Chapter 3

Seeing Diao Chan still hadn't moved, Duan Yu directly placed the earthenware rice bowl on Diao Chan's knees.

"Drink up quickly. We said half each, so it's half each."

Under Duan Yu's insistence, Diao Chan didn't refuse anymore.

Instead, she held it as if cradling a precious treasure.

Carefully, she took two small sips.

Watching Diao Chan take two small sips of the gruel he found hard to swallow, yet showing a happy smile.

Duan Yu understood just how poor this family was.

Truly.....

Wasn't there a saying in later times?

A gambling father, a sick mother, a younger brother, and a sensible her.

Applied to Diao Chan it would be: a drunken uncle, a sick aunt, a poor broken home, and a sensible her.

If I don't help her, who will?

Whether to repay the life-saving grace, or whatever else.

In any case, he had to help.

One bowl of gruel, half each.

Diao Chan didn't disdain Duan Yu.

Duan Yu also felt a hint of sweetness as he drank.

Thus the two of them finished the entire bowl of gruel.

After finishing the gruel, Duan Yu had also finished soaking his feet.

By now, night had already fallen.

A new problem arose.

There was only one bed and one blanket in the room. How to sleep?

Early morning.

Diao Chan felt as though something were pressing down on her.

The moment she opened her beautiful eyes, her face flushed crimson.

Then she quickly shut them again, pretending she hadn't woken.

Yet her burning cheeks and uncontrollably trembling lashes had already betrayed her.

Quietly turning her head, she gazed at that resolute face so close at hand, and her heartbeat involuntarily quickened once more.

After confirming that Duan Yu had not woken.

Only then did Diao Chan carefully, bit by bit, gently lift that arm pressing down on her.

Hoo~

Having done all this, Diao Chan finally let out a long breath.

Then she quietly got out of bed.

Turning to look at Duan Yu behind her, Diao Chan only felt her cheeks burning hot.

Her shell-like teeth lightly bit her red lips, and in her downcast eyes flowed threads of a young maiden's springtime longing.

The sky outside had not yet fully brightened.

Having slept fully clothed last night, she walked out the door.

Then began the day's labor as always.

Splitting firewood, drawing water, boiling water, sweeping the courtyard.

All these years, Diao Chan had repeated this work every morning.

Only compared to usual, today as Diao Chan worked, the corners of her lips always held a trace of sweetness.

Her diligent figure also seemed much more light and graceful.

Taking two still-warm eggs from the chicken coop, Diao Chan tucked them against her chest, then placed them into the boiling water.

In no time at all, she fished out the two boiled eggs.

Then carefully placed them in an earthenware bowl.

The rooster crowed.

Duan Yu opened his eyes on the bed.

He discovered the beauty beside him was already gone.

But there seemed to be warmth that had not yet dissipated in his embrace, and between his palms lingered what seemed to be her fragrance and softness.

"Damn."

"Could I have crossed the line after falling asleep?"

Duan Yu looked at the boundary he and Diao Chan had agreed upon last night beside him.

Originally Duan Yu had said he would sleep on the floor last night.

But it was still March.

The frozen earth had not thawed; the ground was ice-cold.

Sleeping there all night, if he didn't freeze to death he'd certainly be frostbitten.

Diao Chan couldn't bear it.

So she let him sleep on the bed.

The two squeezed onto the small bed with an agreed middle boundary.

Toward such a kind-hearted girl like Diao Chan, Duan Yu honestly had not harbored any wicked thoughts.

She had saved him, and even taken him in.

If he still had wicked thoughts, then he truly wouldn't be human.

So, while sleeping, he had maintained a flat-on-his-back posture without the slightest crossing of boundaries.

But now awake, Duan Yu discovered he was lying on his side.

And his arm had been thrown over to Diao Chan's side.

"Big Brother Duan....."

Just as Duan Yu was recalling whether he had done something heaven-defying last night.

Outside the room rang Diao Chan's gentle voice.

Duan Yu, wearing coarse hemp clothes, hurriedly got up.

Outside, the graceful and pretty Diao Chan walked in from outside holding an earthenware bowl.

When their four eyes met, Duan Yu immediately saw the shyness in Diao Chan's eyes.

"Big Brother Duan....."

Diao Chan shyly placed the large earthenware bowl in her hands before Duan Yu.

It was the same gruel as yesterday, but inside there was actually an egg.

Duan Yu was stunned for a moment.

In the present era, common households were already destitute.

Having one full meal a day was already a life of luxury.

Breakfast was even more out of the question.

Looking at Diao Chan's frail and delicate frame, one could tell her household normally couldn't possibly have breakfast at all.

Last night, Duan Yu had said he would go hunting in the mountains early this morning.

It seemed Diao Chan had remembered those words.

"Big Brother Duan, didn't you say you were going hunting in the mountains today?"

Diao Chan lowered her head shyly, speaking softly and gently, "Eat something before entering the mountains, so you'll have strength."

"These are eggs......"

Diao Chan pushed the earthenware bowl toward Duan Yu.

Then she seemed to remember something.

She quickly stood up.

"Big Brother Duan, you eat first......"

With that, she got up and walked toward the door.

Duan Yu watched Diao Chan walk out the door in confusion.

Before long, the frail Diao Chan walked back into the room carrying Duan Yu's camouflage uniform, along with a bow and quiver.

"Big Brother Duan, you'd better take this clothes back."

"There's no clothes in the house that would fit you anyway."

"And this bow and arrows, they were left by my father years ago."

"Big Brother Duan needs to go into the mountains to hunt, so you'll definitely need them."

This girl.....

Duan Yu said with a smile: "If you give me the clothes, what will your uncle-in-law say when he asks?"

"Also, aren't you afraid I'll just leave like this and never come back?"

"Wouldn't you have lost a lot then?"

Diao Chan, sitting on a small stool across from Duan Yu, immediately shook her head.

"No..... I believe in Big Brother Duan."

"Big Brother Duan doesn't lie."

Duan Yu smiled.

This little girl was truly both kind and naive.

Duan Yu smiled and nodded, then reached out to tuck a strand of hair behind Diao Chan's ear.

This intimate gesture immediately made Diao Chan's cheeks turn even redder.

Like a ripe apple.

Duan Yu looked at her, almost unable to resist going up to kiss her.

"Half for each of us."

Duan Yu picked up the egg in the bowl and first broke it in half.

Diao Chan shook her head and waved her hands repeatedly in refusal.

"Big Brother Duan, you eat it, I don't want it."

"I didn't eat them before either."

"Eating just a little at night is enough."

Duan Yu firmly pressed the half egg in his hand into Diao Chan's palm.

"Don't worry, with me here from now on, we'll have three meals a day, every meal with meat and fish."

Duan Yu promised with a smile: "I'll also buy you beautiful clothes, pretty skirts, and rouge."

Listening to Duan Yu's words, Diao Chan's eyes were full of surprise.

Three meals a day, meat and fish at every meal, beautiful clothes, pretty skirts, and rouge—these were all things she had never dared to imagine.

Regardless of whether she could actually have them.

But hearing Duan Yu's words, she already felt sweetness in her heart.

Diao Chan nodded shyly.

"Chan'er believes Big Brother Duan."

Each holding half an egg in their hands, the two sat in the dilapidated thatched hut, and suddenly a warmth of a small family emerged.

This feeling made Diao Chan, who had lost care and love since childhood, feel very warm.

One bite of egg, one sip of hot porridge.

Sweeter than the honey water she remembered from her childhood.

Before long, they finished the eggs and the porridge.

Duan Yu changed into his camouflage uniform.

One meter eighty-eight in height, plus a robust build.

Already surpassing the vast majority of people in this era.

Without any malnutrition, Duan Yu would stand out like a crane among chickens even if thrown into a crowd.

With a longbow and quiver on his back.

Duan Yu waved goodbye to Diao Chan standing at the fence gate.

"Go back, I'll definitely return before dark."

Diao Chan's gaze was reluctant and worried as she bit her red lip and nodded.

Only when Duan Yu's figure disappeared from sight did Diao Chan reluctantly withdraw her gaze.

"You wretched girl, why is there only one egg left, where's the other one!"

"Did you steal and eat it!"

A vicious curse sounded from behind Diao Chan.