They walked over. After Alaric Yun finished cutting, Pearl Su searched even faster.
Seeing a patch of chives ahead, she quickly called to Alaric, "There's a patch of chives up ahead. Let's hurry and cut them."
Alaric's eyes sparkled excitedly, bright and lively, different from his usual cold and distant look.
He felt like a little deer had run into his heart, staying inside and playfully hopping around.
"Okay." Alaric looked at her, a smile filling his eyes, the corners of his lips slightly lifting.
"Come on." Pearl Su called him, running to stand by the chives first. Alaric quickly walked over and cut the chives as she told him.
Soon, Pearl Su found another patch and directed him to cut it. Then she found another and told him to cut again.
After cutting quite a bit, Pearl Su found a patch of shepherd's purse and hurried to tell Alaric to dig it up.
"This is shepherd's purse," Alaric said while digging. Pearl Su explained beside him, "It tastes good. We'll eat this for lunch."
Alaric cooperated and replied, "Alright, I'll follow Miss Su's plan."
Pearl Su was very pleased with his performance, her eyes curved happily, thinking: I'll make you work for it.
Soon Pearl Su found another patch of shepherd's purse and told Alaric to dig it again.
Alaric finished digging this patch too. Seeing it was almost enough, Pearl Su said, "Okay, that's enough. Let's go back."
She pointed at the basket full of grass and wild vegetables and complained, "The basket is too full and heavy. I can't carry it. What should we do?"
Alaric smiled gently and said, "Miss Su, let me carry it for you, alright?"
"Yes, yes, please carry it, young master. It's really too heavy." Pearl Su happily agreed.
They walked back. Pearl Su was relaxed while Alaric carried the full basket effortlessly, his posture straight and unaffected.
They walked side by side back to the house and first fed the rabbits. Alaric said, "We only need to feed one rabbit."
Pearl Su said, "Okay, let's keep the skinny one. It might gain some weight in a few days."
Alaric took out the fat rabbit with his big hand. Pearl Su held a blade of grass and teased the skinny rabbit, feeding it.
Suddenly, a blade of grass appeared beside her, moving in front of the rabbit's mouth.
Pearl Su turned and saw Alaric very close, almost touching her. His tall figure seemed to press toward her.
She felt small and also smelled the masculine scent coming from him.
Pearl Su turned her head back, looking at the grass in her hand, shaking it in front of the rabbit's mouth, feeling awkward.
She was too relaxed today. Usually, she would have thrown the grass in quickly.
"This way of feeding rabbits, teasing them, really is fun," Alaric said with a smile as he looked at her while playing with the rabbit.
Meeting his handsome smile so close made Pearl Su even more embarrassed.
She threw the grass away, a little shy and annoyed, and said, "You feed it yourself." Then she ran away.
At noon, Pearl Su went to the kitchen. Alaric was washing the frying pan, and the rabbit meat was already stewed.
Pearl Su asked him to boil some water. She took the shepherd's purse they dug earlier to wash.
After washing the shepherd's purse, the water boiled. Pearl Su put the shepherd's purse into the boiling water to blanch it.
Three minutes later, she took it out and put it into cold boiled water. Then she squeezed out the water, chopped it, and mixed it with seasoning.
Alaric watched her make it. After mixing, they started eating.
After lunch, Pearl Su turned over the drying herbs, then went to rest in the room.
In the evening, Pearl Su came out to cook dinner. She entered the kitchen and saw Alaric roasting something on the stove.
It looked like a pigeon. The skin was already turning yellow, so it must have been roasting for a while.
Seeing Pearl Su walk in, Alaric Yun greeted her. Pearl Su responded and started working.
She saw that Alaric Yun had already cooked the rice, so she washed the chives she picked that morning. Then she chopped them up, cracked three eggs into a bowl, added seasoning, and mixed everything. She lit the stove and started frying the chive and egg mixture.
When the dish was ready, Pearl Su brought it to the table, then served the rice. The smell in the kitchen got stronger. The roasted pigeon was done too.
Alaric Yun chopped the pigeon into pieces and brought it to the table.
The golden roasted pigeon looked just like the roast pig they had last time. It probably tasted just as good.
Pearl Su's eyes sparkled with excitement. A golden piece of meat flew into her bowl.
"Miss Su, please enjoy," Alaric Yun said gently.
Pearl Su was surprised. She looked up and saw his kind smile.
She smiled to herself, picked up the pigeon meat, and started eating.
It was crispy and juicy, very tasty, just like she had imagined.
Her soft pink face showed a satisfied look, like a cat that had just snuck a bite of fish.
She hadn't eaten roast pigeon in a long time. Before she could finish enjoying the first bite, another piece landed in her bowl.
She gave Alaric Yun a side glance and ate that piece too.
When he reached out to give her a third piece, Pearl Su quickly stopped him. "Sir, I can do it myself."
Then she quickly grabbed a few more pieces and filled her own bowl.
Alaric Yun smiled. "Alright." He picked up some cold pickled greens and started eating slowly.
"Miss Su's cold dish is sweet and fresh. Very good," he said with a smile.
Pearl Su replied, "Then eat more."
After dinner, it was already dark. Pearl Su cleaned up the kitchen, fetched water for a bath, soaked for a while, then washed her clothes. She went to bed and lay flat like a board.
As she slowly fell asleep, she found herself back in her original world. The surroundings were familiar. The people were familiar. Everything felt so happy and real that she started crying with joy.
Suddenly, her foot slipped. She felt like she was falling, weightless and dizzy.
She woke up suddenly. She saw the same grass roof and the same old wooden furniture.
She stared for a long time before realizing it had been a dream.
She rarely had dreams, but every dream came from something she deeply wanted. None of them ever came true.
She shook her foggy head with frustration and lay flat again.
Her stomach growled. She had no choice but to get up.
When she opened the door, she saw Alaric Yun standing nearby, strong and tall. Pearl Su didn't want to look at him, so she turned and walked into the kitchen.
She washed up first, then started making breakfast. While they ate, Alaric Yun looked at her several times, but Pearl Su acted like she didn't notice.
After breakfast, she cleaned up and made sure everything was ready. She carried a basket and her tools on her back and walked out the door.
Alaric Yun's gentle voice came from beside her. "Miss Su, let's go together."