Chapter 3: Plump, Juicy Buns

The sun still hung in the sky, casting golden rays across the courtyard.
Jing Xiaohua sat there nibbling on a plump, juicy bun, her little hands clutching it tightly.

When she saw her brother suddenly burst through the door, she jumped a little, then immediately beamed and squinted happily:
“Gege! Eat!”

Pu Jiaojiao came out upon hearing the commotion.
She paused when she saw Jing Hongyi standing stiffly, his eyes wary as he stared at her.

She had expected this reaction.

Still, she didn’t bother explaining much. Instead, she pointed toward the washbasin and a piece of soapnut beside it:
“Wash your hands before you eat. Use the soapnut.”

Judging by the amount of grime she’d scrubbed off Xiaohua earlier, she figured the older brother wouldn’t be much cleaner.

Having said that, she turned and went back into the kitchen.
Xiaohua, giggling, ran up and tugged on her brother’s sleeve.
“Gege, wash hands! Eat!”

Still feeling suspicious, Jing Hongyi washed his hands and followed his sister into the kitchen.

That’s when he realized — the faint scent he had caught earlier in the courtyard was much stronger inside.

He didn’t know what kind of trick this woman was playing, but he was sure she wasn’t a good person.
If she were, she wouldn’t have treated them so cruelly after their father left.

Pu Jiaojiao had no idea what was running through the boy’s mind.

Right now, she was carefully fishing out braised pig intestines from the pot.
The rich, savory aroma filled the kitchen. The intestines had been simmered to the point of softness — a chopstick could pierce them with no effort.

Not bad, considering she’d spent half the afternoon gagging while scrubbing them clean with flour.

She had a mild case of OCD, but her love of food always won out.
In her previous life, cooking elaborate meals for herself was her greatest pleasure.

“Don’t just stand there like a statue. Come help set the table.”

Pu Jiaojiao didn’t try to flatter the future villain. Instead, she treated them just as she would have treated her younger siblings back at the orphanage.

You didn’t have to do everything, but you had to know how.

Especially a boy like Jing Hongyi — seven or eight years old, already half-grown.
It was unrealistic for him to do nothing, and she had no intention of coddling him.

Jing Hongyi, still full of doubts, actually calmed down a bit when she told him to help.
He silently took the tray with the buns and a plate of fragrant pig intestines.
His mouth involuntarily watered.

The smell was unreal.

He’d seen pig offal before, of course — but in his memory, it was always rank and inedible.
It reeked so badly that no one wanted to eat it.

Now, the kitchen was filled not with stench, but with rich, mouthwatering aroma.

Each person had a bowl of porridge. Xiaohua only had half a bowl in front of her —
she’d already eaten a whole bun earlier, and Pu Jiaojiao didn’t want her to overeat and end up with a tummy ache later.

Jing Hongyi watched as Pu Jiaojiao spoke to his sister in a gentle, soft voice, a warm smile on her face.
Her entire demeanor was… something he had never seen before.

He blinked, confused.
How had everything changed so much just from the time he’d gone to school and come back?

“Eat up,” Pu Jiaojiao said casually. She had gone easy on the spice while braising the intestines, since there were young kids at home. The result was only a hint of heat — just enough to tingle the tongue.

But one bite of the pig intestines… and you couldn’t stop.

Pu Jiaojiao didn’t let Xiaohua eat too much of it. After a few pieces, she coaxed the little one into eating another half a bun.

The buns were big — thin-skinned, stuffed full of juicy pork and napa cabbage.
Napa cabbage had a high water content, but when mixed with pork, it helped the meat stay tender and juicy.

The buns were the size of fists.
Pu Jiaojiao was full after eating just two, but Jing Hongyi, being a growing boy, could eat a lot more.

Still, he didn’t dare go overboard.
He even wondered if the woman had poisoned the food.

He didn’t touch the bun until he saw her eat first.
Only then did he slowly pick one up and take a tentative bite.

The moment the flavor exploded in his mouth, his eyes widened in disbelief.
Then, without meaning to, he took a second, bigger bite.

These buns were amazing — way better than the half-stale one he’d eaten that morning.

Jing Hongyi couldn’t help himself — he ate three buns in one go.

Even the pig offal — something he normally found revolting — he ended up eating several bites of. He just couldn’t stop.
He didn’t know what the woman had done, but the flavor was shockingly good.

Still, when he noticed her put down her chopsticks, he froze up.
He didn’t dare eat more — afraid she might suddenly find fault and hit him or his sister.

She hadn’t hit or scolded them once today… and even cooked them dinner.
But who knew what kind of scheme she was planning next?

Even so…
He couldn’t help licking his lips.

This woman’s cooking was really, really good.

Pu Jiaojiao, seeing that Jing Hongyi didn’t take another bun, assumed he was full.

She asked casually,
“What time do you… cough, what hour do you leave for school in the morning?”

She knew he studied at a private academy, which likely meant early mornings.
She was thinking that if she could manage it, she’d wake up and cook something warm for him before he left.

Jing Hongyi didn’t understand her intentions, but after a moment’s pause, he replied,
“Mao hour.”

Mao hour?

Pu Jiaojiao did a quick mental conversion —
Wasn’t that around 5 to 7 a.m.?

People in ancient times really had it tough.

Could she even get up that early? That was practically still the middle of the night for her.

She gave an awkward little laugh.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to be nice — it was just that waking up that early felt like torture.

At first, she had thought about just letting Jing Hongyi reheat the buns himself in the morning.
But looking at that still slightly babyish face of his… the words caught in her throat.

Forget it.
No need to turn a kid into free labor — especially one who had to rise early for school.

She’d just wake up and make breakfast, then go back to sleep after he left.

The stove still had hot water from steaming the buns, so Pu Jiaojiao used some of it to help herself and Xiaohua wash up.

The two of them had already bathed earlier in the day, so a quick wipe-down was enough for the night.

Jing Hongyi, however, wanted a full bath.

“You can do it yourself, right? Make sure you wash thoroughly, and use the soapnut, okay?” Pu Jiaojiao reminded him firmly.

Jing Hongyi’s ears turned red.
“…Got it. I can do it myself.”

Sitting in the wooden tub, warm water swirling around him, he felt dazed.
How had things… changed so quickly?

He glanced at the soapnut placed on the stool beside him.
That belonged to her.

He pressed his lips together and slowly, carefully scrubbed himself clean.

He had wanted to bathe like this before.
But with Father gone, there was no one to help him heat water, so he usually made do with cold rinses.

Thankfully the weather was still warm, so cold water wasn’t unbearable.

But for his sister — a little girl — he hadn’t dared let her bathe in cold water.

Today, her hair was fluffy and her face was clean and pink.
Clearly, she had been bathed.

This woman… seemed different somehow.

After bathing, Jing Hongyi also washed his dirty clothes, then hung them up properly.
He hadn’t even reached the woman’s room when he heard her laughing — and Xiaohua’s gleeful giggles mixed in.

He knocked on the door.
When the woman said, “Come in,” he opened it.

“I’m here to take Xiaohua back to sleep.”

He stepped forward to carry his sister, but to his surprise —
Xiaohua didn’t stretch out her arms like she usually did.
Instead, she ducked behind Pu Jiaojiao, hiding with only her little head poking out.

Pu Jiaojiao smiled and ruffled the girl’s head.
“Tonight, she’s sleeping with me. You’ve got school early tomorrow, don’t you? Let her stay here.”

Jing Hongyi had been worried at first.
But looking at Xiaohua’s flushed, contented little face, he pressed his lips together, hiding his concern.

Without another word, he turned and quietly left the room.