Chapter 10: Gathering Folk Customs

The last piece of stir-fried pork intestine was swallowed down by Lin Chengjie with lingering delight. He leaned back in his chair, content, and let out a long, satisfied burp, loud enough to make the now-empty lunch box tremble slightly.

He rubbed his noticeably rounded belly, his face showing unabashed satisfaction.

“Burp… So comfy!” Lin Chengjie smacked his lips, savoring the lingering flavor. He turned to glance at Jing Hongyi, who was tidily packing up the food container at a slow and deliberate pace, and his eyes lit up again.

“Hey, Brother Jing!” He scooted forward slightly, his tone laced with hopeful caution. “Tomorrow… how about we eat together again? Your cooking—I mean, your food—is absolutely amazing!”

Jing Hongyi’s hands paused briefly in the middle of cleaning up.

He carefully stacked the empty dishes, placing the now-scraped-clean rice bowl on top, his movements steady and unhurried.

Tomorrow…

Today’s lunch had been an unexpected event.

As for whether he would have food prepared again tomorrow—he really wasn’t sure.

“We’ll see,” Jing Hongyi replied flatly, his voice giving away little emotion. “If there is food, then we’ll eat together. If not, then forget it.”

It was a vague response, but an honest one.

Lin Chengjie understood what he meant. Though he was a little disappointed, he quickly perked up again at the memory of today’s unexpected treat. “Alright then! If there is, great! If not, I’ll just have to suffer through the food from my own home!”

If anyone else heard that, they’d probably be tempted to curse at him—after all, the dishes from Songxiang Restaurant weren’t cheap.

Jing Hongyi didn’t respond. He carefully closed the food container, picked it up, and stood. Today’s meal had truly hit the spot—his stomach felt warm and full, and even the usual aura of distance around him had softened noticeably.

He gave Lin Chengjie a slight nod. “I’ll head back to class now.”

“Got it! Take care, Brother Jing!” Lin Chengjie waved cheerfully as he watched Jing Hongyi walk off with the empty food box, disappearing quickly down the corridor behind the classroom building.

The air still seemed to be filled with a faint aroma of food. Lin Chengjie couldn’t help but sniff deeply again. The fragrance lingered in the air, refusing to fade even after the meal was gone.

Jing Hongyi passed through the quiet corridor courtyard, stopping by the well to wash the food container before heading back to class to study.

For some reason, he didn’t feel as rushed today as he usually did—but still, there was a trace of urgency in his steps.

Sure enough, just as he reached the gate of the courtyard, he heard the laughter and chatter of the woman and Huahua inside. Jing Hongyi paused, and the tension in his face eased slightly. Then he pushed the door open and stepped in.

“Ah Yi, you’re back?” Pu Jiaojiao looked up with a smile as Jing Hongyi entered. She patted little Jing Xiaohua lightly on the backside. “Go do your homework first. Dinner will be ready soon.”

It was just yesterday that she realized he had homework every day after seeing him burning the midnight oil writing by lamplight. She had asked him to help chop radish, and he hadn’t finished until quite late. That left her feeling somewhat guilty.

After all, she had originally assumed that a student his age only needed to read a bit at school—who would’ve thought he’d already have regular homework?

And not just simple writing practice either, but long-form composition.

Pu Jiaojiao thought just hearing about it was enough to make her dizzy.

So today, she told Jing Hongyi to do his homework first, so he could get to bed earlier at night.

Jing Hongyi gave her a glance and responded with a soft “Mm,” just as he was about to enter the house, when he heard Pu Jiaojiao ask, “How often do you get rest days from school?”

Somewhat surprised by her question, Jing Hongyi still answered honestly, “Every ten 6

After a brief pause, Jing Hongyi added, “Three days from now is our school’s rest day.”

“Great! When you have your day off, let’s go caifeng,” Pu Jiaojiao said cheerfully.

This time, Jing Hongyi was genuinely surprised. He turned around to look at her, a slightly dazed expression on his face. “Caifeng?” he echoed.

“Yep! While the weather hasn’t turned cold yet, we should go out for a little excursion,” Pu Jiaojiao replied with a bright smile, nodding firmly to show she meant it.

The county they lived in was called Licheng, and just outside of it was a mountain. In the autumn, that mountain was full of nature’s gifts.

To put it plainly, Pu Jiaojiao simply wanted to seize the chance to enjoy the autumn before winter arrived and the weather grew too cold. It was the perfect time for an outing.

And while they were at it, they could see if there was anything useful to gather from the mountain.

“I’ll prepare the food, and we’ll have a picnic,” she added with genuine enthusiasm. Back in her previous life, she was a livestream host, and outings into nature always performed better than indoor streams.

She had especially enjoyed leading viewers in crafting handmade goods using natural materials, and those videos had always pulled great numbers.

Since arriving in this world, she hadn’t had much opportunity to go out. Fortunately, the body she now inhabited was that of a married woman—if she had been an unmarried girl, it would’ve been far less appropriate for her to roam freely.

As it stood now, being a married woman gave her more freedom to go out as she pleased.

Jing Hongyi dazedly agreed at the time, only fully processing what Pu Jiaojiao had said once he got back to his room.

Suddenly, a hint of nervousness crept in.

This stepmother of his… she wouldn’t take them up the mountain and just leave them there, right? …She wouldn’t, would she?

Before long, their rest day finally arrived.

For the past few days, Lin Chengjie had continued mooching off Jing Hongyi’s meals. Pu Jiaojiao had made a different lunch every day, and Lin Chengjie was nearly dying of envy.

Now that the rest day had come, he couldn’t help feeling a bit disappointed.

Even though he had been eating lunch with Jing Hongyi lately, he still had some sense of shame—he couldn’t very well show up at his classmate’s house on their day off just to beg for food.

…Even though he really did want to know what the food tasted like fresh from the pot.

After all, the meals they brought to school always had to be reheated by steaming, and naturally, the flavor couldn’t compare to something straight off the stove.

If he could taste it fresh, it was probably even more delicious than what he had already tried.

Unfortunately, he never mustered the courage to say anything. By the time classes let out, all he did was give Jing Hongyi a deeply wistful look before dragging himself back to his family’s carriage, crestfallen.

The way Lin Chengjie stared at him made Jing Hongyi feel awkward all over, but since nothing was said aloud, he didn’t dwell on it and simply headed home with his book case.

The book case was something Pu Jiaojiao had picked up a few days ago from a general goods shop. It was a smaller size, just right for a child’s height.

As the sky was just beginning to lighten with the faint glow of dawn, a rooster in the neighboring courtyard let out a long crow, as if it sensed the time had come.

Every time Pu Jiaojiao heard that rooster crow, she had the urge to pluck it clean on the spot—but of course, that was just a fantasy she indulged in her head.

The rooster belonged to Auntie Zheng, who lived two houses down. Like its owner, it was quite the character—its tail feathers were always perked up high, and its voice could pierce through two courtyards, even shriller than a soprano hitting a high note.

For now, Pu Jiaojiao had no intention of dealing with people like that, so whenever she happened to run into them while out and about, she just gave a polite nod. She hadn’t really spoken to them.