Chapter 22: Feeding  

The little girl puffed up her cheeks and stared straight at Xu Mo with her big, round eyes.  

The smile in her eyes was like a sunflower in the bright summer—dazzling and charming.  

Xu Mo felt uneasy under her gaze.  

“Um… sit properly. I’ll help you apply the medicine.”  

“Oh.”  

Shen Jiaojiao obediently sat at the edge of the bed, like a well-behaved elementary school student waiting for the teacher to start class.  

She patted the spot beside her. “Come here, sit down.”  

Xu Mo’s throat tightened.  

He hesitated before stepping forward.  

Instead of sitting on the bed, he dragged over a low stool from the room and sat down in front of Shen Jiaojiao.  

Reaching out, he took the bottle of red medicine from her hands.  

“Palm up.” he said in a low voice.  

“Oh.”  

Shen Jiaojiao obediently stretched out her palm toward Xu Mo. “Be gentle.”  

She was simply being serious, telling Xu Mo that she was afraid of pain and asking him to be careful while applying the medicine.  

There was absolutely no other meaning behind her words.  

But Xu Mo couldn’t help thinking otherwise.  

His mind wandered in that direction.  

Feeling a bit frustrated, he wondered why it seemed like he had a one-track mind these days—no matter what he did, he kept thinking about Shen Jiaojiao.  

Pressing his lips together, he carefully and gently applied the medicine to Shen Jiaojiao’s wounded skin.  

The moment the liquid touched her skin, the sting was too intense.  

Shen Jiaojiao couldn’t hold back and let out a small hiss.  

“It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!”  

Xu Mo panicked and quickly covered her mouth.  

“Shh, keep it down. Don’t let anyone hear you.”

Shen Jiaojiao furrowed her delicate brows and blinked her eyes.  

Xu Mo slowly lowered his hand.  

The medicine had already been applied.  

But instead of getting up and leaving, he lowered his head slightly and gently blew on Shen Jiaojiao’s palm.  

A cool sensation swept over the stinging wound, and somehow, the pain seemed to lessen.  

“Xu Mo, how can you be so gentle?” Shen Jiaojiao gazed at him with admiration.  

Xu Mo blew on her hand for a moment longer before standing up.  

“I’m leaving now.”  

“Wait.”  

Shen Jiaojiao immediately grabbed his wrist.  

Then she got up and took out a lunchbox filled with food.  

“Xu Mo, eat the fatty meat inside. I don’t like fatty meat.”  

Xu Mo glanced at the meat inside the lunchbox.  

It was a mix of lean and fatty cuts.  

Liu Xianglan had even specially prepared it with more lean meat for her, leaving only a small portion of fat.  

“This isn’t that fatty.”  

“I don’t care. I don’t like it. If you don’t eat it, I’ll just end up wasting it.”  

“Then how did you eat it at lunch?”  

Shen Jiaojiao lied without hesitation. “I forced myself to swallow it, and then I threw up.”  

In reality, she had secretly fed the fatty meat to the commune members’ pigs.  

“You wouldn’t have the heart to watch me throw up again, would you?”  

Xu Mo let out a sigh.  

City kids really were delicate.  

He took the lunchbox from Shen Jiaojiao’s hands, picked up the chopsticks, and carefully separated the fatty meat from the lean.  

Once all the meat was sorted, he handed the lunchbox back to Shen Jiaojiao.  

“You eat first. Whatever’s left, I’ll take.”

Shen Jiaojiao took the lunchbox, placed it on the table, and tore off a small piece of the steamed bun.  

She alternated between taking a bite of lean meat and a bite of bun.  

She ate slowly, chewing carefully without making any noise.  

Before long, she finished the small piece of bun and a few pieces of lean meat, already feeling full.  

She placed the remaining half of the bun back into the lunchbox and handed it to Xu Mo.  

“I’m full. The rest is yours.”  

“How did you eat so little? There’s still lean meat left—finish it.”  

“I really can’t eat anymore. If I force myself, I might actually throw up.”  

Xu Mo frowned slightly. With such a small appetite, and after working in the afternoon, would she have enough energy?  

He sighed silently.  

Taking the lunchbox, he picked up a piece of lean meat and brought it to Shen Jiaojiao’s lips.  

“Open your mouth.”  

Shen Jiaojiao froze.  

She hadn’t expected Xu Mo to personally feed her.  

She was a little surprised.  

But more than that—she felt a sweetness blooming in her heart.  

However… she really couldn’t eat anymore!  

But this was the first time Xu Mo had ever fed her.  

She didn’t want to refuse.  

So, she ate it.  

Swallowing the meat with some difficulty, she quickly stepped back.  

“I really can’t eat anymore. You should hurry up and eat!”  

Xu Mo’s lips curved ever so slightly, almost imperceptibly.  

He didn’t push her further.  

Instead, he started eating at full speed.  

He ate incredibly fast—probably a habit from growing up in the countryside.  

After all, with work waiting, mealtime was often rushed, as if food was meant to be swallowed rather than properly chewed.  

“Slow down. Eating too fast is bad for your esophagus.” Shen Jiaojiao reminded him.  

She still remembered that her grandfather had a comrade who suffered from esophageal cancer due to years of irregular eating habits and practically gulping down food.  

In the end, he couldn’t eat anything at all, unable to take in any food before passing away—it was tragic.  

Xu Mo looked down at the now-empty lunchbox.  

“I’m already done.”  

Shen Jiaojiao: “…”

“From now on, you can’t eat so fast anymore. You need to chew your food properly before swallowing. Did you hear me?” Shen Jiaojiao scolded, sounding like a fierce but adorable little housekeeper.  

Xu Mo, however, was thinking—where did people in the countryside ever get the leisure to chew slowly?  

Everyone was busy working the fields and earning labor points.  

But strangely enough, he nodded obediently, as if he really meant it.  

“Mm. I’m leaving now.”  

Shen Jiaojiao didn’t want him to go.  

But he had to leave.  

“Oh, then let me give you the lunchbox from this afternoon.”  

She picked up the lunchbox and handed it to him with both hands.  

Xu Mo took it, but just as he was about to pull it back, Shen Jiaojiao didn’t let go.  

“What?”  

“Kiss me before you leave.”  

“Shen Jiaojiao!” Xu Mo shouted at her, his face instantly turning bright red.  

Shen Jiaojiao let go.  

“Fine, fine! Since you hate me so much, don’t ever bother with me again!”  

She was angry.  

Xu Mo panicked.  

“I don’t hate you.”  

“Then… you like me?”  

Xu Mo: “…” Was that even a logical conclusion?  

After thinking for a moment, he answered carefully: “I don’t hate you as much as I did before.”  

Shen Jiaojiao: “…” What kind of brutally honest answer was that?  

“Fine, go! If you don’t hurry back, your mother’s going to beat you.”  

Xu Mo suddenly remembered how Liu Xianglan had told him to come home early before he left.  

His back stiffened immediately.  

Grabbing the lunchbox, he quickly climbed out through the window.  

Before leaving, he even reminded her: “Close the window.”  

“Oh. Be careful.”  

Xu Mo nodded and disappeared into the night.  

It was already quite late.  

He carefully entered the courtyard, his eyes darting around, searching for any sign of Liu Xianglan.  

Only after confirming she wasn’t in sight did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.  

Just as he was about to step into the kitchen—  

Whack! A thin tree branch swung down toward him.  

“You little brat! I told you to come home early, but you were gone for half the night. Did you go bully Jiaojiao?”  

Liu Xianglan stepped out from behind the door, holding a willow branch in her hand, scolding Xu Mo furiously while swinging at him.  

Luckily, Xu Mo dodged fast enough, so the branch didn’t land on him.  

“Mother, I didn’t bully her!”