Chapter 4: Good intentions are often misunderstood!

  Chu Dongyang held the bamboo basket in his hand and weighed it, raising an eyebrow as he turned to ask her, "Why did you dig so many bamboo shoots? It's not far from home here, whenever you want to eat some just come and dig them up, why bother carrying such a heavy big bamboo basket back?"

  Thinking back to when he found Jiuniang by a clump of bamboo, and now that it's the season for bamboo shoots, he guessed that her basket was full of them. As for what she said earlier about going home to cook meat, Chudongyang just thought she was joking and didn't take it seriously.

  Jiuniang heard this and turned her head to look at Chudong Yang, in the dark night, his profile was clear-cut, strong and extraordinary, really good-looking.

  She patted Chu Dongyang's shoulder and said, "There's nothing to eat at home, and it's not easy to dig up bamboo shoots here. Of course, I want to take them all back and hoard them. If we come again tomorrow, these bamboo shoots will be dug up by others, what a pity?"

  Chu Dongyang was taken aback, and the place where she touched him had even spread to his entire arm, which was numb. He subtly shifted his shoulders, and his hand holding the bamboo basket tightened involuntarily. Then, he solemnly said to her: "This bamboo shoot has a slightly bitter taste, it's hard to swallow. It can barely be eaten for one meal, but if you eat multiple meals in a row, I'm afraid it will be difficult to get down."

  Jiuniang didn't notice Chudongyang's unease and was amused by his words, saying in a bad mood: "You're lucky to have something to eat, yet you're picky! Hurry back home before it gets dark! Today I'm exhausted from searching for food on the mountain. If wolves really come, I may not be able to protect you fully, and can only save myself, so don't blame me for being selfish later."

  Chu Dongyang had an injury on his leg, and he was already limping when walking. After hearing Jiuniang's words, he suddenly stumbled and almost fell to the ground.

  He was so angry that he thrust the bamboo basket in his hand into Jiuniang's arms and said indignantly, "You woman, not only are you ungrateful, but your mouth is also merciless! If it weren't for the fact that it's almost dark and you haven't returned home yet, I... Hmph! Good intentions are really being treated as a donkey's liver!"

  Chu Dongyang swung his hands and walked forward with a long stick.

  Jiuniang didn't get angry, she put the bamboo basket on her shoulder and followed with a smile, as if to herself, but also seemed to be saying to Chudongyang: "Eh, it seems that following you like this isn't so bad after all."

  She came from afar, everything here was unfamiliar to her, and this man, although his legs were not good, his temper was strange, often shouting and scolding, ordering her around, but no matter how she provoked him, he never thought of hitting her, and still had some concern for her... In such a male-dominated era, Jiuniang felt that this was already quite good.

  Chu Dongyang furrowed his brow and said in a rough voice, "It's really strange for women! Who would want to continue living such a poor and struggling life, with no guarantee of the next meal?"

  Jiuniang was taken aback for a moment, then laughed brightly. If he weren't too tall, she really wanted to pinch his face with her hand.

  This guy is really adorably weird!

  "Don't worry! From now on, as long as I have a meal to eat, I absolutely won't let you go hungry!" Jiuniang patted his shoulder again and said with a rather serious tone: "However, your appetite is too big, so try to eat less from now on!"

  "...... Chu Dongyang stiffened his entire shoulder, not making a sound."

  "If you really can't eat less, then just open up your stomach and eat, at worst I'll find more food later. If I really can't find any, then I'll just eat a bit less, keeping a noodle-like figure isn't a bad thing." Jiuniang patted the bamboo basket on her shoulder and said with a rather pleasant mood.

  "...Chu Dongyang's heart felt like it had been violently tugged at, and some inexplicable emotions began to grow and spread."

  Two people walked slowly home in the night, arguing all the way.

  Back home, Jiuniang put down the bamboo basket and asked Chudongyang: "Is there a lamp?"

  It's already pitch black outside, Jiuniang felt her way into the kitchen, it was so dark inside that she couldn't see her fingers in front of her, there was no light to illuminate, and basically couldn't cook.

  As a versatile craftsman, Jiuniang is very skilled with knives and can confidently close her eyes without hurting her hands. However, when collecting those bamboo rats, if there's no lighting, what if she can't clean them properly and ends up eating their fur, wouldn't that be disgusting?

  For the past five days, I've been finishing dinner before it gets dark and going to bed early, so I haven't needed to use any lighting tools at all.

  So, Jiuniang is also unclear what people in this era use for lighting now.

  Chu Dongyang's eyebrows moved slightly, as if thinking about something. After a while, he turned around and walked back to the house with his long stick, feeling his way in the dark.

  Jiuniang heard the sound of rummaging coming from inside the house, so she felt her way to the stove, found a flint and lit a fire.

  The kitchen was crackling with burning leaves and firewood, the flames illuminating the kitchen. At this time, Chu Dongyang had not yet come out of the house, so Jiuniang picked up a torch to light the way and walked towards the house.

  "Have you found it?" Jiuniang asked loudly.

  "Hmm!" Chu Dongyang responded faintly, and by the time Jiuniang stepped into the house with a torch, Chu Dongyang had already moved in front of her. The weak firelight danced on his face, making his cold and extraordinary face even more vivid.

  Chu Dongyang held up the object in his hand in front of Jiuniang, who examined it under the faint light and furrowed her brow, asking: "This... how do you use it?"

  Don't blame Jiuniang for being ignorant, as she was born into a wealthy and affluent family in her previous life, and had never suffered since childhood. Her home didn't even have kerosene lamps, so it's no wonder she had never seen this before.

  Chu Dongyang took the torch from her hand, lifted the lampshade, and lit the wick, illuminating the room with the soft light.

  After doing all this, Chu Dongyang handed the torch back to Jiuniang. He picked up the oil lamp and looked at her, asking faintly: "Although I heard Wang Matchmaker say that your family has many mouths to feed and lives a hard life, so you can only sell your daughter to support the family, but it's not like you've never used an oil lamp before?"

  Jiuniang was taken aback for a moment, holding the torch and walking out while humming: "There is no oil lamp in my home."

  She sealed herself at home for a long time and indeed there was no oil lamp. As for the memories of Yu Jiu's original body, she didn't receive many and didn't know if there were any oil lamps either.

  Chu Dongyang furrowed his brow, then picked up the oil lamp and followed her into the kitchen.

  Jiuniang peeled two bamboo shoots, soaked them in clear water, and then went to the bamboo basket to pick out the largest bamboo mouse for cleaning.

  Chu Dongyang leaned against the wall with a long stick, looking down at her as she worked.

  When he saw Jiuniang pull out a black thing from the bamboo basket, he was stunned for a moment, what is this?

  "What's that you're holding in your hand?"

  "Tonight's dinner is ready!" Jiuniang replied with a light and quick tone, while skillfully skinning the bamboo rat with her knife.

  "This is... a bamboo rat?" Chu Dongyang asked in surprise: "This kind of animal hides in caves and escapes quickly, how did you catch it?"

  Jiuniang's heart skipped a beat, then she pretended to be nonchalant and said: "Maybe it ate too much today, came out of the hole for a stroll to digest its food, and unfortunately ran into me... Ah, I suppose this is fate, it was destined to become our dinner tonight."