25
The oilcloth umbrella had been found last minute. It was very old and tattered, trembling in the storm. There was even a hole in it—whether from a rat or a tear during use, it was hard to say. It looked rather pitiful.
Especially since Rong Yan was still wearing that set of clothes taken from a dead person.
They had drifted here with the current and were now ragged and torn.
At first glance, he looked like a beggar.
Yet, his face was so extraordinarily otherworldly that even in such a state, his striking beauty was undeniable. People couldn’t help but fix their gaze on his face—he was the very picture of a down-and-out nobleman.
He Tian clicked her tongue inwardly. Good looks really are an advantage. He’d look good even in a burlap sack.
Seeing her suddenly stop, Rong Yan raised an eyebrow in confusion.
He Tian immediately hugged Dami who had scrambled from her shoulder into her arms and quickly ran over, ducking under the umbrella. “Why did you come out?”
His leg wasn’t even healed yet. Why was he moving around? Standing on one leg like that what if he lost his balance and fell, re-breaking the leg that had finally been set?
Rong Yan pointed at the tattered umbrella above his head.
Meaning: it was raining, and he didn’t want her to get wet.
“It’s just a few steps—how wet could I get?” she said as she took the umbrella and gave Rong Yan a gentle push. “Come on, let’s go back inside. The rain is getting heavier.”
The rain was coming down fiercely. In just a few moments, it had become a solid curtain of water, hammering against the umbrella fabric with loud thuds, making the old, worn umbrella feel like it might fall apart at any moment.
But then, Rong Yan couldn’t move.
It hadn’t been raining when He Tian left. And since she had been in a hurry to see the commotion, she hadn’t told Liu Erniang she was going out. The noise outside had been constant—shouting and clamor and Liu Erniang had heard it and come out to check. When she didn’t see He Tian, she understood immediately.
She was afraid her daughter would be bullied, and even more afraid something would happen to her. Frantic, she had been about to go check when Rong Yan stopped her with great difficulty.
In that short span of time, the rain had started—big, bean-sized drops pelting down. Liu Erniang grew even more worried. Her daughter had just recovered some of her health, and the weather was so cold. What if she got soaked and caught a chill?
She found the only oilcloth umbrella in the house and wanted to go get her daughter. Rong Yan took the umbrella from her and gestured that he would go instead.
To be honest, neither Liu Erniang nor Rong Yan was in any better shape than the other.
If they argued any longer, the rain would get worse, and her daughter would definitely get soaked. So, Liu Erniang didn’t insist.
Watching Rong Yan’s resolute back, Liu Erniang felt a sense of relief. He knows how to repay kindness. Saving him wasn’t a waste.
Once his hands could move, Rong Yan had reinforced the wooden splints on his broken leg himself, even adding a support plate under his foot. If there was a real emergency, he could manage a few steps.
Using the newly reinforced splints, he had managed to make it to the gate. He had originally intended to go further out to meet her, but when he saw that He Tian was almost home, he stopped at the entrance.
The burst of energy had drained out of him. As soon as he stopped, his leg refused to obey.
“What’s wrong?” Seeing him standing still, He Tian, who had taken two steps ahead, quickly turned back to ask.
Rong Yan pointed at his broken leg and shook his head.
He Tian: “?”
If you can’t even walk, why did you come out!
For the first time, He Tian felt an emotion toward someone that could only be described as speechlessness.
With Dami who was afraid of water—still in her arms, she had no choice but to shove the umbrella back into Rong Yan’s hand. “Hold it properly.”
With that, she hoisted him onto her back.
The moment he was lifted onto her back, Rong Yan hadn’t even processed it. He had thought she would support him, letting him hop back on one leg using her for balance.
He hadn’t expected her to carry him all the way back.
“Hold the umbrella properly…” Rain splashed onto her face, making Dami meow repeatedly as she burrowed into He Tian’s chest. She had to remind the still-distracted Rong Yan.
Rong Yan quickly tilted the umbrella forward and down.
The wind and rain were blocked. He Tian swiftly carried him into the kitchen.
Even though she was fast enough, the rain was so heavy that both of them still got a little wet.
He Tian patted the rain off herself with one hand while using the other to shake the water off Dami. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Dahuang vigorously shaking his fur, spraying water all over Rong Yan.
Rong Yan looked momentarily stunned.
He Tian couldn’t help but laugh.
She relit the extinguished fire, then went to the main room to reassure Liu Erniang and ask her what she wanted for dinner.
Liu Erniang asked about He Erlang’s situation.
“He did too many bad things, and Heaven couldn’t stand it anymore. He got what he deserved. The house was struck by lightning and caught fire. By the time I came back, it had burned down to just a frame. It’s pouring now, so the fire should already be out.”
Liu Erniang had only heard something about lightning and a fire, but she hadn’t expected it to be like this.
She was deeply shocked.
Of course, she was happy, but deep down she also felt a little wistful. At least those two would quiet down for a while.
And not just for a while—He Erlang and his family of three were now standing in the rain like drowned rats, staring at their burned-out shell of a house. While grieving, they also had to figure out where to find shelter for the night.
But they were people even Heaven couldn’t stand to look at—who would dare take them in? Weren’t they afraid that if they sheltered them, they might get struck by lightning themselves and bring disaster upon their own homes?
The moment Mrs. Li opened her mouth, the onlookers scattered like birds and beasts, each offering excuses like “the rain is too heavy, I need to check on my own home.”
There wasn’t a single corner in anyone’s house to accommodate them. Mrs. Li had no choice but to help He Erlang and He Jin hobble toward the village head’s home for help. If it weren’t raining, they could have rough it at home for the night, but with rain this heavy, how could they? The downpour was so fierce they couldn’t even make the difficult journey to her maiden family for shelter.
The village head didn’t want to deal with them either, but Mrs. Li had knelt down shamelessly. After all, they were from the same village. He pointed her toward a possible solution: “Here’s the key to the Niangniang Temple at the head of the village. You can take shelter there for now. Once the rain stops, figure something out for yourselves.”
No matter how unwilling Mrs. Li was, she could only take the key. When she tried to make more demands, the village head threatened to take the key back—then they truly would have nowhere to go.
The Niangniang Temple it was. At least it would keep out the wind and rain.
As for food, they could forget about it. Hungry, wearing soaked clothes, and crammed together in the temple for the night, Mrs. Li came down with a high fever the next morning.
Of course, He Tian didn’t find out about this until the next day.
Right now, she was busily cooking dinner.
First, she had taught He Erlang and his family a lesson when they came looking for trouble. Then she had recovered the pension money. And just now, she had turned their own methods against them, using lightning to strike He Erlang’s house.
Three happy occasions in one day—definitely worth celebrating.
Since she wasn’t selling the wolf meat and would keep it for the family, today she would eat to her heart’s content. Not that she had ever been stingy with food before; she always made plenty so everyone could eat their fill.
She stewed a large pot of meat.
She also cut off a big piece of tender meat, minced it finely, added salt and other seasonings, mixed in chopped scallions, and then kneaded some dough.
In addition to the stewed meat, there were also fragrant, juicy thousand-layer meat pies.
Because of this, she made the dough a bit softer today, so it would be easier to form the pie bases later.
And that wasn’t all. She also cooked some rice water. Stewed meat and thousand-layer meat pies could be rich and greasy, so a bit of rice water would help cut the grease and go down smoothly.
Stewing meat was mostly time-consuming, not difficult. She threw the meat with bones into the pot, added water, salt, and some wild spices she had gathered from the mountain, put the lid on, and boiled it over high heat.
The dough needed to rest for a while to increase its elasticity for making the pies, so she started cooking the rice water first.
That was even simpler. After washing the rice, she added water, boiled it over high heat, then simmered it for a while until a light layer of rice oil formed on top. Then it was ready.
Since she wanted rice water rather than rice porridge, she used less rice, so the result was more liquid than rice.
He Tian tasted it first. It had a light rice fragrance, was very refreshing and smooth—really good.
Rong Yan, who was tending the fire in front of the stove, glanced at her.
“Do you want some?” He Tian asked generously.
Rong Yan shook his head.
But He Tian still filled a bowl for him. “You just got rained on. Drink something warm to chase away the chill.”
Actually, the bit of rain on him had dried long ago, and he had been tending the fire for so long that there was no chill left—he was quite warm all over.
Since He Tian had filled a bowl for him and handed it to him, he didn’t stand on ceremony. He sipped the rice water slowly while tending the fire.
Strange. They were all very ordinary ingredients, made with very simple, crude methods, yet the food she made was always exceptionally delicious.
Was it that the ingredients here were different from those in the capital? Or was the water here different?
He wasn’t skilled in such matters and couldn’t tell the difference.
He Tian didn’t care what he was thinking. She was cheerfully kneading the dough.
The last time she went to town, she had bought a meat pie. Even though it didn’t have a lot of meat, it was still very delicious. She had planned to go to town again today, intending to sell the wolf pelts and then try some more new and tasty foods. Unfortunately, He Erlang and his family had ruined those plans. But it didn’t matter—she could make it herself.
Oh, and she could also make fresh meat wontons for herself!
Thinking of this, He Tian’s eyes lit up, and she kneaded the dough with even more vigor.
Thousand-layer meat pie, as the name suggests, is a pie with many layers of meat, which requires the dough to be as thin as possible.
She rolled the rested dough into a thin sheet, first brushed a layer of oil, then evenly spread the seasoned meat filling.
Since she was cooking for herself, and He Tian was a meat lover, she was very generous with the filling.
After spreading the meat filling, she folded the dough inward from four directions, layering it repeatedly, finally forming a square pie base. She rolled it out slightly and then put it in the pan to cook.
With layers upon layers of meat filling, it took more time and effort to cook than scallion pancakes. But the heat still needed to be low—just more oil, turning slowly, cooking gently over low heat.
The kitchen, already filled with the aroma of stewed meat, now also had the scent of meat pies—so fragrant it made people’s mouths water.
Dami kept pacing around, meowing.
The pie crust was golden brown, crispy, and crumbled at the slightest touch. The meat filling sizzled with oil. The thousand-layer pie was done.
When the first batch came out, He Tian cut the pie into four pieces with a knife.
The savory fragrance of the meat filling, no longer contained, spread without restraint, making people swallow involuntarily. She picked up a piece, blew on it, and took a small bite.
It was very hot, but she couldn’t bear to wait. She blew on it as she swallowed the first bite.
Delicious!
Much better than the meat pie she had bought in town last time.
“Meow~” Dami rubbed against He Tian’s legs back and forth.
He Tian thought Dami was too small to eat such things and hesitated. But Dami had already sensed He Tian’s intention. In a few quick moves, she climbed up He Tian’s leg and into her arms, reaching out to grab the thousand-layer meat pie in He Tian’s hand.
Hey?
He Tian’s hands moved faster than her eyes. She immediately pulled the half-eaten meat pie away.
Dami grabbed at nothing and could only cling to He Tian’s clothes, tilting her head up and meowing at her.
Seeing that Dami was about to climb onto her head and meow right into her ear, He Tian had no choice but to tear off a piece of the crust and give some of the filling to her.
The moment Dami got her way, Dahuang tried the same tactic. But he couldn’t climb onto He Tian, so he could only paw at her leg and awoo nonstop.
So, He Tian gave him a piece of the meat pie too.
Dami, in the corner of the counter, ate with little urrr sounds. Dahuang, squatting at He Tian’s feet, ate with happy awoos.
One was a lynx, the other a tiger, but in front of her, they were just like two little cats.
Turning her gaze, He Tian saw that she herself was also eating a meat pie with her eyes squinted in pleasure—no different in expression from Dami and Dahuang.
Knowing how sharp she was, Rong Yan looked only briefly before quietly looking away.
“Here.” Even so, He Tian noticed. After finishing the meat pie in her hand, she took a piece and handed it to Rong Yan. “Eat. Fresh out of the pan, crispy and fragrant.”
Rong Yan put down his bowl of rice water and took the meat pie she handed him. He was indeed hungry—mainly because they were all eating so happily, and even he, who had never been driven by appetite, felt a little tempted.
It was exactly as she had said: the crust was crispy, the meat filling was savory and fragrant. One bite released a mouthful of sizzling oil—very fragrant and very delicious.
The first batch was for testing the heat. With the second batch, He Tian took two pieces to Liu Erniang.
Liu Erniang couldn’t eat anything so greasy. She ate only one piece and told He Tian to take the other back. He Tian didn’t argue. She gave Liu Erniang a bowl of rice water to go with the meat pie and cut the grease.
Since Liu Erniang wasn’t eating more, the subsequent thousand-layer meat pies basically all went into He Tian’s stomach.
She ate one as soon as it was cooked. Most of the time, by the time the next one was ready, she had already finished the previous one.
Rong Yan ate slowly and deliberately, and besides, He Tian was eating so happily that he didn’t want to compete with her—living under someone else’s roof, he would eat whatever they gave him.
He Tian occasionally remembered him and would give him a piece.
By the time all the dough had been made into pies and the meat filling was used up, the basket beside her that was meant to hold the cooked pies was empty.
“I didn’t make enough dough,” He Tian smacked her lips regretfully. “And I didn’t mince enough meat either. I’ll make more tomorrow.”
Then she asked Rong Yan, “Are you full?”
Rong Yan nodded. He was genuinely full.
Although He Tian only occasionally remembered to give him a piece, she kept cooking batch after batch, so he still ate quite a bit.
He Tian thought to herself, how can he eat so little? With something this delicious, shouldn’t he be able to eat an entire basin in one go?
No wonder he was so weak.
Yes, in He Tian’s eyes, Rong Yan was weak.
So weak that if she used even a little force, his arms and legs would break—not the least bit resilient.
“You need to eat more,” He Tian advised him. “Being too weak makes it easy for others to bully you. Eating more makes your body strong. Then when you encounter danger, you’ll have the ability to protect yourself.”
Even if you couldn’t win a fight, at least you’d have the strength to run.
The way he was now, he couldn’t even run—was he just waiting to die?
Rong Yan, who couldn’t find more than a handful of people in the entire capital with better martial arts skills than himself: “?”
He was weak?
He had thought himself foolish, poor at judging people, stupid for trusting others too much, unlucky… but he had never once thought of himself as weak.
But now, hearing He Tian’s words, combined with the way she looked him up and down without restraint, Rong Yan suddenly hesitated.
Was he really that weak?
Various events later would prove that it wasn’t that he was weak—it was that He Tian was simply monstrous. But that was far in the future. At this moment, Rong Yan didn’t know that yet.
Their acquaintance was shallow, and He Tian wasn’t one to meddle in others’ affairs. After that one comment, she went back to drinking her rice water.
Watching her drink bowl after bowl, even though he knew about her large appetite, Rong Yan still felt the need to remind her.
He wrote on the ground: “There’s still stewed meat coming. If you drink too much soup, you won’t have room for the meat.”
Eating such greasy food late at night wasn’t good for digestion either.
He Tian leaned over to look at what he wrote, then smiled at him. “I can handle it.”
Rong Yan: “…………….”
He silently put down the branch and continued tending the fire in peace.
Having half-filled herself with rice water, He Tian finally put down her bowl. She lifted the lid to check the stewed meat in the pot. The moment her chopsticks touched it, the meat fell right off the bone. She quickly called to Rong Yan, “Stop tending the fire. It’s done.”
With that, she started scooping the meat into a large basin.
Liu Erniang couldn’t eat much. The piece of meat pie and bowl of rice water she’d just had were enough to fill her. So, He Tian told her to rest early, while she herself took the basin and ate the stewed meat in the kitchen with Rong Yan.
Rong Yan was also full. In the past, he wouldn’t have eaten any more.
But seeing He Tian eating so happily and her constantly urging him to eat, he still took a not-too-large bone and began slowly tearing the meat off with his fingers.
He Tian was too engrossed in her eating to pay much attention to Dami and Dahuang. The two cubs, clever as they were, both ran to Rong Yan’s feet, rubbing against him and acting cute.
So, it ended up that Rong Yan was tearing meat to feed Dahuang and Dami, occasionally eating a piece himself.
Seeing that the task of feeding the two carnivorous cubs had been taken over by Rong Yan, He Tian ate meat even more freely.
Actually, taking in this guy wasn’t so bad, He Tian thought to herself as she gnawed on a bone, stealing a moment to reflect. He can help with quite a bit of work.
No matter how clever the cubs were, they couldn’t tend a fire.
To be fair, he was really good at tending the fire. For that alone, saving him wasn’t a loss.
She glanced at him again. Hmm, he was also good-looking, patient with the cubs, and they liked him. What Mrs. Li and He Erlang had said today about a live-in son-in-law didn’t actually seem like such a bad idea.
She just didn’t know if he would be willing.
**
Rong Yan: I AM willing!!!! [peeking through fingers, blushing]