"Then, let's go," Aether hesitated for a long time, then glanced at A-Zhi, who was also looking at him with an expectant expression, and finally nodded.
He really had no other excuses; he had to go.
Unless he brought the two of them back to the Serenitea Pot to bathe; in that case, setting up a separate bathroom for them to take turns would be no problem.
But he didn't want to expose his Serenitea Pot so early. It wouldn't matter in front of A-Zhi, but it wouldn't work with Yan'er.
After all, he planned to take Yan'er back to his little dark room later for severe interrogation and training.
If he exposed the Serenitea Pot too early, the other party might become wary.
Since it was a trump card, he had to keep it well hidden.
"Sigh, there's no helping it…" Aether shook his head helplessly; he truly had no choice.
However, since it was a bathhouse, it would probably be a communal bath for three people, and there might even be other people in the public bathhouse, so perhaps he didn't need to worry too much?
At most, he would just need to use his willpower to restrain himself.
Aether temporarily pushed these thoughts to the back of his mind and returned home with Yan'er and A-Zhi, who were clearly delighted.
After returning, A-Zhi immediately began to prepare dinner, saying that she would make a grand meal for them today.
Aether and Yan'er didn't have too high hopes for this, as A-Zhi didn't have many ingredients here. As the saying goes, a clever cook cannot make a meal without rice.
It would probably just be a bit more elaborate than yesterday's, right?
"Alright, I'll go prepare now. You two just rest here." A-Zhi clapped her hands, took out several bottles and jars from her cabinet, and then pushed open the door and left.
A-Zhi had long decided to make a good meal for the two of them.
The main reason was that the two of them arrived in a hurry yesterday, and she had only invited them to stay at her home on a whim, so she hadn't prepared anything and could only let them eat something simple.
But today was different. Before leaving this morning, A-Zhi specifically asked someone to help deliver fresh vegetables and meat to her in the evening.
Now that she had ingredients, she could naturally entertain the two of them well.
Of course, the most important thing was to entertain Aether well.
After all, Aether had worked very hard today, much harder than the two of them.
…
Watching A-Zhi push the door open and leave, Aether turned his head to look at Yan'er, who was already lying on the bed with his eyes half-closed, and sighed helplessly.
"I'll go see if there's anything I can help with."
"Didn't she say for us to just rest?" Yan'er opened his eyes, turned over to look at Aether, and immediately had some mischievous thoughts.
With A-Zhi not around and the two of them alone in the room, perhaps they could take the opportunity to do something.
"Aether, you've been tired all day, so don't go help. Come to bed and rest for a while?" Yan'er said, then moved his body, leaving an empty space on the bed for Aether.
At the same time, as if inadvertently, Aether noticed that Yan'er's collar seemed to have loosened considerably.
From his position, Aether seemed to be able to fully glimpse the scenery within.
"No, I'm not that tired," Aether silently averted his gaze, then said.
He couldn't look at these things now, otherwise, it would be even harder to endure when they went to the bathhouse later.
"How can you not be tired? You worked so hard today," Yan'er said, then got up again, wanting to pull Aether's hand and directly pull him onto the bed.
But Aether's attitude was very firm; he also immediately stood up.
"I'm really not tired. Uh, you rest first. I'm going to help." Aether didn't wait for Yan'er to reply, quickly turned around, pushed open the door, and walked out.
Only Yan'er was left sitting alone on the bed.
He puffed out his cheeks slightly, let out a soft snort, and then lay down directly.
"Hmph, not resting now… When you fall into my hands, there won't be any time to rest."
—
"Hmm… Okay, that's enough." Outside A-Zhi's house, A-Zhi was busy cooking.
She organized all the ingredients in her hand, preparing to wash them with water later and boil a pot of soup.
The items beside her, in addition to some simple vegetables and meat, also included several medicinal herbs, which were the bottles and jars A-Zhi had just taken out of the cabinet.
These medicinal herbs were all collected by A-Zhi during her usual trips to the mountains to gather herbs, mostly things that could replenish qi and blood.
They could be preserved for a long time using special methods in jars.
Aether had worked so hard today, and his physical exertion must have been significant, so A-Zhi thought it would be a good idea to mix these medicinal herbs into tonight's dinner to properly nourish Aether.
"A-Zhi, do you need my help?" Aether also walked over at this time, looking at A-Zhi, who was making a fire, and asked softly.
"Aether? Didn't I tell you to rest? You must be exhausted today. Just leave cooking these small matters to me." A-Zhi turned her head when she saw Aether and quickly said.
"No, no, I'm not tired at all, and besides, there's nothing interesting to do staying inside…" Aether waved his hand.
Staying in the room for too long, Yan'er might do something excessive, and he was not someone who could withstand temptation.
So it was better to come out and help.
"Hmm, well, then, help me wash these vegetables." A-Zhi saw Aether's insistence, hesitated for a moment, and finally nodded in agreement.
When Aether came to help yesterday, A-Zhi was purely being polite, but today she had personally watched Aether run back and forth, so she didn't want Aether to do any heavy work; washing vegetables would be enough.
"Okay, just these, right…?" Aether walked to A-Zhi's side and picked up all the organized vegetables.
These vegetables seemed to have been freshly picked from the fields not long ago and looked very fresh.
"Oh, right, take these two jars. They also contain some ingredients that I preserved using a special method. Although they can be eaten directly, it's still better to rinse them with water." A-Zhi then handed the jars containing her medicinal herbs to Aether.
"No problem." Aether took the vegetables and the small jars and went to the back of A-Zhi's house. There was a well there, and A-Zhi's daily water seemed to come from this well.
Aether drew a basin of water and began washing the vegetables.
"Huh? What kind of vegetable is this? I've never seen it before…" When it came to the contents of the jar, Aether blinked curiously.
He had seen many vegetables from Liyue, mainly because he knew a chef and had eaten so much that he recognized many.
But he couldn't immediately identify the contents of this jar.
"Perhaps it's a specialty vegetable from Qingce Village." Aether shook his head and didn't pay it any mind.
If Xiangling were here, she should be able to recognize them. These things were almost identical to the raw materials for the nutritious meals she had prepared for Aether before.
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