Chapter 20: Eating Soft Rice to This Extent

Dusk gradually deepened.

After entering Shanyi District, Cheng Han rode a little farther and spotted two small figures playing beside his house.

Even from more than ten meters away, he recognized them immediately—they were the children of the neighboring family.

One was a six-year-old boy named Zhang Tie, while the other was a little girl called Zhang Wen, only four years old.

Cheng Han muttered quietly to himself,

“Did the smell of roasted bird from the kitchen chimney drift next door last night?”

It was already early autumn. The temperature had dropped to around fifteen degrees, making it rather chilly, and darkness was quickly falling.

What children would still stay outside at this hour?

There was only one answer.

On the surface, they were playing. In reality, they wanted to smell the aroma of roasted meat again.

Cheng Han sighed softly.

“Is this what they call quenching thirst by thinking of plums?”

The commoners of Shanyi District generally earned very little. The neighboring family had three children, so life was naturally difficult for them. They probably only got to eat meat once every ten days or half a month.

The two children had likely been craving meat for a long time before resorting to this.

Cheng Han got off his bicycle and rang the bell on the handlebar.

Ring~

The crisp sound startled the children.

Zhang Tie turned around with a panicked look and stammered,

“G-good evening!”

Meanwhile, Zhang Wen hid behind her brother, both little hands tightly clutching his clothes.

Looking at the patches sewn onto their clothes, Cheng Han revealed a gentle smile.

“Hey, would you like to eat some Tangerine Honey Candy?”

He pulled out two candies from his pocket and held them out toward the children.

Tangerine Honey Candy was a fairly common sweet. In stores, each piece cost four copper coins—not exactly cheap. Low-income families naturally could not bear to buy them.

Perhaps only during New Year celebrations or major holidays like the Sacred Banyan Festival would these children ever get the chance to eat candy.

Longing filled Zhang Tie’s eyes, yet in the end he still shook his head.

“My mom said we can’t casually take other people’s things.”

Zhang Wen peeked out from behind him and could not help swallowing.

Gulp!

Cheng Han deliberately put on a displeased expression.

“Hey, I’ve lived in Shanyi District for over half a year already. Are you still treating me like a stranger?”

Zhang Tie hurriedly shook his head.

“No!”

Cheng Han smiled and asked,

“If I’m not a stranger, then that means we’re acquaintances, right?”

Zhang Tie froze.

The boy felt something about that sentence was strange, but he could not figure out what exactly was wrong.

Cheng Han continued bullying the child with words.

“Since we’re already so familiar, I want to give you a small gift, but you’re refusing me. Isn’t that rather impolite?”

Zhang Tie wanted to explain himself, but he did not know how to argue back. His little face reddened anxiously.

Cheng Han laughed loudly and directly stuffed the candies into his hands.

“You must be a polite child, so you must accept the candy.”

Zhang Tie was completely confused now. Whether he accepted or refused felt wrong.

Cheng Han rubbed both children’s heads before pushing his bicycle toward his own house.

After looking at the candies in his hand, Zhang Tie suddenly clenched his teeth and shouted,

“These candies are too expensive! We really can’t take them!”

Cheng Han stopped walking and silently activated the Spiritual Vastness Remnant Mark. His eyes became slightly deeper and more mysterious.

Turning around, he looked at the boy and spoke with a trace of strange power in his voice.

“Take the candy and hurry home.”

A flash of confusion passed through Zhang Tie’s eyes. The resistance in his heart vanished completely.

“Okay!”

The corners of Cheng Han’s lips lifted slightly. He took out his key, opened the door, and wheeled the bicycle inside.

Besides increasing spiritual power, the Spiritual Vastness Remnant Mark could also quietly infiltrate another person’s spiritual sea, influencing their subconscious and causing them to obey his will.

That was precisely why Zhang Tie obediently complied.

Of course, with Cheng Han’s current strength, he could only influence ordinary people. It would have no effect on warriors or stronger individuals.

Outside the door.

Zhang Wen tugged at her brother’s sleeve, longing written all over her little face.

“Brother, can I eat candy?”

She licked her lips before adding softly,

“Just one tiny piece.”

Zhang Tie shook his head.

“We’ll talk after we get home.”

Disappointment immediately filled Zhang Wen’s face.

But Zhang Tie’s next sentence instantly made her happy again.

“I’ll cut each candy into four pieces later. Two candies make eight pieces. Then we can eat one piece every day and make them last a long time.”

The moment Cheng Han entered the house, he immediately heard the black cat’s routine greeting.

“Meow~”

Police Chief darted over like a streak of black lightning, rubbed against his pant leg, then lightly bounded several steps ahead and stopped at the kitchen entrance.

Cheng Han followed after it and instantly spotted a gray little animal lying motionless beside the stove.

A smile immediately appeared on his face.

It was a burrow rabbit.

Yesterday, he had instructed the black cat not to catch birds anymore and instead hunt burrow rabbits.

He had not expected it to actually bring one back.

“Meow~”

The black cat cried out once before sitting beside the rabbit and looking up at its owner, seemingly waiting for praise.

Cheng Han looked at the rabbit, then at the cat, astonishment filling his voice.

“How did you catch such a huge rabbit?”

This burrow rabbit was longer than an adult’s forearm, probably weighing no less than five jin.

Meanwhile, the black cat itself only weighed around ten jin.

To catch prey half its own body weight and even drag it all the way home was truly astonishing.

Police Chief lightly swished its tail, clearly quite pleased with itself.

Cheng Han rubbed its head several times and praised sincerely,

“You’re getting more and more impressive!”

The black cat narrowed its eyes happily, its tail swaying even faster.

Cheng Han picked up the burrow rabbit, feeling its heavy weight, and suddenly grew troubled.

“Too much meat can also be a problem.”

At school, he was constantly being fed by Qian Qingqing. Recently, Wan Tengjiao also seemed to be showing signs of wanting to feed him.

And now, after returning home, even the black cat was feeding him.

To live off others to this extent—even he admired himself a little.

Cheng Han pulled out a small knife and gestured at the rabbit before sighing.

“This rabbit’s way too big. Skinning it is going to be a huge project.”

He spent a full half hour working on it, his hands covered in blood before finally peeling the rabbit skin off completely.

Unfortunately, since it was his first time doing such work, his technique was clumsy. A perfectly good rabbit hide ended up slashed with several holes by the knife, looking tattered and worn.

Cheng Han smacked his lips.

“The quality’s too poor. It probably won’t sell for much.”

“Meow~”

The black cat cried out again, seemingly saying:

It’s okay. I can catch more.

Next came cooking.

Cheng Han first placed a honeycomb fuel brick into the stove before activating the True Flame Remnant Mark. With a casual wave of his right hand, a large shower of sparks scattered down onto the fuel.

Whoosh~

Blazing flames instantly burst forth.

Previously, he would have needed to pour a little brown oil first before quickly lighting the stove.

Compared to that, this method was obviously far more convenient and efficient.

The black cat sat nearby, staring without blinking.

Cheng Han grinned happily.

“From now on, I can save money on buying brown oil.”

Last night, he had once again analyzed the sun. The completeness of the True Flame Remnant Mark had increased by another 0.34%, reaching a new high of 1.52%.

At the same time, the temperature of the extraordinary flames had risen dramatically—enough to ignite fuel with ease.

(End of Chapter)