Shocking! The entire court was drooling with envy because of me.

"Don't worry, Auntie, I will protect Qing'er from now on. If there's anything you or Qing'er need me to do, just let me know, and I'll do anything for you!"

Song Wenqian patted his chest and made a solemn promise.

Mother Shen patted Song Wenqian's hand, praising him repeatedly, her smile almost overflowing from her face.

"Anything is fine with me?" a cool voice rang out.

It was Shen Qing.

Song Wenqian's heart tightened suddenly, but he quickly put on a tender and affectionate expression: "Qing'er, everything before was a misunderstanding. You are the only one in my heart, and I am loyal to you forever."

"Don't worry, I will definitely protect you from now on and you won't have to worry about anything."

Song Wenqian was practically swearing an oath to God.

Shen Qing raised her eyelids slightly and said calmly, "I just heard you say that you would go through fire and water for me no matter what I need you to do. Is that true?"

"Really, of course it's true, you can believe me." Song Wenqian thought Shen Qing's attitude had changed, so he quickly patted his chest to assure her.

"Oh~"

Shen Qing's voice was indifferent: "We're out of firewood at home, we'll have to go to the mountains outside the city to chop some. Can you go?"

Chopping wood? You want a scholar like him to chop wood?

Song Wenqian's eyes widened, and after a long while, he gritted his teeth and said, "Yes, of course I can!!"

"My dear daughter, how could you let Wenqian go chop firewood? Don't we have servants at home? Besides, we've been buying firewood these past few days; we haven't gone to the mountain to chop any ourselves!"

Shen's mother tried to dissuade her, ultimately unwilling to mistreat Song Wenqian, because in her heart, Song Wenqian was her daughter's support.

Shen Qing smiled slightly: "I want to make a new dish. Only firewood from the mountains can bring out the aroma of that dish. Our family is mostly women, and the gatekeeper, Old Chen, is too old. After thinking it over, I think Song Wenqian is the most suitable person for this task."

Upon hearing this, Shen's mother immediately looked at Song Wenqian.

"Wenqian, there's no other way; only you can go."

Her daughter is always particular about food, so firewood must be of utmost importance.

"By the way, it has to be firewood chopped at night. We need a lot; I reckon you'll need to chop it all night." Shen Qing added.

Her expression was normal; on the contrary, she seemed very serious, as if it were true.

Upon hearing this, Song Wenqian's face darkened, but he still gritted his teeth and said, "I'll go, I'll go chop it for you!"

"Thank you very much then."

"Qing'er, between us..."

"Let's not talk about what happened before," Shen Qing waved his hand.

She didn't want to get entangled with Song Wenqian; she just wanted to break things off with him completely.

But Song Wenqian was blind and insisted on pestering her, so she shouldn't blame her for being impolite.

This can also be considered as helping the original owner vent their anger.

Upon hearing this, Song Wenqian's eyebrows and eyes relaxed.

He subconsciously felt that Shen Qing no longer cared about what happened before.

Sure enough, his charm is still the greatest.

In addition, he is smart and lucky, and today he ran into Shen's mother.

So what if he chops wood? It's just one night of chopping wood. As long as Shen Qing can take him back, he can live a life free from worries about food and drink again!

"I'll go right away!"

Song Wenqian turned and walked away, his steps light and quick.

Standing to the side, Shen's mother couldn't help but say, "Wenqian is a good child, he's reliable."

"Mother, when it comes to people, relying on heaven and earth is not as good as relying on yourself. Just wait and see."

Shen Qing pulled her mother down to sit. She didn't tell her the truth directly, because she didn't know how many lies Song Wenqian had told before she returned.

When Zhao Wan comes again, she can tell Shen's mother the truth in front of everyone.

Thus, Song Wenqian could not deny it.

Having gotten rid of the annoying person, Shen Qing had the gatekeeper, Old Chen, close the main gate. Then, she washed up, tidied herself up, and lay comfortably on the bed.

She opened the system to check the progress of today's tasks.

[Ding—Congratulations, host, for completing today's stall task. Task completion progress (1200/2000)]

[Ding—The maximum number of ingredients that can be purchased has been increased to 800.]

[Ding—Congratulations, host, you have successfully unlocked the mint herbal tea that comes with braised pork ribs. Purchase limit: 200 servings]

Peppermint herbal tea?

Shen Qing couldn't help but secretly praise it. It was true that gnawing on bones too much would get greasy, and this mint tea was just right to cut through the greasiness and relieve the spiciness.

Moreover, the weather is getting warmer and warmer now, so a sip of mint tea would be incredibly refreshing.

The number of portions is a bit small.

But something is better than nothing.

Shen Qing snuggled comfortably into bed, looking forward to tomorrow's sun.

At this moment, there is another person who is also looking forward to tomorrow's sun, and that is Song Wenqian.

Damn it, it was already dark when he left Ping'an County, and it was pitch black.

He fell several times before finally stumbling up the mountain.

Not long after we went up the mountain, we heard a series of strange noises.

The wind was a bit stronger on the mountain, and the leaves were rustling. In the torchlight, it seemed as if there were ghostly shadows everywhere.

Every now and then, the cries of wild animals could be heard in the distance.

Song Wenqian was so scared that he was trembling. It was the first time he had ever gone up the mountain in the middle of the night.

He hadn't expected the mountain to be so terrifying.

Holding a torch in one hand and an axe in the other, he tried to chop firewood little by little.

But he was used to enjoying life and couldn't do things like chopping wood at all.

Snapped--

The axe veered off course, and the man fell face-down to the ground, making intimate contact with the earth.

Song Wenqian felt an excruciating pain in his nose. He struggled to get up and touched it; it was wet.

By the light of the fire, I saw that my hand was covered in blood.

He bumped his nose so hard it bled.

"Damn it, why did Shen Qing have to ask for firewood from the mountain? He's just asking for trouble!"

"What bad luck! This firewood is so hard to chop."

"Once I win Shen Qing's heart back and then seduce her, I'm going to teach that bitch a lesson!"

"..."

Song Wenqian cursed as he looked at the firewood with a miserable expression, looking utterly wretched.

Time flew by, and the sky gradually began to lighten with the first light of dawn.

Its daybreak.

clap clap-

There was a knock on the door. Old Chen frowned and hurriedly went to open it.

As soon as I opened the door, I saw a man who looked like a beggar.

He was filthy, covered in mud and blood, and his clothes were torn in several places, making him look like a beggar.

Moreover, the beggar was carrying an axe and a bundle of firewood on his back.

He was swaying and unsteady on his feet, as if he was extremely tired.

"Firewood... I brought the firewood back..." The man's voice was hoarse, and he was panting heavily.

Old Chen then recognized him. Good heavens, wasn't this the scholar named Song Wenqian from yesterday?