Fuliang curled his lips into a very timid smile, “Senior’s affairs naturally require more care.”
Ji Yunzhao: “Heheh, Master is so moved.”
As he spoke, he retrieved some iodophor from his system space.
Halfway through pulling it out, his hand retreated, replacing the iodophor with rubbing alcohol.
“This one has a better disinfecting effect.”
He pulled out an alcohol cotton ball and pressed it firmly against the back of Yan Fuliang’s hand.
“Our Yanyan is so heavily injured, we must treat it properly.”
A fierce, stinging pain flared up, hurting far worse than his past experiences of washing wounds with low-grade liquor. Yan Fuliang’s hand twitched uncontrollably.
He slowly steadied his breathing.
“Thank you, Senior.”
Ji Yunzhao pitched his voice to be incredibly soft and sickeningly sweet, making it terribly deliberate.
“You – are – wel – come -”
Ji Yunzhao did not wrap a bandage around the back of Yan Fuliang’s hand.
While it looked somewhat frightening, it was ultimately just a minor injury. Given Yan Fuliang’s current cultivation level, it would likely heal completely after a single night of sleep.
The birdcage on the stone table was taken back to the bedroom by Yan Fuliang, who said he would present it once it was entirely finished.
Ji Yunzhao hesitated several times, wanting to speak up, but he still did not open his mouth to demand the cage.
The system sat beside him, licking its paws.
“Host, what is there for you to be embarrassed about? Just demand it directly. Say that this bamboo bullied a child and you need to teach it a lesson. Then tomorrow, use the excuse that you accidentally went a bit too far with the lesson and broke the birdcage. Wouldn’t that work perfectly?”
Ji Yunzhao: “Do you think he is stupid, or do you think I am stupid?”
Pretending not to care could still allow him to gloss it over. If he actually demanded the cage, how would that be any different from making it obvious that he had a guilty conscience? Yan Fuliang was already trying so hard to test him; wasn’t the youth just waiting for him to reveal a flaw?
If the birdcage broke, that would be just wonderful – it would practically be eagerly handing evidence right over to Yan Fuliang.
Ji Yunzhao glanced at the little system, who knew absolutely nothing and was tilting its head to look back at him, and let out a soft sigh.
Forget it. This is just how a system that has been sent back to the factory for repairs behaves. He just had to get used to it.
Seeing that Ji Yunzhao remained silent, the system pondered for a moment before bringing up its previous suggestion once again.
“Um, Host, I feel like you should just go ahead and seduce the male lead. It would bring more peace of mind.”
“Shut your mouth, you little idiot.”
Ji Yunzhao picked it up and walked outside, stuffing a piece of dried fish into the pitch-black cat mouth.
“Go out and play. Don’t disturb my cooking.”
Thinking of the host’s terrible culinary skills, the system clamped its teeth down on tonight’s dinner, leaped out of Ji Yunzhao’s arms without a shred of nostalgia, turned around, and bolted.
Before it could run more than a few steps, it accidentally crashed straight into Yan Fuliang’s leg.
The tiny black kitten instantly became dizzy from the impact, flopping right down onto its butt on the ground, letting out a dazed “meow”.
“Tongtong?”
The system snapped back to its senses, changed directions, and bolted again, vanishing from sight within two or three bounds.
Sorry about that, male lead. I’ll take my leave first, you can stay and suffer with the host.
The sun sank below the horizon, and the sky gradually darkened, the clear blue expanse stained a magnificent purple-red by the evening glow.
Though the scenery was beautiful, Ji Yunzhao had no time to appreciate it.
He called out a greeting to Yan Fuliang, casually telling him not to let the wound touch water and mentioning that he would handle dinner tonight, before lifting his feet and heading toward the kitchen.
Following his habits from the three thousand realms of the main world, Ji Yunzhao had replaced all the lights in the house with the brightest light bulbs, especially in the kitchen when cooking dishes, one had to see clearly.
In addition to the vegetables, he also clearly saw a slender shadow cast behind him.
Yan Fuliang had followed him into the kitchen with complete naturalness, even pulling the door shut behind them.
“What did you come in here for?”
Ji Yunzhao asked curiously, his gaze landing on the youth’s injured hand, “I already told you the wound can’t touch water. Go wait outside.”
His tone was casual, as if coaxing a small child.
Yan Fuliang actually disliked it when Ji Yunzhao spoke to him in this manner, but he could not pinpoint the source of this strange emotion. It was simply an instinctual… heavy dislike.
The usually obedient Yan Fuliang did not behave submissively and leave this time.
He walked straight to Ji Yunzhao’s side, behaving as though he had not heard the previous words, and tilted his head to look into the empty pot.
“Is Senior preparing to cook?”
“Yes,” Ji Yunzhao said, “I’m hungry.”
Hungry, he was truly hungry, and it was time to fix himself something to eat.
He knew his own culinary skills were wretched, but there was no other choice. Yan Fuliang’s hand was injured and could not cook, and they were too lazy to run all the way to Yunxiang City just for a single dinner. He would just eat whatever was available in the system space.
If there was nothing to eat, then he would just buy some instant noodles or something from the system mall.
The food section only had these miserable items available that could fill the stomach but tasted rather poor, though at least they weren’t charred to a crisp and had no bizarre flavors.
When the time came, if he carried out two bowls of instant noodles and pretended he had made them himself, would Yan Fuliang believe it?
Well, a three-year-old Yan Fuliang might find it somewhat believable.
Ji Yunzhao shook his head and urged the youth beside him, “Be good, listen to me, and go wait in the dining room.”
He wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination, but after he finished saying that sentence, he felt as though Yan Fuliang’s brow furrowed ever so slightly.
Why was a child of this age always frowning? Exactly what was making him unhappy?
Ji Yunzhao could never have guessed that it was precisely his attitude of constantly viewing Yan Fuliang as a little kid that made a certain youth in his teens feel indignant.
“Let me teach Senior how to cook.”
Yan Fuliang used his uninjured hand to select a handful of green vegetables along with side ingredients like ginger and garlic, and then, like a magic trick, produced a free-range chicken from his storage pouch.
The chicken had already been dressed and cleaned, sitting immaculately inside a basin.
“You.”
Ji Yunzhao froze, his beautiful apricot eyes widening slightly, “When you went out earlier, you even went to catch a free-range chicken?”
“Yes. Compared to the one Senior brought back, this one isn’t any worse, right?” The youth asked, as if seeking credit, “Senior, how would you like to eat this chicken?”
The free-range chicken that had been drugged by He Wenhua’s guards was the very first chicken Ji Yunzhao had ever caught with his own hands. When he returned, he had flaunted it to Yan Fuliang for quite a long time, and he had been furious for a good while upon discovering it was inedible.
Although he had already taken his anger out on He Wenhua, he had not expected Yan Fuliang to actually take this matter to heart.
When Yan Fuliang sneaked out, he hadn’t just been following the plot to chop bamboo and make a birdcage; he had also specially caught a free-range chicken to bring back.
His retirement insurance had truly grown up, knowing how to show filial piety to his master.
To say he wasn’t moved would be a lie.
The child is truly filial, there is hope for retirement, and raising him wasn’t in vain!
“Senior?”
A distinct-jointed hand waved in front of his eyes.
Ji Yunzhao returned to his senses. Looking at Yan Fuliang again, he found the youth far more pleasing to the eye, deciding to stop holding a grudge over the fact that the youth kept testing his alternate identity.
Catching sight of the lotus leaves in the corner of the kitchen out of the corner of his eye, Ji Yunzhao thought for a moment and said, “I want to eat Beggar’s Chicken.”
By the time the last glint of the sunset vanished from the horizon, a small dirt mound had been added to the courtyard.
The inside of the free-range chicken had been stuffed with tangerine peel, wolfberries, and some culinary herbs whose names Ji Yunzhao could not recall, and the entire chicken was wrapped tightly in soaked lotus leaves.
Next, they only needed to smear a layer of mud over the outside of the lotus leaves and bury it in the dirt mound along with red-hot stones, waiting for the chicken meat to stew until cooked, and the grand task would be complete.
This was not Ji Yunzhao’s first time cooking a dish, but it was his very first time making a normal, edible dish, leaving him thoroughly excited throughout the entire process.
Even if Yan Fuliang’s hand had not been injured, Ji Yunzhao would not have let him do the work.
Dishes always tasted better when made with one’s own hands!
With Yan Fuliang watching over the previous few steps, nothing went wrong. It was only when smearing the yellow mud over the outside of the lotus leaves that Ji Yunzhao failed to control the ratio of water to soil properly, taking quite a long time to get it right.
“So Beggar’s Chicken is actually this difficult to make,” Ji Yunzhao lamented.
A strand of hair was blown by the wind, drifting onto his face and causing a bit of an itch. He casually wiped his face with his hand.
A soft chuckle suddenly sounded beside him.
Amidst the flickering firelight, the youth’s features softened, a smile hiding within his peach-blossom eyes as they curved gently, looking as though they were filled to the brim with starlight.
He then leaned down, a handkerchief soaked in warm water touching Ji Yunzhao’s cheek, gently wiping away a small smudge of mud that had stained his face.
“Senior, here it got dirty.”
Ji Yunzhao froze.
Amidst the rhythm of his somewhat irregular, drum-like heartbeat, he inappropriately recalled the nonsense the system had spoken to him earlier.
Why did it feel like, even if he followed that little idiot’s words and went to seduce Yan Fuliang, he wouldn’t be losing out either.