“I’ve already sprinkled the water for you. Hurry and sweep. If it gets dusty, I’ll sprinkle some more.”
Seeing Su Mu’s happy expression, Chen Qing took the broom from her hand with a smile covering her face.
By evening, she would let this Traitorous Shizun know that all help came at a price.
After Chen Qing took over the sweeping, Su Mu felt much more relaxed.
She fetched another basin of water and soaked the rag in it.
The cool stream water made Su Mu instinctively shrink back the fingertips she had dipped in.
She suddenly felt a bit regretful. She should have taken advantage of Chen Qing’s offer to help earlier and had her wipe these dusty tables and chairs instead.
She hadn’t expected the stream water to be far colder than she imagined.
But now Su Mu’s regret was useless. After all, she didn’t dare risk being cut down with a single sword stroke to switch tasks with Chen Qing.
She wrung out the water from the rag, leaving her slender fingers slightly reddened from the cold.
Su Mu diligently wiped the dusty tables and chairs clean. Before long, the originally dusty tabletops gleamed with a reddish luster.
Although these tables and chairs hadn’t been used in a long time, they still appeared to be of solid quality.
But just after finishing one table, Su Mu felt a chill on her back.
A gust of cold mountain wind blew through the door, and Su Mu let out a heavy sneeze, wiping the clear mucus from her nose with her finger.
However, her finger carried a heavy dusty smell, making Su Mu’s nose feel uncomfortable.
“What’s wrong?”
Chen Qing, who was focused on sweeping, heard Su Mu’s heavy sneeze and turned to glance at her, asking with her usual expression.
“The dust is quite choking.”
Su Mu shook her head and continued wiping the tables.
Seeing Su Mu huffing and puffing as she wiped the tables, Chen Qing paid no further attention.
She also felt the room was very dusty. Given this Traitorous Shizun’s silly and naive personality, getting choked by the dust was no surprise at all.
The two worked hard for an entire afternoon, and the originally dilapidated old house took on a warm, lived-in atmosphere.
Su Mu wiped the sweat from her forehead with her cold fingers while balling her other hand into a small fist and hammering her waist.
That afternoon of bending over to wipe tables and chairs had left her feeling like her body was about to fall apart.
“Pass me the rake.”
Chen Qing, who was repairing the thatch on the roof, unceremoniously ordered Su Mu below.
“Got it.”
Su Mu, who had just caught her breath, heard Chen Qing bossing her around and could only reluctantly go look for the rake.
Earlier during cleaning, Su Mu had noticed that the house’s previous owner had stored some seldom-used tools in a small shed built next to the house.
Although the shed hadn’t been opened in ages, the tools inside were still well-preserved.
Su Mu pushed open the creaking wooden door and scanned inside for the rake.
Her eyes spotted it, but it was buried in the pile, so Su Mu had to stick out her butt and stretch to reach it.
But after pulling out the rake, Su Mu discovered a ceramic jar hidden inside.
The jar looked quite aged. Out of curiosity, she tapped it with her finger.
The dull echo from the ceramic jar made it clear there was something inside.
Unable to curb her curiosity, Su Mu set the rake aside and untied the red cloth sealing the jar.
A rich, pungent aroma of aged wine hit her face.
Curiously, Su Mu dipped her freshly washed finger into the jar and tasted it.
“Hiss, so spicy!”
Su Mu stuck out her soft tongue. She hadn’t expected the wine to be this potent; just a tiny dip felt like a small knife slicing her tongue.
“Is the wine good?”
While Su Mu was still marveling at the wine’s strength, Chen Qing’s cold voice rang out from behind her.
Hearing Chen Qing’s voice snapped Su Mu back to reality—she was here to fetch the rake for her.
But facing Chen Qing’s gloomy expression, Su Mu’s flustered little mind raced.
Of course, she wasn’t thinking of an explanation. Instead, she pondered how to use this wine to trick this detestable Villain.
The wine was so fierce that even a dip was this choking. If Chen Qing downed a bowl, wouldn’t she pass out immediately?
Once Chen Qing was drunk, Su Mu could take her revenge at will.
At this thought, a spark of excitement flashed in Su Mu’s lively, clever eyes.
But Su Mu overlooked who stood before her.
With her amateurish acting skills, she couldn’t hide a thing from Chen Qing.
The flicker in Su Mu’s eyes told Chen Qing this Traitorous Shizun was up to no good, especially with such blatant excitement.
Yet Chen Qing didn’t call her out. She wanted to see what mischief this Traitorous Shizun had in mind.
This was also a chance to harshly punish her and show that any ill-intentioned little schemes in her presence came at a steep price.
“This wine is pretty good. Want to try some?”
Su Mu stared at Chen Qing with ‘sincere’ eyes, but her overly emphatic tone betrayed her panic over tricking her.
“Wine shouldn’t be drunk neat—it’s bad for the stomach. We’ll have it with dinner.”
The dilapidated house wasn’t fully fixed yet, and Chen Qing didn’t want to discipline this Traitorous Shizun in such an uncomfortable setting.
“Alright then.”
Seeing Chen Qing take the bait, Su Mu felt secretly thrilled.
Heh heh, at dinnertime, she’d let this detestable Villain taste the fire of vengeance.
After more bustling about, the dilapidated house was fully tidied.
Chen Qing had even borrowed thatch from other Ancient Miao People to renovate the overgrown roof.
The single stone bed was now covered with thick, warm bedding.
To Chen Qing’s surprise, she had expected the Ancient Miao People to be hostile toward her as an abrupt outsider.
She had even mentally prepared to offer silver and resort to special means when borrowing things.
But the Ancient Miao People were merely curious, adopting a wait-and-see attitude.
The family she borrowed from was even quite amicable.
Seeing their friendliness, Chen Qing’s demeanor toward these Ancient Miao People softened a touch.
“Cough cough cough!”
Su Mu, tending the fire in the kitchen, ended up covered in soot from the billowing smoke.
Seeing Su Mu’s disheveled state, Chen Qing, who was fixing the stove, felt a bit helpless.
“Slow down. Why rush? You’re so dumb.”
“Got it.”
Su Mu aggrievedly poked at the remaining soot with a piece of firewood.
Though her movements were usually a tad clumsy, simple tasks like clearing soot were no problem for her.
But today, for some reason, her mind felt sluggish, and her hands moved heavily.
This time, Chen Qing’s scolding was justified, so Su Mu could only swallow it inwardly.
