Chapter 31: Food Finally Improved

Gu Hongwen’s face darkened as he stared at the intersection where the figures had already disappeared, his hands tightly clenched into fists. Ji Tingting watched him carefully, growing more and more worried. Was he regretting it? Regretting that he hadn’t accepted Ji Tangtang’s confession of love when she had expressed it to him, so that now she had become someone else’s wife? She bit her lip hard and cautiously walked up to Gu Hongwen, whispering, “Hongwen-ge, you…”

Gu Hongwen came back to himself and smiled at her. “I’m going to work now. If there’s anything, we’ll talk when I return.” Saying that, he rode his bicycle away without looking back.

Ji Tingting’s fingernails dug deep into her palms, and a flash of fierce hatred appeared in her eyes. Ji Tangtang! She wouldn’t let her off so easily. She turned and went to the Fang family.

On a country dirt road in early summer, a bicycle happily raced along the path. The small grass along the sides swayed gently in the breeze, and the sun sparkled on the dew like countless gems. Gu Shiyu’s arms were wrapped around Ji Tangtang’s waist, and gradually he relaxed, shedding his initial nervousness. His gaze unconsciously drifted to the trees, the flowers, and the grass…

As the bicycle moved, the scenery shifted continuously, turning into mountains and rivers elsewhere, seeming to linger for only a second yet also as if for a long while. Many years later, Gu Shiyu could still clearly recall today’s scene, and the faint, unique scent mixed with the smell of soil and grass—it was Ji Tangtang’s scent. She seemed to be leading him from darkness into light.

“You haven’t had breakfast yet, right? I brought some pancakes. Let’s eat before we go.” Ji Tangtang slowed slightly after speeding down a slope.

Gu Shiyu thought she must be tired and wanted to rest. He nodded, then realized that sitting behind her, his nod wasn’t visible, so he hurriedly said, “Okay.”

“Then just up ahead! There’s a big clean rock. We can sit on it and eat.” Ji Tangtang guided the bike to a large rock at the roadside.

“I’ll get off first. Can you sit steadily by yourself?”

Gu Shiyu released her and grabbed the bicycle with both hands. “I can manage.”

Actually, his body felt strange. Previously, his lower body had no strength at all, and he couldn’t have sat like this for long. But over the past couple of days, he could gradually use some strength in his legs. Though subtle, the change excited him.

“Wait a moment, I’ll carry you over to sit.” Ji Tangtang held Gu Shiyu with one hand while steadying the bicycle with the other to prevent it from tipping over.

Though Gu Shiyu had already witnessed Ji Tangtang’s strength, he was surprised again. Carrying him this way required even more effort than lifting him alone.

Ji Tangtang was slightly strained too—not because she wasn’t strong enough, but because Gu Shiyu was so tall. At 1.88 meters, he towered over her original 1.65-meter frame. She had to prevent him from falling off the bike, which made her flustered. She couldn’t help thinking how much easier it had been when she had cultivation powers. Back then, this would have been just a simple technique, not something that made her sweat and flustered!

After some effort, she finally carried Gu Shiyu safely onto the large rock.

“Here, eat quickly.” Ji Tangtang handed him a few pancakes, took one herself, and bit into it with a satisfied expression.

That morning, she had taken a large chunk of wild boar meat from her Qiankun bag and given it to Xu Guifen to make breakfast. She told her that she had hunted a wild boar in the back mountain, weighing several hundred pounds, so the family would never lack meat again, and Xu Guifen didn’t need to be frugal. Xu Guifen was so excited she nearly jumped. She quickly chopped some scallions from her plot, prepared the meat into filling, and wrapped it in pre-fermented white dough.

Because the morning was tight on time, she first rendered the fat from the pork, then pan-fried a dozen pancakes for Ji Tangtang to take along for the road. The remaining meat would be made into buns for Ji Changming to steam at home.

The wild boar meat from the secret realm contained spiritual energy. It had no wild game odor and was more tender than ordinary pork. Combined with Xu Guifen’s good cooking skills, the pancakes were crispy outside and soft inside. Ji Tangtang was very pleased.

Gu Shiyu ate with great satisfaction; he hadn’t eaten so well in a long time. Unconsciously, he finished the pancakes in his hands. Seeing that he was done, Ji Tangtang pulled two more from her bag and handed them to him.

Gu Shiyu waved his hand. “I’m full!”

“Just a few pancakes and you’re full?” Ji Tangtang had eaten three herself in the meantime. Though her spiritual and physical body were merging, and her energy consumption was high, the three pancakes were merely appetizers.

“Eat! I’ll take care of you. In my house, you’ll never go hungry.”

Gu Shiyu, being 1.88 meters tall, had high energy needs, and three pancakes were obviously not enough. But he knew that food was scarce these days, and wheat pancakes like these were rare, so he endured, leaving some for Ji Tangtang.

“Eat quickly, it’ll get cold otherwise,” she urged. “I told you, following me, you won’t go hungry. Eat more so your body can recover faster.”

Gu Shiyu suddenly thought of the wild fruits Ji Tangtang had brought in the past few days. Could the changes in his body be because of these fruits? The thought flashed in his mind, but he quickly suppressed it. It seemed too absurd.

Under Ji Tangtang’s sharp gaze, he finally ate the three pancakes she pressed into his hands.

After finishing, Ji Tangtang, feeling a bit full, pulled out two large fruits and handed one to Gu Shiyu, taking one herself. These were Qingling Fruits. Not very sweet, but juicy, and most importantly, full of spiritual energy—far more potent than the ordinary wild fruits she usually picked. Qingling Fruits weren’t extremely rare in the cultivation world, but picking them required luck. They had to be harvested immediately after ripening and properly stored, or their spiritual energy would dissipate.

“Eat quickly,” Ji Tangtang urged. If the energy dissipated, the effect wouldn’t be as good.

Previously, Gu Shiyu had been curious about her Qiankun bag and how it could hold so many things, all preserved so perfectly. Now, mimicking her, he carefully bit into the fruit, first sucking out the juice before eating the flesh. Whether it was a trick of his mind or real, after eating the fruit, his vision seemed clearer.

“Done eating? Let’s go!” Ji Tangtang was about to carry Gu Shiyu back onto the bicycle when a shout rang out.