Chapter 23: Emotional Warmth Rising

Lunch was finished quickly. Chen Jie rubbed his stomach and went back to the room to take a nap.

Su Yunjin, meanwhile, was busy with housework—washing dishes and doing laundry.

As for the little one, following Chen Jie's instructions, she carried a bowl of pork cracklings outside, pulled up a small stool, and sat by the doorway. *Crunch, crunch*—she ate away, and before long, half the bowl was in her stomach.

At this rate, before the other children even arrived, the whole bowl of pork cracklings would be gone.

However, the children arrived quite promptly, drawn by the aroma. A group of children, both big and small, watched the little one eating the pork cracklings so heartily, and one by one, they began to swallow hard.

The little one didn't even spare them a glance, focused entirely on her eating.

At that moment, a boy who looked about five years old couldn't hold back any longer. He walked over and asked Su Yunrui, "What are you eating?"

The little one glanced at the boy and said, "Pork cracklings!"

"Gulp, it smells so good. I think I had some during the New Year."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Can I have one?" the boy asked tentatively.

The little one thought for a moment and said, "Will you play with me after that?"

The boy froze, thought about it, and said, "If you give me some, I'll play with you."

"Here, one for you."

The little one gave a piece of pork crackling to the boy. He took it and popped it straight into his mouth, chewing with pure delight!

Seeing that the boy had actually gotten some pork cracklings, the other children swarmed around.

"I'll play with you too!"

"I'll play with you..."

Suddenly, every child wanted to play with Su Yunrui. Su Yunrui gave one piece of pork crackling to each of them. By the time the last boy, who looked only about four, approached, there was only one piece left in her bowl.

"I'll play with you too."

The little boy looked longingly at the last piece. Su Yunrui looked at the final bit of pork crackling; she really wanted to eat it.

She looked at the child very seriously and asked, "Can I just not play with you?"

Hearing this, the boy looked at Su Yunrui, then at the pork crackling in the bowl, and burst into tears. Su Yunrui instantly felt helpless. "Okay, okay! We'll play together, play together."

She handed the last piece to the boy. He grabbed it and ate while crying, making loud smacking sounds. Su Yunrui asked, "Is it good?"

"Mhm, mhm."

The boy nodded. Su Yunrui said helplessly, "It looks delicious just watching you... *smack, smack*."

That afternoon, Su Yunrui experienced what it felt like to be treated like a princess. A child's world is so simple: if you eat Su Yunrui's food, you have to take care of her.

The pig bone that children used to refuse to let her play with was now offered to her first.

The children who used to ignore her now began to strike up conversations.

For a moment, Su Yunrui had become the leader of the children.

Watching everything from the courtyard, a smile appeared on Su Yunjin's face. She turned to look into the house; all of this change stemmed from the change in that man.

When Chen Jie woke up, he found Su Yunrui playing happily in the courtyard, but he didn't see Su Yunjin. Chen Jie asked Su Yunrui, "Where is your sister?"

Su Yunrui was currently riding on a little boy's back, playing "horseback combat."

"Sister took a basket; I think she went to dig for wild vegetables."

Chen Jie was stunned, thinking to himself how she truly couldn't stay idle.

Bored, Chen Jie sat cross-legged in the house and began practicing the *Spring Nourishing Formula*. As he practiced, he found his physical fitness improving steadily. Perhaps this was what people in his previous life called *Qigong*?

Chen Jie wanted to learn the martial arts of this world, but he knew he had to build a solid foundation first; there was no mistake in that.

Thus, the afternoon passed.

For dinner, Su Yunjin returned and cooked wild vegetable and pork crackling soup, served with sorghum flour pancakes.

It was simple, but the family ate heartily. A meal of this caliber was something other villagers wouldn't see unless it was a festival.

For the common people of this era, going long periods without seeing meat was a common occurrence.

As for the bowl of wild vegetable soup floating with plenty of pork cracklings, both the little one and Su Yunjin were very satisfied.

After eating their fill, Su Yunjin tidied up the dishes. The little one had already run to Chen Jie to recount her day's achievements and how much fun she had.

Seeing her like this, Chen Jie smiled and patted her head.

By the time the cleaning was done, it was dark. Su Yunjin bent over to help Chen Jie spread the bedding. As Chen Jie watched her bent waist and the exquisite curves of her body, his eyes couldn't help but show admiration.

It was a man's simple appreciation of beauty.

As Su Yunjin finished spreading the quilt, she turned and caught Chen Jie's undisguised gaze. Panicking, she tried to head into the inner room.

Chen Jie reached out, caught her, and pulled her into his arms. She couldn't help but let out a small gasp, "Ah!"

Chen Jie wrapped his arms around her waist and leaned into her ear, his breath warm and fragrant. "Tonight, sleep in the outer room."

Su Yunjin's face flushed instantly, but she still said, "Rui Rui is still here. Let me go, quickly."

"What if I don't?"

As Chen Jie breathed against her, Su Yunjin's body went soft. Just as she thought she couldn't escape Chen Jie's "clutches" today, he suddenly let her go.

She turned to look at him, confused as to why he had released her. Chen Jie smiled and said, "If you aren't willing, I won't force you."

Su Yunjin was instantly moved. This man was so gentle.

Just as she was at a loss for how to respond, a voice suddenly called from the inner room, "Sister~"

Su Yunjin looked up at Chen Jie.

"Go on."

Being understanding, Chen Jie let her go. Su Yunjin bit her lip, looked up at him with eyes like autumn waters, and said, "Let's wait a few more days."

With that, she ran into the inner room as if escaping, shut the door, and leaned against it, her mind heavy with thoughts.

The little one looked at Su Yunjin in confusion. "Sister, what's wrong? Did Brother-in-law bully you?"

"No, go to sleep."

Su Yunjin slowly climbed into bed. The little one said, "Sister, you didn't bolt the door."

Su Yunjin looked at the door bolt and said, "It's not necessary."

"Oh."

The little one responded with a half-understanding murmur.

In the past, Su Yunjin was afraid Chen Jiusi would act up, so she always bolted the door at night. But today, she hadn't.

Chen Jie looked in the direction Su Yunjin had gone and shook his head. One cannot rush hot tofu; he had hurt her too much in the past. If he used force now, he feared it would leave her with psychological trauma. He would take it slow.

At the very least, everything was moving in a positive direction. He believed that before long, he would be able to taste this "swan meat"—and it would be the swan offering itself to him.

Lying in bed, Chen Jie soon fell asleep. At midnight, he slowly opened his eyes. Although he had only slept about four or five hours, his spirit was very full due to the continuous use of the *Spring Nourishing Formula*.

The reason he had woken up wasn't simply because he was well-rested, but because he heard the sound of an intelligence update.

The daily intelligence had updated again.

"Panel."

Chen Jie summoned the intelligence panel.