Chapter 5: line with translation of chapter title

Although Huo Sanniang appeared calm and composed, she also blushed, her eye ripples like gentle spring water swaying heavily.

Chen Wuji felt parched; he wanted to take a risk, daring to ask Huo Sanniang for warmth.

It's midsummer, so being a bit warmer is reasonable.

"Alright, roll onto the kang and go to sleep." Huo Sanniang suddenly said.

Chen Wuji stared blankly, "I, I want..."

"What are you thinking? What else could that big head of yours come up with? Hurry up and sleep." Huo Sanniang extended her Qing scallion-like fingers and poked Chen Wuji's forehead, her body involuntarily swaying slightly, as if suddenly triggering some switch.

She quickly bent over, picked up the water basin from the floor, and hurriedly left Chen Wuji's room.

Chen Wuji's fervent gaze helplessly withdrew, his mind filled with the fleeting scene of Huo Sanniang just bending over.

The fire seemed to have grown even fiercer...

But let it burn.

Besides enduring it, what else can we do?

This night was somewhat hard to endure for Chen Wuji.

He, already prone to insomnia from excess heat, couldn't sleep, and Huo Sanniang next door, not knowing what she dreamed of, would from time to time let out a soft, melodious sleep-talk.

Although the movement was brief, that tone was truly deadly.

It was like a delicious, colorful soup, thickened with rich starch, directly hooking one's soul.

On the first night after his transmigration, Chen Wuji had no recollection of when he fell asleep in a daze.

However, the next day he opened his eyes quite early.

As the morning light just peeked out a brilliant head in the east, he woke up.

He got up, washed up, and then took out everything belonging to the original owner by rummaging through chests and cabinets.

He wondered if he could gather some fabric, at the very least to make himself a sweat shirt and shorts or the like to wear.

Now this whole body of monkey-like skin, setting aside the fur's odor, is really too unsightly.

After a search, he not only found a brand-new set of short coarse clothing, but also dug out thirty copper coins from a cloth bundle at the bottom of the cabinet.

That set of clothing was likely kept by the original owner for important occasions, and he normally wouldn't bear to wear it daily.

But Chen Wuji didn't care about that; first he made himself comfortable, then we'll talk.

Wearing authentic leather skirts all day just to tough it out—wouldn't that make oneself foolish, drive away one's wife, for what?

As for the thirty wen coins the original owner had painstakingly saved, although they couldn't solve the immediate predicament, they could be considered a huge sum for Chen Wuji at the moment.

At a critical moment it can relieve an emergency.

The courtyard gate was suddenly pushed open, and following close behind, Huo Sanniang carrying a basket, her legs damp with dew, walked in.

"Wuji, today my luck's not bad; I found some tree kudzu (cassava) on the mountain, plus the game you caught yesterday, we have food for these two days." Huo Sanniang said delightedly, then suddenly noticed Chen Wuji's brand-new clothing.

She let out a soft "yi", "You doll, dressed up so handsomely today, where are you off to?"

The adjective "handsome" almost made Chen Wuji unable to keep his composure.

She's a woman who knows how to give compliments.

"Just, wear." Chen Wuji said in the shortest words, stating his purpose.

He had thought Huo Sanniang hadn't gotten up yet, but actually she had already gone to the mountain and returned.

Calculating the time, she probably set out just as dawn was breaking.

Although cassava can fill the stomach, this thing is truly poisonous; one must be cautious when eating it.

One doesn't even know whether Huo Sanniang knows.

Chen Wuji took the basket from her hand, picked up a piece of cassava, "This, this, has, poison."

"I know, it's fine; just eat and then take a nap, nothing else." Huo Sanniang said indifferently, "In the east of the village, the widow Xu and her daughter do exactly that: they scour the hills for tree kudzu every day, eat it and then sleep, one meal lasting a day."

Chen Wuji stared blankly for a while.

If there is food, who would willingly do otherwise?

"Let me do it." Chen Wuji took the cassava Huo Sanniang had dug up, peeled it in the kitchen, then soaked them all in the broken vat in the courtyard.

"Three days, need to, change water."

Huo Sanniang watched Chen Wuji's actions, then suddenly asked, "You mean, soaking and changing water for three days removes the poison? Then we wouldn't need to take a nap?"

Chen Wuji nodded heavily.

The beauty is indeed sharp; she gets it at once.

"Eh, there's actually this method? I'll have to tell Widow Xu someday, lest that woman sleep all day and actually sleep herself to death." Huo Sanniang said delightedly, grabbing Chen Wuji's head and rubbing it twice.

"You brat, you're not completely stupid; at least you haven't forgotten what you learned before."

Chen Wuji laughed foolishly.

She, just now seemed to have exposed herself...

A bit pale, huh.

Just as he was thinking, the flimsy courtyard gate was suddenly slammed hard; moments later the ajar wooden door was kicked open, and three figures entered one after another.

The first was thin-framed, a scholar's robe hanging loosely on him like a skeleton frame.

The second was big-bellied, obviously eating well, though his face was swollen as if he'd kissed a pig all night.

Yet the two look eighty percent alike; at a glance they're clearly brothers.

Upon seeing these two, Chen Wuji instantly guessed their purpose for coming.

To give Yuan Laoer a stage.

The big-bellied one at the back is Yuan Laoer.

And the person in front, as expected, is his elder brother the Village Chief.

The other person, Chen Wuji does recognize, is the clan chief of the Chen clan, Chen Youwang.

A two‑legged Zi who always helps the powerful, never the kin.

"Chen Wuji, I heard your fists are now extremely hard, you run rampant and domineering in the village— is that true?" The Village Chief held a tray, his gaze circled the courtyard of Chen Wuji's house, found no chair, so he clasped his hands at his waist and asked loudly.

"He farted!" Chen Wuji shouted angrily, his neck instantly stiffened.

As a fool, he must now unleash his qi momentum.

"Fart your mother's fart, how dare you speak to this Village Chief?" The Village Chief instantly erupted in fury.

"Let me ask you, was it you who beat Yuan Jinbao yesterday?"

Huo Sanniang was somewhat frightened by the sudden surge, and in her haste tried to speak, but Chen Wuji blocked her firmly from behind.

He glared ferociously at the Village Chief, grinding his teeth with a clank, "I didn't, he farted!"

"No? Even if you try to twist the words, at least spout a Zi Chou Yin Mao— does saying 'I didn't' help you? This Village Chief has long known everything; speak frankly." The Village Chief, holding his tray, shouted.

But Chen Wuji's aura was stronger than his, his fists clenched hard, his voice nearly tearing as he roared, "I didn't! I didn't!!!"