The Favorite of the Sick and Weak Lady - Chapter 6

Xiao Yu sighed and silently replayed the plot she’d read before. No matter how she thought about it, there was no scene where the female lead got married not even to the male lead. In the end, she simply chose to be the woman behind him.

Could it really be a coincidence that she shared the same name as the female lead? Then again, there were plenty of people with the same name in the world. It wasn’t that rare.

Still… what were the odds? One in a million, and she happened to hit it. Talk about dumb luck.

Xiao Yu gave a sheepish smile and quietly let herself relax.

Song Luoning noticed her dazed expression and felt a flicker of irritation, though her face remained gentle. She said softly, “Husband, shall we go home?”

“……”

H-Husband?

Xiao Yu couldn’t help but twitch at the corner of her mouth. She placed a hand on her still-aching waist. This woman sure adapted fast just yesterday she refused to let her sleep on the bed, and now, with just one piece of paper, she was calling her husband.

All because of that marriage certificate?

She held up the paper and gave it a shake.

Why was it so hard to believe?

Song Luoning chuckled lightly. Her already striking features became even more radiant, though her smile carried a hint of frailty. “Is husband so happy he’s gone silly?”

Happy?

She wasn’t happy at all.

Xiao Yu shot her a reluctant glare. She needed to earn money fast and aim for an early divorce. That smile of Song Luoning’s was making her uneasy.

Just as they were about to leave, a line of text appeared in Xiao Yu’s mind: Congratulations, Host, for completing the “Establishing a Family” mission. Reward: One bowl of medicinal porridge.

“……”

Establishing a family?

Xiao Yu froze for two seconds. She had just started feeling hungry, and the system immediately rewarded her with a steaming bowl of porridge.

How thoughtful.

This was already the second time she’d unknowingly completed a mission. How exactly was this system assigning tasks?

As she pondered, another message appeared like a blooming flower: Host cannot see missions until they are completed. Rewards are given randomly.

Random rewards?

Xiao Yu pursed her lips and stared at the bowl of porridge floating in the air.

How could she eat it without raising suspicion? Should she sneak off and eat it in secret?

That felt a bit shady.

Forget it. She couldn’t leave anyway, and the original owner’s home had no food. She’d need to buy some rice and flour to bring back. She could make a show of cooking and then sneak the porridge in.

With that thought, her mood lifted, and her tone became cheerful. “Wife, why don’t we buy some rice before heading back?”

Song Luoning frowned slightly, clearly displeased by the title. Her gaze lingered on Xiao Yu for a moment before she masked her emotions with a gentle smile. “Alright, I’ll follow husband’s lead.”

At the grain shop, a slightly chubby middle-aged man greeted them. “Sir, madam, please come in. What would you like to buy? We have all kinds of rice and flour.”

Xiao Yu glanced around. “Fifty jin of flour and fifty jin of rice.”

“Rice?” The shopkeeper looked puzzled. “I’m not sure what you mean by ‘rice.’ I’ve been in the grain business for years and never heard of it.”

?!

Xiao Yu was stunned. Did this world not have rice?

She decided to tread carefully. “What kinds of grains do you usually eat?”

The shopkeeper replied, “We have paddy and flour. Our paddy is full and plump guaranteed to satisfy.”

Paddy? Isn’t that rice?

Maybe they just called it something else here.

Xiao Yu asked tentatively, “Your paddy rice…”

The shopkeeper brightened. So it was brown rice! This customer was quite amusing calling it ‘rice.’ He chuckled. “You’ve come to the right place. Our brown rice is top quality. But…”

He glanced at their clothes. The man’s outfit was plain, but the woman’s dress was made of fine Shu brocade clearly from a wealthy family. He smiled. “Brown rice is hard to swallow and can upset the stomach. I suggest you buy flour instead.”

Brown rice?

Xiao Yu was confused. She wanted white rice why was he offering brown rice?

Brown rice existed in the modern world too. It was just rice before the husk was removed. More nutritious, but not ideal for daily consumption. She said, “Can I see your brown rice?”

Seeing her insist, the shopkeeper led her to a container filled with light brown grains plump and full, just as he’d said.

If she could remove the husk, this would be premium white rice.

But she didn’t want brown rice.

Xiao Yu clarified, “I want rice with the husk removed.”

The shopkeeper looked her over. “You must be joking. Brown rice is filling, and removing the husk is a hassle. Only wealthy families do that at home. It’s not sold that way.”

What?

Xiao Yu was stunned. So this world didn’t have husking tools yet? Maybe she could invent one.

Then…

She suppressed her excitement and asked, “How much for the brown rice?”

“Fifty jin of flour is 700 wen. I’ll give you the brown rice for 300 wen.”

Only 300 wen for brown rice? That’s a huge difference!

Xiao Yu was thrilled. She could barely hide her smile. “Then I’ll take fifty jin of brown rice too. One hundred jin total.”

The shopkeeper agreed and called for help to weigh and pack the grains.

Such good stuff, and they didn’t even know it.

She’d struck gold this time. Xiao Yu stood by, beaming.

Song Luoning glanced at the brown rice, then at Xiao Yu, frowning. Didn’t this scoundrel hear the shopkeeper? Buying so much brown rice were they going to eat it every day?

She was about to speak when Xiao Yu said, “I like brown rice.”

“……”

Song Luoning choked on her words, her chest tight with frustration. She glanced at Xiao Yu with quiet resentment. What she liked had nothing to do with her.

The shop’s workers loaded the grains onto the cart.

Back home, Xiao Yu, still nursing her sore waist, glanced at the delicate young lady who did nothing to help and hauled everything into the kitchen herself.

Forget it. No point getting mad. It was all for survival and she still had that medicinal porridge to drink.

She needed to get Song Luoning out of the way first. If she saw the porridge, it’d be awkward.

Thinking of the porridge, Xiao Yu put on a smile. “Wife, I’ll cook the porridge. You look pale why don’t you rest?”

Song Luoning glanced at the brown rice in disgust. She couldn’t cook anyway, and after a bumpy morning, her frail body was exhausted. She didn’t expect the porridge to taste good, so she dragged herself to bed.

Watching her retreat, Xiao Yu finally relaxed. She rinsed the brown rice, added water, lit the fire, and summoned the medicinal porridge from the void.

A rich aroma filled the air. Xiao Yu swallowed hard and was about to take a bite when a coughing fit came from the room not violent, but enough to irritate.

Xiao Yu stood up and stared at the door. After a moment, she sighed, brewed some cough syrup, and hesitated before adding the medicinal porridge to the tray.

Song Luoning sat propped up on the bed, her pale face flushed from coughing. Her frail body trembled with each cough. Seeing Xiao Yu enter, she sat up and said softly, “I’ve always been weak. Don’t worry, husband.”

Who’s worried?

If you weren’t coughing so much, she wouldn’t be so annoyed. Xiao Yu handed her the porridge. “Drink this first, then take the medicine.”

Song Luoning paused, took the bowl, and smiled faintly. “Thank you.” Her pale face softened with a fragile smile.

“……”

Xiao Yu glared. “Just eat.”

That was her medicinal porridge.

She hadn’t even tasted it herself and now it was all for this woman.

Under her gaze, Song Luoning took a sip. The aroma was rich, the grains tender, and the faint herbal taste wasn’t bitter at all.

She was surprised. She hadn’t expected it to taste so good. The bowl was quickly emptied.

She handed the empty bowl back to Xiao Yu and drank the syrup. Her body felt much better, and the tightness in her chest eased. She took out a handkerchief to wipe her mouth and said gently, “Sorry to trouble you, husband.”

Xiao Yu felt stifled. “I’m going out.” She grabbed the bowl and turned to leave.

“Wait,” Song Luoning called out. “Since we’re married, shouldn’t we visit your parents?”

Parents?

Xiao Yu froze. If she remembered correctly, the original owner never had a father. Her mother, Xiao Jiangshi, raised her alone. With greedy relatives eyeing their property, she had no choice but to raise her as a boy. The original owner was sweet and clever as a child, but grew unruly with age, eventually angering her mother enough to sever ties.

Would visiting now really be a good idea?

Seeing her silent, Song Luoning asked, “Is there something inconvenient, husband?”

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