Xiaofeng listened to Xiaoqi’s words, slightly furrowing her brows, "Black fog?"
"Yes," Xiaoqi nodded, "Looking at it now, it seems like a mass of black fog, heavily ominous. It’s not a good sign. Master, I can’t offer a specific solution right now because it hasn’t happened yet."
Xiaofeng of course understood what Xiaoqi meant. Xiaoqi could only warn her about when she might encounter danger, but how to deal with the danger was something Xiaofeng had to figure out herself.
"I understand." Xiaofeng followed Xiaoqi to the vegetable patch, "Let’s go check the vegetable garden."
"Those seeds you gave me last time, I planted them all."
When Xiaofeng arrived at the vegetable garden, she picked a tomato and bit into it. It was sour and sweet, and very juicy, "In the future, we should plant more fruits. Vegetables are shipped more often and can easily arouse suspicion, but fruits, even if taken out, are not so easily suspect."
"I was thinking the same thing." Xiaoqi, hopping around, plucked a cucumber and crunched into it."
Xiaofeng stayed in the space for a while, then left.
Because of Xiaoqi’s words, Xiaofeng had some insomnia.
She couldn’t figure out what sort of situation she would encounter during childbirth.
It couldn’t be that someone didn’t want her to have a child, creating trouble along the way, or that her physical condition during childbirth would not be up to mark, leading to complications.
She took a deep breath, "Forget it, why think so much? Ye Cheng will be here in a few days. Having him by my side, I do feel a bit more at ease."
She thought about their initial fake marriage arrangement and couldn’t help but laugh.
What was supposed to be a sham marriage ended up not being one after all. She wanted him to stay by her side a bit longer, and he wanted her to go live with him.
If she chose to have the child and his attitude didn’t change, and she also harbored thoughts of staying by his side for a long time, she might consider moving to the Imperial Capital.
Although the Imperial Capital was a big city, having lived two lives, she was not intimidated by the Imperial Capital, or even places abroad, having frequented many.
What she feared was not the city itself, but the gap between his family and hers.
If he really was the eldest grandson of the Gu Family, the gap between them wasn’t just slight; it was like the difference between heaven and earth.
Musing hazily, compared to her previous indifference towards relationships, she was now much more sensitive and melancholic—perhaps this is what it felt like to start caring about someone.
She always felt she could do better, just a little better.
Not knowing when she fell asleep, she woke up to find the sun had already risen. Today was a weekend, and the factory was closed for the day.
She yawned, got ready, and went downstairs.
Su Peng had already butchered a chicken. Mother and son were discussing whether to stir-fry the chicken or make soup with it.
"Mom, why don’t we fry it?" Xiaofeng looked at the big fatty chicken in her brother’s hands, especially the two big chicken legs. She then thought about how crispy on the outside and tender on the inside the fried chicken would be, her mouth watering at the thought.
"You can fry chicken?" He Ximei heard this for the first time.
In the countryside, there were only a few ways to cook chicken: stir-fried, stewed for soup, dried as jerky, or steamed—rarely fried.
She had fried fish, fatty meat, and lean meat, but never chicken.
"Yes, you can. Just coat it with flour and egg, then add some seasoning and fry it."
"Feng, why don’t you take care of it? What you’re saying, we don’t understand." To fry was to fry, but the problem was he didn’t know how, and from the look on his mom’s face, she clearly didn’t either.
"Sure, I’ll do it." There wasn’t much to do today, and cooking at home sounded good.
"Just tell me how to chop it, and I’ll do it right away. Su Peng held the chicken in one hand and a knife in the other."
"Keep the two big chicken legs and the wings on both sides; I’ll handle the body."
Xiaofeng gathered flour and eggs, then added Shaoxing wine and other seasonings to start the marination.
Someone was knocking at the gate; it was Liao Xianghe and Auntie Mei.
Liao Xianghe had moved out some time ago, now residing in the factory’s dormitory, while Aunt Mei still lived at Xiaofeng’s place.
Indeed, today being a day off, Xianghe had gone to the market early with Auntie Mei to buy groceries.
"You bought quite a lot." Su Peng took over, patted Liao Xianghe on the shoulder, and smiled at him.
Liao Xianghe brought the groceries into the kitchen and then picked a few to wash and prepare.
He cherished his current days, taking each day very seriously and feeling grateful to Xiaofeng. Without her repeated help, he and his mother didn’t know how they would have managed.
"Xiaofeng, are you making fried chicken chunks?"
"Yes, Auntie. My mom keeps nagging in my ear, going on about what I can’t eat after giving birth. So, I thought I’d indulge in all the things I couldn’t eat during the upcoming month before the baby arrives." Being a foodie, having to abstain from certain foods for a whole month would definitely be tough.