RIIDMDR chapter 27

 

Tingchuan watched idly as Nanxu painted a beautiful picture of the future for the two brothers. Just like the afternoon he first met Nanxu, not a single one of the ten sentences he spoke was true.

After sending the brothers off to fish and fetch water, Nanxu sat in the yard and washed chili peppers.

After two months, the chili peppers he had planted had produced their first batch. He picked some, intending to make dried chili peppers. However, since the seasoning packet provided by the system wasn’t used up yet, he decided to wash them and make chili sauce instead.

Interestingly, the fresh chili peppers produced from B-grade seedlings were all A-grade.

Nanxu speculated that this elevated quality might be due to the unpolluted beauty of Zhuyu Mountain.

That evening, they stir-fried bacon with garlic sprouts and braised fish. They also added a serving of garlic-mashed Chinese cabbage. The sweet potato porridge was fragrant, soft, and thick. Everyone gathered around the table. Nan Xu looked at the bacon on his plate, then at Zhuang Si and Zhuang Wu, who were eager to dig into their bowls. He felt a pang of apology. Why hadn’t he thought of this while cooking?

Ting Chuan had lived with Nan Xu for so long that he could see through many of his thoughts at a glance. He reached out and placed the plate of stir-fried bacon in front of Zhuang Wu. Just as he was about to reach for his chopsticks, Nan Xu exclaimed, “That’s wild boar meat!”

Zhuang Wu:?!

Zhuang Wu was so startled by the shout that he almost dropped his chopsticks.

Nan Xu glared at Tingchuan and moved the plate back in front of him. Instead, Tingchuan chuckled, “There are no strict rules in the demon world. There’s nothing they can’t eat.”

Demons, birds, and beasts aren’t the same species. They just share the same physical form. Some demons absorb spiritual energy and transform into spirits because they inherently possess demonic energy that evolves over time.

So there’s nothing wrong with a wild boar demon eating a wild boar.

Tingchuan explained this to Nan Xu, who still struggled to accept it. He insisted that Zhuang Si and Zhuang Wu wouldn’t eat the meat. The two brothers had no choice but to eat something else.

They couldn’t enjoy the bacon, but the other dishes were delicious, especially the sweet potatoes. When they saw them, Zhuang Si and Zhuang Wu’s eyes lit up, and they stuffed the sweet potatoes into their mouths, leaving Nan Xu dumbfounded. He wanted to remind them that these weren’t magical fruits and that all vegetables possess spiritual energy. This was true, as any demon from any tribe who had tasted them could attest.

However, the brothers’ stomachs seemed bottomless, and they couldn’t eat any more. Knowing it was their last meal with Nan Xu, they chose not to waste any food. They even poured the braised fish broth into their bowls and mixed it with the rice. This infuriated Guan’er, who screamed and groaned under the table.

After dinner, Zhuang Si washed the dishes at the stream, while Zhuang Wu cleaned the kitchen. Nan Xu was the manager for once, feeling particularly comfortable in the night breeze. He glanced at Tingchuan, slumped over in his recliner, and laughed angrily.

He hadn’t had time to make two recliners, so there was only one in the entire inn. Even after it was finished, Nan Xu hadn’t had a chance to enjoy it before Tingchuan monopolized it day after day.

Zhuang Si and Zhuang Wu had devoured the sweet potato porridge in the pot, leaving Guan’er with no dinner. Thinking that even if times were tough, he couldn’t let his child suffer, Nan Xu looked around the mall and found a two-kilogram bag of dog food for 288 yuan. Silently closing the page, he went inside to get some dried meat for Guan’er.

Although Guan’er wasn’t even as tall as Nan Xu’s calf, his teeth had grown in. His small size was probably due to malnutrition in the early stages. When Nan Xu tore the dried meat into pieces and passed them to Guan’er, he sniffed them and obediently stepped back two steps to sit upright.

Nan Xu asked him to bark, and Guan’er barked loudly. Then, Nanxu asked him to perform a few movements, which he did perfectly. Nanxu praised him, saying, “Good dog,” and pushed the bowl of shredded meat toward him.

Nanxu was very good at training dogs, and Tingchuan watched for fun. In the demon world, few people keep pets, and even then, it’s usually for future consumption or as mounts. There aren’t many who care for their pets as much as Nanxu does. This dog has definitely come to the right place.

Zhuang Si and Zhuang Wu stayed overnight in the inn’s guest room. The next morning, Nan Xu sent them off to build their house. They chose a spot on the mountain near the bamboo forest — not too far from the inn and not too close to the stream.

Perhaps to save time, the brothers decided not to build their house out of wood. Instead, they went up the mountain, cut down a lot of bamboo, and began building the bamboo house. Nan Xu took Guan’er to take a look. Seeing that the progress was acceptable, he left and continued working on the chicken coop.

The chicken coop only needed finishing touches. After Nan Xu finished fixing the roof, he clapped his hands and announced to Guan’er, “Done!”

Guan’er crawled into the coop, then emerged with a delighted look and a wagging tail. Nan Xu patted his head and said, “This isn’t yours. When I have time, I’ll build you a house in the yard.”

The newly hatched chicks couldn’t move in yet, so they lived in a bamboo pen in the yard and made lively noises with their chirps.

The chicks had been inactive during Tingchuan’s absence, their spirits low unless Guan’er played with them outside the bamboo fence. Otherwise, Nan Xu would have thought they were ill. But as soon as Tingchuan returned yesterday, the chicks became hyperactive, as if their acupoints had been activated.

At first, Nanxu thought they were frightened. After all, Tingchuan was a fox and a natural enemy of the chicks. However, while feeding them, he noticed that they were eager to be close to him. Confused by this realization, Nanxu left the task of feeding the chicks to Tingchuan. Tingchuan was about to refuse, but he couldn’t say no to Nanxu staring at him with such clear eyes.

While taking Hammer home, Nanxu saw Tingchuan squatting by a small stove, cooking rice porridge for the chicks in a clay pot. His tall, slender figure huddled there, his long skirts draped across the floor. Nanxu stared at his clothes, furrowing her brow. It seemed like these demon spirits had some kind of purification technique that meant they never had to change or wash their clothes. Tingchuan’s clothes seemed welded to his body, changing color occasionally with his mood.

Nanxu had asked Tingchuan about this before, and he explained that his clothes were conjured. All demon spirit’ clothes looked the same when they first learned to transform into human form, and they remained roughly the same throughout their lives. Even if their cultivation improved, they would only modify minor details, so there wouldn’t be much change.

No, there isn’t a hint of freshness at all. Ting Chuan needs a whole new set of clothes. At the very least, he should change into something different at night. He also needs to buy a couple of pieces for himself. It’s gotten hot, and he can’t keep wearing long sleeves in the spring. It’s inconvenient for work, and he sweats so much every day.

Nan Xu was sitting in the yard browsing the mall. In Ting Chuan’s eyes, Nan Xu was just in a daze, lying on the bamboo table with a blank expression.

Modern clothes didn’t suit Tingchuan. His long, flowing, dark hair was better suited to ancient clothing. Nan Xu looked through the mall and finally set his sights on a black silk nightgown. It felt comfortable against his skin and matched Tingchuan’s casual style. However, it cost 599 silver coins.

Nan Xu stared at the price tag for a long moment, unable to bring himself to pay it. He added the item to the cart, then looked at his summer clothes.

The trousers were still wearable, so he only needed one pair. However, he needed two pairs of short-sleeved shirts. Nan Xu browsed through two or three pages of T-shirts: 499, 399, 299, 199, 99… Amidst the endless array of prices, Nan Xu added two white short-sleeved shirts for 29. He wasn’t being picky; his budget was limited, so there was no need to buy something fancy.

After picking out another pair of inexpensive pants and paying for them, Nan Xu went into the warehouse, took off his nearly worn long-sleeved shirt, and put on his new short-sleeved shirt. Honestly, the quality of items sold in the mall isn’t much worse. The short-sleeved shirt, which cost 29 silver coins, is made of pure cotton. The chest pattern and design just aren’t as attractive as others’. Nanxu is attractive and has a great figure, so he can pull off such clothes easily.

The pajamas Nanxu bought for Tingchuan were worth their 599 price tag. Their softness made Nanxu reluctant to let go. He admired them for a long time before handing them over to Tingchuan.

Tingchuan was squatting by a small stove, idly stirring rice porridge in a clay pot when he looked up at the sound of Nanxu’s voice. He saw Nanxu wearing a white, short-sleeved shirt and holding something in his hands. His face beamed with joy. “Tingchuan, come here and look! I bought you some new clothes.”

Tingchuan raised an eyebrow at the words “new clothes.” No one had ever bought him clothes in all his thousands of years of living.

He stood up and walked over to sit next to Nanxu. He held the clothes and refused to put them on the table, saying he was afraid they would get dirty. After he sat down, he stuffed them directly into his arms.

They felt smooth and sleek, comparable to the annual products of the insect demon clan that weren’t sold to outsiders. He looked at Nan Xu, whose eyes were full of brilliance as he stared at him intently. “How is it? Do you like it?”

Tingchuan’s heart fluttered at his gaze, and he suppressed the smile that threatened to appear, acting reserved. “I like it. How do you wear it?”

Nan Xu replied slyly, “I wear it to sleep.”

Honestly, when Tingchuan asked, Nan Xu felt a little embarrassed. The boss only made custom work clothes for his employees. For brothers in the human world, the most he would buy is a jacket. As for pajamas… well, Liu Bei wouldn’t buy pajamas for Zhang Fei[mfn]劉備(Liu Bei) and 張飛(Zhang Fei) are famous sworn brothers from Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The point is: their relationship is very close, but still not the type where one would buy the other pajamas[/mfn], would he?

But it was only 599 silver coins. He had already bought them and they were already a gift. Once the arrow is drawn, it can’t be retrieved. No matter how strange it was, he had to tell him. At least it would remind Tingchuan of the benefits of having him as a boss.

Tingchuan was stunned. “Wear it to sleep?”

Nanxu nodded. “We wear different clothes for different occasions, so of course we change into pajamas before going to bed.”

Tingchuan understood, thinking that was the point. “Then why don’t you ever change?”

He and Nanxu had been sleeping in the same bed for almost a month, and he had only seen Nanxu change into two sets of clothes, not pajamas.

Nan Xu: …

Nan Xu felt even more embarrassed. “Isn’t it because I’m poor?!”

Tingchuan was silent for a moment, then said, “Then let me see your pajamas.”

Nan Xu: “I didn’t buy any.”

Tingchuan: “Why?”

Nan Xu: “I’m out of money.

“I bought three myself, and they still cost less than a hundred!” Nan Xu muttered softly.

Tingchuan, a demon with excellent hearing, glanced at the expensive-looking clothes in his arms and felt strangely flattered.

 

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Author’s Note:

That night, Nan Xu woke up from a dream with a start—

Pajamas are so expensive, such a loss, such a loss!

But with all the cuddling and hugging…hehe…not a loss!