As the inspection vehicle with its flashing warning lights roared away, the military compound gradually returned to calm.Yet beneath that calm flowed a deep, unspoken awe toward the Huo family.
Inside the Huo courtyard, however, the atmosphere was completely different.
The lights were dim and warm.The air was rich with an overbearing aroma of meat—the kind of luxurious scent you usually only smelled during the Lunar New Year.
To celebrate the “eradication of traitors,” and also to properly reward Huo Jingchuan, this extraordinarily useful human shield, Jiang Mian had gone all out.
She took out a prime slab of layered pork belly from her space, paired it with premium soy sauce and rock sugar from the space supermarket, and slowly braised a pot of glossy, ruby-red braised pork—fatty but not greasy, irresistibly fragrant.
On the table sat a plate of freshly steamed mantou, plump and snow-white, each as big as a fist, giving off the sweet aroma unique to finely milled white flour.
“Brother Jingchuan, dinner’s ready!”
Jiang Mian brought the dishes to the table, a genuinely happy smile on her face(after all, her enemies were miserable—of course her appetite was excellent).
She diligently served him a heaping bowl of white rice and laid two of the most jiggly pieces of braised pork on top.
“This meat smells especially good today. Eat more! Nourish your brain—I mean, nourish your body!”
Huo Jingchuan looked at the bowl piled like a small mountain, then at Jiang Mian’s obsequiously cheerful face, and raised an eyebrow.
He picked up his chopsticks and took a bite.
It melted in his mouth—soft, tender, savory-sweet.Truly a rare delicacy.
Along with the flavor came Jiang Mian’s completely unfiltered inner monologue:
So good! This is amazing!This is a victory banquet!Celebrating Wu Guihua’s family being exiled to some island!Let this pork commemorate their dead political careers!
Honestly, sticking with Huo Yama really means meat on the table!This thigh was absolutely worth hugging!
I used to think he had a terrible temper, but now? Total domineering CEO vibes!So much security!As long as this Buddha doesn’t fall, I can walk sideways in the compound!Who would dare mess with me?
Eat, eat, eat!Boss Huo, as long as you keep covering for me, forget braised pork—I’ll cook you a full Manchu–Han imperial feast!
Huo Jingchuan paused slightly mid-chew, helpless amusement flashing through his eyes.
Walking sideways?What was she, a crab?
Still, listening to her wholehearted reliance on him—even if it was clearly transactional—his mood lifted.
Normally a light eater, he unexpectedly finished two full bowls of rice that night.The entire plate of braised pork was wiped clean between the two of them.
After dinner.
Jiang Mian contentedly cleaned up the dishes, humming an off-key tune, spirits soaring.
Crisis resolved.Enemies driven off.Stomach full.
Life had truly reached its peak.
Just as she wiped down the table and prepared to head back to her room(though they hadn’t officially separated rooms, she had already drawn a mental border like the Chu–Han divide)to count her remaining ration tickets—
“Wait.”
A low voice broke the lazy, post-meal harmony.
Huo Jingchuan didn’t head to the study as usual.Instead, he wheeled himself forward, neatly blocking Jiang Mian’s path.
He held a cup of hot tea, long fingers lightly tapping the porcelain.The warm yellow light cast deep shadows across his features, making his expression hard to read.
“Brother Jingchuan? Is something wrong?”Jiang Mian stopped, blinking innocently.
Huo Jingchuan lifted his gaze.Those ink-dark eyes locked onto her face, intense and probing.
“The meal’s over. The external accounts are settled.”
His voice was calm, but carried an oppressive weight that made hearts pound.
“The flies outside have been swatted.”“Now… shouldn’t we close the door and talk about matters inside the house?”
Jiang Mian’s heart skipped.
Her smile faltered.
“Inside… the house? There’s nothing to talk about…”
“Is that so?”
Huo Jingchuan set down the teacup and leaned forward slightly.The aura of authority instantly enveloped her.
His gaze slowly dropped to his left leg beneath the thin blanket, then returned to her eyes.
“Doctor Jiang.”
The moment he said that, Jiang Mian’s scalp went numb.
“Have you forgotten the question I asked when Commander Zhang’s family sent their gifts?”
The corner of his mouth curved faintly, not quite a smile, his eyes sharp enough to pierce straight through her.
“That night, after you finished acupuncture on me, this leg—”“—the one doctors had already declared ‘dead,’ saying the nerves were completely destroyed—”“suddenly regained sensation.”
“Don’t try to brush me off with barefoot-doctor folk remedies.”“I don’t understand medicine, but I understand common sense.”
“Don’t you think you owe me a… professional explanation?”
Boom—
It felt like a thunderbolt struck Jiang Mian straight on the head.All the happiness from the braised pork vanished instantly.
She froze in place, pupils trembling, cold sweat breaking out down her back.
Holy shit!!!I’m done, I’m done!I was having too much fun and completely forgot about this!
I knew Huo Yama wouldn’t be easy to fool!So much face-slapping and house-raiding these past few days—I thought this was over!Turns out he’s been waiting right here for me?!
How do I explain this?Say I’m Hua Tuo reincarnated?That I have superpowers?That I injected him with stimulants?!
Help!That look is way too sharp!I feel like he’s about to drag me off for dissection!Is my cover about to blow?!
Watching her face drain of color and listening to the chaotic panic in her thoughts, the smile in Huo Jingchuan’s eyes deepened.
He wasn’t in a hurry.
He had all the time in the worldto listen to how this little liar planned to spin her story.
“Speak,” he said leisurely.“I’m listening.”