Chapter 8: To Tell You the Truth, I Am a Little Fairy
The three boys nodded heavily. Eldest Brother assured her, “We can definitely make it in time! Actually, I can handle it alone. Second Brother and Little Brother can still go gather wild vegetables. We can fill our stomachs with wild vegetables in winter.”
Leng Chen and Leng Yun also looked at Wen Nuan Nuan with hopeful eyes.
Although Sister-in-Law had promised to feed them until they were full, they ate too much. No amount of silver would be enough for them.
Moreover, silver was hard to come by and had many uses. Even if Sister-in-Law had money, spending it on buying food for them was too wasteful.
If they stored more wild vegetables and fruits to eat, Sister-in-Law would only need to buy enough rice and flour for herself.
A meal like the one they just had, though they were extremely satisfied, was far too extravagant for them.
Sister-in-Law was good to them, and they couldn’t be ungrateful.
Wen Nuan Nuan’s gaze swept over the three little ones’ faces. How could she not understand what they were thinking?
Her heart immediately ached. These children were so sensible and restrained that it pained her.
“Eldest Brother, come to my room. I have something to say to you.” Wen Nuan Nuan stood up and walked toward the room.
Leng Tian hurriedly stood up and followed anxiously.
Leng Chen and Leng Yun also waited uneasily.
Was Sister-in-Law angry?
“Sister-in-Law, I promise, I can gather enough firewood for winter by myself. Please let Second Brother and Little Brother gather wild vegetables.
I know you still have some silver, but you’ve already given us the silver notes to pay off our debts. Keep the remaining bits of broken silver to buy some fine white rice and flour for yourself. You really don’t need to spend it on us. The meal you just gave us was already wasteful.”
“Food is meant to be eaten. How can it be wasteful? Besides, you are my family. Giving to you would never feel wasteful.” These words came from Wen Nuan Nuan’s heart and were spoken with particular sincerity.
“Sister-in-Law.” Tears welled up in Leng Tian’s dark eyes. His large, thin hands clenched into fists as he choked out, “Besides Eldest Brother, you are the person I respect the most. From now on, I’ll do whatever you ask.”
Well, indeed, in a male protagonist novel, the male lead is everything, more important even than food and warmth.
Wen Nuan Nuan had already come to terms with the situation. Far from feeling discouraged, she was actually quite excited. After all, in this male-oriented novel where Leng Xiao was the sky, the earth, and everything, she had already leaped to become second only to his Eldest Brother in Leng Tian’s heart!
What a tremendous leap forward.
Rapid progress!
Alright, now she could tell Leng Tian the reason she had long prepared, laying the foundation for her ability to continuously produce all sorts of food in the future.
Wen Nuan Nuan put on an expression of hesitation, biting her lip as if troubled, and said hesitantly, “Eldest Brother, actually, I came for your Eldest Brother.”
Just as she expected, Leng Tian looked confused.
Leng Tian wondered, what was Sister-in-Law talking about?
She must have come for Eldest Brother; otherwise, why would she have married him?
Wen Nuan Nuan pursed her lips and continued her performance, asking, “Weren’t you puzzled during the meal? You clearly didn’t buy any spare ribs or potatoes, so why were they in the lunch? And since the salt at home was already used up, where did the sugar, vinegar, and other seasonings come from?”
As Wen Nuan Nuan finished speaking, Leng Tian was so shocked he couldn’t speak, just staring at her with wide eyes.
Wen Nuan Nuan then, as if performing magic, began taking out potatoes, sweet potatoes, eggs, Red-Braised Pork Trotters, Stir-Fried Young Chicken, milk pudding, Seaweed and Pork Floss Rolls…
Acquaintances and strangers alike all brought out their offerings.
The expression on the boy before her could no longer be described as merely shocked.
He retreated several steps, leaning against the wall, his lips moving a few times but unable to produce any sound.
Wen Nuannuan knew he was too astonished, so she continued her shameless performance: “This isn’t magic tricks—it’s divine magic! Yes, don’t doubt it, I am a little fairy!”
“A little fairy?”
“That’s right. I came for your Eldest Brother. He is actually the Star of Literature descended from the heavens. I admire him and couldn’t bear to see him suffer, so I descended to help him!” What a perfect reason.
In ancient times, who didn’t believe in gods, ghosts, and supernatural beings?
Anyway, he couldn’t explain how she could conjure food. Such an unbelievable thing had truly happened—what else could he do but believe?
“This is my treasure—it can produce all kinds of food from within!”
“I’ve only told you. You mustn’t tell anyone else. After all, a fairy descending to the mortal world—I’m afraid it might cause a sensation and lead to chaos. What if everyone rushes to grab it?”
……
After saying so much, Wen Nuannuan noticed that Leng Tian, who was barely standing steady, still hadn’t spoken. She finally remembered to ask for his thoughts: “What do you think?”
“Why a little fairy, and not a ghost or monster?” Leng Tian timidly asked.
He wasn’t questioning her, but simply didn’t understand. It could be a little fairy, but it could also be a ghost or monster—after all, both could perform magic tricks and produce all kinds of food.
Wen Nuannuan took a deep breath, telling herself not to get angry. But as she held it in, a surge of anger still rose within her, so she stopped holding back and shouted: “Have you ever seen such a beautiful and kind-hearted monster?”
“Do you think ghosts or monsters would have such a good treasure, able to produce all kinds of delicious ingredients every day?”
“As far as I know, ghosts and monsters survive by feeding on human essence and vitality. What use would they have for such a treasure? Don’t talk about luring people—couldn’t they just capture and feed on them directly? Could humans even fight against ghosts and monsters?”
……
Wen Nuannuan fired off a rapid barrage of words at Leng Tian, her fair little face flushed red with anger.
Leng Tian, who wasn’t afraid even when hunting alone in the deep mountains and old forests, couldn’t help but shrink back in fear at this moment.
His sister-in-law seemed soft, gentle, and good-tempered—who would have thought she could be so terrifying when angry?
But Leng Tian finally confirmed that his sister-in-law was indeed not a ghost or monster!
After all, aside from the reasons she mentioned, what ghost or monster would get so angry and flushed at being mistaken for one?
This was his sister-in-law, who had come for his Eldest Brother.
Timidly raising his hand, Leng Tian seized the moment Wen Nuannuan paused to quickly speak up: “I believe you! Sister-in-law, I believe you’re a little fairy!”
A rather hot-tempered little fairy, at that.
Leng Tian thought silently, but didn’t dare say it out loud.
An angry sister-in-law was truly frightening.
Wen Nuannuan gave a light humph, deciding to be magnanimous and not hold it against a mere mortal—a fairy shouldn’t bear grudges against ordinary people.
Since she had claimed to be a little fairy, she had to act like one properly.
“The amount of food this treasure of mine produces each day is fixed. If I don’t take it out, it won’t increase the next day, so I try to take out all the food every day. As you can see, there are many types of food—what should we use to store them?”
This morning I took a look around our home and found that aside from having quite a few bamboo baskets, we’re lacking almost everything else. Fortunately, bamboo baskets are quite useful for storing things, but we still don’t have nearly enough of them. See if anyone in the village knows how to weave them, and we’ll buy some more. Actually, it’s not just containers for storing food—when I quickly looked around this morning, I realized this house is truly empty of almost everything.