Chapter 177 Being Virtuous

ore surprised. She hurriedly waved her hands, "I'm not very good at it myself."Hao Ren was also a bit shocked; he hadn't expected Zhao Hongyu to have invited Xie Yujia over for this.If that's the case...Chapter 177: Learning to Be Virtuous

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Hao Ren and Zhao Yanzǐ wanted to surprise their grandmother, so they didn't inform her beforehand. Now, faced with the predicament of having only one empty room, both Hao Ren and Zhao Yanzǐ were somewhat taken aback.

The most critical issue wasn’t just that there was only one room but rather that within this room, there was only a single bed and set of bedding.

"Let's discuss the situation in the room when it gets dark," Hao Ren said. He already had an idea if they were to share one room.

"If you are going to stay separately, I will ask my second son to return to town and free up a spare bedroom," the grandmother suggested.

Hao Ren hurriedly stopped her from making such a fuss. "There’s no need for that; let's discuss it later."

Zhao Yanzǐ turned to look at Hao Ren with concern but didn’t say anything.

"Since you’re here, why don’t we have lunch first!" the grandmother said as she pulled Zhao Yanzǐ’s little hand and spoke cheerfully.

In rural areas, lunchtime is early because after eating, they need to do farm work. Thus, they start having their lunch before noon.

Hao Ren had driven for three hours to get here just in time for lunch.

There weren’t any particular requirements for the midday meal in a rural setting; it was usually simple and hearty food without grand feasts. Zhao Yanzǐ obviously didn’t quite enjoy this, but she still managed to fill her belly despite her scrunched-up face.

This little girl is somewhat delicate compared to Xiaoyu Jia. The grandmother couldn’t help thinking as she watched the silent and focused Zhao Yanzǐ eating her meal.

After lunch, the grandmother’s family headed out to the fields for planting rice seedlings. It was a busy time of year for farming work. Her sons, who usually worked in town, would come back on weekends to help with farm tasks. Despite being elderly, the grandmother remained skilled at transplanting rice seedlings. Hao Ren's grandmother also joined them in the fields, running around without hesitation and not minding getting dirty.

Zhao Yanzǐ found it fun and went barefoot to help out too, but after planting just a few seedlings, she was already exhausted—far less than Hao Ren who managed several rows.

Comma, Ten Thousand Comma

The grandmother watched them play and work together on the other side of the field with a smile. Although the young rice shoots they planted were crooked, she imagined them growing strong and sturdy—just like Hao Ren and Zhao Yanzǐ who had suddenly seemed to grow up.

They worked until two o'clock in the afternoon when everyone paused for a rest in the fields. Zhao Yanzǐ lost interest and ran to the riverbank to wash her feet clean, then picked out a large stone to sit on while swinging her delicate legs under the sun's drying warmth.

An old grandma sitting by the field patted Grandma Hao Ren's arm and asked, "That girl, is she your granddaughter-in-law"

Grandma smiled without replying, her eyes almost squinting.

"Why don’t you do something else in the afternoon," Zhao Yanzi said as she walked over to Hao Ren on top of warm pebbles under her feet.

"I told you this place is pretty boring, but you insisted on coming anyway." Hao Ren wiped off the dried mud from his feet and replied absentmindedly.

"But I came to see Grandma! And you say things like that!" Zhao Yanzi looked a bit hurt.

Hao Ren helplessly watched her, "Fine. Let’s take a walk around the village in the afternoon."

“Mm-hmm! Mm-hmm!” Zhao Yanzi put on her socks and shoes, becoming cheerful again.

After explaining to his grandma why they were leaving, Hao Ren led Zhao Yanzi out of the farmland and wandered around in the village.

Villages are just like this everywhere – dusty roads and houses. Not much to look at, but Zhao Yanzi found it amusing watching chickens, ducks, cats, and dogs in people’s courtyards.

However, when she encountered a black dog with an iron chain around its neck barking fiercely at her, she quickly moved closer to Hao Ren.

Sigh. You're a dragon; you shouldn't be afraid of a little puppy, right Hao Ren thought helplessly as he looked at her.

Passing by a large warehouse, Zhao Yanzi's curiosity didn’t wane; she tiptoed through the broken window to see what was inside.

When she saw piles of sweet potatoes stacked like small mountains, excitement surged within her. "Hey! There are sweet potatoes!"

Her eyes shone brightly as if she hadn't eaten in centuries.

"Hey hey hey, at least call me by my name instead of 'husband',” Hao Ren sighed softly and walked over to stand beside her, looking at the pile of sweet potatoes. "So what about sweet potatoes"

“Roasted sweet potatoes!” Zhao Yanzi’s eyes sparkled. Occasionally outside her school gate, there would be uncles pushing iron buckets selling roasted sweet potatoes. The aroma made her want to roast one herself every time.

Hao Ren was speechless at her antics and pulled her around to the main entrance of the warehouse to see if they could get inside.

To their delight, the iron door was unlocked; with a bit of force, it swung open. Zhao Yanzi rushed excitedly towards the piles of sweet potatoes, not minding whether they were clean or not. She grabbed two and stuffed them into her pockets while hugging four more to herself.

Seeing Hao Ren standing there without moving, she couldn’t help but yell, "What are you doing! Hurry up and take some!

Hao Ren had no choice but to hug four or five of them. He used to steal sweet potatoes when he was a kid, and it wasn’t in his own village’s farmland either. However, he never thought that he would actually do this again.

Zhao Yanzǐ wanted to grab more but found herself unable to do so and had to exit the warehouse. Just as Hao Ren and Zhao Yanzǐ walked out of the warehouse, a few farmers carrying hoes passed by and saw the two sneaking out from the warehouse. They shouted, "What are you doing"

Zhao Yanzǐ panicked and started running. Hao Ren didn’t have time to think either; he quickly followed her.

So on this village’s small road, one could see a tall man and a short woman frantically running while sweet potatoes rolled out of their arms.

In the low-lying clouds above, Xia Chengxiang watched the scene below with cold sweat pouring down his forehead. "The princess of the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace is actually stealing sweet potatoes with her husband."

Zhao Yanzǐ and Hao Ren ran out of the village and only took a deep breath when they saw that no one was chasing them.

When counting their loot, Zhao Yanzǐ found that most of the sweet potatoes had fallen out. Only two or three were left in their arms and pockets combined.

Holding these big round sweet potatoes, Zhao Yanzǐ felt like she had stolen treasure and was very happy. Hao Ren had lived in a rural area when he was young and knew that sweet potatoes were not valuable in the countryside; one could often harvest half a warehouse in a season. Even if they asked villagers for ten or eight sweet potatoes directly, the villagers wouldn’t mind because of their low value, which is why the warehouse wasn’t locked.

The reason they ran earlier was mainly due to some guilt. Seeing Zhao Yanzǐ’s excited and agitated appearance made Hao Ren laugh.

"Let's roast them here!" After looking at her surroundings and finding a suitable spot, Zhao Yanzǐ said.

This place was already outside the village with several small hillocks that could block the wind. Hao Ren collected some firewood around him and used his Five-Element Sword Qi to dig out a small pit in the ground. He put a sweet potato inside and covered it with firewood, then released an element of Fire Sword Qi to ignite the wood.

Currently, he was only at the Boundary realm, and he had only cultivated to the first level of Split Light Sword Shadow Technique, so his Five-Element Sword Qi couldn’t harm enemies. In terms of intimidation, it might not even be as effective as wielding a kitchen knife. However, doing such things seemed quite convenient.

Zhao Yanzǐ moved a stone over and sat beside the burning firewood, eagerly watching the sweet potatoes in the flames.

"Do you think they’ll cook" After staring at the flame for a while, she turned to Hao Ren.

Her expectant look clearly showed that this was her first time roasting sweet potatoes. Hao Ren sat down on a stone nearby and confidently said, "I used to roast these all the time when I was young; they’ll definitely cook!"

"Shouldn’t you put things over fire to roast them How can they cook if they’re buried inside" Zhao Yanzǐ still didn’t believe it.

"If you place them directly on the fire, they will burn. Roasting them underground is called baking sweet potatoes!" Hao Ren patiently explained. Zhao Yanzǐ wasn’t interested in his Five-Element Sword Qi at all but asked every detail about roasting sweet potatoes, leaving Hao Ren speechless.

After around 20 minutes, Hao Ren released a weak Water Sword Qi to extinguish the flame directly and dug out a blackened sweet potato from the ashes after the firewood was burned up.

Zhao Yanzǐ wasn't afraid of getting dirty and reached out to snatch the sweet potato.

The moment it was in her hands, she knew how hot the freshly baked sweet potato was; immediately, she blew on it with her mouth while her hands nearly couldn’t hold onto it.

But even so, she didn't want to let go easily. She kept switching it between both hands, and her greedy look became obvious.

Once the sweet potato cooled down a bit, she eagerly peeled off its skin. Seeing the enticing golden yellow inside, she knew that this sweet potato was indeed fully cooked.

Afraid that Hao Ren would snatch half of it from her, she took a bite with her mouth still full of hot insides and immediately blew on them again.

Seeing her foolish look, Hao Ren found himself both angry and amused at the same time.

One sweet potato seemed unable to fill up her belly. While eating, she pointed at Hao Ren and demanded, "Roast another one! Roast another one!"

Hao Ren shook his head with a smile and gathered more firewood, tossing two sweet potatoes into the pit left warm from earlier. He lit them and continuously added wood to keep it burning.

Zhao Yanzǐ finished eating her sweet potato, patted her belly contentedly, and used her soot-covered palms to pat Hao Ren, saying, "Let me do it next!"

She had just watched Hao Ren roast sweet potatoes and felt that she could handle it herself. She stepped up to the task. Seeing a black mark on Zhao Yanzǐ's lips, but since she didn't share her sweet potato with him earlier, he decided not to remind her.

About five minutes later, after continuously adding wood, Zhao Yanzǐ finally thought of getting Hao Ren over to extinguish it. She hurriedly scooped out two sweet potatoes from the ashes but found them burnt to charcoal.

Hao Ren stood by watching her comedy show. Zhao Yanzǐ's face turned red, but she didn’t think that appearance would matter much. After removing the charred exterior, she discovered there was still a portion edible inside.

"Here! I'll give you one!" This time, she generously offered Hao Ren one of them.

Her hands were black from soot, but she ate happily regardless. Hao Ren smiled; this Zhao Yanzǐ indeed had very cute moments too.

The one in his hand was almost completely turned into charcoal. Removing the thick layer of carbon left only a small piece that could be eaten.

"Keep practicing your skills diligently, even though play is important, but cultivation is more crucial. If you can't beat Zeng Yitao in the future, it’ll be troublesome," Zhao Yanzǐ said contentedly after finishing two sweet potatoes, patting Hao Ren on the shoulder for encouragement.

This sounded like a variation of what Hao Ren often told her when encouraging her to study. If you want to know what happens next, support the author.ant attitude.Oddly enough, she possessed exceptional physical strength and was one of the favorites in several running events, bearing hopes for bringing glory to their class.Luo Ying had always loved...