Chapter 21 He held his hand

Chapter 21 He held his hand

Pei Wu must be a negotiation genius.

He first appealed to Jiang Ru's emotions, then talked about some profound principles, taking advantage of Jiang Ru's unpreparedness to completely gain her trust.

Jiang Ru had unknowingly fallen into his trap, being led by the nose by him, yet she remained completely oblivious.

By the time she realized it, she had already promised Pei Wu that she would never stop him from reading again.

Moreover, Pei Wu's words were reasonable, and Jiang Ru really couldn't find any words to refute him. Before she knew it, she had been successfully persuaded by him.

After the negotiations ended, Jiang Ru was filled with regret. She hesitated for a moment, wanting to change her mind.

However, as soon as she moved her lips, Pei Wu seemed to realize that Jiang Ru wanted to change her mind, and immediately gave Jiang Ru a slight smile, saying sincerely, "Thank you, cousin."

Jiang Ru: "..."

Damn it, I was still fooled by him.

Jiang Ru held her breath and looked at Pei Wu. Pei Wu had changed his clothes these past few days. He was wearing plain clothes, his face was as tender as tofu, and his temperament was as pure and elegant as a lotus flower in clear water.

His face was beginning to take shape, slowly developing sharp angles, but when he looked at people so intently, it was still easy to soften one's heart.

Jiang Ru could only admit defeat in the end: "Go ahead and study."

Out of sight, out of mind, she was about to leave when she suddenly remembered something and turned back. Pei Wu, seeing her turn around unexpectedly, mistakenly thought that Jiang Ru was planning to go back on her word. He subconsciously closed the book he had just opened and skillfully hid it behind his back.

His dodging movements were so practiced it was heartbreaking, as if Jiang Ru were very fierce, but in reality, Jiang Ru had never been fierce to him.

Jiang Ru almost laughed out of anger: "Am I that scary?"

Pei Wu shook his head: "No."

"Then why do you collect books?"

Upon hearing this, Pei Wu paused slightly, then slowly moved the book from behind his back to the front. He put the book back on the table and lied through his teeth: "I didn't hide it."

She said she wasn't hiding anything, but her fingers gripped his book so tightly they turned white, as if she was afraid Jiang Ru would snatch it from his hands.

Jiang Ru almost thought she was playing some kind of villainous stepmother role. She turned around unhappily and slowly walked up to Pei Wu.

With each step she took, Pei Wu tightened his grip on the book, even subtly pulling it closer to his chest.

His lips were taut, and his Adam's apple bobbed nervously. He could only clutch his book helplessly. He could reason with Jiang Ru, but he was powerless against her trying to take his book by force.

Jiang Ru moved very slowly, deliberately trying to make Pei Wu nervous and prolong the time.

Finally, Jiang Ru walked to the table, just a step away from Pei Wu.

Immediately afterward, she bent down, and Pei Wu subconsciously leaned back a little, but he still held onto the book.

Jiang Ru reached out and placed her hand on Pei Wu's book.

Visibly, Pei Wu's hands clenched even whiter, and his jaw tightened.

Jiang Ru leaned forward slightly and lowered her voice: "I wanted to tell you..."

"Don't read too much at night, or you'll go blind from exhaustion."

After saying that, Jiang Ru quickly straightened up and gave Pei Wu a cold smile. Since Pei Wu didn't believe her, she would just scare him and they would be even.

After saying that, Jiang Ru went back to her house nonchalantly, while Pei Wu, who had experienced what he thought was a tense and exciting confrontation, suddenly realized that he had been tricked and sat there blankly.

Pei Wu's grip on the book loosened suddenly. He stared blankly ahead, finally realizing that he had misunderstood Jiang Ru.

Jiang Ru only wanted to tell him to read less at night, but he thought she wanted to steal his books. This is truly the petty and despicable nature of Pei Wu.

He closed the book, hesitating whether to talk to Jiang Ru and make things clear. However, when he got to Jiang Ru's door, he hesitated again.

He didn't know if Jiang Ru would care about this, but a misunderstanding was a misunderstanding, and Pei Wu had to apologize. But simply saying an apology didn't seem sincere.

Before Pei Wu could figure out what to do, the door in front of him was suddenly pulled open, and Jiang Ru stood in the doorway, frowning: "What are you doing sneaking around my door?"

Startled by her sudden opening of the door, Pei Wu panicked and, without considering whether it was appropriate, blurted out, "I'm sorry."

Jiang Ru:

If Pei Wu hadn't said something so abruptly, she might not have thought anything of it. But since Pei Wu said it, she began to suspect that he was hiding something from her.

Jiang Ru hesitated, then asked, "What did you do?"

She had only been back inside for a short while when she realized that Pei Wu was about to cause trouble. She hadn't thought much of it at first, but when she saw Pei Wu's hesitant manner, she immediately sensed something was wrong and walked past him towards the outside.

She first went to check her small vegetable garden and, finding it undamaged, looked at the chicken coop and muttered to herself, "You didn't kill my chicks, did you?"

Pei Wu protested, "I didn't."

He hesitated, which only made Jiang Ru more suspicious. She glanced at Pei Wu suspiciously and looked around the courtyard, but didn't find anything unusual.

But... she sniffed, and there was a strange smell lingering in their yard, like something was burnt.

Following the strange smell, Jiang Ru walked all the way to the stove.

After seeing Zheng Qiuhong off, Pei Wu lit a fire on the stove to cook their dinner. However, he only threw in the grains and then added a lot of firewood. With so much firewood, they started talking about their life ideals and forgot about the millet still burning on the stove.

The fire was burning brightly, and no one was covering the pot with a lid, so it just kept burning until it got burnt.

Neither of them remembered this incident, and no one even noticed that it had become burnt.

The firewood had burned out, and the porridge was probably at its most mushy when they were deeply in love, and their noses lost their sense of smell.

Jiang Ru picked up a spoon and stirred the pot. Luckily, the pot didn't burn through; unfortunately, the porridge was ruined.

They steamed a lot of buns at noon, but they could have just heated them up and eaten them since they already had dinner.

Jiang Ru asked in bewilderment, "Didn't we already have dinner? Why are you cooking porridge?"

Pei Wu's expression went blank for a moment. At that moment, he only wanted to do something to avoid Jiang Ru's questioning, and he did whatever he could to do. He couldn't remember why he had started cooking this pot of porridge.

The two exchanged a glance, and Pei Wu said, "I forgot."

Hoping he would remember wouldn't change the current situation. Jiang Ru sighed, "It's all your fault. You were so busy talking that you didn't even notice the pot was burnt."

Pei Wu sincerely admitted his mistake: "It's my fault."

He leaned forward slightly and asked hesitantly, "Is this porridge still edible?"

"Forget it." Jiang Ru sighed as she looked at the black, unidentified paste-like substance in front of her. "You'd probably get poisoned if you ate it. Let's give it to the chicks instead."

As she spoke, she picked up a bowl, scooped the porridge into it, and poured it into the chicks' food bowl.

In a short period of time, the chicks were fed twice, and they excitedly rushed to the front, eating the dark food with relish.

Pei Wu silently walked behind Jiang Ru: "If I eat it, I'll get poisoned, but won't they get poisoned?"

“Your health isn’t good, and your immune system is weak, so you shouldn’t eat it.” Jiang Ru pointed to the chicks in the cage. “They won’t kill you, but you might.”

Pei Wu's health has deteriorated dramatically since he hasn't eaten meat for several years. Jiang Ru suspects he might actually die from overeating. Their family isn't so poor that they'd let Pei Wu eat gruel; it's best to avoid it if possible.

Jiang Ru's reasoning was sound; Pei Wu was indeed in poor health.

Fortunately, this pot of porridge could be fed to the chicks. Jiang Ru took the opportunity to praise the chicks: "They are quite good, aren't they? Otherwise, this pot of porridge would have been wasted."

Pei Wu nodded silently, washed the pot clean, and put the buns back on to steam.

These steamed buns, with both vegetarian and meat fillings, smelled delicious. Jiang Ru ate an extra one at lunchtime, and there are now four left in the pot, enough for each of them to have two.

The steaming process didn't take long. After steaming the buns, Jiang Ru cooked a bowl of soup noodles, and a sumptuous dinner was served.

There was still a lingering burnt smell in the courtyard. As Jiang Ru ate her meal, she casually asked Pei Wu, "When you said you were sorry to me earlier, was this what you meant?"

She pouted and said, "Then you should feel bad for the pot, the porridge, and the two chicks, but you shouldn't feel bad for me."

This extremely embarrassing matter was brought up again, and Pei Wu almost choked on his soup. He hesitated for a moment before explaining, "No, I just wanted to tell you that I misunderstood you. I'm sorry."

Jiang Ru recalled for a moment, then tentatively asked, "Are you saying that you misunderstood and thought I wanted to steal your book?"

Pei Wu nodded in shame.

His misunderstanding was nothing to Jiang Ru, after all, she often misunderstood Pei Wu as well, it was just that Pei Wu had a strong sense of morality and would apologize for even the smallest things.

Jiang Ru was very magnanimous: "I forgive you."

Pei Wu breathed a sigh of relief, but Jiang Ru said again, "However..."

Pei Wu immediately sat up straight, and Jiang Ru said with a smile, "You don't need to apologize to me all the time. I'm your cousin. Why are you being so polite between us?"

Pei Wu looked up in surprise. The night was hazy, and the courtyard was dark and gloomy. Without the illumination of any lights, Jiang Ru's eyebrows curved, and her smiling eyes were as dazzling as bright pearls, captivating the heart.

Pei Wu's breathing hitched slightly. He lowered his head and said softly, "Okay."

The night was extremely quiet, and the lamp oil burned slowly. In fact, Pei Wu did not know how long he had studied that night. He could only estimate it based on the length of time he read. It was probably not five hours, because he would go to sleep after finishing what he was supposed to study each day.

But tonight, he studied for less time than usual. Jiang Ru said that reading too much would blind him and told him to study during the day.

Meanwhile, in the moist, fertile soil, seeds are breaking through numerous obstacles, uncovering the soil above them, and peeking out their tender green shoots.

...

Early in the morning, Jiang Ru emerged from her room, still half asleep. She slowly fetched water to wash her face; the cool water cleared her head slightly. Jiang Ru habitually surveyed her yard—the chickens, the vegetable garden…

With that casual glance, her gaze suddenly froze; in the yellow soil of the vegetable garden, there was actually a hint of green.

Jiang Ru rushed over without even wiping her face, and overnight, most of the planted vegetable seeds had already sprouted.

Overjoyed, she hurriedly knocked on Pei Wu's door: "Pei Wu, come out quickly, the rapeseed has sprouted!"

The door was quickly opened, and before the still-sleepy Pei Wu could even see the person in front of him clearly, his arm was grabbed by the excited Jiang Ru.

Pei Wu instantly regained his senses. He slowly lowered his head and looked at Jiang Ru's hand.