A Cannon Fodder Who Became The Future Queen - Chapter 16

After dinner, Ji Ping’an returned to her room. The intermittent mechanical system voice had stopped when Shen Zhiyu’s headache started. She opened the panel to check the current favorable impression status.

[Current Lifespan of Shen Zhiyu: 40 ( max 100)]

[Current Favorable Impression of Shen Zhiyu: -38 ( max 100)]

[Current number of chances to draw: 7]

*******

Over the past few days, Shen Zhiyu’s lifespan had been increasing intermittently, but it was nowhere near a normal, healthy level. The favorable impression, which had been fluctuating between +1 and -1, had increased significantly from yesterday, dropping from -45 to -38. She had also gotten 7 chances to draw a card. Even though Shen Zhiyu didn’t show it on the surface, she approved of the way she had protected Suisui today.

Ji Ping’an looked at the draw chances on the system panel with some eagerness, but she decided to save these chances for later. She had just drawn a dozen times yesterday, and most of the items were still common. For example, things like pumpkins and radishes would fall directly into reality if they weren’t put into the system storage space, so they had to be eaten promptly. It was not too late to draw again after these few days had passed and the remaining vegetables were all eaten.

After closing the draw system, Ji Ping’an closed her eyes and prepared to go to sleep. A moment later, she opened her eyes again, her mind filled with the image of Shen Zhiyu’s pale, pained face as she lay in her arms. Ji Ping’an took a deep breath, feeling a strange sense of heartache.

It made sense. After all, in the other world, just reading the words had made her feel a pang of heartache for the other person, and she couldn’t help but wish the author would be good to Shen Zhiyu. It was even more true now that she was living with her in real life.

*****

In the morning, they ate a simple meal. They cooked some pumpkin and rice together to make pumpkin porridge. Suisui also took a piece of fried pork fat from the jar for everyone. Pumpkin was a common sight in the village. Just plant a seed in a corner of the yard, water it occasionally, and you could eat it from spring to autumn. If you picked the last crop of pumpkins late in the fall and let them ripen completely, they wouldn’t go bad for an entire winter.

The pumpkin was soft, glutinous, and sweet, giving the porridge a sweet taste as well. Suisui drank all the porridge in her bowl. “Sister, I think this pumpkin tastes better than any pumpkin I’ve ever had.”

Ji Ping’an smiled. “Is that so?” If she remembered correctly, the item descriptions in the system for the radish, pumpkin, and bok choy all mentioned that they were irrigated with spiritual spring water. She figured it might have something to do with that.

“Mm-hmm!” Suisui nodded. After what happened yesterday, she seemed to be a bit more cheerful. Although her voice was not as lively and loud as the other children in the village who ran around all day, it was much better than before.

As they were about to finish their meal, Ji Ping’an remembered something. She turned to Shen Zhiyu and asked, “How is your leg? Has the injury healed?”

Shen Zhiyu looked down at her leg. “It’s almost healed. It doesn’t hurt anymore.” Her leg wasn’t injured to the bone, and with the medicine she applied before bed, it healed much faster. At the moment, other than the remaining bruises from being hit, her leg didn’t hurt.

Ji Ping’an felt relieved. “Then rest for a few more days, and I’ll take you and Suisui to the county town to take a look. It’ll be a bit of a walk.”

“That’s fine.” Shen Zhiyu didn’t find the walk to the county town troublesome. She also wanted to see what the town was like.

Suisui, who was eating her porridge, looked up when she heard this. “Can I go too?”

Ji Ping’an smiled. “I’m going to buy clothes for you two. If you don’t go, how will your sister know what to buy?”

There was a big price difference between ready-made clothes and cloth. Most ordinary families would go to a shop to buy some cloth and sew their own clothes at home, which saved a lot of money. However, Ji Ping’an only knew basic sewing. She could mend a hole in a piece of clothing, but sewing a whole piece of clothing from scratch was too difficult for her. As for Suisui and Shen Zhiyu, they couldn’t be counted on either, so Ji Ping’an had originally planned to take both of them to buy ready-made clothes.

Suisui blinked when she heard this, and she seemed to be looking forward to it. When other little girls in the village wore new clothes, the other children would be envious for a long time. Although Suisui was introverted, she also liked new clothes.

Ji Ping’an went to the mountain again in the morning. This time, she wasn’t so lucky and didn’t find any wild rabbits or wild chickens. However, she didn’t come down empty-handed, bringing back two mountain pigeons and a bamboo rat. Mountain pigeons and bamboo rats lived in the mountains all year round. She could tell they were plump just by holding them. Their meat would definitely be plentiful and their flavor would be richer.

She came down from the mountain before noon, planning to go to the county town again after lunch. The three wild rabbits, one wild chicken, and one fox she had hunted yesterday still hadn’t been delivered to the county town. Fortunately, it wasn’t summer, so leaving them outside for a night wouldn’t matter. They would still be fresh.

Ji Ping’an had just arrived at her doorstep with her prey when she saw Suisui coming to greet her. “Sister, Ah-Jiu and I went to the riverside this morning.”

“Did you find anything?”

Ji Ping’an walked with her into the yard and saw Shen Zhiyu, who was slightly closing her eyes and sunbathing. The pale golden sunlight fell on her eyelashes, casting a shadow that made her brows and eyes stand out even more.

Hearing the Qianyuan’s voice, she just lightly lifted her eyelids, then closed her eyes again. Ji Ping’an observed her carefully and couldn’t help but curve the corners of her lips, feeling that Shen Zhiyu was looking more and more like a cat. When there was nothing to do, she would find a warm place to curl up, and the warm, bright sunlight made the whole cat look lazy. At times like this, even if she made a big noise, the cat would at most just give her a look.

Suisui told her what had happened that morning. “There were a lot of people doing laundry at the river, so we went to a less crowded place, and then Ah-Jiu found some wild duck eggs.” When she mentioned the wild duck eggs, Suisui’s voice was clearly a bit happier.

Ji Ping’an put the basket on her back down. “How many did you find?”

“Four! And they’re huge.” Suisui showed her with her fingers.

Ji Ping’an raised her eyebrows slightly and stroked her head. “You and Ah-Jiu are so amazing.”

Suisui looked a bit shy after being praised. “Ah-Jiu found them first.”

“Then let’s ask Ah-Jiu how we should cook these wild duck eggs. Should we make bok choy with scrambled eggs, or egg drop soup?”

The two of them were talking right next to Shen Zhiyu, so she couldn’t pretend not to hear them. She had no choice but to open her eyes and was met with two pairs of eyes, both waiting for her answer. She glanced at the troublemaker and said, “Whatever.”

“Then we’ll make bok choy with scrambled eggs.”

As she spoke, Ji Ping’an was taking the prey out of her basket, and Suisui was watching intently.

“Aren’t you scared?” Ji Ping’an asked.

She had the [Prey Aiming Scope], so the prey was basically killed with one shot. The pigeon she hit was in the wing, so it was still alive, but it still inevitably had some bl00d on it.

“I’m not scared.”

As she spoke, Suisui even poked the pigeon’s head with her finger, feeling the warm, fuzzy touch. “It’s yummy.”

The pigeon pecked at Suisui’s finger in retaliation.

Ji Ping’an smiled, knowing that she was overthinking it. The villagers rarely ate meat, so what was there to be scared of? They would be happy to see a bloody prey.

“Someday I’ll stew a wild chicken for you and Ah-Jiu to drink.”

She had the ability to hunt, so it wasn’t difficult for her to eat meat. However, she wanted to buy more things in the county town today, so she didn’t plan to keep the wild animals at home.

Shen Zhiyu’s eyes first fell on the prey she had hunted, then on the bow next to it. After watching for a while, she looked away.

After cleaning up the prey, Ji Ping’an simply told them what had happened yesterday. “We’re going to eat lunch at someone else’s house today.”

Shen Zhiyu spoke up. “You and Suisui go. I’ll stay at home.” She was cold by nature and didn’t like to interact with strangers, let alone eat with them.

Ji Ping’an could understand her thoughts, but she felt that it wasn’t a bad thing for Shen Zhiyu to get to know more people. There would always be times when she wasn’t at home, and in those moments, they could look out for each other. For example, with what happened with the Zhang family man yesterday, if someone with a silver tongue and sharp words like Fugui’s mother had been there to help, Shen Zhiyu and Suisui wouldn’t have been wronged.

Ji Ping’an said, “Fugui’s mother probably makes a lot of delicious food. If you don’t go, what will you do for lunch? Make it yourself?” She had already seen Shen Zhiyu’s cooking skills. Getting a little hungry was one thing, but getting sick from the food was another.

After speaking, she gently nudged Suisui’s arm, letting the child help. “We definitely can’t leave Ah-Jiu at home alone, can we, Suisui?”

Suisui nodded and looked at Shen Zhiyu with a hopeful expression. Shen Zhiyu couldn’t refuse the child and could only look away. However, when she turned her head, she saw that Ji Ping’an was also looking at her, a smile in her eyes. The pigeon next to them made “chu chu chu” sounds.

Shen Zhiyu: “…” 

She felt that even the sun shining on her was a little annoyed.