Since this awkward incident had already happened, Li Feng was obviously unable to continue practicing.
The scene just now had completely disrupted his state of mind, and that restless Qi-Blood surging within his body made it impossible for him to concentrate on feeling the grinding of the sand and gravel.
Martial Dao cultivation feared a restless and impatient mind the most, a point that the Heavenly Dao Advance Panel also reflected. When paying off the Water-Cutting Saber Art previously, it required every single move and stance to be practiced with absolute seriousness in order to increase the progress, and forcefully continuing to practice would only result in extremely low efficiency.
"What on earth is all this..."
Li Feng sighed helplessly, pulling his clothes on haphazardly amidst the faint starlight.
Patting the dust off his clothes, he turned his head and glanced at his sister-in-law's room.
The room was unlit and quiet.
Li Feng originally wanted to say something to ease this awkward atmosphere, but the words reached his lips only for him to feel that no matter what he said right now, it would sound like a scoundrel making excuses, so he simply gave up and went straight back to his room.
"Screech!"
Li Feng pushed open the bedroom door and collapsed face-first onto the bed.
He had rolled around in the pile of sand and gravel for quite some time, and he wondered if the progress bar had gone up.
With a thought in his mind, he summoned the Heavenly Dao Advance Panel:
[Heavenly Dao Advance Panel] [Advanced Item 1: Archery Mastery (100% completed)] [Advanced Item 2: "Water-Cutting Saber Art" Perfection (Completed: 100%)] [Advanced Item 3: "Iron Robe Skin-Grinding Method" Perfection (Completed: 1%)] [Current Available Advance Items: 0] [Pending Unlocks: Calligraphy, Bedchamber Art, Culinary Arts...] [Current Realm: Qi-Blood Second Level Perfection]
The progress bar had increased by 1%. It seemed Constable Jiang was right: this sand and gravel training was indeed effective, and its efficiency was countless times higher than coarse burlap.
As long as he practiced bitterly every single night from now on, paying off this debt would probably take around three months or so.
It was just that...
At the thought of having to face his sister-in-law face-to-face for a meal tomorrow morning, Li Feng felt a splitting headache coming on.
Sigh, whatever, tomorrow's troubles can wait until tomorrow. As long as I don't feel awkward, the one who feels awkward will be my sister-in-law...
Li Feng forced himself into some self-consolation, lay down on the bed, and fell fast asleep.
Early the next morning, Li Feng got up early, pushed open his bedroom door, and glanced at the next-door room. Sure enough, his sister-in-law's door was tightly shut and there was no movement inside, obviously meaning she hadn't gotten up yet.
He had no choice but to go to the kitchen and cook a pot of congee himself.
Once the congee was ready, he walked to the kitchen doorway and looked at his sister-in-law's tightly closed door. He hesitated for a moment, but still didn't dare to brazenly step forward and knock.
"Sister-in-law, time to get up and eat breakfast." Li Feng called out.
A moment later, there was no response whatsoever.
Li Feng sighed helplessly and reached out to scratch his hair.
At this time in the past, his sister-in-law would have already woken up; she was definitely still angry with him because of last night's incident.
"Sister-in-law, I've already cooked the congee. Remember to eat it when you wake up later. It's getting late, so I'm heading off to duty first."
With that, Li Feng turned and walked out of the courtyard gate.
The entire day passed quickly amidst bragging with Zhang San and Chen Son, and today's street patrol was considered peaceful and uneventful.
At dusk when leaving duty, Li Feng returned home. As soon as he stepped into the courtyard, he caught a rich fragrance.
Pushing the door and entering the house, he saw that dishes were already set out on the dining table.
Lin Yanqiu was just carrying a plate of vegetables out from the kitchen. Today she wore her hair in a neat bun with a natural expression. Seeing Li Feng return, she said indifferently, "Wash your hands and get ready to eat."
Her tone was calm, as if last night's incident had never happened at all.
"You got it, sister-in-law."
With tacit understanding, Li Feng didn't bring up last night's matter again either, seizing the opportunity to go wash his hands.
Arriving beside the dining table, Li Feng discovered that today's dishes were exceptionally lavish. Right in the center, in particular, sat a large, full basin of beef, its portion frighteningly massive-at a glance, it was clearly more than two people could possibly finish.
"Sister-in-law, why did you buy so much beef today? There's no way we can finish this."
Li Feng was somewhat surprised.
Lin Yanqiu picked up a large empty bowl and scooped a heap of beef into it, finally giving him a sideways, unamused glare. "It's all for you. Uncle Li went out of his way yesterday to send you all this sand and gravel without taking a single copper coin. If we didn't show some token of appreciation, wouldn't that mean we have zero manners?"
"Having received someone's kindness, we must return the favor. That is the most basic principle of getting along between people."
"Take this bowl of beef over to Uncle Li's house in a bit, lest others say our Li family lacks manners."
Lin Yanqiu placed the bowl brimming with beef in front of Li Feng.
"Sister-in-law's lesson is right. I'll deliver it right after I finish eating."
Li Feng nodded repeatedly in agreement.
After finishing his meal quickly, Li Feng took that bowl of beef and walked toward Uncle Li's house.
Arriving at Uncle Li's front gate, the courtyard door was open, so Li Feng walked right in. Uncle Li's family happened to be eating.
Two plates of greens, a tiny bit of meat, and two bowls of coarse grain-virtually no oil or grease was to be seen.
For commoners in the Outer City who relied on selling hard labor to make a living, this was the most ordinary daily routine.
For ordinary households, simply filling their stomachs was already considered not bad; wanting to eat a proper meal of meat required waiting for festive holidays.
"Uncle Li, having a meal?" Li Feng greeted with a smile. "We happened to cook quite a bit of beef at home, and my sister-in-law asked me to bring some over for you all to try."
Seeing this, Uncle Li put down the bowl in his hand and hurriedly stood up. "Little Brother Li, how could this be proper? No, no, no, this is far too precious!"
Uncle Li's little granddaughter sat off to the side, staring fixedly at the beef and unable to hold back from swallowing a mouthful of saliva.
Out of the corner of his eye, Uncle Li caught sight of his granddaughter's yearning gaze. The little girl was right at the age where she was growing, and calculating the time, she hadn't eaten meat in nearly half a month.
In the end he still sighed and accepted it. "Well... alright then. But this is still too much, we'll just take half."
Seeing her grandfather accept the beef, the little girl's eyes lit up with joy.
Blinking her large eyes as she looked at Li Feng, she spoke in a crisp voice, "Thank you, Constable Big Brother! Grandpa, this big brother looks so handsome!"
Uncle Li was startled at first, then burst into hearty laughter. He stroked the little girl's small head and turned to invite Li Feng, "Little Brother Li, look how much my girl likes you. If you don't have pressing matters, why not sit down and eat a bit with us?"
"No, no, Uncle Li, I already ate at home, so I won't sit down." Li Feng hurriedly waved his hands in refusal with a smile.
"Aiyah, Big Brother looks so handsome, just sit down and eat a few bites!"
The little girl had quite a bit of boldness, directly reaching out with her small hand to grab the hem of Li Feng's tunic, tilting her head back to look at him with a face full of anticipation.
Faced with this direct compliment, a thrill ran through Li Feng's heart.
They said out of the mouths of babes-the little girl wasn't old, but her eye for things was quite good. Seeing as you know how to flatter so well, I'll reluctantly sit down and casually eat a few bites.
Though inwardly thrilled to bits, on the surface Li Feng still had to put on an appearance of finding it hard to refuse such hospitality, smiling helplessly as he took a seat right then and there.
"Alright then, I suppose I'll shamelessly eat a little more."
Li Feng smiled as he sat down, accepted the bowl and chopsticks handed over by Uncle Li, casually picked at a few bites of greens, and began chatting idly with Uncle Li about interesting goings-on in the streets. For a time, warmth and harmony filled the air.
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