Early in the morning, Big Head got up and saw that his wife had already changed into her formal attire and prepared breakfast.
"If you get off work early tonight, pick up the kids. Several companies are coming to the hotel for meetings, and it’s going to be busy." Since starting work again, Miao Ruifang felt much more spirited.
Big Head nodded. "I’ll pick up the kids, and I’ll make dinner tonight."
"Oh, please don’t," his wife said. "With your cooking, what would we even eat? I’ll make dinner when I get back. If you and the kids get truly hungry, have some biscuits to tide you over."
Big Head laughed. "How about we go out to eat tonight?"
"No need, I’ve already bought all the groceries for today." His wife was as thrifty as ever.
"You’re also very busy with work. Why don’t we hire a nanny?"
"I’ve only been back at work for a few days, and look how it’s gotten to you," his wife said, displeased. "While we’re still relatively young, let’s earn more and save more. We’ll need plenty of money later on."
Looking at his wife and child at the breakfast table, Big Head felt he was the happiest person in the world.
First, he drove his child to school, then his wife to work. By the time he arrived at the Dark Star Bureau, Big Head was a few minutes late. In the elevator, he ran into a supervisor who reprimanded him about workplace discipline.
Actually, the supervisor was also late.
Back at his desk, a colleague nicknamed Glasses approached him with a mysterious look. "Have you heard? Candy is going to be promoted to team leader."
Candy, an Emotion Cultivator on the Second Layer, had joined the Dark Star Bureau three years ago and was now set to become a team leader.
Big Head had been with the Dark Star Bureau for nearly twenty years and was still an investigator.
"That’s good. Candy is a nice person," Big Head nodded.
Another colleague, nicknamed Steamed Bun, chimed in, "Brother Ming, I really don’t get it. In terms of cultivation level or seniority, how can she compare to you? Why should someone like her become a team leader?"
Big Head just smiled and said, "It’s fine, really."
Captain Chen and Chief Xiao arrived, and the entire team held its regular meeting. Afterwards, once everyone was occupied with their tasks, Big Head took the opportunity to visit Yuezhou Sanatorium.
He Jiaqing’s ward was crowded with medical staff. An important tube inserted into him had come loose, the cause unknown.
The attending physician told Big Head, "I suspect the patient might have moved. Otherwise, that tube wouldn’t have come out."
Gazing at He Jiaqing lying in the hospital bed, Big Head said to the attending physician, "Maybe it was an accident."
"Does this need to be reported to your captain?"
Big Head nodded. "I’ll report it to the captain shortly."
He did not report it.
He simply wrote in the day’s work log that everything was normal.
This was risky.
But based on Big Head’s experience, such matters generally wouldn’t attract attention. He could handle that level of risk.
...
Li Banfeng found a patch of wasteland in Bitter Vegetable Manor. Such barren plots were common there.
He sowed a bag of seeds on this land, a gift from a Farming Cultivator in Pancake Village. After sowing, they would yield crops within the same month.
Bitter Vegetable Manor’s land was barren. After planting a fast-growing crop, this piece of land had to rest for a year, but at least the sixty-odd people in Bitter Vegetable Manor would now have enough food.
Next year, they would plant in a different place. Bitter Vegetable Manor was so vast that Li Banfeng walked for several days, covered over a thousand li, and still could not find its edge.
Old Teapot claimed that Bitter Vegetable Manor bordered every part of Puluo State. Li Banfeng checked the map given by Shopkeeper Feng but couldn’t find Bitter Vegetable Manor’s location anywhere.
Li Banfeng still hadn’t figured out what kind of existence this place truly was.
he thought.
The Bitter Cultivators of Bitter Vegetable Manor now held Li Banfeng in high regard. Carrying his Tang Sword, Li Banfeng visited each household, and a throng of Bitter Cultivators followed him to farm the land.
Bitter Cultivators could endure hardship and were diligent in their work. Especially when they saw Li Banfeng take out the Teapot, everyone worked with great enthusiasm.
After finishing the farm work, those who lived nearby went home, while those who lived far away set up tents and stayed overnight next to the fields.
Qian Jiafeng and Ou Haidong returned to the same home. Bitter Granny didn’t pursue the matter of that night, because it truly wasn’t their fault.
But since that night, they had become much bolder, completely forgetting the rules.
Others were even bolder than them, like that middle-aged woman.
She still distrusted men, but she had acquired a taste for them.
In the evening, Li Banfeng distributed wine to everyone. This time, it wasn’t mixed into the porridge. Whoever wanted to drink could simply take it.
After all, Big Beard was the one who had stirred up this situation. If Bitter Granny was to blame anyone, it would be Big Beard.
Li Banfeng didn’t care. he reasoned.
When dawn broke the next day, three newcomers arrived at the Freeloader’s Inn, preparing for Entering the Path Gateway.
Li Banfeng charged into the inn and, with a flurry of punches and kicks, drove them all away.
The man dishing out food cowered in the kitchen, not daring to make a sound.
Today, this man wore a red, cotton-padded jacket.
In the afternoon, while everyone labored in the fields, Li Banfeng was off to the side, painting.
It had to be said, his painting skills had genuinely improved. The general outlines were decent, and the depiction of details in the working figures was also passable.
Chu Er approached Li Banfeng, glanced at the painting in surprise, and asked, "You can paint? Could you paint one for me?"
Li Banfeng shook his head. "It’s not like your family is lacking in artists."
"Oh, come on, paint one for me! I’ve helped you out quite a bit lately!"
"Alright. Shall we do it now?"
Chu Er shook her head. "Wait until tonight. I’ll freshen up a bit."
That evening, Li Banfeng went to Chu Er’s dwelling. She was still in her coarse cotton clothes and wore no makeup; she had merely washed her face and tidied her hair.