“You want to cook?”
When Jiang Qingshu volunteered to make dinner, Qin Sining naturally felt a little uneasy. After all, Jiang Qingshu had never done this kind of work before.
Still, since she had offered on her own initiative, Qin Sining stepped aside.
“Then I’ll help you.”
“I can manage. Second Sister-in-law, you should go help watch the children with Eldest Sister-in-law. We can’t let them run around.”
Qin Sining thought about Tang Shuangshuang’s pregnancy and the children’s mischievous nature, so she accepted the suggestion.
Once she had sent her away, it became much easier for Jiang Qingshu to secretly take small items out of her space.
After traveling all day, they deserved a good meal. In weather this cold, lamb soup was the perfect choice.
But considering Tang Shuangshuang’s morning sickness and dislike for greasy food, Jiang Qingshu separately took out a ready-made apple, lily bulb, and white fungus sweet soup from her space mall.
If anyone asked, she would simply say the lily bulbs and white fungus had been carried on her person. After everything they had experienced together, no one would suspect much anymore.
After Jiang Fengyu delivered dry branches for the fire, he was about to go build simple grass shelters with Jiang Yifeng when Jiang Qingshu stopped him.
“Big Brother, my master gave me three tents. You and Second Brother don’t need to build grass huts anymore. If possible, just use the dry grass as bedding.”
“What? You brought tents?” Jiang Fengyu stared in disbelief.
In his understanding, only commanding generals were qualified to use tents during military campaigns. Traditional tents were made of ox hide stretched over wooden frames. Forget three tents—even one would never fit onto such a small cart.
Naturally, Jiang Qingshu knew exactly what he was thinking. Without explaining further, she directly handed him the three tent bags.
“What’s this?” Jiang Fengyu looked completely bewildered at the three slim bundles in his arms.
“Obviously tents! There are setup instructions inside. Just follow them and you’ll manage.”
“What? These are tents?”
This looked nothing like what he had imagined.
Something this small—even if assembled—could people really sleep inside?
Filled with confusion, he carried the bundles toward an empty patch of ground.
After opening one of them and seeing all the strange components inside, his head instantly doubled in size from frustration, so he hurriedly called for reinforcements.
“Second Brother, come here…”
The two brothers studied the pieces together for quite a while. Although they managed to assemble several simple support frames, they remained completely lost regarding the important sections.
Just then Jiang Kun happened to walk by, and the brothers immediately stopped him.
After all, Jiang Kun had once been qualified to stay inside military command tents.
“Father, come take a look. Is this tent Little Sister mentioned broken?”
“You two idiots. Can’t even handle something this simple? I think your brains are what’s broken!”
Jiang Kun shoved them aside and stood in the middle to examine the parts himself.
After a long struggle of repeated trial and error…
“This thing is definitely broken!”
He threw the components in his hand onto the ground, clasped his hands behind his back, and strode away.
As the two brothers stood there in total disarray, Jiang Chengyu finally returned from “hunting around.”
“Third Brother, hurry, hurry…”
The pair each grabbed one of his arms and practically dragged him over to the chaotic pile of tent parts.
“What is all this?”
At that moment, Jiang Chengyu’s mind looked no less messy than the pile on the ground.
“These are tents sent by Little Sister’s master. We’re leaving it to you.”
The two brothers fled immediately after speaking.
The moment Jiang Chengyu heard the items came from that mysterious benefactor, his interest instantly sparked.
He bent down to pick up the scattered parts and accidentally discovered the instruction diagrams inside the bag.
Among the three brothers, Jiang Chengyu was the smartest. With the instruction diagrams in hand, he quickly grasped the principles behind the assembly.
Before long, the rough shape of a tent had begun to emerge.
By the time Jiang Fengyu and Jiang Yifeng returned, they discovered two fully assembled and secured tents standing on the ground.
“So these things weren’t broken after all!”
The two brothers stared blankly in astonishment.
Even Jiang Kun, who had pretended to merely pass by, could not help brightening with interest. He strode over and carefully inspected the tents inside and out.
“What exactly is this made of? It’s neither ox hide nor cloth…”
“It’s excellent, but both sides leak air.”
“What’s this tiny thing for?” Jiang Yifeng lowered his head and noticed the zipper pull. He experimentally tugged it—and immediately froze in shock.
“Look! This opening can actually close…”
The once fearsome battlefield father and sons had instantly transformed into country bumpkins, circling around the tents and marveling endlessly.
The three tents Jiang Qingshu had chosen were all double-layer waterproof tents, each capable of holding about five adults.
With these tents, they would no longer need to sleep exposed outdoors during their journey.
“Dinner’s ready—!”
This was the first meal Jiang Qingshu had cooked since arriving in this world.
A pot of lamb soup paired with rice.
Although the original owner of this body had once been considered foolish, she still knew how to prepare simple meals. Combined with Jiang Qingshu’s experience camping frequently in her original world, cooking outdoor meals over hanging pots was second nature to her.
Looking at the soft fragrant rice and rich savory lamb soup, Qin Sining could not help praising her.
“I never expected Little Sister to cook even better than I do.”
Jiang Qingshu smiled.
“Second Sister-in-law is too modest. I just happen to know how to make these two dishes. Oh, and I also made sweet soup separately for Eldest Sister-in-law.”
As she spoke, she poured the apple, lily bulb, and white fungus soup—kept warm beside the campfire—into a bowl.
Tang Shuangshuang was both surprised and deeply moved.
Earlier, she had only casually mentioned craving sweets, yet Jiang Qingshu had remembered it.
“Little Sister, thank you.”
“You’re being too polite, Eldest Sister-in-law. If anyone should be thanked, it should be us thanking you. The child you’re carrying is Jiang family blood.”
“That’s right, Shuang’er. I’ve made you suffer alongside me.” Jiang Fengyu grabbed his wife’s hand, full of guilt.
“Brother Yu, what nonsense are you saying? We’re husband and wife. Aren’t couples supposed to endure hardships and advance together?”
Watching the young couple, Sun Yuluo sighed emotionally.
“For our whole family to still be reunited beneath this sky is already a blessing.”
Jiang Kun continued solemnly:
“I don’t know what awaits us in the future, but as your father I only have one request—that you always remember we are members of the Jiang family, an inseparable family that must never be divided.”
The entire family sat around the campfire, drinking warm lamb soup.
For that brief moment, it felt as though none of their suffering had ever happened.
After dinner, Qin Sining volunteered to wash the bowls and chopsticks while Jiang Qingshu and Jiang Luoyou spread out the bedding.
That night, Jiang Chengyu and Jiang Yifeng took turns standing watch while everyone else rested inside the tents.
Jiang Kun and his sons slept in one tent, while the women and children divided themselves between the other two.
The wind began to rise outside.
Worried that War God would get cold, Linbao brought the tiger cub into the tent to sleep as well.
It had been many days since they had last rested in an environment sheltered from the wind.
Curled up in Jiang Qingshu’s arms, Linbao gazed at the stars visible through the tent’s skylight and murmured softly,
“It’s so warm here… it feels like home.”
Hearing this, Jiang Qingshu secretly felt a pang of sorrow.
At the same time, she silently swore in her heart that she would give her family a true place to belong—and eliminate anyone who tried to harm them.
Dark clouds swallowed the moon as fierce winds howled outside.
Just as Jiang Qingshu drifted into a hazy sleep, she suddenly heard War God let out an uneasy growl.
She sat up to investigate and saw the tiger cub staring warily at one corner of the tent, as though something terrifying were lurking there.