Chapter 30: Unable to Withstand

Chapter 30: Chapter 30: Unable to Withstand

Hearing these words, Qiao Sanlin’s eyes widened in shock. He couldn’t believe she was the one who had spoken them.

He wondered how it was possible for her to speak to them so gently and even call him Sanlin. She had never addressed them that way before.

He eyed Qiao Suluo with a suspicious, guarded gaze, suspecting she was plotting something against them again, which would explain her sudden change in behavior. However, when he met her eyes just now, he seemed to see an extremely sincere and gentle expression. He shook his head, forcing himself not to believe it.

He still remembered all the words she had used to curse and humiliate them in the past.

"You lot have probably never even stepped foot outside the county town to take a look around. Naturally, you have no idea how remote and backward your tribe is, or how cheap the trash you wear is...

"And you! Calling me your sister? Do you even deserve to?

"Take a look in the mirror at what lowly Beastmen you are. I don’t have such disgraceful brothers.

"If it weren’t for you, I would still be a noble female in the Capital City. I never would have been swapped back here. It’s all your fault..."

Those past remarks now echoed repeatedly in his mind, making it incredibly hard for him to believe what she had just said.

Qiao Suluo didn’t expect them to accept her right away. She felt that as long as she put her heart into things, they would eventually see her good side. She certainly wouldn’t speak the way the original owner of this body had.

After Qiao Suluo finished speaking, she exchanged a few words with Qiao Feishuang and headed home first.

Qiao Feishuang wanted her to stay for a meal, but considering that she had her Beast Husbands waiting, she didn’t insist. Still, she walked her daughter to the door, watching her leave with a reluctant gaze.

Qiao Suluo took a few steps and looked back, only to find Qiao Feishuang still standing at the door. Her heart couldn’t help but feel touched. It reminded her of her previous life when she lived in the countryside with her grandmother as a child. Every time she left for school, her grandmother would personally see her off at the door.

"Mother, go back inside."

"All right."

Although she agreed, she continued to watch her go. Qiao Suluo thought to herself that she should find more time to visit her.

Upon returning home, Qiao Suluo finally took off her scarf.

Que Hongjin had already soaked a towel in cold water and handed it to her. "It looks a bit better. Keep applying this cold compress."

The moment they returned from the county town, Que Hongjin’s first priority had been to fetch cold water and soak a towel to cool her neck. Her neck was indeed doing much better; otherwise, if she had gone to her parents’ house like that, her mother would have noticed and inevitably worried about her.

When Que Hongjin lowered his head to apply the cold compress to her neck, he leaned in very close.

Even while sitting, Qiao Suluo could smell the faint, pleasant scent on him. It was like cedarwood—clean, crisp, and mysteriously charming, yet giving off a reassuring and reliable feeling. His face was already as breathtaking as a painting, and seeing it from such close proximity delivered an even stronger visual impact.

Her eyelashes fluttered lightly as she dared not let her gaze wander, much less move recklessly. She wanted to gently turn her head away to avoid looking at him. She didn’t want him to think she was swooning over his handsome face. Having the original owner’s memories, she remembered that none of them liked it when she stared at them.

But as Qiao Suluo moved slightly, Que Hongjin placed a hand behind her head and gently guided her back. "Don’t move around."

"Oh... okay." With that, she stayed perfectly still.

Que Hongjin held the compress against her. After a while, he took it off, re-soaked it in cold water, and applied it again. His movements were meticulous and gentle, filled with caution lest he hurt her.

At this moment, Qiao Suluo felt slightly moved. She hadn’t expected him to have such an attentive and tender side. He had never been like this in the past.

However, looking into his eyes, she also knew that he was simply taking care of her without any other intentions. His gaze was perfectly calm as he looked at her.

"Um, I feel much better. You don’t need to do that anymore. Let’s eat first."

He was leaning in so close that his elegant, pleasant scent was practically enveloping her entirely. If this dragged on, she was genuinely afraid she wouldn’t be able to handle it. Besides, they both despised her. Even though they were getting along a bit better now than before, there were no romantic feelings whatsoever. Therefore, she couldn’t allow herself to catch feelings; otherwise, she would be the only one getting hurt in the end.

Hearing her voice, Que Hongjin assumed she was hungry and replied in a mild tone, "All right, let’s eat first."

The three of them sat at the table and began their meal. The tofu dishes Qiao Suluo had cooked over the past few days were all incredibly delicious. There were also her steamed white buns, which were so fragrant, soft, and palatable. Chewing them even yielded a faint sweetness, making them even more flavorful when eaten with the dishes.

After lunch, Qiao Suluo went to clear the dishes, but Que Hongjin naturally took them from her hands. "Wife, you are injured. Let me do it."

Qiao Suluo felt a little embarrassed. "I’m really not that fragile."

She had just been choked, yet he and Bai Qianluo were treating her like a delicate patient.

Que Hongjin’s picturesque eyes seemed to gleam with a soft light as he spoke gently, "Wife, you can allow yourself to be a little fragile.

"You can leave some things for us to do."

Qiao Suluo sighed inwardly and couldn’t help but say, "Que Hongjin, you two are so good to me. I treated you so poorly in the past; it was really wrong of me."

The fact that they could disregard past grievances to take care of her truly touched her heart.

Que Hongjin looked at her, saying with profound meaning, "We don’t blame our wife.

"Wife, go rest for a while. After I clean up, I’ll go make cloth dolls."

With a few days of practice under his belt, his speed at making the cloth dolls was getting faster and faster.

Bai Qianluo, who was helping wipe the table, also chimed in, "I’ll go prepare the Konjac in a bit. Wife, you should rest."

There was still a lot of Konjac left from what they dug up yesterday. Since they hadn’t finished processing it all, they could continue making Konjac today.

"It’s fine," Qiao Suluo said. "I feel much better. I’m going to make Peach Blossom Brew."

When she returned home, she had already taken out ten catties of the glutinous rice they bought and set it to soak in a basin of water. Now that they had finished eating, the glutinous rice was fully soaked. The peach blossoms she had picked earlier had already been soaked in light saltwater, washed, air-dried, and stored in a clay jar. Taking them out now was perfect timing.

Que Hongjin watched her busy figure, deep in thought.

Qiao Suluo poured cold water into the pot, placed a bamboo grate inside, and laid a clean cloth on top. Then, she spread the soaked glutinous rice evenly over it and lit the fire to steam it. Half an hour later, she spread the peach blossoms evenly over the sticky rice and continued steaming.

Once it was fully cooked, she poured the sticky rice and peach blossoms into a clean, sterile vat, added boiled water that had cooled, and let it sit to cool down a bit more. When it had cooled sufficiently, it would be time to add the sweet wine yeast for fermentation.

Qiao Suluo entered the Space Mall, planning to use her points to exchange for sweet wine yeast. She took a glance and realized she only had a little over three hundred points.

"I’ll use these three hundred points to buy a small pill of weight loss medicine first," she thought to herself.

It would probably only make her lose about three catties. It required ten thousand points to buy a complete Weight Loss Pill that could shed a hundred catties. Her current body weighed a solid two hundred catties. Losing a hundred catties was the only way she would reach a satisfactory weight.

But ten thousand points was too steep a price, so she figured she would take it one step at a time. As for the Detoxification Pill, she wasn’t in a hurry. As long as her life wasn’t in immediate danger, it was better to prioritize weight loss. Hauling around two hundred catties made walking and working terribly inconvenient.

The system knew its host wanted to lose weight. Indeed, being saddled with such a heavy figure made it inconvenient to complete missions.

After thinking for a moment, it suggested, "Actually, Host, you can ask your Peacock Beast Husband for some peacock feathers. Although his true form is a peacock, he isn’t just an ordinary one. His feathers are incredibly hard, making them excellent materials for crafting Peacock Hidden Weapons. So, if you pluck a few more peacock feathers, you should be able to sell them for a few thousand points at once. Then you can exchange for more weight loss medicine and drop several dozen catties in one go."