RIIDMDR chapter 75

 

Last night, after eating a heavy barbecue meal, their stomachs were greasy. This morning and at noon, Nan Xu and Zhixing ate plain porridge.

By afternoon, the braised pork knuckle was tender and ready to eat after simmering all day. Seeing that it was almost time for dinner, Nanxu rinsed and put two bowls of rice in the pot. He covered the pot and went to the vegetable patch behind the house to pick cucumbers and cowpeas. Then, he stir-fried two simple dishes. He had been cooking for a long time and was very skilled. In just over twenty minutes, the meal was ready.

The sisters sat at one table in the courtyard, and Nan Xu and Zhi Xing sat at another. Luo Yi, who had been crying, caught the scent of the food and instantly stopped crying. Her watery eyes darted back and forth across the table, and a knowing smile broke out on her face, reddening her nose.

Nan Xu had spent over twenty years in the human world. Even after retiring, he was constantly surrounded by people struggling to make ends meet. He had almost never encountered a young lady like Luo Yi: delicate, lively, and spontaneous. He found her quite fascinating.

Nan Xu had a poor appetite and barely touched his bowl of rice, swallowing most of the appetizers on the table. Meanwhile, the two sisters at the next table had finished their meal in just ten minutes. Luo Yi didn’t put down her chopsticks after finishing her meal, but instead stared eagerly at Nan Xu and his friends.

Unable to resist her intense gaze, Zhi Xing whispered to Nan Xu, “Does she want to eat at our table?”

To be honest, Nan Xu had given them generous portions when he served the food, considering they had just come out of the formation.

Nan Xu was thinking about a task for his business, wondering where to dig a larger kiln to mass-produce tiles, when he suddenly heard Zhi Xing’s question. He looked at Luo Yi and met her eager gaze, stunned for a moment.

“Not full?” Having learned his lesson from the last time he made the girl cry, Nan Xu casually glanced at their table before asking,

Luo Yi pursed her lips and hesitated for a few seconds before saying, “I’m full. Can I come over with my bowl and chat with you guys?”

Such a subtle statement left Nan Xu feeling amused. He looked at Zhi Xing and, seeing that he had no objection, nodded to Luo Yi. “If you don’t mind.”

“No, no,” Luo Yi beamed as she took her bowl and chopsticks and sat next to Nan Xu. Then she called to her senior sister, “Come chat too, senior sister!”

The woman in black wasn’t as outgoing as her junior sister, though. She put down her chopsticks, shook her head and said, “No, I’m going to the stream to cool down Ti Di.”

Luo Yi let out a somewhat disappointed “Oh” and watched the woman in black leave the courtyard. Then, she turned back to chat with Nan Xu and the others.

Luo Yi wasn’t reserved, and since she had met Nan Xu several times before, they were quite familiar with each other. “Are those wounds on the shop owner’s face from the formation a few days ago?”

Nan Xu had forgotten to apply the medicine today. The concoction Zhixing had prepared for him was still on the windowsill. He vaguely remembered Zhixing urging him to apply the medicine, but he was busy putting up the grape trellis at the time, so he agreed and then forgot about it. It was only when Luo Yi asked that he remembered it. He reached out and touched his face. The dry, cracked areas had scabbed over, and the peeling areas were coming off. There were no mirrors in the shop, but he imagined that he must have looked quite intimidating.

“Yes, I was exposed to the alternating hot and cold weather in the formation, and I’m like this now,” Nan Xu said frankly.

Luo Yi’s eyes widened slightly. After studying Nan Xu’s face for a moment, she sighed. “Human skin is so fragile! I thought extreme cold and heat were the limit.”

Nan Xu nodded helplessly and said, “Humans lack magical barriers, so they’re naturally sensitive to cold and heat.”

Zhi Xing stood nearby and pondered this for a few seconds. Then, he nodded as if he understood something.

Luo Yi picked a piece of pork knuckle into her bowl, scratched her head, and said, “Yes, my senior sister and I only suffered from temperature changes. But during the last weather shift, the mountain we were on suddenly caught fire. The heat wave came too fast, and our fish scales burned.”

Nan Xu suddenly realized this. She had thought Luo Yi’s previous tears were because she cared too much about her appearance. Now, it turned out that Luo Yi’s hair was actually her fish scales. That made even more sense.

Nan Xu’s face filled with pity as his eyes fell on the bowl of medicinal concoction on the windowsill. He turned to Zhi Xing and asked, “Can you make some medicine for her? Something to nourish and repair his scales?”

He winked as he spoke. The Bai couple of Xishan had spent years seeking medicine and maintaining connections, spending a fortune. Looking at Zhi Xing, who clearly had no savings, Nan Xu had an idea. Since Zhi Xing grew so many herbs outside, why not make something like human lotion and sell it to the mermaids? It would be a win-win.

The Xishan Bai family had always relied on spiritual power to diagnose and treat demons; medicine making was merely a secondary skill. He had never accepted such an order before and was hesitant, but when Nan Xu winked at him, he said, “I’ll give it a try.”

Luo Yi’s eyes lit up. She knew the name of this introverted little demon but also knew that, two hundred years ago, Zhixing nearly lost his life trying to keep their predecessor, Jing Yuan, alive in the South Sea. Therefore, she was embarrassed to ask him to diagnose her. However, a ray of hope appeared. She couldn’t ask him to heal her with spiritual power, but medicine would be helpful.

Luo Yi looked at Nan Xu gratefully and sincerely said, “Owner, you’re such a kind person.”

As she spoke, she thanked Zhixing as well. After hearing a string of flattering words, Zhixing almost buried his face in his bowl in embarrassment.

Nan Xu had stopped eating long ago, and by the end of the meal, Luo Yi was the only one left with food on her plate. She put down her bowl and chopsticks, satisfied, and looked proudly at the empty plates on both tables.

Nan Xu cleared the table while Zhixing took Luo Yi’s pulse to prescribe the right medicine. They sat facing each other for a long moment. Zhixing’s hand remained on Luo Yi’s wrist, and his expression grew increasingly serious.

Luo Yi had been smiling, but her smile faded to worry as time went on. She wanted to speak several times but restrained herself from disturbing Zhixing.

After a while, Zhixing finally withdrew his hand, smoothed his wide sleeves, and looked troubled.

Luo Yi whispered tentatively, “Are my scales going to heal?”

Zhi Xing was silent for a moment before replying, somewhat confused, “From your pulse, I can only tell that you have indigestion.”

Luo Yi: “Huh?”

So her scales weren’t actually injured?

If Zhi Xing hadn’t been sitting across from her, Luo Yi would have called him a quack. With her hair so dry and burnt, how could her scales be uninjured?

The two stared at each other. Zhi Xing was the first to give up, standing up and saying, “I’ll go get the medicine.”

He went to the herb garden outside the courtyard, leaving Luo Yi sitting on a stone bench and scratching her head.

Nan Xu finished washing the dishes and suddenly remembered that he hadn’t given Luo Yi the magic weapon he had picked up from the formation yet. He shook the water from his hands, went to the cabinet in the main hall, pulled out the pipa-shaped hairpin, and handed it to Luo Yi in the courtyard.

Luo Yi was still confused. Suddenly, she saw her magic weapon and stood stunned for half a minute, unable to reach out and take it.

She had entered a formation and knew how difficult it was to survive inside it. Moreover, magical weapons have their own spirits and are closer to their owners. Luo Yi never thought Nan Xu could help her retrieve her magical weapon. Therefore, she and her senior sister decided to enter the formation again. They searched desperately inside but found nothing. They prolonged their time in the formation on purpose, but when they came out, they were empty-handed and regretful.

Unexpectedly, she had worried for nothing. Her delicate pipa did not insist on being with her at all.

“Th-thank you, owner,” Luo Yi cupped her magical weapon in both hands and rubbed it between her palms several times. She felt the spiritual energy shared by her and the weapon course through her body. The sense of peace gradually soothed the uneasiness she had felt for the past ten days.

Nan Xu smiled. “No need. Just recommend my inn to other sea demons when you return to the South Sea.”

Luo Yi couldn’t help but laugh. She tucked the pipa hairpin into her dry hair and said lightly, “Of course. If I’m second best at recommending things, no demon in the South Sea would dare claim first place.”

Nan Xu looked skeptical. “Is it really the best?”

Luo Yi: …

–

The next morning, Luo Yi and her senior sister left the inn, taking the ointment Zhixing had prepared for her the night before. They naturally paid the bill for the room and medicine first.

Watching them leave, Nan Xu handed a promissory note to Zhixing, who looked puzzled.

When Zhixing didn’t take it, Nan Xu said, “You heard them—their money’s all spent. I know your first business ended up on credit, but don’t worry. With this note, the mermaids won’t dare not pay.”

Zhi Xing wasn’t afraid of the mermaids defaulting on their debt. However, she was confused by the owner’s behavior. “You don’t have to pay me. Just use it as my hotel room.”

Nan Xu thought this cute little demon was endearing, but he wouldn’t let him lose his earnings. He took Zhixing’s hand and put the note in it. “You’re an employee here. How could you pay to work? You’re at the right age for pairing in the demon world, aren’t you? It’s time to start saving a dowry! Otherwise, when you meet a girl you like later, you won’t be able to buy her gifts. How will you win her heart?”

Nan Xu spoke seriously, and Zhixing blushed. He almost opened his mouth to say that demons lived longer and weren’t in a rush to marry and that marriage in the demon world wasn’t about material things. But then he thought about how the Xishan Bai family hadn’t treated demons in thousands of years and how he had drained their wealth with his medicine. As the eldest among the younger generation, he should certainly shoulder some responsibility. He gave up his refusal, quietly tucked the note into his sleeve, and whispered, “Thank you, owner.”

Amused by his embarrassment, Nan Xu reached out to touch his head. Who would have imagined that the prickly little hedgehog would be so docile and gullible?

“Why thank me? This is your skill. Study hard and save more money,” Nan Xu said. “Let’s get rich together.”

Although he didn’t mention the word “dowry” again, Zhixing’s mind flipped uncontrollably when he heard it, and his ears turned red.

Nan Xu laughed unabashedly again.

Zhi Xing looked at Nan Xu, wondering if the shop owner was obsessed with money because he wanted to marry Senior Tingchuan. Should she tell the shop owner that the East China Sea is a famously wealthy region for demons?
—especially for ancient demons like Senior Ting Chuan, who had lived over five thousand years and surely had plenty of… dowry?

After considering several ways to phrase it, he realized they could all be misunderstood. In the end, he kept the thought to himself. After all, if Senior Ting Chuan truly intended to marry the owner, he would certainly handle such matters himself.