RIIDMDR chapter 38

 

Last night, Nan Xu stayed up late browsing the marketplace. When he woke up this morning, the sun was already up, with half of it showing above the mountain ridge. He opened the door, stretched lazily in the courtyard, and did a set of warm-up exercises.

As he breathed in the fresh air and moved his waist and stretched his legs, he instantly felt lighter. Perhaps this was one of the perks of living deep in the mountains—peaceful and good for the body and mind.

He felt someone watching him. Looking around, he spotted a man on the second floor behind him, copying his moves and stretching his limbs.

Nan Xu: …

Hedgehog demon: …

Their eyes met. Neither spoke. Nan Xu reacted first, smiling at him. The man seemed to wrestle with himself for a moment before pressing his lips together and finally lifting the corners of his mouth in a stiff but genuine reply.

Nan Xu looked away, thinking to himself: Do demons also need morning exercise to stay healthy?

The chicks had grown a lot. A few days ago, Nan Xu had cut a hole in the bamboo fence surrounding the pen. Now, during the day, the chicks could come and go freely. At night, Nan Xu blocked the hole with a wooden board. Now, the board had been moved aside. The chicken pen was filled with fresh hay, and the chicks were roaming freely around the courtyard. Not far from the gate, they pecked happily at a basket of fresh grass.

Looking around the yard, Nan Xu had to admit that ever since Tingchuan had become diligent, he had been doing a lot of chores silently. True, Tingchuan still spent plenty of time napping on the lounge chair, but Nan Xu’s daily workload had noticeably lightened.

The vegetables in the basket were still dewy. Nan Xu grabbed a handful and tossed it in the courtyard for the chicks. Then he carried the rest to feed the little lamb in the back shed.

The lamb was docile. It never bleated or fussed; it just stayed quietly in its pen. When Nan Xu fed it, it chewed obediently, looking cute as its mouth moved.

After raising it for several days, it seemed to have finally adapted to life there. While she ate, Nan Xu checked and found that she was producing milk.

Nan Xu fetched a medium-sized clay jar and carefully tried to milk her. The lamb lowered her head and bleated twice but didn’t struggle.

The gentler she was, the more careful Nan Xu became, afraid of hurting her.

Nan Xu managed to fill a small jar with milk. Then, he went back to the courtyard and set the jar on the clay stove to boil.

The system’s gifts were always top-quality, and this lamb was no exception. The milk didn’t have a strong gamey smell. Once boiled, it gave off a rich aroma. Worried that Tingchuan might be picky, Nan Xu poured out half of the milk plain and added some wild jasmine blossoms to the rest after it came to a boil.

For breakfast, they had vegetable pancakes and sweet potato–red date buns. He had chopped the leftover dates from the zongzi and mixed them into the flour. The buns carried the fragrances of sweet potatoes and dates. Combined with the aroma of milk drifting through the courtyard, the smell was enough to make Zhuang Wu—who was feeding wild boars nearby—take several deep sniffs.

What a smell! He had never tasted anything like it. What is the boss cooking this time? He swallowed hard.

Tingchuan returned from a walk in the forest with a bucket of water. As soon as he reached the courtyard, he caught a whiff of the food and instinctively glanced toward the kitchen, where he noticed the two hedgehog-demon guests poking their heads out the upstairs window.

“What’s for breakfast?” Tingchuan asked.

Nan Xu called from the kitchen, “Come in and help carry a plate, Tingchuan. Food’s ready.”

Tingchuan entered and saw Nan Xu clumsily using bamboo chopsticks to pick up the steaming buns. The buns were golden, round, and tempting. However, the rising steam was hot, causing Nan Xu to hiss and jump.

“I’ll do it,” Tingchuan offered.

Nan Xu shook his head and blurted out, “No need, no need. Only two left. How could I let those nice hands of yours do this?”

Tingchuan: …

Silence. Nan Xu quickly realized that he had said what was really on his mind. He laughed awkwardly. “I’m just looking out for my employee. By the way, are the guests upstairs awake?”

“They’re up. Their heads are stuck to the window right now, sniffing breakfast,” Tingchuan said dryly.

Nan Xu instantly pictured it and had to shake himself free of the image.

As soon as he set breakfast on the table, the hedgehog demon couple came down the stairs.

Nan Xu greeted them, then went to fetch the milk from the stove. He poured Tingchuan a cup of the plain one—Tingchuan accepted it but seemed to prefer the jasmine-scented version.

The guests, however, weren’t picky. They ate and drank happily, clearly enjoying it.

Nan Xu poured himself a cup of plain milk. After one sip, a blissful sigh escaped him. The flavor was rich and creamy, filling him with instant happiness.

Surviving and living are two completely different experiences.

After breakfast, the hedgehog-demon couple hurried down the mountain. They seemed to have urgent business, but they didn’t mention it, and Nan Xu wasn’t interested anyway.

Once the cleanup was done, Nan Xu grabbed a dagger and some disinfectant and dragged Tingchuan to the pigsty out back.

The wild boars had been restless these past few days, constantly trying to break out. The wooden boards of the pen were scarred from their efforts. Zhuang Si and Zhuang Wu were the ones who fed and watched the boars; Nan Xu only came by to check on them once a day.

Nan Xu couldn’t possibly castrate wild boars alone. As for Tingchuan, Nan Xu felt that it would ruin his elegant image.

Zhuang Si and Zhuang Wu were weeding the nearby field. When Nan Xu called them over, they came to help.

Nan Xu set the tools aside and paced around the pigsty, trying to figure out how to quickly subdue the beasts.

“Boss, should we grab them?” Zhuang Wu asked, rolling up his sleeves. “I’ll go in with my brother.”

Nan Xu hesitated. Two men versus two boars would still be tough. He’d long since forgotten that they were demons. Even if he had remembered, the only image in his head would have been of Tingchuan flinging them aside like rag dolls.

He kept pacing. The brothers assumed he was thinking of some profound plan. Only Tingchuan knew exactly what he was worried about. After watching for a moment, Tingchuan raised a hand. In an instant—Nan Xu didn’t see how—it was done. The two wild boars’ eyes rolled back, and they collapsed stiffly.

Nan Xu: …

He turned to Tingchuan, who just shrugged, hiding his skills silently. Nan Xu gave him a thumbs-up. That speed and precision—better than a professional anesthetist.

“A quarter of an hour,” Tingchuan said quietly.

Nan Xu immediately got to work, directing the Zhuang brothers to drag out the first boar.

They pressed the boar’s head down and its rump up onto a wooden block. Nan Xu disinfected the knife and asked, “Do you two know how to do this?”

Both froze, eyes wide.

Nan Xu sighed. As expected, they had no idea.

“Watch carefully,” he told them.

He found the right spot, braced himself, and with one clean, decisive slash, he finished the job in under twenty seconds. The boar’s body jerked violently, and tears of despair spilled from its eyes.

The brothers immediately clamped their legs together, their faces pale.

Heavens, that was terrifying! How could the boss, who is also a man, be so ruthless? Without that thing, what’s left to live for?

Even Tingchuan was taken aback by Nan Xu’s skill. As he poured disinfectant onto the wound with a calm expression, Tingchuan couldn’t help but be surprised.

“Next one,” Nan Xu said coldly.

The brothers hurried to switch places, terrified that Nan Xu might make them try.

Sure enough, Nan Xu turned to Zhuang Wu with genuine encouragement. “Want to give it a try?”

The big man shook his head so hard it was a blur and his eyes misted over. “No, boss. I really can’t.”

Nan Xu sighed in disappointment. “Fine. Watch carefully again, then.”

Once more, swift and precise. Done.

The brothers’ nerves were stretched to the limit; they were afraid he would say “next one” again. Luckily, Nan Xu stopped there, satisfied with his handiwork. He’d seen plenty as a kid and had apparently picked up real skill from it.

He packed up and checked the pen. Then he told Zhuang Wu, “Clean this up. If there’s any problem with them later, come find me.”

They nodded quickly and watched Nan Xu and Tingchuan leave. Once they were far enough away, Zhuang Wu whispered to his brother, who was still pale, “Big brother, how can the boss be that skilled? They say practice makes perfect…”

Zhuang Si shuddered, recalling the clean, decisive motion of that blade.

Blood still stained the ground as they cleaned in silence, weighed down by heavy thoughts.

Back at the courtyard, Nan Xu washed the knife and scrubbed his hands several times, still feeling a bit disgusted, unaware of their wild imaginations.

Even Tingchuan was surprised by what he’d seen; his gaze lingered on Nan Xu longer than usual.

Sensing the stare, Nan Xu turned and saw that Tingchuan was watching him thoughtfully.

“What is it?” Nan Xu asked.

Tingchuan shook his head with a small laugh. “I thought you were soft-hearted. I didn’t expect you to have that kind of skill.”

Nan Xu tilted his head and grinned mischievously. “I saw it plenty of times as a kid. I never did it myself, but I held the pig’s legs. Call it hands-on learning. Once you taste pork from a castrated boar, you’ll understand the wisdom of humans.”

Tingchuan raised his brows slightly and replied with a quiet “Mm.”

Nan Xu finished washing up and went to open the clay kiln. Another batch of pots had just finished firing.

Back when he had no containers, everything felt inconvenient. Now that he could make jars and pots, no matter how many he made, they never seemed to be enough. The little kiln in the courtyard was busy day and night, except when it rained.

He pulled out the new jars. Thanks to his growing experience, there were fewer defects this time. This batch came out intact. Tapping the side of one jar produced a crisp, pleasant sound.

[Beginner’s Pottery Firing Achievement Completed.]

[Recipe*1 Obtained, New Recipe Unlocked – Soap.]