Chapter 5: Another Reward from Su and Bai

Su Ruan looked at the blue wolf and couldn’t help but find it amusing. She tossed the wild chicken bones onto the ground.

The blue wolf and its two pups immediately gathered around to gnaw on them.

“Your luck’s really something,” Su Ruan commented, teasing the pups as she spoke.
“I saw that blue wolf earlier. It looks like a wolf king. Probably got injured and was then driven out of the pack along with its cubs.”

“You can tell just from looking?” Lu Chuan asked in surprise.

“Mhm. I come from a military family—I’ve studied things like this before. Even though the blue wolf looks a little down and out, it still carries a natural aura of dominance.”

“Also, a wolf king’s howl is usually sharper than that of ordinary wolves—it helps the sound carry farther and makes it easier to command the pack.”

Lu Chuan nodded thoughtfully and casually patted one of the wolf cubs on the head.
“Didn’t expect your dad to be a king, huh?”

The little wolf cub raised its head, eyes full of grievance, glaring at Lu Chuan as if to say: Why’d you smack me!?
Still, in the end, it obediently lay back down.

“If there’s anything we can help with at home, just say the word,” Su Ruan said openly, very different from the shy Bai Siyu. “I don’t know much, but hunting? I can do that too.”

“Just make me a bow, and the two of us can go up the mountain. We should be able to gather enough meat within half a month.”

Bai Siyu, on the other hand, looked down in embarrassment.
In her mind, she hadn’t brought anything useful to this household—just added more burden.

“No rush,” Lu Chuan said, waving his hand.
“You two should take some time to adjust first.”

Then, he glanced at Bai Siyu and the familiar panel appeared before his eyes:

Name: Bai Siyu

Age: 16

Beauty Rating: 91

Affection Level: 48

Current rewards upon taking in:

Beginner Hunting Skill (acquired)

Beginner Beast-Taming Skill (acquired)

Beginner Cooking Skill

Intermediate Farming Skill

Lu Chuan’s eyes lit up with surprise.
Bai Siyu’s affection level was rising fast.

She really was a simple and kind girl.

Then he turned to Su Ruan—her panel had also changed:

Name: Su Ruan

Age: 17

Beauty Rating: 89

Affection Level: 29

Current rewards upon taking in:

Portable Space: 3 cubic meters (acquired)

Beginner Kiln-Building Skill

Seeing this, Lu Chuan blinked in confusion.

Kiln-building?
What kind of skill was that?

It sounded so strange…

But as a warm sensation flowed through his body, Lu Chuan quickly understood.
This so-called “kiln-building skill” was actually the knowledge to build a functional kiln for firing pottery or bricks.

An amazing skill.
With this, he could construct a brick kiln and fire his own bricks. No more living in a drafty mud house!

After dinner, Lu Chuan returned to his room.

Bai Siyu and Su Ruan exchanged a glance, then headed to the west wing together.

“Su Ruan-jie… it seems like he…”
Bai Siyu opened her mouth, her tone filled with worry.

Their identities were special. Yes, they were beautiful—but what farmer would willingly marry girls like them? Delicate, not suited for labor… They’d finally found a place to stay.

But Bai Siyu was genuinely afraid it wouldn’t last.

After all, if Lu Chuan really didn’t want them…

Then their best outcome would be getting taken in as concubines by some powerful official. But even that was unlikely—most people wouldn’t dare get involved with them, afraid of being implicated by their family background.

“Don’t worry,” Su Ruan said, though her heart wasn’t fully at ease either.

Still, she patted Bai Siyu’s hand and smiled. “He’s a good man. And capable, too. We’re truly lucky to have found him.”

Meanwhile, Lu Chuan lay in bed, deep in thought.

Su Ruan was the daughter of a military family, but he didn’t really want to bring her along for hunting.

To put it plainly, he had too many secrets—especially the existence of his spatial ability. With her by his side, he wouldn’t be able to use it freely.

It might be fine for smaller game, but if he hunted wild boars or something similar, she’d be exhausted just trying to keep up.

“Tomorrow, I’ll go to town and sell the deer meat. Then I’ll check if there’s any cheaper grain around,” he muttered to himself.

For the government grain tax, the quality didn’t have to be top-notch—just enough to pass inspection.

Grain prices in this era were far more expensive than he’d expected.

But then again, it made sense.
The worse the famine, the higher the price of grain—and the cheaper human life became.

Perhaps because he was tired, Lu Chuan quickly drifted off to sleep.

…

The next morning, he woke up to find Su Ruan and Bai Siyu already up and cooking porridge.

They’d also skinned the deer.

When Lu Chuan appeared, Bai Siyu’s cheeks turned a bit red.
“I noticed your clothes are too thin… so I thought I’d use the deer hide to make you a coat. That way, you’ll stay warm while hunting.”

“Thank you. That’s very thoughtful.” Lu Chuan nodded.

The “porridge” was really just flour soup—thin and bland—paired with a bit of pickled radish. It filled the stomach, but not for long.

“I’m heading into town to sell the meat today,” Lu Chuan said. “Do you two need anything? I can bring it back on the way.”

Su Ruan paused. “Do we have a hatchet at home? I can collect firewood from the mountain when I’m free. It’s freezing in here during winter.”

“It’s in the woodshed,” Lu Chuan replied, a little embarrassed as he pointed to a low, broken shack.

“Oh, that’s the woodshed?” Su Ruan covered her mouth in surprise. “I thought it was an abandoned outhouse!”

“…!”

Bai Siyu couldn’t help but giggle softly.
Then realizing it might be inappropriate, she cleared her throat and said, “Brother Lu, I could use some sewing supplies—and a set of long weaving needles.”

Ordinary households didn’t own looms.
If they needed cloth, they either had to buy it or use long needles to hand-weave it.

Instead of silk, they used flax fibers.
Clothing made this way was fine for summer—but in winter, it barely kept out the cold.

“Alright,” Lu Chuan nodded and made a mental note.

He took the long stick from yesterday, strung the meat on both ends, and started down the mountain trail.

But instead of heading straight to town, Lu Chuan made a detour to the widow Wang’s house.

He didn’t know how she was doing lately—and he was also still pondering how to take in Chen Qingqing.

After all, the rewards she offered were too tempting to ignore.