Chapter 70: Is That What He Thought She Meant?

"A snow disaster?!"

Cheng Chengxuan's brow twitched.

Then the common folk would be in for a terrible time.

Cheng Chengxuan was deeply conflicted, but gritted his teeth and spoke up anyway.

"Miss, I have an ungracious request."

An Luo was watching Zaituan play the digital Huarong Pass.

Yu'an set the Huarong Pass on the table, both little hands working at once, his chubby fingers sliding the wooden blocks back and forth.

Lips pursed, his little face taut, putting on a solemn expression as he thought.

Suddenly his eyes lit up, and seeing his expression, An Luo seemed to see a little light bulb glowing above Zaituan's head.

Zaituan's hands moved at lightning speed, sliding blocks up, down, left, and right, shoving the other blocks aside, and sliding the '7' behind the '6'.

Another one done!

Yu'an immediately beamed with pride, and rewarded himself by eating a cheese stick.

He took a small bite; the milky fragrance and the fresh sweetness of strawberry burst in his mouth, with a slightly springy texture. Zaituan ate to his heart's content, his big eyes squinting in bliss.

This sight filled An Luo, the one doing the feeding, with a great sense of accomplishment!

After finishing one cheese stick, Yu'an went back to playing Huarong Pass, and in no time at all, he slid the number '8' into its correct position.

An Luo clapped her hands, offering encouragement at just the right moment.

"Wow! Yu'an, you're amazing!"

"Hehe."

Hearing Fairy Sister's praise, the little fellow gave a shy smile, a faint blush rising on his little face.

That white-with-a-hint-of-pink little cheek, at a glance, looked just like a strawberry snow-mei-niang — soft, squishy, sticky-rice chewy — making one unable to resist wanting to take a little nibble.

An Luo screamed wildly inside.

Ahhh, so cute, I really want to take a bite!

"Miss? Miss?"

An Luo came back to her senses, her finger tapping on the little loudspeaker.

"What is it?"

Cheng Chengxuan's face showed difficulty.

"I want to tell the Chen Family about the coal. After all, at present, only they can mine large quantities of coal in a short time to keep the common folk warm through the winter."

Cheng Chengxuan's voice grew smaller and smaller; during the dozen or so breaths spent waiting for a reply, his heart was exceptionally tormented and uneasy.

The coal was a gift from this young lady to Yu'an, and had nothing to do with the rest of the family. One could say they, too, were only benefiting because of Yu'an.

Yet he wanted to hand it over for outsiders to use.

She must be angry, right?

An Luo truly wasn't angry; if anything, she was a little impressed.

They were short on money and grain right now, yet they hadn't thought to use the coal to make money, and instead their first thought was to let the common folk get through the winter properly?

One had to know, coal, like salt and iron, was a hugely profitable industry.

Having received no reply for a long while, Cheng Chengxuan gave a bitter laugh inside.

Sure enough, she really is angry?

In the span of a single day, it seemed he had already done two things to upset her.

Just as his heart was sinking little by little, a gentle voice reached his ears.

"You… actually thought of it this way?"

Hearing her voice, Cheng Chengxuan let out a breath of relief, jerked his head up, his eyes still carrying a trace of bewilderment.

"What?"

What had she just said?

Once those two words escaped his lips, he closed his eyes in vexation.

Why had he been making mistake after mistake today?

It didn't even seem like himself.

An Luo thought he was asking what she had meant by that remark, and explained softly.

"Coal, like salt and iron, is a very important resource, and the profits are huge. Are you really going to hand it over to someone else?"

Cheng Chengxuan was about to nod, then asked another question.

"You're not angry?"

An Luo was taken aback.

"Why would I be angry? The coal mine was given to Yu'an, so it's Yu'an's. He can do whatever he wants with it, give it to whoever he wants."

The Cheng Family Army was a thousand li away in Nan Jing; even if they wanted to give it to them to use, it wouldn't be realistic.

Setting aside the difficulty of mining, just the transportation and the quantity alone — it would be a drop in the bucket. Coal from afar couldn't solve the cold close at hand.

An Luo's volume suddenly rose, and her tone grew serious.

"But there is one thing."

Cheng Chengxuan sat up straight, his expression solemn.

"Go ahead."

"No matter who you hand the coal mine over to for mining, Yu'an's share must not be shorted."

It made no sense that something originally given to the little one should end up with the little one having to scrimp and save, swallowing his grievances and compromising.

"Mm, and yours too."

Hearing Fairy Sister call his name, the little fellow stopped what he was doing.

His round, grape-like big eyes grew sparkling, as if holding a starry sky, and the little fellow stared intently at Fairy Sister in midair.

Although he was still young and didn't understand many things, he had understood what was just said.

Little Uncle was going to share the coal with others, and Fairy Sister said he couldn't be shorted.

He knew Little Uncle definitely wouldn't let him be wronged, but he was still very happy to receive Fairy Sister's care and protection.

Apart from the Ancestor at home, Fairy Sister was the first, and the only one, who cared for and loved him unconditionally.

Hee hee, this feeling is really nice.

He liked this feeling!

Looking at midair, Yu'an smiled obediently and thanked her in a milky, childish voice.

"Thank you, Fairy Sister, Fairy Sister is so nice."

Struck by Zaituan's soft, milky cuteness, An Luo's heart bloomed with joy.

"Mwah, Zaituan is such a good boy."

As she spoke, she extended her index finger and gently rubbed Zaituan's baby fat on the screen.

Feeling the warm hand rubbing his cheek, the little fellow smiled until his eyes narrowed, and obediently leaned in to nuzzle against it.

Seeing him like this, on a whim, Cheng Chengxuan also reached out to rub him.

But the next moment, he touched a warm, delicate, boneless-soft hand.

Cheng Chengxuan instantly widened his eyes, his face flushed red with a whoosh, the red spreading all the way to the backs of his ears, as if scalded. He withdrew his hand extremely quickly and tucked it behind his back.

His fingers gently rubbed together, the warm touch still seeming to linger at his fingertips.

Yu'an looked at him with puzzled big eyes.

"What's wrong, Little Uncle? Your face is so red."

"N-nothing."

Cheng Chengxuan took a step back, his gaze darting around as if to cover his panic.

"I just—it's too hot staying in this room."

Saying so, he opened the window. The cold wind blew in, and the heat on his face faded quite a bit, so it wasn't as red anymore.

An Luo withdrew her finger and emphasized once more.

"It's not just Yu'an, you all too—with so much coal, use it when you should."

Cheng Chengxuan smiled at the corner of his mouth and nodded in agreement.

"Alright."

An Luo rubbed her ears, really enough already—not only is this person good-looking, but how can his voice sound so nice too?

Speaking of the Chen Family, she inevitably thought of Chen Ying's expression that day.

"For now, the Chen Family is indeed a relatively suitable choice, but wealth moves the human heart. In the face of enormous benefits, we still need to keep a few more tricks up our sleeves."

"After all, the human heart cannot withstand testing; the best thing is not to test it."

Hearing this, Cheng Chengxuan's expression also grew serious.

The Chen Family…

"Don't worry, miss, I understand."

An Luo was about to say more when the little horn's usage time ran out.

She figured the important things had already been said, so she didn't renew it.

Just then, Officer Lu called, so An Luo simply gave a few instructions and exited the Live Stream Room.

"Elder Sister has things to do, heading off now."

On the other side, having received no reply, Cheng Chengxuan turned his head to look at Yu'an.

The little fellow had picked up the Klotski again, his two little feet kicking in midair.

"Fairy Sister went off to be busy."

Suddenly, Yu'an looked up at his Little Uncle and asked.

"Little Uncle, what does 'mwah' mean?"

"Mwah?"

Cheng Chengxuan repeated it, carefully pondering the pronunciation.

After furrowing his brows in thought for a moment, the heat he had just suppressed instantly flooded his cheeks red again.

This…is it the meaning he thought it was?