Crossing the Line

Stepping out of Jiang Yue's Administrative Office, Li Feng walked into the front yard and saw Zhang San and Chen Song still sitting in their original spots, chatting idly.

Seeing Li Feng come out, Chen Song stopped immediately, nudged Zhang San with his elbow, and jerked his chin in Li Feng's direction. Only then did Zhang San turn his head and hurriedly wave for him to come over. "Over here, Brother Feng."

Li Feng walked over and sat down beside the two of them, casually pouring himself a cup of tea.

"Well? How did it go? Did you go in and honestly confess your wrongs?" Chen Song looked at him with an expression full of gossip, seemingly wanting to see if he had received any cane strikes.

Zhang San chimed in repeatedly from the side as well. "Yeah, yeah! Constable Jiang usually has such an icy look. You didn't talk back, did you?"

Looking at the two of them acting all nervous, a thought stirred in Li Feng's heart, and he suddenly wanted to tease them.

He deliberately drooped his face, let out a long sigh, and gave a bitter, helpless shake of his head. "Confess what wrongs? I still don't know how I offended that woman. I hadn't even spoken yet after going in-just stood there stupidly for a while-and got docked a month's salary as punishment."

"Ah?" Zhang San and Chen Song instantly sucked in a breath of cold air, their faces showing sympathy.

Zhang San reached out and patted Li Feng's shoulder, comforting him, "Condolences, Brother Feng. Who told this Constable Jiang to come from the Inner City? Maybe she was just in a bad mood today. Just consider it as accidentally losing two taels of silver."

Chen Song also patted his other shoulder and nodded along in comfort.

Li Feng forced back his laughter and waved his hand with a manufactured air of exhaustion, after which he and the two of them set out on today's street patrol.

After going off duty in the evening.

Li Feng was in exceptionally high spirits today. In one go, he had resolved three stones that had been pressing down at the bottom of his heart-truly a case of good things coming in pairs and killing three birds with one stone.

Therefore, he decided to buy more ingredients tonight to celebrate and splurge a bit.

For tonight's lavish feast, he really bled money today. First, he went to the butcher shop to buy a catty of top-grade beef, then picked two plump trotters, followed that up by buying some green peppers and a few eggs, and finally selected some freshly unearthed, tender mushrooms.

Afterward, he hurried over to the pastry shop on the edge of the Inner City to buy several kinds of fine pastries that his sister-in-law used to love: a box of Osmanthus Pine Nut Cake, a package of Jade Exquisite Crisp, and two blocks of Hibiscus Dew Roll.

These delicate pastries were not cheap, costing nearly a tael of silver.

Returning home, Li Feng pushed open the courtyard gate and shouted loudly, "Sister-in-law, I'm back."

"Xiaofeng, you're back. Come, quickly drink a mouthful of water first and quench your thirst."

Lin Yanqiu walked out to welcome him from the inner room, her left hand still steadily holding a bowl of clean water.

Li Feng took large strides forward to take the water bowl, tilted back his neck, and drained it in a single gulp.

"Ha, refreshing!"

As he spoke, Li Feng took off the constable uniform on his body.

The weather was truly somewhat hot, and having run around outside for a whole day, he had sweated quite a bit. The moment this uniform came off, his body instantly felt a lot cooler.

"Xiaofeng, give me the clothes. I'll conveniently wash them for you in a moment." Lin Yanqiu extended her left hand, wanting to take the clothes from Li Feng's grip.

Seeing this, Li Feng hastily pulled the clothes backward and shook his head. "Sister-in-law, you're still a patient. You should just leave this bit of work for me to wash myself later."

Hearing this, Lin Yanqiu's expression sank instantly.

She knitted her pretty brows slightly and said with a hint of anger, "What's wrong? Treating me like a cripple? My right hand is just ruined, not both hands disabled. Could it be that since this right hand can't be used, I've become some useless person who can't do a single thing?"

"Sister-in-law... I didn't mean it that way." Li Feng hurriedly explained.

Lin Yanqiu sighed, a trace of stubbornness flashing in her eyes. "Xiaofeng, nowadays our household expenses rely entirely on you alone. You run around and toil outside every day, so how could I still sit at home with peace of mind and wait to be fed?"

"I, Lin Yanqiu, am not that delicate. It's just a little housework, I can easily do it with one hand."

Seeing that his sister-in-law insisted, Li Feng no longer declined. He obediently handed the uniform over to Lin Yanqiu and teasingly joked,

"All right, all right, then I'll trouble Sister-in-law. However, you must be a bit careful when washing it for me, don't ruin it. I only have two of these constable uniforms in total. If one gets ruined, I'll have to shell out my own money to get a replacement issued at the City Guard Office."

His sister-in-law had always been strong-willed. Now that she was injured and at home, her heart was already sensitive. If he didn't even let her do these trivial daily chores, she would definitely feel like she was a burden to the household.

Lin Yanqiu took the clothes, gave him an eye-roll, and said ungraciously, "Alright, spare me the glib tongue. Do you really think I can rip your clothes apart?"

"Oh right, Sister-in-law, look what I brought you."

Li Feng took out several paper parcels he was carrying and opened them layer by layer. Instantly, an alluring, sweet fragrance diffused through the courtyard.

"This is... pastries from that shop on the edge of the Inner City?"

Lin Yanqiu looked at the several delicate pastries before her-there were Osmanthus Pine Nut Cake, Jade Exquisite Crisp, and Hibiscus Dew Roll. First she was stunned, and then she instantly grew anxious.

Her brows knitted slightly, and she couldn't help scolding, "You child, how could you recklessly buy things like this! These pastries aren't cheap; just think how much silver they cost!"

Looking at his sister-in-law's scolding expression, Li Feng felt warm inside.

He picked up a piece of Osmanthus Pine Nut Cake. "Sister-in-law, open your mouth."

Lin Yanqiu paused for a moment and subconsciously parted her red lips slightly.

Li Feng took the opportunity to stuff the pastry in, his finger inadvertently brushing against her warm, soft lips and carrying away a trace of moisture.

"Mm..."

Caught off guard, Lin Yanqiu had her mouth stuffed full, and a layer of blush instantly appeared on her fair neck, spreading all the way to the tips of her ears.

Instinctively, she wanted to open her mouth to lecture this brat for lacking respect, but with her mouth packed full of pastry, she could only emit a muffled, soft, and tender sound: "Mm-mm... Li..."

Lin Yanqiu's earlobes turned red enough to drip blood, her heart filled with both bashfulness and anxiety.

This action was simply way too intimate! Besides, since when did a brother-in-law and sister-in-law directly feed each other things by hand like this?

Swallowing the pastry in her mouth, she wanted to straighten her face and scold this brat for his lack of propriety, but when she raised her head and caught sight of Li Feng's clear eyes, the words she originally intended to lecture him with were swallowed right back down.

Looking at this brat's innocent expression, Lin Yanqiu secretly bit her red lips. Maybe he just had good intentions, and I'm probably just overthinking things.

"It's fine, Sister-in-law. This bit of money doesn't amount to much. You eat a piece of pastry first to line your stomach, and I'll go to the kitchen to cook. When it's time to eat later, I'll tell you a few pieces of good news."

With that, Li Feng carried the newly bought vegetables and turned into the kitchen.

His strides were light and brisk, single-mindedly thinking of the lavish feast ahead, without realizing what kind of psychological impact his disrespectful action had caused Lin Yanqiu.

Before long, waves of alluring aromas wafted out from the kitchen.

Li Feng deftly served the food and dishes onto the table: a bowl of stir-fried beef, a bowl of braised trotters, a plate of stir-fried green peppers and eggs, a bowl of fresh mushroom soup, and two bowls of large, white rice.

Having set out the dishes, Li Feng and Lin Yanqiu came to the table and sat down.

Looking at this table full of food, Li Feng felt it was truly extravagant in the extreme.

In this precarious world, if one could have this kind of enjoyment every single day, he wouldn't trade it even if given to an emperor!

With a lavish evening meal like this, probably even those master households running shops in the streets couldn't manage it.

One had to know that among the neighbors, there were countless families who couldn't even dream of seeing a bit of meat and grease, let alone eat this kind of fine rice without impurities. On ordinary days, they could only scrape by on harsh, throat-scratching coarse grain.

Compared to those people, Li Feng and Lin Yanqiu were undoubtedly extremely fortunate.

Although his sister-in-law's position as a chief constable was gone, Li Feng's status as a hundred-odd-tasks constable remained. As long as the hundred-plus taels of silver weren't spent recklessly, the two of them could eat meat with every single meal.

Moreover, it wouldn't be long before Li Feng was promoted to a Regular Constable, and their days would only get better and better.

Gazing at this table of food that could be called extravagant, Lin Yanqiu widened her eyes once more. "All right, stop keeping me in suspense. What on earth is the good news that makes it worth cooking a table like this today?"

Li Feng lowered his voice and spoke with deliberate mystery, "This first piece of good news is that Constable Jiang passed down the Skin-Grinding Method-which only Regular Constables are qualified to practice-to me today."

"What?!" Hearing this, Lin Yanqiu turned pale with shock, and the chopsticks in her hand almost dropped to the ground.

"How can this be! The City Guard Office has explicit regulations; privately transmitting martial dao cultivation methods is a major crime. If this is discovered, chances are you'll lose your head!"

Li Feng hurried to soothe her. "Sister-in-law, don't panic, it's fine. Constable Jiang is likely going to be promoted to Deputy Constable Director."

Lin Yanqiu was obviously stunned for a moment, and only then did she let out a long breath, patting her chest. "So that's how it is. Then the only one greater than her at that time will be the Constable Commander, and the Constable Commander probably won't bother with such minor matters."

"That's right, Sister-in-law, so you can completely rest easy regarding the cultivation method. However, there's even bigger good news. Take a guess." Li Feng continued with a smile.

Lin Yanqiu knitted her brows and thought for half a day, truly unable to imagine what other good news there could be for their current situation, and in the end she could only shake her head.

Li Feng put down his bowl and chopsticks, his expression turning incomparably serious as he said word for word, "In three more days, I can get the Black Jade Bone-Molding Paste for Sister-in-law."

Lin Yanqiu trembled all over, looking at Li Feng in disbelief as if she had heard some Arabian Nights fantasy.

Li Feng smiled and explained, "That petty thief we captured alive that night is actually a wanted felon worth four hundred taels of silver. Lord Jiang called me over today, wanting me to choose between four hundred taels and a top-tier Skin-Grinding Method."

Lin Yanqiu asked with confusion, "Then what did you choose?"

"I didn't want either. I told Lord Jiang that I wanted neither of those two things, and that I would even take out the one hundred thirty taels I've saved up previously, only begging her to help buy a single stick of Black Jade Bone-Molding Paste. To my surprise, Lord Jiang agreed."

"Not only that, Lord Jiang perhaps felt that I possess some martial dao talent, so in the end she didn't make me take out the one hundred thirty taels, and even imparted the Skin-Grinding Method-which can only be studied by Regular Constables-to me together with it."

After listening to these words, the room immediately plunged into a long silence.

Lin Yanqiu stared dazedly at the young man before her.

A full four hundred taels of silver! And a top-tier Skin-Grinding Method sufficient to change one's destiny-in order to cure her right hand, he actually gave all of it up.

At this moment, a tumult of emotions churned within her heart, and an unusual feeling spread from the bottom of her soul.

This youth who used to follow behind her all the time, needing her protection, had already grown into a responsible, stalwart man.

To mask her emotions, Lin Yanqiu hurriedly changed the subject, purposely putting on a stern face. "You brat... are much too reckless. You actually dared to make demands of a superior. However, since Lord Jiang didn't confiscate these hundred-odd taels of silver, you still mustn't spend recklessly."

She paused for a moment, her gaze turning gentle as she spoke softly, "You're already eighteen this year, and after the New Year passes you'll be nineteen. It's time to start thinking about settling down. Keep this silver; another day I'll ask around for you through intermediaries and we can consider finding you a good girl's family."

Hearing this, Li Feng didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Sister-in-law... I'm still too young for that."

"What do you mean too young, hurry up and eat!"