Chapter 80
"...What nonsense are you talking about?" Zhao Ger's heartbeat was also in disarray. He glared at Fang Zichen, turned around, and ran into the kitchen.
Steaming rice takes a relatively long time, making noodles would be faster, but it seemed there wasn't much flour left, not enough for tonight's meal.
There was still a small piece of lean meat in the cupboard. Uncle Liu's daughter-in-law sent a piece of cured meat at noon, but cured meat is hard to wash, so he wouldn't cook it today, just cut some lean meat to stir-fry with cabbage!
After washing the rice and pouring it into the pot, Zhao Ger realized that every single thing he had been thinking about revolved around the point of 'hurry up and make the meal,' making his whole face feel hot.
But thinking about the previous two times... if Fang Zichen gave up halfway again, he would... just take matters into his own hands by force.
Fang Zichen let Guaizai ride the goat by himself. The goat was short and tame anyway, and he wouldn't get hurt even if he fell off. He entered the kitchen, originally wanting to help a bit, but was attracted by the black, hairy thing on the stove.
He looked left and right, but simply couldn't figure out what it was: "What is this?"
Zhao Ger glanced at him very quickly: "Cured meat."
Fang Zichen pinched it. It was hard as a rock. He grabbed it and knocked it on the table.
Bang, bang, bang. It made a loud noise.
"......" Fang Zichen asked with extreme doubt, "It's all moldy and still this hard. Can it even be eaten?"
"It can."
Fang Zichen sniffed it—it had a strong smoky smell. Just from holding it for a moment, his hand was covered in black grime. He said with great disdain, "This thing probably isn't even fit to feed to dogs."
"How could that be?" Zhao Ger said. "It's very delicious when stir-fried."
He hadn't originally planned to cook it, but after Fang Zichen's comment, he wanted to prove him wrong. "Go dig up some wild onions from the west hill, and I'll cook it for you tonight."
"Oh! Alright then!"
Fang Zichen picked up a basket and was about to head out. Zhao Ger, feeling uneasy, asked, "Do you even know what wild onions look like?"
"......Who do you think you're looking down on with that question?" Fang Zichen was displeased. "Wild onions just look like onions."
He'd been eating noodles for years; it wasn't as if he couldn't recognize an onion. Zhao Ger was seriously underestimating him.
Hmph.
Tonight, he would definitely teach him a proper lesson and make him cry.
Seeing him about to leave, Guaizai ran over to hold his hand. "Guaizai help. Guaizai dig wild vegetables best."
With Guaizai going along, Zhao Ger felt reassured.
Yet, even after the rice was cooked and the cured meat washed, Fang Zichen and Guaizai still hadn't returned.
There were plenty of wild onions at the foot of the west hill, and it wasn't far from home. It shouldn't have taken this long.
Worried, Zhao Ger put out the fire, locked the door, and went out to look for them. As he passed by the small river where they usually washed clothes, he heard Guaizai's gleeful laughter.
He followed the sound and found the father and son duo swimming in the river, trying out different strokes. The basket and their clothes were left on the bank, containing only one bunch of onions.
Guaizai was stripped naked, like a little piglet. After more than a month of practice, he had finally learned how to swim. The two were so absorbed in their swimming that they had forgotten everything else. Zhao Ger was both angry and amused.
The little one was unreliable, and the older one wasn't much better.
They went to dig for onions but ended up in the river, even forgetting to come home.
He stared fixedly for a long while. Even the most careless person would have noticed. Fang Zichen hadn't felt cold before, but under that gaze, he suddenly felt a chill.
He patted Guaizai's little butt, and the two swam back to shore.
Fang Zichen coughed and asked, "Zhao Ger, why are you here?"
Zhao Ger let out a cold laugh. "What do you think?"
Don't ask me to say it.
I don't dare say.
Fang Zichen looked embarrassed. After climbing onto the bank, Zhao Ger's expression turned even colder. His gaze held a mix of indescribable emotions—seemingly angry, but also somewhat... shy. After only glancing at him twice, he hurriedly went to dress Guaizai.
Fang Zichen lowered his head and raised an eyebrow. He had figured it out. Zhao Ger was acting this way because he was shy.
He chuckled softly, leaning in behind Zhao Ger, close to his ear: "Was it nice to look at?"
Zhao Ger's ears turned completely red. Fang Zichen's wet clothes clung tightly to his body, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist, long limbs. Though he appeared somewhat slender, it wasn't hard to imagine the powerful strength concealed beneath the fabric of his clothes. Under Fang Zichen's playful gaze, he hurriedly put Guaizai's pants on for him, his voice hoarse: "Hurry back now!"
Several women washing vegetables upstream kept glancing over. Zhao Ger wished he could take off his own clothes to drape over Fang Zichen, but what he wore was too thin, and he didn't dare in the end. He could only urge him to go back quickly.
Zhao Ger liked Fang Zichen, and his possessiveness was uncontrollable. If someone so much as glanced at Fang Zichen, he would get bristly.
Fang Zichen walked slowly: "You haven't answered me yet."
Zhao Ger, without making it obvious, held Guaizai's hand and walked on the other side, blocking the view from the others. Fang Zichen reached out his hand and waved it in front of his eyes: "See what's in my hand."
His palms were neither thick nor thin, the back of his hands smooth and delicate—the kind of delicate hands that had never done rough work.
Zhao Ger asked in a low voice: "What is it?"
Fang Zichen didn't speak, just waved his hand, then snapped his fingers. A wild chrysanthemum suddenly appeared in his hand.
Clearly, there had been nothing in his hand just a moment ago. This was too magical. Zhao Ger and Guaizai's eyes instantly widened in shock. Fang Zichen waved his hand again, and another wild chrysanthemum appeared.
Showing off this trick left Zhao Ger and Guaizai utterly stunned and amazed, exclaiming in wonder.
Guaizai even forgot to walk, incessantly asking Fang Zichen how he did it, if he was a celestial being.
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