Chapter 4: Losing Weight

The three little ones obediently jumped down to the ground, their eyes pure and adorably innocent.

“What are your names?” Shao Diandian asked.

The three quickly hid behind Shao Erdan, shyly covering their little faces like three timid plants.

Their bashful demeanor melted Shao Diandian’s heart completely.

“Do they cry or fuss?” she inquired.

Shao Erdan replied, “No, they’re very well-behaved.”

Shao Diandian glanced behind Shao Erdan, noticing the three little ones sneaking peeks at her. When they caught her watching, they immediately ducked their heads back down.

“They just don’t like to talk much,” Shao Erdan explained.

Shao Kang took out the things he had bought from town and placed them on the table.

The three little ones tiptoed over, peering curiously into the basket.

“Is this what you’re looking for?” Shao Kang picked up a bamboo leaf package from the table and opened it, revealing three skewers of candied hawthorn fruit, half-eaten on the way.

Candied hawthorn was expensive. Shao Kang was generous only to his daughter and stingy with everyone else. He hadn’t intended to buy any, but before he realized it, the three little ones had already taken bites—

Shao Kang felt heartbroken the entire way.

The three little ones, clutching their skewers, went inside to find their father.

But they had barely stepped inside before they panicked and ran out, holding their candied hawthorns tightly.

—Wei Ting had fallen so badly that he no longer recognized even his own son.

Shao Kang and Shao Erdan were stunned when they entered the room.

Where was the handsome son-in-law they had brought back?

How had a single day turned him into a pig-headed mess?!

Shao Diandian crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe, her voice cool and detached: “Is this the man you said was a hundred times more handsome than Liu Tongsheng?”

Shao Kang cleared his throat. “Daughter, you have to believe me—he really is handsome.”

Shao Erdan’s thoughts were peculiar. “Sister, did you hit him?”

Shao Diandian was speechless.

“He fell on his own!”

Why would she hit him for no reason? You really are my biological brother!

Since it was a fall, once the wounds healed, everything would be fine. Shao Kang relaxed and sent Shao Erdan to comfort the three trembling little ones, while he pulled his daughter into the living room.

Pointing to a box of pastries on the table, he said, “Dad bought your favorite osmanthus cakes from Jin Ji!”

Jin Ji’s pastries weren’t cheap; a small box cost one or two silver taels, while grain was only three to five wen per jin.

“Didn’t we spend all our silver already?”

If she remembered correctly, Old Shao had even used his coffin savings as the betrothal gift for Liu Tongsheng.

Shao Kang smiled. “That’s the betrothal gift!”

Shao Diandian murmured, “Why is the betrothal gift so much?”

She naturally didn’t know that Shao Kang had actually snatched the betrothal money from three different places.

The box contained six osmanthus cakes, clearly none were meant for Shao Kang or Shao Erdan.

“Haven’t eaten yet, right?” she asked.

Shao Kang suddenly remembered he had been out all day. “You must be hungry. I’ll go cook!”

“No need, I already made it.” Shao Diandian turned and went to the kitchen, bringing out sweet potato soup and chive pockets. To Shao Erdan, who was playing with the little ones at the door, she said, “Erdan, time to eat!”

“Hey! Coming!” Shao Erdan gathered the three little ones and they sat down to eat.

He looked at the beautifully cooked chive pockets and sweet potato soup on the table, surprised: “Dad, did you make this?”

Shao Kang answered, “Your sister made it.”

Shao Erdan’s expression was one of disbelief. “No way? My sister...”

Before he could finish, Shao Diandian opened the box of osmanthus cakes. “You all should try these too. From today on, I’m going on a diet, so I won’t be eating sweets anymore.”

Having said that, she seemed determined and walked straight into her room without looking back.

Shao Erdan was stunned for a moment before asking blankly, “Dad, is my sister... out of her mind?”

Shao Kang slapped his son’s head. “You’re the one with the problem!”

Rubbing his sore head, Shao Erdan muttered, “Then what’s going on?”

His sister’s behavior was indeed strange today, but Shao Kang didn’t probe further. He just felt she had been too deeply hurt by Liu Tongsheng’s broken engagement, which had changed her temperament.

Shao Erdan suspiciously picked up a chive pocket. “Is stuff my sister makes even edible?”

The next second, he was proven wrong.

The food his sister made was incredibly, incredibly delicious!

The Shao family had four rooms: two on the east side, two on the west. The largest and best-lit east room in the south was made into Shao Diandian’s new chamber.

Wei Ting was convalescing in the other east room.

Shao Kang and Shao Erdan each took one of the west rooms, while the three little ones slept in Shao Erdan’s room.

Late into the night, the family had all fallen asleep.

Shao Diandian quietly got up.

She took out her first aid kit from under the quilt, opened it, and checked the medical supplies she had packed earlier—everything was intact.

How could this be?

Even the first aid kit had come through the time travel?

She couldn’t figure out whether this was science or some supernatural phenomenon.

“No matter. Saving lives is the priority.”

Shao Diandian grabbed the first aid kit and an oil lamp and went to Wei Ting’s room.

She closed the door and adjusted the lamp wick to its brightest setting, but the light was still insufficient. She fetched oil lamps from other rooms as well.

Just as she expected, Wei Ting’s injuries had worsened and his condition was critical.

Without hesitation, Shao Diandian loosened his clothes.

Though she had seen him once before, she couldn’t help but admire his perfect physique again.

His abdominal muscles were well-defined, lines flowing smoothly; his arms and chest were full and strong but not exaggerated. Even the intersecting scars seemed to radiate strength.

Shao Diandian cleaned his wounds with saline. The cuts on his abdomen and calves needed stitching.

At that moment, Wei Ting slightly opened his swollen eyes.

“Can you hear me?” Shao Diandian whispered.

Wei Ting’s consciousness was hazy.

Shao Diandian continued, “I’m going to stitch your wounds now. Don’t move.”

Whether he understood or not was uncertain, but in his state, he couldn’t move anyway.

She administered local anesthesia, stitched the wounds, and wrapped them with gauze. Throughout the process, she felt Wei Ting struggling to stay awake.

She gave him two anti-inflammatory pills.

At last, Wei Ting couldn’t hold on any longer, closing his eyes and drifting into a deep sleep.

He was asleep, but Shao Diandian still had work to do.

She treated his other wounds, carefully checked his pulse, and observed his injuries, ruling out the possibility of internal bleeding—only minor hematomas.

This condition could be treated with medication so long as it didn’t worsen.

The next day, Shao Diandian made an effort to get up early.

Her vow to lose weight was earnest, and she had already devised a plan.

The first step was to break the habit of laziness and indulgence and get moving.

At her current weight, strenuous exercise on the ground was unsuitable to avoid knee injuries; she could start with simple housework instead.

She went to the kitchen to build a fire.

Having made sweet potato soup the night before, today she decided to make sweet potato cakes.

First, she mixed cornmeal and cut the sweet potatoes into cubes. The sweet potatoes were naturally sweet; just a pinch of salt in the cornmeal batter was enough.

The sweet potato cubes, coated in cornmeal batter mixed with chopped green onions, were fried until the aroma filled half the village.

She also steamed a few.

She and Wei Ting ate the steamed ones together.