At noon on the third day, Su Li squatted at the entrance to the blacksmith shop, gnawing on a piece of bread.
Saina came out of the kitchen carrying a bowl of egg-drop soup and handed it to him.
Over the past two days, she had already gone through three iron kneading basins. Old Buck cursed in distress, but whenever he saw his daughter's rosy cheeks and how she worked ten times more deftly than before, he swallowed the words back down.
Su Li took the bowl and drank a mouthful.
It was hot, with just the right amount of salt. The materials available to Saina in this life were still poor, but she at least had what she needed to make egg-drop soup.
"This afternoon, I'll go practice at the furnace again and help your father finish that batch of hoes."
Saina squatted beside him, cupping her cheeks in both hands as she tilted her head to watch him.
"You're Rank One now. Isn't making farm tools beneath your talents?"
"It's not beneath me." Su Li dipped his bread into the soup. "Your father took an order from town—ten hoes, due the day after tomorrow. If I help him finish them, he won't have to stay up all night."
Saina smiled and leaned over against his shoulder.
Life was going quite well. Quiet and peaceful, with food and drink. Though Old Buck was still sharp-tongued, he had already tacitly accepted that Su Li was living in the woodshed.
As for Martha, she could hardly wait to marry Saina off tomorrow.
Su Li silently calculated his next steps. Rank One was already in hand. At the absorption speed of the complete Sword Spirit Root, he would reach the threshold of Rank Two in ten days at most. By then—
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