Chapter 12. The Poor Little One Tries to Please the Demon The Poor Little One Tries to Please…

“It’s so cold outside today, I guess there will be frost again tomorrow.” Cheng Songer rubbed her somewhat cold hands.

The place she had transmigrated to was in the north. Usually at this time of year, heavy snow would have already fallen. For some reason, the snow was unusually late this year, but the low temperature was unambiguous. If there was a thermometer beside her at this moment, it would be at least 5 or 6 degrees below zero.

“Yes, the snow is particularly late this year. In previous years, heavy snow would have already blocked the mountains by now,” Cheng Qingzhi said, following her words.

Cheng Songer remembered seeing in a TV drama before that if heavy snow falls late, the ground temperature isn’t low enough to kill the insect eggs buried in the soil for winter. When spring comes the following year, it would lead to pest infestations, resulting in poor crop yields.

In a mild case, everyone would have to tighten their belts and endure it.

In a severe case, it could very likely lead to famine.

Cheng Songer’s heart sank. It seemed she needed to hurry up and make money quickly, and while grain prices hadn’t gone up yet, she should quickly stock up on food.

She remembered there was a cellar in the courtyard where she could store the purchased grain.

As long as she earned enough money, they should be able to… survive next year’s food shortage, right?

She scooted her small stool towards the stove, stretching her hands out to warm them by the fire. Her arm unintentionally pressed against Cheng Qingzhi’s arm as her mind was filled with thoughts of how to make money quickly.

Little did she know that the moment her hand touched Cheng Qingzhi’s, his back straightened rigid. The arm that was pressed against hers, despite being covered by thick winter clothing, seemed to burn hot in an instant.

The pleasant fragrance from Cheng Songer’s body once again lingered at the tip of his nose, light and faint, like the sweet scent of newly pruned branches and leaves in early spring.

This fragrance wandered leisurely in the somewhat pungent smell of oil smoke in the kitchen, unhurriedly enveloping Cheng Qingzhi’s entire body, entering through his nostrils and flowing leisurely through his whole body.

In the narrow, dim kitchen, his hand pressed close to hers, as if he was in a sea of flowers and bamboo forest with lush branches and leaves.

Cheng Qingzhi clenched his left hand tightly, trying to pull himself out of the strange fragrance, and said, “The rabbit meat stew is ready.”

He got up and lifted the pot lid, and the aroma of meat wafted out.

Cheng Songer’s stomach had been growling with hunger for a while. She took the initiative to get bowls and chopsticks.

Cheng Qingzhi carried a large bowl of rabbit meat into the main room. He had also cut two pieces of potato to stew with it. The rabbit meat was chewy and had texture, the potatoes were soft and tender, and pouring the stewed broth over rice was absolutely delicious.

As expected of Cheng Qingzhi’s culinary skills, it was fantastic.

The waves of fragrance stimulated Cheng Songer’s senses: “Brother, your cooking skills are really too good, beyond words. I can’t stand it just smelling the aroma.”

Cheng Qingzhi lowered his head shyly, pressing his lips into a faint smile: “Go ahead and eat.”

Cheng Songer picked up a piece of rabbit leg and put it in his bowl, smiling, “Mm, brother, you eat too.”

Cheng Qingzhi lowered his head, looking at the still steaming rabbit meat in his bowl, his eyes full of gentle smiles.

—

“Look, look, look, they had braised pork for lunch, and now they’re stewing something else. Hmph—anyone who didn’t know better would think they’re celebrating the New Year!”

As Lin Yuxiu smelled the constant aroma of meat coming from the Cheng family next door, he suddenly felt that the brown rice and bland stir-fried cabbage in front of him were extremely tasteless.

He held his bowl, leaning against the doorframe.

Watching Cheng Qingzhi carrying a steaming pot of meat into the house, with Cheng Songer carefully and gently holding a lamp for him.

Such a rare heartwarming scene was like a thin embroidery needle stabbing into his eyes. Lin Yuxiu’s hand holding the bowl unconsciously tightened.

If it were just an ordinary family eating something good, it would be fine, but it had to be Cheng Songer’s family, it had to be that fox spirit Cheng Qingzhi.

Just half a month ago, he was still beaten half to death by Cheng Songer, almost losing his life, mocked and ridiculed by the whole village. But in just half a month, they were living even better than him.

Lin Yuxiu viciously poked at the rice in his bowl, gnashing his teeth. How could he swallow this anger?

“I heard from outside earlier, it seems they’re stewing rabbit meat,” Xu Shu said.

“Rabbit? What kind of good fortune has this Cheng Songer stumbled upon recently? In the past, they were so poor they couldn’t even open their pot, forcing that fox spirit Cheng Qingzhi to borrow food from every household. Now they have meat to eat at every meal.” Lin Yuxiu frowned.

In the past, when his mother and sister hadn’t gone to work for city families, they often went hunting in the back mountains, and occasionally the family could eat rabbit meat.

But now there were fewer and fewer small animals in the mountains, and fierce beasts often appeared. Although the villagers were poor, they valued their lives more, and gradually stopped hunting in the back mountains.

Now, rabbit meat was even more precious than pork.

To think that such precious meat was being eaten by that slut Cheng Qingzhi, he really wasn’t afraid of wasting his blessings. Lin Yuxiu’s eyes were filled with jealousy and hatred.

Xu Shu smiled and said, “For a woman, as long as she reforms, with that strength she can earn money doing anything. Moreover, Cheng Songer has always been stronger than others, as you know. It shouldn’t be difficult for her to earn some money to support her family.”

Lin Yuxiu pouted, “Reform? Support her family? I don’t believe Cheng Songer has really changed. We’ve been neighbors for so many years, don’t we know what Cheng Songer is like?”

Xu Shu smiled bitterly, “You just can’t stand to see Qingzhi doing well.”

Lin Yuxiu looked at the light from the Cheng family’s house, laughing coldly, “Father, you’ll see. When Cheng Songer gets tired of playing with Cheng Qingzhi, she’ll show her true colors. At that time, that slut’s fate won’t be any better than before. Let’s just wait and see the show.”

“Alright, alright,” Xu Shu changed the subject, “Let’s not talk about Qingzhi anymore. You’re 17 this year, it’s time to talk about marriage. Don’t dwell on that scholar incident anymore, it’s better to find an honest and suitable wife’s family early. Otherwise, it won’t be easy to find someone when you’re older.”

At the mention of the scholar, Lin Yuxiu’s expression became extremely unpleasant, and his hatred for Cheng Qingzhi intensified.

If it wasn’t for that slut Cheng Qingzhi meddling, he would already be a scholar’s husband by now, and might even be pregnant with a child. How could he still be worrying about getting married?

—

At night, the cold wind howled fiercely, making the window paper rattle loudly. But the windows, which had already been repaired by Cheng Songer, were unbreakable, firmly keeping the cold wind outside.

Inside the room, Cheng Qingzhi lay in the soft bedding, the loose and soft cotton quilt wrapped around his body like a cloud, as if there was a stove inside the quilt, driving away all the winter chill.

The ink bamboo lantern on the table, drawn with bottom ash from the pot, was still lit, its faint light illuminating his profile.

That was the lantern Cheng Songer had deliberately left in his room to provide light for him.

Cheng Qingzhi gazed at the lantern for a long time. Everything today had been too dreamily beautiful for him to fall asleep.

No, ever since she came, he felt like he was living in a dream every day.

He sat up, carefully cradling the lantern in his hands, his fingertips hovering over the ink bamboo pattern, always maintaining an untouchable distance, afraid that his rough, clumsy fingers might destroy this beautiful picture.

Countless tormented days and nights, countless nights of licking his wounds in the dark corners of the kitchen, he had always been begging the gods and Buddhas in his heart to have mercy and save him.

But those noble gods and Buddhas had never pitied him. They only looked down with compassionate eyes, loving all beings except him.

Gradually, he gave up even the luxury of begging the gods, accepting all torment as his fate.

But he never expected that just when Cheng Songer wanted to sell him to a brothel, at the most desperate moment of his life, she appeared.

She was like a beam of light shining into his dark world, driving away all his pain and despair, bringing him warmth.

He didn’t know what she was, or what her identity was.

But recalling the clear and cold fragrance he smelled in the kitchen, he thought, she must be some kind of flower spirit or bamboo spirit.

No matter what she was, whether a demon, a spirit, or a man-eating evil ghost, in Cheng Qingzhi’s eyes, she was his god, a god that belonged only to him.

Those gods in the temples were high above, coldly watching his cries of pain and suffering.

Only she truly descended to his side.

Heaven knows how jubilant Cheng Qingzhi was when he realized that the body of Cheng Songer was not occupied by the original soul. The thought that someone in this world had come to save him made his soul ecstatic to the point of convulsions.

And how much effort it took him to forcefully hold back the hot, burning tears, not letting the other person discover his abnormality.

Suppressing the wild heartbeat that almost broke through his chest, he pretended to be calm and finished the meal.

Now he could finally indulge himself in crying unrestrained, tears gushing out, hot tears flowing from his eye sockets turning into cold teardrops, falling one by one, soaking his collar, leaving a patch of coldness.

Only the area illuminated by the lantern was warm, the light silent and soundless, warming him to the point of palpitations and trembling.

He sniffled slightly, wiping away his tears with his fingers.

He took out the rabbit fur that he had prepared earlier from the wardrobe. It was skinned from the rabbit that Cheng Songer had caught in the evening. The soft fur was snow-white, with only one arrow mark, but it would be unnoticeable once sewn up.

He put on his clothes, picked up needle and thread, and began sewing through the night in the weak, firefly-like light.

He wanted to make a fur collar for Cheng Songer with this rabbit fur. The winter was so cold, and the biting wind would seep in through the collar. With a fur collar to block the wind, there would be nothing to fear.

Under the orange-yellow light that was dim to the point of being harsh on the eyes, Cheng Qingzhi’s eyes often blurred, and the needle tip pierced into his hand.

He didn’t make a sound. After being used to Cheng Songer’s long-term whipping and torture, he no longer cared about these small injuries, even though his fingertips were already a mess of blood and flesh.

But just thinking that she could wear the fur collar he had sewn, that those eyes full of tenderness could show a satisfied look because of him, and maybe even gently praise him again like before, he smiled silently.

The first half of his life had been distorted and deformed, intertwined with pain and despair. Now that he had finally received a beam of salvation, he naturally had to hold onto it tightly, never letting go.