This seemed quite awkward, she twitched the corner of her mouth, and then walked straight into the kitchen. However, the scar-faced man behind her glued his gaze on her, his face expressionless, but the sensation of pins and needles on her back was really unpleasant.
Deeply anxious inside, Dong Huiying hung her head in dejection.
She tried her best to ignore the man shadowing her like a specter, and instead picked up a handful of wheat bran to wash clean, before starting to look for the tools needed to start a fire.
Yet, after searching for a long time, she couldn’t find the flint, leaving her speechless and frustrated.
With no flint, no ember, no open flame, was she supposed to resort to rubbing wood to make fire??
Forget it, if it comes to rubbing wood for fire, then so be it, nothing is more important than eating.
But after fidgeting around for ages, she hadn’t managed to produce a single spark, leaving Dong Huiying feeling a deep sense of defeat.
Haoming had been watching her intently for a while, thinking she was behaving oddly. He had no idea what she was up to, having taken a piece of wood, bored a small hole in it, then stuffed some dry grass into it and, using a small stick, poked it in and repeatedly rolled it back and forth with her dark little paws.
The process was lengthy, and she looked so serious and grave that she didn’t even bother to wipe the sweat dripping down her face.
What on earth was she doing?
A glimmer of doubt arose in his eyes.
"Whoa," a trail of light gray smoke wafted up from the dry grass. Just as Dong Huiying was about to feel happy, the fire suddenly died out, the sparks truly disappointing.
Dong Huiying quietly bit her cheek, her palms sore from the earlier wood-rubbing, and a rumbling growl came from her stomach, leaving her extremely embarrassed. In an attempt to cover up her hunger, she clutched her belly, her dark little face so mortified it seemed it might smoke.
Haoming approached Dong Huiying, asking with an expressionless, icy face, "Hungry?"
She felt mortified to death but still nodded her little head shyly, appearing as though she needed help, very honestly.
Haoming walked towards her without any expression, pulling open a drawer and taking out a flint, and quickly lit a fire under the clay stove.
Dong Huiying was astounded.
So the house did have a flint, it was just put away?
Haoming also gave her an odd look, before glancing at the ’tool’ she had used to try to make fire with wood. He pursed his lips, but in his otherwise still and undisturbed eyes, a hint of pure curiosity flashed.
This could produce smoke? How odd.
Subsequently, under Dong Huiying’s stunned gaze, Haoming carried on working with a cold face, silently heated up the iron pot, and cooked a small pot of wheat bran porridge, finally allowing Dong Huiying to get some food in her stomach.
After eating, Dong Huiying very conscientiously washed the cutlery, once again eliciting a suspicious glance from Haoming.
This woman... had always been laziness incarnate, at least Haoming had never seen anyone lazier than her. Furthermore, it was the norm in the Dayuan Dynasty for women to take care of the outside affairs, while men looked after the home. Apart from the head chefs in taverns, it was rare for women to enter the kitchen because it was seen as an insult to them to cook for themselves.
"Um, is there something?"
She couldn’t stand his gaze any longer, especially since he was silent, making it hard to guess what he was thinking. Moreover, although he was quiet, his presence was overpowering, impossible for her to ignore even if she tried.
Haoming lowered his eyes and no longer made a sound, but his morose expression made him look like a pitiful soul who had been bullied.
Heaven have mercy, had she really done nothing? Had she really not bullied him?
Fortunately, the atmosphere didn’t linger for long before it was interrupted by a rough, loud voice: "Fourth brother, is Third Brother here? Is Third Brother around?"