Chapter 87: The Two Little Ones Return Home

It wasn’t until she had been in the kitchen for quite some time that Wen Nuan Nuan finally let out a sigh of relief.

She always felt immense pressure when around Leng Xiao.

Knowing his cold, ruthless, and fierce nature, she couldn’t truly treat him like a gentle and amiable young man.

Fortunately, they were only occasionally alone together. Most of the time, she was still with the three little ones.

Whew, it was much more comfortable being with the three little ones, even though now there was only one left.

“Sister-in-law, should we make sauce with these small fish and shrimp?” Leng Yun brought over the cleaned fish and shrimp and asked.

Unlike the plains, mountainous areas had fewer rivers and lakes. They knew how to hunt wild game and gather wild vegetables, but they weren’t very skilled at eating fish.

They often got fish bones stuck in their throats.

In his impression, such small fish and shrimp could only be used to make sauce to avoid getting bones stuck and to prevent waste.

Wen Nuan Nuan was mixing flour batter. “No, we have beef sauce and mushroom sauce. Fish and shrimp are too precious. I plan to coat them in flour batter and deep-fry them. They’ll be crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, fragrant, and delicious.”

Before she even finished speaking, Leng Yun was already looking forward to it!

Wen Nuan Nuan leaned out to look at Leng Xiao, who was cleaning the big fish in the yard, and asked mysteriously in a hushed voice, “Little Brother, was your Eldest Brother always this cold and gloomy? Was he born this way, or did it develop later?”

“Ever since I can remember, Eldest Brother has been like this,” Leng Yun replied, watching as Wen Nuan Nuan finished mixing the batter. He took it from her and poured it over the small fish and shrimp, stirring them together.

Seeing that his sister-in-law seemed very curious, he continued to rack his brain, dredging up scattered memories: “When Mother was alive, she said that Eldest Brother was originally very gentle and seemed to have a good temper, like someone anyone could bully. Later, after our family suffered a great upheaval, Eldest Brother became colder and colder.”

Wen Nuan Nuan listened in astonishment. Trying to imagine Leng Xiao’s cold, gloomy face as someone easy to bully was difficult.

But no wonder she felt that when Leng Xiao smiled, it didn’t seem out of place at all—it even made people think he had always been like that.

However, it was an indisputable fact that in his later years, the more gentle and amiable Leng Xiao smiled, the more miserable and horrifying the fates of those who stood in his way became.

But the current Leng Xiao was still a young man, so his natural disposition was more prominent. She shouldn’t always measure him by his future actions and style. Since she had decided to cooperate, she should show sincerity and trust him.

No matter how cruel and ruthless his methods were, they were only directed at his opponents. He wouldn’t harm those loyal to him and still adhered strictly to professional rules and ethics.

After mulling it over in her mind, Wen Nuan Nuan dispelled the fear she had felt toward Leng Xiao and decided to be a competent partner.

She reminded herself of her life motto: “Stay healthy and adorable, full of hope; be carefree and heartless, and happiness will double!”

Having adjusted her mindset and ready to start anew, Wen Nuan Nuan greeted Leng Xiao with a big, sweet smile the moment he entered.

For a moment, Leng Xiao forgot to breathe, then quickly looked away.

Undeterred by this initial setback, Wen Nuan Nuan pressed on softly, “How about three dishes from one fish for dinner: chopped pepper fish head, salted pepper fish bones, and Fish with Pickled Vegetables?”

Before Leng Xiao could answer, Leng Yun eagerly chimed in from the side, “Yes! I want to eat that!”

Then he felt the icy glare from his Eldest Brother.

Leng Yun instinctively lowered his head and shut his mouth, not daring to look up again.

Wen Nuan Nuan watched how afraid Little Brother was of Leng Xiao and struggled to hold back her laughter. There was someone even more cautious than her!

She continued, asking for his opinion, “Do you want to?”

Leng Xiao’s gaze was deep, his voice low and lingering: “I do.”

After Minor New Year, Wen Nuan Nuan counted the days, calculating each day how many more days until the two little ones would be home.

During this time, she felt she and Leng Xiao were getting along quite well.

Except for one miscalculation.

She had originally thought that with Leng Xiao’s talent as a top scholar who had achieved the highest honors in three consecutive imperial examinations, memorizing the multiplication table would be a piece of cake!

But reality struck too quickly—he kept making mistakes from time to time, forcing her to patiently teach him over and over again.

Now Little Brother had moved to his own room to do his exercises, and she was tutoring Leng Xiao one-on-one.

Wen Nuan Nuan silently complained to herself: Thankfully, Leng Xiao lives in this era where all that’s required is writing essays. If he were in her time, hmph, with such a clear weakness in one subject, he’d have a tough time in exams!

However, she only taught Leng Xiao in the afternoons each day.

Their daily routine was: in the mornings, Leng Xiao would go up the mountain to check the traps for prey, while she stayed home making her “essentials”—as a girl, this was only second in importance to food!

And she discovered that single-layer gauze was truly useful. With just her mediocre sewing skills from making sandbags and cross-stitch, she could stitch together good strips, then stuff them with soft cotton that had been steamed, sterilized, and dried.

Breathable, clean, and the gauze was easy to wash—simply perfect, couldn’t be better!

Wen Nuan Nuan worried that next year on the road, there might be no time or water to wash them, or that even if washed, they couldn’t be dried. In that case, they’d have to be discarded after use, so she made them whenever she had free time.

With no shortage of money, life could actually be quite comfortable.

Provided that there was no shortage of money!

Ah, come to think of it, no matter where you are, having enough money allows for a comfortable life. But on the path to achieving that financial security, things can be pretty tough.

“Sister-in-law, Eldest Brother, Little Brother, we’re back!”

A long-unheard cheerful voice came from outside the courtyard. Wen Nuan Nuan excitedly put down her needlework and ran outside.

Another small figure was always one step ahead of her, already opening the courtyard gate.

Wen Nuan Nuan looked over—not only Leng Tian, but Leng Chen had also returned!

“Sister-in-law!” the two called out respectfully in unison.

For a moment, Wen Nuan Nuan felt tears welling up.

She quickly blinked them back, stepping aside: “It’s snowing, it’s warm inside. Come in quickly, we can talk inside!”

Once in the room, she poured two cups of steaming hot milk tea and handed them to the two little ones: “I made milk tea, warm your stomachs.”

Leng Tian held the bamboo cup with a carefree smile.

Leng Chen’s eyes were slightly red as he lowered his head, silently looking at the milk tea in his cup.

Wen Nuan Nuan had a thousand questions she wanted to ask at that moment, but she held back with great effort.

Leng Yun went in and out, bringing stools, and the four of them sat together in a circle.

Only after the two had calmed down did Wen Nuan Nuan ask Leng Chen: “Didn’t they say the pharmacy would close for the New Year holiday on the twenty-seventh? Today is only the twenty-fifth, how were you able to come back? If I had known earlier, I would have prepared a few dishes you both like.”

“Sister-in-law, no need to trouble yourself. We’ll love whatever you make. Shopkeeper Sun said this year’s weather is unusual, with little rain and snow. Today, it finally snowed again, so he let us start the holiday early, saying we might be able to help out at home. So I got up early to find Second Brother. His martial arts school allows him to go home anytime, and people from farther away have already left.” Leng Chen’s eyes were red, but he explained clearly and logically.

“Sister-in-law, where’s Eldest Brother?” Leng Tian looked around but didn’t see Leng Xiao and asked.