A light breeze blew, lifting the strands of hair on her forehead. It revealed her smooth forehead and fully exposed her delicate, fair face.
Although Simeon held a book, his eyes often stopped on Ran. His expression was dark and hard to read.
"Ah! I finished writing!" Ran looked at the dense, neat handwriting on the paper with satisfaction. She put down her pen and stretched comfortably.
"Simeon, it's getting late. Let's have lunch first!" Ran looked up and smiled at Simeon.
"I'll leave first and come back in the afternoon." Simeon put down his book and stood to leave.
Ran quickly stopped him. "You taught me all this time. How can I let you go home to eat? Others might think I'm stingy."
She pressed Simeon back down into the chair and smiled. "Wait here first. I'll make lunch." Without waiting for his refusal, she turned and went into the kitchen.
"I'll help you!" Ran told him to eat, but Simeon wouldn't refuse. Still, he didn't want to just sit and wait here.
In this world, no matter rich or poor, young men must learn cooking and sewing. If their family was wealthy, they also learned music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. They didn't have to be experts but needed some skill to please their future wife.
Ran had just picked up the water ladle when Simeon took it from behind her. She looked up, surprised. "Simeon, what's wrong?"
Simeon held the ladle and said, "You've been writing for so long. Your wrist must be tired. Let me cook lunch. You should rest well."
"Then I'll help with the fire." Ran did not feel tired but did not refuse his kindness. She sat by the stove to tend the fire.
She had learned how to make fire back in the post-apocalyptic world, so she was very skilled here.
She opened the fire striker and gently blew. The stove's fire lit easily.
Simeon smiled at her kindly and bent his head to work.
Watching him busy, Ran thought quietly, "No wonder the young ladies in Suzhou all want to marry him. He is handsome and gentle. Even through his clothes, you can see his body has broad shoulders and a narrow waist that women like."
But she wondered why he had not agreed to any of them.
Many young men never met many ladies in their life.
He avoided the women others loved so much. Could it be that...
Thinking this, Ran's gaze dropped. She glanced quietly, then quickly looked away.
Realizing she was daydreaming, a blush quickly spread across her fair cheeks. Her heart beat uncontrollably fast.
"Ran, are you okay? Why is your face so red?"
Simeon turned and saw her cheeks pink and her eyes dreamy. He immediately got worried and asked.
"I'm fine! Really!" Ran lowered her eyes and avoided his concerned gaze. She smiled awkwardly twice.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure!" Ran nodded firmly.
Simeon looked at her a few more times. Seeing her expression was fine and not like she was sick, he relaxed.
Ran felt a bit uneasy under his gaze, so she lowered her head and quietly kept feeding the fire without saying another word. The atmosphere in the kitchen became slightly awkward.
Simeon, however, didn't feel awkward at all. He skillfully sliced the seasoned pork offal that Ran had placed on the cutting board. Even though he had never tasted this kind of food before, the smell coming from it was the most fragrant he had ever encountered.
Just the scent alone made his mouth water.
"Simeon, your knife skills are incredible!"
Ran looked up unintentionally and saw the slices on the board were all perfectly even in size and thickness. She couldn't help but raise her thumb in praise.
Hearing her praise, Simeon smiled and copied her gesture, raising a thumb back at her. "Ran, you're doing a great job with the fire too!" Ran felt a little embarrassed by his compliment.
Just then, Caleb's voice came from the doorway. "Brother Ran, I brought the builder over!"
Hearing that the builder had arrived, Ran quickly walked out of the kitchen. "Brother Ran, this is Master Chen, the top house builder in our town." Caleb smiled and introduced them. "Master Chen, this is the person who wants to build the house."
"Please have a seat, Master Chen." Ran poured a bowl of sweet water for each of them. "Thanks, Brother Ran." Caleb was truly thirsty, and after taking the bowl Ran handed him, he gave her a silly smile and drank it all in a few gulps.
"I'll pour you another bowl." Ran saw he had finished and quickly got up to refill his drink.
"No need, Brother Ran, I'm already not thirsty." Caleb waved his hand to stop her. "Let's talk about the house first.
It's about to get cold, and we need to finish building before the ground freezes. Once the ground is frozen, we won't be able to build anymore."
"Alright." Ran also wanted to settle the housing matter quickly. She turned to Master Chen and asked, "Master Chen, I want to build a kitchen, a bedroom, a storage room, and also a wall. Do you think it can be finished in half a month?"
"What kind of house are you planning to build?" Master Chen asked. "If it's a mud-brick house, that's not too difficult. But if it's a brick-and-tile house, I don't have enough workers to finish it in half a month.
Also, you'll need to prepare the beams ahead of time." Master Chen had a team of twenty workers, but to finish on time, they'd still need at least ten more strong men.
"If there aren't enough people, we can find strong young men from the village."
Simeon had already come out of the kitchen and was standing behind Ran. When he heard there was a shortage of workers, he saw Ran frown and couldn't help but speak up.
"Yes, I can come help too." Caleb slapped his thigh in excitement. "There aren't many jobs in town lately. A lot of folks in the village aren't getting any work, so we can all help out.
Just feed us, that'll be enough."
"No, that won't do." Ran shook her head immediately. If people were coming to work, she couldn't just give them a meal. She turned to Master Chen and asked, "If we have enough people, can you finish the house before it gets too cold?"
"Absolutely." Master Chen nodded firmly. Then he asked, "So what kind of house do you want to build?"
"Brick houses!" Ran answered without hesitation. "Including all the bricks and tiles needed for the construction, Master Chen will handle everything. How much silver will it cost approximately?"
Master Chen stayed silent for a long time before finally speaking. "You know bricks and tiles aren't cheap now, and the labor costs thirty coins a day. So altogether, including materials, it'll be thirty taels of silver."
"Alright! But there's one thing. I can pay each person a few more coins, but I won't provide meals. You all have to bring your own food. Is that okay with you, Master Chen?"
Cooking for that many people every day would take too much time. She didn't want to deal with that. "Of course that's fine!" Master Chen agreed without a second thought.
If they brought their own food from home, it was easy. Plus, they'd get paid extra every day. No one would say no to that.
"Great! Then when can you start work, Master Chen?" Ran asked anxiously. She really didn't want to keep living in that drafty straw hut. "We'll start early tomorrow morning!" Master Chen could tell she was in a hurry and didn't want to delay.
"Okay! Then I'll wait for you at home tomorrow!" Ran nodded in satisfaction. "Alright, then I'll go get ready and come by early tomorrow to start work!" With that, Master Chen stood up and left.
After walking Master Chen to the door, Ran smiled at Caleb who was sitting on the stone bench. "Go wash your hands, let's eat!" "I... I better head home," Caleb said a little embarrassed.
"What are you saying! You've helped me all day, how can I let you go home to eat?" Ran handed her a towel. "Hurry and wash your hands, I'll go serve the food!"
She had just entered the kitchen when she saw Simeon had already served the food. Ran took the big bowl of marinated pork offal from his hands. Without meaning to, her soft pale fingers touched Simeon's bony hand.
Ran didn't react at all. She turned around and left the kitchen with the bowl, leaving Simeon standing there, lips pressed tight, ears turning red as he watched her leave. After a while, he took a deep breath, grabbed the coarse grain rice, and walked out.
Caleb's eyes lit up when he saw the big bowl of pork offal on the table. He swallowed unconsciously and couldn't help recalling the delicious taste from yesterday. Simeon hadn't eaten it before, but just from the smell that made his mouth water, he could already tell it would taste amazing.
Even the dumb cow beside them was nearly drooling. "Hurry and eat! It won't taste good once it's cold!" Ran saw them both hesitating and thought they were shy.
She picked up food for each of them and placed it in their bowls. "Thanks, Ran!" Simeon smiled happily at her while looking at the food in his bowl. He picked up a piece of pork stomach and chewed slowly.
His eyes grew brighter with each bite. He never imagined pork offal could taste this good. Before he knew it, he started eating faster.
Seeing they both liked it, Ran became even more certain. Once the house was built, she would sell the recipe for marinated pork offal. That way, she wouldn't have to wake up early to hawk food on the street every day.
Many plants go dormant in the winter, so even though Ran's power had reached level three, which wasn't low, she still felt more and more sleepy lately. Worse, because of her power, she now felt extremely cold.
Every day, she just wanted to stay in bed and go nowhere. When winter came, she'd only want to leave the house even less.