Chapter 35: Repaying His Kindness

Chapter 35: Chapter 35: Repaying His Kindness

Qiao Suluo couldn’t help but feel that Que Hongjin’s gaze was incredibly bewitching in that moment.

His eyes were already naturally gentle. When he lowered his head to look at her, they rippled like shifting moonlight, carrying a hint of allure that seemed to hide a deeper meaning.

Her eyelashes fluttered softly as she hastily corrected herself. "Ah, I mean... I’ve definitely been cooking a lot more often these past few days."

As she spoke, Qiao Suluo quickly avoided Que Hongjin’s gaze, no longer looking at him. She was afraid he would see through her.

Observing her through the candlelight, Que Hongjin could clearly see the shifting expressions in her eyes—a fleeting sense of guilt and panic, like someone whose secret had just been discovered. His expression shifted slightly, and the frozen ice in his eyes seemed to show signs of melting.

He wondered what kind of person she truly was in the past. Now, she had lost weight and her skin had grown fairer. Although he had no idea how she managed it, if she didn’t want to say, he would pretend not to know and refrain from asking.

Right at that moment, Qiao Suluo lost her focus while slicing the noodles and accidentally cut her finger.

"Ah!" she cried out.

Blood immediately welled up from the cut.

Que Hongjin’s expression changed drastically. He hastily grabbed her hand, swiftly pressing down on a specific spot on her finger to stop the bleeding before taking out a clean handkerchief to bandage it.

Fortunately, it was a minor cut. With the quick pressure and bandaging, the bleeding stopped.

Seeing that her finger was no longer bleeding, Que Hongjin let out a sigh of relief. "Leave the rest to me," he said softly, unwilling to let her risk cutting herself again.

"It’s just a small scratch, really."

"Be good. I’ll cut them."

Insisting she step aside to rest, Que Hongjin picked up the knife and began slicing the noodles.

He sliced them both quickly and perfectly.

Watching his movements, Qiao Suluo felt that his every action was noble, elegant, and otherworldly. His already outstanding features looked even more refined and graceful under the candlelight. Like moonlight reflected on water, every part of him was utterly captivating.

If someone like him hadn’t had his wings clipped, he could still be the Young Master Peacock in the Capital City.

At the thought of this, Qiao Suluo let out a soft sigh.

Having just finished cutting the noodles, Que Hongjin asked her, "Does your finger hurt?"

Qiao Suluo shook her head. "No, it’s not bleeding anymore. I’ll just go get some ointment to put on it."

With that, she retreated to her own room, quietly took some medicine from the first-aid kit, and applied it to her finger. The wound healed almost instantly.

When she returned to the kitchen, she began cooking. She made a clear broth noodle soup, with Bai Qianluo proactively helping to tend the fire. Soon, the soup was ready, topped with poached eggs and small bok choy.

A thunderstorm raged outside, but as the three of them sat in the kitchen eating the steaming bowls of noodles, their bodies seemed to be warmed from the inside out.

Qiao Suluo noticed that both Que Hongjin and Bai Qianluo ate without making a single sound, moving with utmost elegance. She, on the other hand, liked to take big bites, inevitably making some noise. Feeling a bit embarrassed, she asked, "Am I being too loud for you guys?"

Que Hongjin reached out and gently stroked her hair. "No. Hearing the sound of you eating gives me a better appetite."

Bai Qianluo softly chimed in, "Mhm, it’s not loud."

She thought to herself that if it had been the old her, she absolutely wouldn’t have cared about anyone’s thoughts or opinions.

"Is it good, then?" she asked.

With a smile in his picturesque eyes, Que Hongjin replied, "Yes, it’s delicious."

Bai Qianluo also nodded.

Hearing their responses, Qiao Suluo smiled and said, "Then if there’s anything you guys want to eat, just let me know. If you miss any food from the Capital City, for example, I can make it for you."

Que Hongjin’s picturesque eyes darkened, taking on a deep, inky hue. "There’s nothing I want to eat. Any food my wife makes is better than what’s in the Capital City."

He felt that there was nothing left for him to be nostalgic about in that place anyway.

At the mention of the Capital City, a dark shadow seemed to flash across Bai Qianluo’s cold, aloof eyes, but he remained silent.

After dinner, Que Hongjin and Bai Qianluo refused to let Qiao Suluo lift a finger. They urged her to turn in early to rest while they washed the dishes and cleaned the kitchen.

After returning to her room, Qiao Suluo lay in bed but didn’t go to sleep.

The system spoke up. "Do you have something on your mind, Host?"

"I’m trying to figure out how to treat Que Hongjin and Bai Qianluo a little better," she replied.

She mused that if her past actions were merely for the sake of the mission, now she genuinely wanted to treat them well. Whenever someone showed her even a sliver of genuine kindness, she was willing to repay it several times over.

"That’s easy," the system suggested. "Just give them gifts. You can give books. Que Hongjin loves books more than anything."

At the mention of books, Qiao Suluo’s expression shifted, and her face went pale. She suddenly remembered what the original owner of this body had done.

In this current world, books were incredibly expensive. Ordinary people couldn’t afford them; only families with profound legacies possessed rich collections. When Que Hongjin married the original owner, he had actually brought a whole chest of books as his dowry. Those were all rare, one-of-a-kind editions.

However, just to vent her disdain and dissatisfaction with them, the original owner had burned every single book Que Hongjin brought. And she had done it right in front of him.

Through the original owner’s memories, she saw Que Hongjin’s deathly pale face and dim eyes from that day. In that moment, his figure had looked so lonely and desolate.

At the thought of this, Qiao Suluo’s heartstrings trembled. She wondered how the original owner could treat him so cruelly when he hadn’t done a single thing wrong.

Qiao Suluo immediately entered the Space Mall with her consciousness. She asked the system, "Are there books from this world available in the Space Mall? I mean the ones the original owner burned." The books Que Hongjin had cherished so deeply.

"Yes," the system replied. "They cost twenty points per book. You currently have over a hundred points, Host. Do you want to buy some books?"

The system quickly opened the book interface for Qiao Suluo, displaying literature from various eras. Some of the books featured text that matched the writing of this current era.

Qiao Suluo inspected them and confirmed they were indeed exactly like the ones in her memories. "I’ll buy five for now."

She clicked purchase, and five books instantly appeared in her hands.

After a moment of hesitation, Qiao Suluo took the five books and knocked on Que Hongjin’s door.

Hearing the knock, Que Hongjin said gently, "Please come in."

He was sitting at his desk, copying a book. This was a job he had found an opportunity to take on over the past two days. Because books were precious, bookstores made their money by selling hand-copied volumes. Given his former reputation and his penmanship, he could earn one tael of Silver for copying a single book. He figured this might lessen Qiao Suluo’s burdens a bit.

When Qiao Suluo entered, she saw Que Hongjin sitting at the desk, wielding his brush with a suspended wrist. His expression was focused; he looked as elegant as jade, as ethereal as an immortal.

Through the candlelight, she saw his handwriting. Every single character looked like a meticulously carved piece of art—it was breathtaking. People always said the ancients wrote beautifully with ink brushes, but she only realized just how beautiful it was upon seeing it with her own eyes.

Que Hongjin finished writing a character before looking up, instantly spotting Qiao Suluo. A trace of surprise flickered in his picturesque eyes. "Why are you here, my wife?"

Qiao Suluo steadied her nerves and handed over the five books. "I was wrong to burn your books before. But I didn’t burn all of them. I secretly hid these ones away back then. I’m returning them to you.

"As for the rest of the books I burned, it was completely my fault. I will collect them all for you again."

Whether she had to buy them from the Space Mall or from an outside bookstore, she was determined to gather them all for him.

Que Hongjin stared at the books she handed him, a deep undercurrent seemingly surging beneath the dark pools of his eyes.

In that moment, the layer of ice in his heart seemed to fracture inch by inch, melting away like spring snow. His long eyelashes fluttered like butterfly wings, shimmering with a soft, fragmented light.