The Napa Cabbage Seems About to Be Uprooted.

He walked away with decisive steps.

That retreating figure, in Sena's eyes, suddenly became towering.

This was what a knight should be!

This was true nobility!

Even when mired in the mud, he still maintained that gentlemanly grace carved into his very bones.

He would rather sleep in a smelly stable than tarnish a girl's reputation.

Sena was moved to tears.

She hurried into the house and pulled the thickest wool blanket from her cabinet.

It was part of the dowry she had prepared for herself, something she usually couldn't bear to use.

"Wait!"

Sena chased after him.

The stable did indeed have a bit of a stench.

It was the smell of horse manure, hay, and old donkey fermented together. It was a bit pungent.

Su Li stood in the stable, and the old donkey beside him was looking at him with the expression one might reserve for a fool, its mouth continuously chewing hay with a crunching sound.

"What are you looking at?" Su Li glared at the donkey. "From now on, we're roommates. Learn some manners."

The old donkey snorted, spraying Su Li's face with bits of grass.

Su Li wiped his face, not even angry.

He found a relatively clean corner. There was a thick pile of hay there; although it was a bit prickly, it had the advantage of being dry.

Sena came in clutching the blanket.

"This is for you." She handed the blanket to Su Li, her movements cautious, as if she were presenting an imperial decree. "It's new. No one has ever used it."

Su Li took it.

"Thanks."

Su Li spread the blanket over the hay and tried lying down.

It was alright.

"You should head back." Su Li lay on the blanket, his hands behind his head. "Don't let your father find out."

Sena stood at the entrance, unmoving.

She watched Su Li lying in the hay. Even in such an environment, this man was still so handsome that it was hard to look away.

A few strands of hay stuck to his hair, which only added a touch of uninhibited charm to his appearance.

"Um..." Sena bit her lip. "Tomorrow morning, I'll bring you something to eat. I know where there are some freshly laid eggs."

Su Li closed his eyes, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"Alright. Thank you, miss."

Only then did Sena leave, albeit reluctantly. As she left, she thoughtfully closed the drafty wooden gate.

The stable fell silent once more.

Only the sound of the old donkey chewing hay remained.

Su Li opened his eyes and looked at the thatched roof above, which had a large hole in it. Through that hole, he could see the pale moon outside.

This hurdle, at least, had been cleared.

Not only did he have a place to stay, but he had also successfully planted the seed of a "good man" in this simple girl's heart.

With Sena as an inside contact, it shouldn't be difficult to scrape together a living in this village.

As for the future...

Su Li rolled over and wrapped the blanket tighter around himself.

He would worry about that later.

"I wonder what that madwoman Charlotte is doing right now..."

Su Li muttered to himself.

The woman who had cost him his life and made him a father.

Heh.

Just wait.

Sooner or later, he would settle this score.

Drowsiness surged over him like a tide. Although his young body was full of vitality, it couldn't withstand such exhaustion.

Su Li's breathing gradually steadied.

In his dream, he did not dream of roast chicken.

He dreamed that he had become a great landlord.

He owned a thousand acres of fertile land and kept a hundred pigs at home.

That deadbeat Old Jack was squatting at his feet, polishing his shoes, shouting as he scrubbed, "Master, these leather shoes are truly shiny!"

And Lady Charlotte, dressed in a maid's outfit, was bringing him foot-washing water.

"Is the water temperature to your liking, Master?"

"It's passable." Su Li waved his hand in the dream. "Remember to add some rose petals next time. I am a man of status now, after all."

Early the next morning.

Before the sky had fully brightened, the rooster began to howl at the top of its lungs.

Su Li was awakened by a series of clanging sounds.

It was the rhythmic striking of metal.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

Each strike felt like it was hammering against his brain.

Su Li opened his eyes groggily and sat up from the pile of straw. His body felt a bit itchy; that was from the bugs in the hay.

He rubbed his messy hair and let out a yawn.

His back and waist ached from that sleep.

The old donkey beside him was already awake, standing there with its backside facing him, flicking its tail to shoo away flies.

Su Li climbed up and shook the straw off his body.

The clanging outside continued. That was Old Buck starting his work.

Su Li walked out of the stable.

The morning air was cold, carrying a hint of frost.

In the courtyard, a bare-chested, burly man was standing before a furnace, swinging a hammer.

The man had a face full of thick beard, and his muscles looked like blocks of granite; sweat flowed down his spine, glistening in the sunlight.

This was Old Buck.

Su Li swallowed hard.

This physique, this presence.

If he had really crawled into Sena's bed last night, he would probably have been beaten into a metal pancake by now.

"Good morning, Uncle."

Su Li's voice was crisp and clear.

Old Buck's movements stopped.

He turned around, still holding the red-hot iron tongs in his hand.

Those bull-like eyes, round as copper bells, stared straight at Su Li.

That gaze was filled with scrutiny and vigilance.

"Who are you?"

Su Li did not panic.

He had seen this kind of situation many times before.

He took a step forward and bowed neither servilely nor overbearingly.

Even if his clothes looked a bit ridiculous.

"A wandering ronin."

Su Li said.

"Thanks to your daughter's hospitality, I stayed in the stable for the night."

Old Buck narrowed his eyes.

He looked Su Li up and down.

This kid... he was a real menace to look at.

Old Buck had lived for over forty years and had been a blacksmith his whole life; the most beautiful thing he had ever seen was the gemstone-encrusted sword belonging to the Lord of the City.

But the kid in front of him was even more dazzling than that sword.

Especially those eyes.

Old Buck was a rough man and didn't know any fancy adjectives.

He only felt that being watched by those eyes was like having a freshly quenched blade graze his skin—a bit cold, and something indescribably... high-class.

"Lodging?"

Old Buck let out a huff, the iron tongs in his hands clicking and clacking.

"Since when did I start running an inn out of my stable?"

Just then, Sena ran out of the house carrying a basin of water.

"Dad!"

Sena stepped in front of Su Li.

"I'm the one who brought him here!"

"He had nowhere else to go, so I told him he could sleep in the stable! Look, he hasn't even stepped inside the house!"

Old Buck looked at his daughter's anxious expression, then glanced at Su Li's calm demeanor.

No one knows a daughter better than her father.

Old Buck's heart sank.

It was over.

His own unwanted head of cabbage seemed about to be uprooted by someone else.

This kid looked... far too frail.

Couldn't carry a load, couldn't lift a thing.

Aside from that face, what else was he good for?

Old Buck tossed the iron tongs into the water bucket.

"Sizzle—"

White steam rose into the air.