Chapter 119: Why Are You Running?

Mo Jinnan looked puzzled. “Why not just take it away?”

Xiang Xinyao shrugged. “I’m not a thief, and we don’t lack firewood at home. Isn’t their family out of firewood? Consider this us lending them a hand.”

Mo Jinnan raised an eyebrow, a mischievous grin forming at the corner of his mouth. “Makes sense!”

That’s his fiancée for you—so clever!

The Hu family’s roof was all thatch. Pulling out the main beam wouldn’t cause it to collapse on them, but it would bring down the connected planks and some thatch, enough to cause a little damage. This year, the Hu family would have a tough time celebrating.

Their rooms weren’t big, so the main beam wasn’t too long or thick. If Mo Jinnan hadn’t come, Xiang Xinyao could have used her spatial power to move the beam to their courtyard herself. But with Mo Jinnan here, she decided to let him handle this little challenge.

Mo Jinnan pondered, thinking about how best to extract the Hu family’s beam.

After a moment, he asked, “Should I pull out the beams from all the rooms or just one?”

Xiang Xinyao smiled. “Do whatever makes you happy. I have no objections—just try not to hurt anyone. Let them suffer gradually.”

Mo Jinnan nodded, and in the next second, he leaped onto the roof, landing on the top of the left wall. Using his inner strength, he grasped one end of the beam with both hands and, with a forceful heave, flipped it upward, sending the planks and thatch connected to the beam flying.

The beam was hoisted up and, with a loud “bang,” thrown into the Hu family’s courtyard.

The Hu family members were jolted awake by the noise. Before they could even rub the sleep from their eyes, Mo Jinnan had already thrown the beam from the second room into the yard.

“Who’s there?” Hu Dashan shouted angrily, hurriedly telling Mrs. Zhang to get up and put on her shoes.

But before she could, the beam from the third room was tossed into the yard.

Three large holes appeared in the roofs of their rooms.

Mo Jinnan had only pulled out the main beams, so the rest of the roof wasn’t heavily impacted. Since the beds were in the corners of each room, only a few pieces of thatch fell on them.

After throwing all the beams into the yard, Mo Jinnan leaped off the roof, wrapped his arm around Xiang Xinyao’s waist, and used his lightness skill to hurry back to the Ji family’s house.

Behind them, the anguished curses of Mrs. Zhang and Mrs. Yang echoed through the once-quiet village, shattering the peace of the small mountain settlement.

Xiang Xinyao stifled her laughter all the way back. Mo Jinnan was just too adorable.

He had barely finished causing trouble and was already rushing to escape, as if afraid he’d be caught in the act.

Back in the Ji family courtyard, Mo Jinnan still looked tense.

Xiang Xinyao chuckled. “Why are you running?”

Mo Jinnan looked at her in confusion. “You don’t run after causing trouble? Are you waiting to be caught?”

“Exactly! I want the Hu family to know the consequences of stealing my timber.”

“Huh? So, should we go back?”

“Forget it. Now that we’re back, let’s go to sleep. The Hu family will definitely guess it was me and come looking for answers tomorrow.”

Mo Jinnan nodded and went back to his room.

Xiang Xinyao, however, didn’t return to her room. Instead, she headed straight to the mountains.

Reaching the cave where Mo Jinnan had recovered from his injuries, she didn’t hesitate to enter her space.

She busied herself in the space for a while, preparing two days’ worth of animal feed. Then she gathered the ingredients needed for the New Year’s Eve dinner. Finally, she grabbed a chicken, a duck, and a large carp from the supermarket before stepping out of the space.

By the time she returned home, dawn was breaking, and Aunt Ji was nearly done making breakfast.

When she saw Xiang Xinyao coming back from outside, Aunt Ji looked at her with a bewildered expression.

“Girl, where have you been? Why are you out so early?”

Xiang Xinyao made up a story on the spot. “Auntie, yesterday I arranged with some people from another village to get a chicken, a duck, and a fish. During the day, the chicken and duck kept running off, so I couldn’t catch them. They told me to come back early in the morning.”

“Oh, I see. When did you go? I didn’t even notice.”

“I went really early. The earlier I went, the sooner I could come back!”

Aunt Ji took the chicken, duck, and fish from her hands. “Go get some hot water to freshen up. Breakfast is almost ready.”

“Alright.”

Mo Jinnan looked at Xiang Xinyao. “Why didn’t you tell me you were going out?”

Xiang Xinyao, unfazed, replied, “It was just a small matter. I didn’t want to disturb your rest, so I didn’t mention it.”

After breakfast, Aunt Ji and Ji Chunhua got busy cleaning the house inside and out. Uncle Ji took charge of preparing the chicken, duck, and fish, while the others began to work on the New Year’s Eve dinner.

Xiang Xinyao took a basket to the vegetable patch, appearing to pick vegetables but actually taking them from her spatial storage. With a basket brimming with fresh produce, she returned to the Ji house, where Xiang Xinyu and the Madam Xiang quickly came over to help with the prep work.

The Madam Xiang asked, “Yao’er, what dishes are you planning to make today?”

Xiang Xinyao counted on her fingers. “Braised pork, ginseng chicken stew, roast duck, sweet and sour pork ribs, sweet and sour carp, egg rolls, braised pork with preserved vegetables, braised meatballs, homestyle tofu, candied peanuts, cold three-shreds salad, and some longevity vegetables. Twelve dishes in total, symbolizing prosperity each month.”

Hearing the menu, Xiang Xinyu’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

However, the Madam Xiang frowned slightly. “Where did you get ginseng?”

Xiang Xinyao smiled, went into her room, and retrieved the ginseng she had prepared in her space. She brought it to her mother. “Mother, I found this wild ginseng in the mountains a few days ago. I thought it would be nice to stew it with the chicken today, so everyone can have a nourishing meal.”

“Hmm, this wild ginseng looks good.”

Xiang Xinyao nodded with a smile. “It’s about twenty years old. I’ll go make the chicken stew now.”

“Go on!”

…

However, the Hu family didn’t come looking for answers, as she had imagined.

Hu Dashan wasn’t foolish; he’d been injured by Xiang Xinyao’s fiancé while trying to steal her wood yesterday and was now bedridden. Yang, frail as she was, could only mouth off. Even if Mrs. Zhang knew it was Xiang Xinyao, she wouldn’t dare confront the Ji family alone.

With three gaping holes in their roof, the Hu family could only hope it wouldn’t rain or snow.

But even the heavens seemed unwilling to spare the Hu family’s misdeeds.

Shortly after noon, heavy snow began to fall.

The Hu family was filled with despair.

Hu Dashan instructed Mrs. Zhang to find someone in the village to help reattach the beams. However, she went around to every household, and no one was willing to help. The whole village had heard about how the Hu family had served overly salted dishes to guests who helped with their pig slaughter.

A few people said they’d be willing to help if paid a hundred coins upfront, but Mrs. Zhang didn’t dare approach the Ji family for assistance.

The Hu family, already strapped for cash, couldn’t afford to pay. Hu Dashan had barely managed to buy New Year supplies with his recent earnings, leaving them with hardly anything.

With no choice, Mrs. Zhang threw together a simple meal, and the family huddled under blankets for an early New Year’s Eve dinner.

But no matter how much they bundled up, the chill was still bone-deep.

Finally, Hu Dashan instructed Mrs. Zhang to carry Yang into their room. The three of them squeezed together for warmth, shivering together in the cold.