053 Li Yu

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Once she received Du Ruo’s approval, Yuan Yuan immediately put away her phone and headed to her room. There was no rush to send the video to Li Qiyao now; it would be even better to edit it into a finished product first. Whatever Yuan Yuan was thinking, Du Ruo couldn't guess, nor did he care to. He allocated the attribute points he’d just gained and then began tidying up the training ground.

"Yaya, are you hungry? We’ll have beef for lunch."

Having finished cleaning up, Du Ruo noticed Yaya nearby and only then remembered he hadn’t made lunch for her yet. Glancing at the clock, he saw it was nearly one o’clock. He’d been so caught up in his own excitement that he’d forgotten all about her.

"Uncle, I’m not hungry—hic!"

Yaya wiped her oil-stained hands on Maomao’s back and then hiccupped, grinning up at Du Ruo.

"You’re full from eating dried fish? That won’t do, you can’t treat that as a meal. Give me the rest of the dried fish now; you can have them as a snack after lunch."

Seeing Yaya hiccuping, Du Ruo remembered he’d just given her a whole bag of dried fish—those crispy, lightly seasoned snacks meant for the tavern, probably about 150 grams or so.

"More dried fish after lunch? But I already finished that bag—there’s nothing left!" Yaya’s eyes sparkled at the mention of more dried fish, but she quickly pointed at the trash bag beside her, where the plastic wrapper had been licked clean.

"Forget it, if you’re full, you don’t need to eat lunch. I’ll make you some vegetables later, just eat a little veg."

Seeing the empty wrapper in the trash, Du Ruo’s lips twitched. He sighed and decided not to force her to eat any more—she was full, and after all, dried fish could serve as a meal in a pinch.

...

On Saturday and Sunday, whenever Du Ruo practiced martial arts, Yaya would watch from the side. Once he finished, he’d take her and Maomao out to wander around the village.

The villagers all liked Yaya and often gave her snacks and fruit. Following Du Ruo, Yaya rarely ate proper meals, but her belly was always round and full. Even Maomao, trotting along behind, managed to get a fair share of treats.

That was just the way uncles looked after kids. Yaya loved her uncle dearly, and would sometimes imitate his boxing, raising her little fists and playing at kung fu moves on Maomao.

...

"Come on, tidy up your things. We’re going to Grandma’s for lunch. After we eat, I’ll take you to town—your uncle will buy you some treats."

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In their rented house, the air conditioning was set low. Yaya cuddled Maomao on the sofa, watching TV. When Du Ruo saw the time was right, he put away his phone, patted Yaya, and told her to get ready.

They’d only returned home late Saturday night, and by Sunday morning they were back at the rented courtyard. As for Yaya, after she’d eaten the dried fish, she stuck to Du Ruo like glue, following him everywhere.

"Dried fish, dried fish—the dried fish in the fridge!" Yaya climbed off the sofa, backpack in hand, and ran to Du Ruo, chanting insistently.

Ever since she’d eaten her fill of dried fish the day before, Du Ruo had started to ration her portions. But he’d promised that she could take the rest with her when they left.

"Alright, I’ll pack them for you. Be good when you get back—if you behave, there’ll be more dried fish next week."

After packing up the dried fish for Yaya, Du Ruo fetched a bottle of tiger bone wine from the room.

The bottle Yuan Yuan had filled yesterday, he’d divided into several smaller bottles—the same ones he used for snake wine. Each held about a kilogram. He’d given one to his parents yesterday.

As they’d gotten older, his parents suffered from rheumatism and joint pain. Applying or drinking a little of the medicinal wine helped quite a bit.

Today’s bottle was for his sister, Du Na. It was good stuff—if not for family, who else could he give it to? He didn’t need it himself; he’d already tested it that morning and found the diluted tiger bone wine had no obvious effect on his martial arts. The undiluted version was effective but far too extravagant for everyday use.

After lunch at home, Du Ruo took Yaya to town, bought clothes, got a haircut, and picked out toys and more clothes for Yaya. When it was nearly time, he brought Yaya back.

He gave the medicinal wine to his sister Du Na, explaining that it was tiger bone wine to treat her husband’s back injury, and taught her how to use it before leaving.

Du Na knew Du Ruo was off to a blind date, so she didn’t keep him. She helped straighten his clothes, wished him luck, and watched as he drove away.

It was probably because it was the weekend—the town was crowded with tourists. Du Ruo drove slowly and arrived at the café ten minutes early.

But to his surprise, when he entered the agreed café ten minutes ahead of schedule, a woman was already waiting at the table.

"Are you Li Yu? I’m Du Ruo—sorry for being a bit late," Du Ruo apologized first, then took a good look at her.

Li Yu was about twenty-eight or twenty-nine, wearing light makeup. She wasn’t quite as beautiful as Li Qiyao, but still striking and attractive. Sitting upright, even in the café, her back was perfectly straight.

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"No worries, my place is nearby, and since I had some time, I just walked over. You men seem to all like iced Americanos, so I went ahead and ordered one for you—hope you don’t mind." Li Yu glanced at Du Ruo, sizing him up before flashing a warm, natural smile. Though her words were polite, she’d already made the decision for him.

"Looks, figure, age, family background—all seem fine. Just a bit strong-willed..." Du Ruo thought to himself, but outwardly replied politely, "Thank you, I’m not picky—anything is fine."

As he sat, Du Ruo’s nose twitched; he caught a faint milky scent. Since his breakthrough, his senses had become much sharper. He could tell at once that this wasn’t the smell of coffee shop milk, but seemed to come from Li Yu herself.

He didn’t think much of it. These days, perfumes came in every imaginable scent, and he had no particular interest in them.

"Du Ruo, do you run a guesthouse in the village?" Li Yu asked, getting straight to the point as soon as their drinks arrived.

"Yes. I make about four hundred thousand a year. Life’s pretty relaxed. I don’t own a house and have no plans to move. I expect to settle here, enjoy a drink now and then, occasionally smoke, and practice martial arts for fun. That’s about it—no other serious hobbies."

He took a sip of his coffee. The unsweetened iced Americano was rather bitter, and his face involuntarily tightened as he spoke.

"That sounds pretty good," Li Yu replied, seeming quite pleased. She had ordered a lemon water, sipping it delicately as she continued, "I used to work in finance in Shanghai, and I’ve saved a bit. I’m planning to buy a car and a house here in town and settle down..."