"Miss Su, do you usually eat these kinds of food?" Alaric Yun asked. Normally there would be vegetables and meat, so did she eat just this quietly at other times?
"Yeah." Pearl Su's face was calm. Since today's harvest was small, there was only this.
There were a few eggs, bird eggs, dried fish, and dried shrimp at home, but she did not want to give them to him now, so this was all there was.
She wanted to annoy him a little, "Today's harvest was very little, only this. Tonight there will be only vegetables. Please bear with it, sir."
Hearing this, Alaric Yun thought of her little face red from the sun at noon and quietly began to eat.
Seeing his reaction, Pearl felt proud. She definitely would not serve him wholeheartedly.
She got up, made a bowl of porridge, and happily ate.
After lunch, she cleaned the kitchen and went back to her room to rest.
The afternoon passed quickly. At sunset, the sky was filled with red clouds and beautiful sunset colors, like a fairyland, without the midday heat.
Pearl stepped out and stretched. Slowly, a figure came toward her.
She squinted, "Someone's coming."
The figure came closer and smiled, "Miss Su, I have just hunted these wild animals."
A roe deer, a wild chicken, two rabbits. Wow, so many at once. Can you eat all this?
Pearl rolled her eyes. Giving her these was to make her cook and serve him. He was dreaming.
She looked confused, "What is this?"
"I saw Miss Su is thin, so I hunted these to help you strengthen your body."
Are you sure it is for me? Or are you trying to heal your own injured body? So hypocritical.
"But I don't know how to cook these." Pearl looked a little troubled.
??? Her cooking was good before, must be skillful, why not know how to cook this?
"I've never cooked these before, so I don't know how." Pearl explained nervously.
"In that case, it was rude of me. I will cook them myself." Alaric Yun smiled knowingly.
"Uh, sir, are these still alive?" Pearl asked quickly.
If they were dead, she would have to cook them all. Could she finish eating them? She worried about her oil, salt, and firewood. They were all hard to get.
"Not yet, I only knocked them unconscious."
"Then let's keep the chicken and rabbits for now."
"Alright, Miss Su." Alaric Yun's eyes sparkled. Women liked cute animals. He handed her the rabbits and chicken.
Pearl took them and found an old bamboo basket in the storage. She put the chicken and rabbits inside, grabbed her tools and basket, and went to a nearby grass hill to cut some grass.
She also picked some goji leaves. After finishing, the sky was getting dark.
Back at the house, Alaric Yun was standing at the kitchen door. Tall and slim, hands behind his back, smiling gently like a proper gentleman looking at her.
Pearl sneered inside. So fake.
Seeing her, Alaric Yun smiled, "Miss Su, the meal is ready."
"Okay, sir. Put the things away and I will come." Pearl replied, feeling happy inside. Ha, see how I mess with you.
After putting things away, she fed the rabbits the grass, then took the goji leaves to the kitchen. On the small table were two plates of meat, one roasted and one stewed, and two bowls of rice.
No vegetables, just meat? At lunch there was bitter wheat greens. He didn't cook any?
Seeing Alaric Yun already sitting on a stool waiting, she said, "Sir, please eat first. I will make a vegetable dish." Then she took out the bitter wheat greens picked at noon.
They were already washed and blanched, so she started a fire and began to stir-fry.
Pearl Su was busy on one side, while Alaric Yun sat there watching her.
Soon, the stir-fried bitter wheat vegetables with garlic were ready. Pearl Su brought the dish over and saw Alaric Yun still sitting there, watching her without moving his chopsticks. She tugged the corner of her mouth.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. Let's eat."
Alaric Yun nodded, and the two of them started eating.
She had to admit, the man's meat dish was decent. But the rice? Why did it have such a strange smell? It was like something was burnt.
Forcing herself to ignore the discomfort, she finished eating. Then she cleaned up the bowls and chopsticks and started boiling his medicine.
Finding a moment, she went to open the lid of the rice pot. Instantly, a wave of anger rushed up from the top of her head.
There was still half a pot of rice left inside, but it reeked of burning. Not only had he burned the rice, he'd also wasted a good amount of her precious white rice. This stupid man…
She checked the rice jar. As expected, a lot was missing. Gritting her teeth in frustration, Pearl Su muttered to herself, stupid man…
The medicine was ready. She poured it out to cool, tidied up the kitchen, and used the burnt rice to feed the chickens.
After finishing everything, the medicine had cooled down. She went to tell him to drink it and didn't bother with him after that.
She filled the tub with clean water and went to take a bath. After soaking for a while, she lay on the bed, drifting off into a light sleep.
By morning, the first light of dawn had appeared. Pearl Su woke up and lazily lay in bed counting the days.
Nineteen days. This was her nineteenth day here. She lay there staring into space again.
After a long while, she reluctantly got up and opened the door.
The morning light was gentle, shining into her eyes. In the courtyard, a figure moved swiftly and gracefully, full of strength and energy.
Training so early in the morning, full of life. Pearl Su felt annoyed and mumbled, didn't he still have internal injuries…
Alaric Yun didn't stop. Pearl Su just stood there watching.
He had changed into a soft blue cotton robe. His tall figure looked elegant and refined.
After nearly half an hour, Alaric Yun finally stopped and looked over at her. His presence was strong, and he gave a light smile as he greeted her. "Morning, Miss Su."
"Good morning, sir," Pearl Su replied calmly, muttering to herself, his moves don't seem all that different from the ones she'd seen before.
"I'll go make breakfast," Pearl Su said to him and headed to the kitchen.
In the kitchen, since there was a lot of leftover rice from last night, she decided to make fried rice with eggs.
She also took the goji leaves picked last night and the leftover meat to make a soup.
When breakfast was ready, Pearl Su went to wash up. After that, she knocked on his door and called him to come eat.
Before she could turn away, the door opened, and she was met with his gentle smile.
Looking at those sparkling eyes and that smiling face, Pearl Su felt irritated. She said flatly, "Let's go," and walked toward the kitchen.
While they were eating, the man suddenly spoke.
"Miss Su, your cooking is really delicious."
What's that supposed to mean? Is he trying to hint that she should keep serving him and not slack off? Stupid man. She only asked him to cook once last night, and he acts like she tortured him.
"You flatter me. Some things I don't do very well, or don't know how to do at all," Pearl Su answered coldly.
"You're being modest. I've never had rice prepared like this before. I never imagined rice could be cooked this way," Alaric Yun explained with a smile.
Hmph, it's leftover rice. Someone as pampered as you would never have had it, obviously.
"Then eat more," Pearl Su said blandly.
After breakfast, Pearl Su told him, "Sir, later I'll teach you how to boil the medicine. From now on, you'll do it yourself."