Volume 1, Chapter 5: Sharp Tongue, Soft Heart

Tang Guanguan looked at Lu Hang’s embarrassed face with some surprise.

“You... feel embarrassed?” The words slipped out involuntarily.

Now, Lu Hang, a burly, rough man, wished he could just crawl into a hole.

“Nonsense!” Lu Hang turned his head away guiltily.

Tang Guanguan was momentarily speechless.

Seeing the man’s evasive manner, she suddenly realized she had spoken too bluntly.

She silently scolded herself for not sparing the man’s dignity.

What a fool!

“Um... I personally made noodles and brought them to you,” Tang Guanguan said, trying to make amends, avoiding the previous topic.

She leaned in with a hopeful smile, blinking mysteriously. “And I even put an egg on top!”

Lu Hang hadn’t yet recovered from the earlier awkwardness and muttered a quiet “Hmm.”

Then, surprised, he asked, “You can cook?”

Wasn’t Tang Guanguan the pampered young lady at the Zhao family for twenty years, never lifting a finger for anything?

How could she know how to cook?

“I can, but I don’t know if it suits your taste.”

A shadow flickered in Tang Guanguan’s eyes. In her previous life at the Meng family, she didn’t just know how to cook; she could easily prepare a full Manchu-Han banquet!

“It’s okay. No matter how bad it tastes, if I’m hungry, I’ll eat it.”

Lu Hang thought this would comfort and encourage her, but instead, Tang Guanguan rolled her eyes at the clumsy remark.

What a clumsy fellow!

She turned and carried a bowl and chopsticks from the three-legged table, somewhat out of spite, and thrust them into the man’s hands.

“Here! You said you’d eat it no matter how bad it is. You might as well eat the bowl too!”

Without waiting for a reply, she turned and strode out of the room.

Lu Hang stared at the door, which she had slammed shut so forcefully, feeling puzzled.

Was she angry just now?

But why?

He thought for a moment but couldn’t figure it out.

Lowering his head to look at the bowl in his hands, he noted the soup looked quite decent, and the noodles were delicate. He just wasn’t sure if the taste would match the appearance.

He took a bite, and his eyes immediately brightened.

Surprisingly, it was really quite good!

In just a few mouthfuls, Lu Hang finished the large bowl of noodles, even drinking all the soup.

He still felt it wasn’t enough.

But he felt too embarrassed to ask for another bowl.

The Tang family wasn’t wealthy now; it was already good enough to not go hungry.

After eating, Lu Hang remembered his soiled pants. Limping on his injured leg, he slid off the kang bed, found a wooden stick inside, and propped the door open.

Tang Guanguan had already left the room carrying a large basin to the water well, intending to wash the clothes she had changed out of yesterday.

The Tang family courtyard was dilapidated, but the one good thing was the water well, which provided ample water for drinking and daily use.

But it was winter, with temperatures below freezing, and the wellhead exposed above ground was frozen solid.

They needed to boil water and pour it repeatedly over the wellhead until the piston inside thawed and the well could be used.

“Move aside! I’m going to pour water!” Tang Guanguan’s younger sister, Tang Jing, brought over a basin of hot water and spoke sharply.

Since the second sister returned, she had been lazy and troublesome, and Tang Jing harbored resentment, unwilling to even call her “sister.”

But their mother said the second sister didn’t know how to use the well, so she had to help.

Tang Jing was reluctant and spoke with a hint of sharpness.

“It’s like the sun rising in the west. She actually knows how to wash clothes now...” Tang Jing muttered softly, lifting the basin to pour water over the wellhead.

Tang Guanguan hurriedly stopped her. “Let me do it.”

She snatched the hot water from her sister’s hands.

A basin of scalding hot water rushed down onto the wellhead.

Grabbing the lever, Tang Guanguan pressed down, testing it, and her eyes lit up. “Little sister, get a bucket ready to catch the water.”

Although the water well was easy to pump at first, the closer the water came out, the harder it was to press the lever. Tang Jing didn’t believe her pampered second sister could manage it, so she kept silent, turned away, and set the bucket in place, folding her arms to watch the show.

Tang Guanguan saw through her little sister’s attitude clearly—she was still angry with her!

But who could blame her?

Who was the fool before?

One press, two presses, three presses—

Tang Guanguan pretended not to notice, pressing the lever laboriously again and again, sweat beading on her forehead, but never asking for help.

Think she can’t do it?

“Splash!” Clear well water flowed from the outlet. Tang Guanguan raised an eyebrow at the little sister.

Tang Jing pouted and turned her face away.

After catching two buckets, Tang Guanguan felt there was enough water and stopped, turning to go to the kitchen to get hot water to mix in before washing the clothes.

But when she returned, she saw Tang Jing had already brought a small stool, sat before the basin, and was scrubbing the dirty clothes with soap.

The twelve-year-old girl was thin and frail, her yellowed hair tied into two braids hanging over her chest, dipping the braid ends into the basin as she bent over to wash.

Tang Guanguan looked on with a pang of sadness.

The little sister was sharp-tongued but soft-hearted.

Since she came back over half a year ago, it was Tang Jing who had washed all her underwear.

Tang Guanguan suddenly felt a bit guilty. She really hadn’t been a good person before!

“Little sister, let me do it,” Tang Guanguan said, carrying the basin of hot water over and pouring some into the wash basin, about to take over the task.

But the little girl waved her away.

“No need. You’re too delicate. Washing clothes with hot water wastes firewood! I can wash with cold water.”

Tang Guanguan was speechless.

She wasn’t insisting on hot water; she just didn’t want her sister’s delicate hands to suffer.

Besides, “Isn’t there plenty of firewood on the back mountain?”

As the saying goes, rely on the mountain if you live by the mountain, rely on the sea if you live by the sea.

Stone Village wasn’t too far from the county seat, but the roads were rough and transportation inconvenient.

Still, it was surrounded by mountains on three sides, with a canal on the fourth. The geography was quite good.

Why make yourself suffer when you have what you need?

“Gathering and chopping firewood takes time, and our parents need to work in the group to earn points. They don’t have free time!” Tang Jing said sharply.

Tang Guanguan was speechless.

She hadn’t thought of that!

Looks like she hadn’t considered things carefully.

“I—”

Just as Tang Guanguan was about to speak, a voice of scolding came from the neighboring courtyard.

“Who’s so shameless? I just went to the toilet for a moment, and the eggs in the chicken coop were stolen! Aren’t they afraid of getting mouth sores?”

It was the voice of Xu Lanzhi, wife of the eldest uncle in the Tang family.

The sharp woman’s yelling was like a loudspeaker, carrying far.

Hearing this early morning shouting, Tang Guanguan’s expression became somewhat uneasy.

Tang Jing looked up suspiciously at her second sister.

“Those eggs... you didn’t steal them, right?”

“No, we haven’t divided the property yet. How can it be stealing?”

Tang Jing was speechless.

Fine! Her second sister had a point!

Inside the room, Lu Hang also heard the shouting from outside. His hand paused mid-change of pants as he glanced over at the bowl on the kang bed—

Could those eggs that Xu Lanzhi was yelling about be the ones he had just eaten?