Chapter 44: Pretending to Be Sick at Home to Regain Strength

Song Yeqing broke the silence first. “I’m hungry. Are you?”

He Yanxin nodded. “Hungry!”

There wasn’t really a need to ask. Given how things went tonight, neither of them had eaten properly—let alone He Yanxin, who had a bigger appetite.

Though it wasn’t even nine o’clock yet, Song Yeqing didn’t feel like going into the kitchen to cook anything. So she “looked” into her space to see what she had on hand.

When her gaze landed on the roast duck, she couldn’t help but swallow—craving meat like never before. But eating pure meat this late at night would be hard to digest, so she gave up on that idea.

Still, eating nothing substantial made her stomach feel uncomfortable, so in the end, she took out the beef and celery stuffed pancake Aunt Hua had specifically asked the chef to make for her in case she couldn’t handle breakfast.

It was still warm when she took it out, and very filling—one for each of them. She also grabbed some milk tea she had bought herself.

The crust was crispy, and the filling rich and flavorful. Eating it filled them with warmth from head to toe.

“Do you want more?” Song Yeqing asked, having only eaten half before feeling full. She slowly sipped her milk tea.

Back in the day, she could have eaten two of these. But now, her body just wasn’t up to it.

He Yanxin leisurely finished the last bite, swallowed, and shook his head. “That’s enough.”

Then he took a big gulp of milk tea, clearly enjoying himself—his whole demeanor radiating contentment.

He didn’t feel embarrassed eating her food either, since he had paid real money for the meals, after all.

Having been too focused on eating and drinking just now, they finally had time to talk about other things.

He Yanxin told Song Yeqing what he had said to Aunt Ge.

“But we still need to be cautious when we’re outside,” he said. “Let’s take it slow—make changes little by little, subtly over time.”

No matter what, a drastic change in personality overnight would be too suspicious. Better to be careful.

Song Yeqing understood and promised to be mindful.

They discussed quite a few plans, like how to deal with Wu Erlang and his wife, how to convince the Wu family to leave Qizhou with them, and where to go afterward.

But many things couldn’t be resolved in one sitting.

Since they had to get up early the next day, they washed up and went to bed in their separate rooms.

Song Yeqing even gave him a new toothbrush, toothpaste, and towel from her space. Toilet paper had already been shared openly after her space had been revealed.

Cooperation meant having the right attitude—there was no need to be stingy over small things like these.

The next morning, a little past 5 a.m., Song Yeqing got up, changed into workout clothes, and woke He Yanxin.

To avoid any accidents, He Yanxin stayed home to look after the kids while Song Yeqing went out to jog along the road outside the village for half an hour, making sure to avoid being seen.

No matter what, her top priority was the children’s safety. She couldn’t fail the original owner of this body.

When she returned, it was He Yanxin’s turn to go out. Later, under her guidance, the two of them started basic physical training together.

One taught seriously, the other learned diligently—the progress was encouraging.

After breakfast, Song Yeqing used the medicine pot in her space to brew herbs, filling the air with the fragrance of traditional medicine.

She carefully checked the pulses of all three of them. He Yanxin and Song Chengsi had no major issues—just malnutrition.

Only Song Chengze had additional problems: low immunity and a weak constitution on top of being malnourished.

Hoping to recover quickly so they could leave Qizhou as soon as possible, Song Yeqing gave herself a strong, fast-acting formula.

Special times called for special measures. As long as it didn’t kill her, she’d take it.

For the eldest child, she used a gentler, more nourishing prescription. Young children couldn’t handle strong medicine, so she had to be extremely cautious.

Because of this, Song Yeqing pored over many medical texts, memorizing the taboos in pediatric medicine that she hadn’t fully studied before.

Even medicinal meals required careful consideration—knowing which ones were suitable for kids and which weren’t. She couldn’t afford to be careless.

This also made her realize how limited and incomplete her previous studies had been.

After all, her earlier focus had been on medicinal theory within the Xuanmen sect and hands-on practice. Now she had much more to learn—but thankfully, her space had plenty of books.

Over the next few days, Song Yeqing balanced physical training with reading, spending the rest of her time cooking.

Meanwhile, He Yanxin frequently went to the town or county seat—handling errands, gathering information, and preparing for their eventual departure. He always returned with bags full of supplies, giving the household a steady source of resources.

Breakfasts were usually easy-to-digest, stomach-soothing foods like millet porridge, lotus seed and lily porridge, or peanut and red date porridge to nourish the blood.

Then came a rotating lineup of medicinal meals.

Stewed pork ribs with yam and goji berries, lamb stew with radish, chicken stewed with angelica and codonopsis, beef soup with ginseng and astragalus, and more.

Of course, there were also high-protein fish dishes, along with a variety of vegetables, fruits, and grains.

Since most of the dishes were soupy and infused with Chinese medicine, they didn’t have a strong aroma. Combined with the smell of brewing herbs, the household’s peculiar scents were explained away as Song Yeqing being sick.

Thus, the occasional strange fragrance from the He family didn’t raise much suspicion.

Only Aunt Ge and Madam Chen, concerned about her “illness,” came to check on her twice.

After assuring them it wasn’t anything serious, Song Yeqing even shared some of the soup—ordinary chicken soup, nothing suspicious.

She had basically brought out all the non-renewable, eventually unusable supplies from her space.

Though many items were one-of-a-kind from her world and wouldn’t be replaced once consumed, she didn’t hoard them. She generously shared them with everyone.

So during these days, it was a mix of pain and joy for everyone.

The joy was in being able to eat their fill every day, with a wide variety of foods.

The pain? Some medicinal meals were truly hard to swallow.

But what could they do? They had to eat them anyway.

And in just ten days, everyone’s physical condition and complexion noticeably improved.

The most dramatic change was in Song Chengze. He now looked like a healthy three-year-old, thanks to all the carefully crafted pills and coaxing Song Yeqing had done to get him to take them.

Song Chengsi had also gained noticeable weight—his face now round and rosy, making it hard for the others to resist pinching his cheeks regularly.

As for He Yanxin and Song Yeqing, the sickly yellowish tint on their faces had faded.

He Yanxin already had naturally tanned skin, so it wasn’t as noticeable, but Song Yeqing regained her fair complexion, looking much more like her modern self.

If only she had a bit more muscle mass…

Song Yeqing sat by the riverbank, pinching her arm, watching He Yanxin draw water below.

Since they hadn’t taken the boys out for several days, this time, when she said she was going to fetch water, He Yanxin volunteered to bring them along.

Taking things out of her space in public was risky—who knew who might be hiding in some corner and catch a glimpse? So He Yanxin had opted to carry water the old-fashioned way.

He said it wasn’t far anyway and carrying water back could count as exercise.

The river water they brought back last time hadn’t been run through the water purifier yet, so they only used it for laundry and ran out quickly.

For now, the well water was still sufficient for their drinking and cooking needs.

(End of Chapter)