Chapter 1785: Chapter 1785: No Disdain

"Xiao Yu." He called her.

"Hmm?" Gu Jinli looked up at him.

Qin San Lang: "Kiss me."

Gu Jinli laughed. Before they got married, he used to ask for a hug. After they got married, he usually didn’t ask; he just went for it.

This time he asked, probably out of consideration for her feelings.

She pulled at his collar, drawing him closer, and looked him straight in the eyes, saying, "Remember, I will never reject you."

Qin San Lang originally planned to wait for her to kiss him, but upon hearing this, he kissed her right away, pouring all his recent fervor into this moment.

He was always patient and gentle with her, but at such times, he became a different person — domineering and eager, leaving her breathless and unable to resist.

Yet, at the last moment, he stopped... It was mealtime, and they were living in the same yard with the Xie and Zhang families, so out of respect for her, he restrained himself.

She still held him, deliberately teasing, almost making him lose control. He had to hold her tightly and muttered, "Xiao Yu, don’t mess around, or something might happen."

Gu Jinli obediently stopped teasing him. However, he held her for more than a full moment before calming down. Then he let go, pulling her up, and asked, "Are you hungry? Let’s eat."

The sky was fully dark.

Gu Jinli nodded and remembered Little Pingxi, raising her voice to ask, "Erqing, has Pingxi come over?"

They wanted Little Pingxi to experience the normal life a child should have, so they brought him for dinner every day.

But Little Pingxi was a busy kid, concerned about Wen Rong and the group of children they had rescued together. So they made arrangements: breakfast with Wen Rong, lunch with the rescued children, and dinner with them.

After dinner, he would accompany Wen Rong to the mourning tents to keep vigil for Wen Qiong and Tian Dahua.

That’s why Little Pingxi wasn’t eating meat lately. He said he had heard from the elders that when parents die, one should mourn by abstaining from meat.

Gu Jinli told him his body was weak and needed meat to replenish, but they compromised on not eating meat, as long as he ate eggs.

Little Pingxi was conflicted, saying that his life was already good now, with white steamed buns and fragrant rice porridge with bean oil, so eggs weren’t necessary.

Gu Jinli disagreed, telling him that if he didn’t replenish his body, he could die, which would deeply sadden his mother’s spirit in the heavens. After all, his mother brought him to their hometown to both return home and find him a way to live; he couldn’t neglect his health.

Only then did Little Pingxi agree, but the kid still argued, "Aunt Gu Er, when people die, they go to hell to be reincarnated; my mom should be in hell, not in the heavens."

Gu Jinli: "..."

No words to refute.

Erqing heard her question and called back from outside the door, "Xiao Ji went to fetch him; he should be here soon."

"Once he arrives, bring out the food." Gu Jinli instructed, tidying her clothes before starting to clean the hemostatic roots in the basket: "First, pick off the leaves, then slice the roots, roast them until they dry, grind the dry pieces into powder, and they can be used."

"Let me." Qin San Lang took the hemostatic roots from her hand, holding the basket, and sat with her on the brick bed, picking off the leaves as he said, "Xiao Yu, just watch."

Gu Jinli laughed, picking up a hemostatic root leaf and tickling his face: "Brother Qin is a virtuous husband and father."

Virtuous husband and father?

Qin San Lang laughed, turning to look at her, his eyes full of hope and expectation: "Sounds nice."

He would surely be a virtuous husband and father, treating his wife and future children well.

Thinking of future children, two little troublemakers entered the yard.

Little Pingxi pulled Wen Rong: "Brother Rong, didn’t we agree? Why are you backing out at the last minute? You can’t back out, come in quickly."

Wen Rong could only be half-pushed, half-pulled by Little Pingxi into the yard.

Next door, Brother Yi from the Zhang family heard Little Pingxi’s voice, opened the door, and came out: "Little Pingxi, is it you? Why are you late today?"

Little Pingxi had been coming to the courtyard for meals with Gu Jinli and her husband these couple of days, and he had become familiar with Brother Yi.

"Hello, Brother Yi." Little Pingxi greeted Brother Yi, laughing: "I had to wait for Brother Rong today, so I’m late. Have you eaten? What did you have?"

Little Pingxi, having suffered from hunger, loved asking what others had eaten, as even just hearing about it brought him satisfaction.

Brother Yi ran over, saying, "Had rice porridge, pancakes, fried eggs, pork fat stewed squash, and stir-fried jade seedlings."

Lately, everyone had no meat to eat.

Little Pingxi: "Wow, your family eats well, what are jade seedlings?"

Brother Yi: "They’re soybean sprouts, made from sprouting soybeans, similar to rice seedlings, used for cooking; it’s what Aunt Gu Er gave my family, and you’ll definitely have jade seedlings tonight too."

Little Pingxi frowned more and more as he listened, asking: "How many vegetables can a handful of soybeans sprout?"

Brother Yi: "A handful."

"Only a handful!" Little Pingxi was shocked.

Brother Yi nodded: "Yes, one handful of soybeans for one handful of bean sprouts; sprouting a pound of soybeans makes enough for a plate of jade seedlings."

A pound of soybeans just for a plate of vegetables!

Little Pingxi clutched his chest, feeling heartache... Aunt Gu Er really didn’t know how to economize. A pound of soybeans could fill his stomach for three days, yet Aunt Gu Er used it all for one dish.

Such waste, would Uncle dislike her?

The grannies often said that a wife who couldn’t manage a household would be divorced, and the fate of divorced women was very miserable. He was very worried about Aunt Gu Er.

He looked at Wen Rong, thinking that if he brought him to dinner today and made Uncle Qin unhappy, he might cause Aunt Gu Er to be divorced sooner. What should he do?

Feeling conflicted, he thought about taking Brother Rong away first?

Just as he was thinking this, he heard Uncle Qin say, "It’s getting late, hurry inside for dinner, your Aunt Gu Er is hungry."

"Okay, coming right away!" Little Pingxi was very happy; hearing Uncle Qin’s words, it seemed Aunt Gu Er wouldn’t be easily divorced, so there was nothing to fear.

He also called to Brother Yi: "Brother Yi, come join us."

And they entered the house together, calling to friends.

Wen Rong felt that Little Pingxi’s behavior was inappropriate because Gu Jinli wasn’t actually his aunt, and his behavior might be frowned upon.

However, he found that he was overthinking; Mrs. Qin’s face was full of joy, showing no disdain. Meanwhile, she instructed Erqing and Xiao Ji to serve the food, and praised Little Pingxi: "These are hemostatic roots, you’ve made a great contribution this time. Once this sells for money, Aunt Gu Er will give you a share."

Little Pingxi waved his hands, saying: "No need, no need, Aunt Gu Er has been very kind to me, with food, a place to stay, new clothes, and shoes. If I take Aunt Gu Er’s silver, I’d be a bad person."

Gu Jinli laughed: "If it weren’t for your going up the mountain to find your mother, I wouldn’t have remembered that I’ve seen this kind of hemostatic root; you indeed helped Aunt Gu Er a lot and deserve a reward... The reward is money."

She then examined Little Pingxi’s face, relieved to see he wasn’t saddened by the mention of Tian Dahua.

"Madam, the food’s here." Erqing and Xiao Ji brought in the food boxes and began setting the table.

Wen Rong bowed his head slightly, but his eyes darted to the dining table, seeing four bowls of porridge, four eggs, and a large plate of pancakes, unsure of how many, but definitely more than four.

It was a meal for four. It was indeed prepared specially for him, and he wasn’t unwanted.

However, Qin San Lang was not pleased with his recent behavior and said, "We usually prepare extra dinner in case we wake up hungry at night and can’t sleep, so it’s for a late-night snack."

What!

It wasn’t prepared specifically for him?

Qin San Lang’s words were like a basin of cold water splashed over Wen Rong’s head, making him feel very embarrassed. He wanted to leave, but was held back by Little Pingxi: "Brother Rong, sit down, dinner is served."

"Let go, I’m not eating!" Wen Rong was annoyed, shaking off Little Pingxi’s hand, causing him to stumble against the edge of the brick bed, but luckily the cold weather had a quilt covering it, or Little Pingxi might have gotten hurt.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.