Lu Huan felt a stab in his heart. His fingers curled up involuntarily as he looked at the pancakes. His expression was a mess.

A moment later, he frowned and messed up the pancakes. He threw them into the stove and cleaned the plate with the pancakes, leaving no traces behind.

Su Xi played the game until late last night and woke up late the next day. There was a time difference between her and the game, so when she went online, two days and one night had already passed in the game.

When Su Xi logged into the game, it was night again. Her first reaction was to switch the interface to the room to see how Zaizai, who had a fever the night before, was doing.

She saw that the stamina bar in the upper left corner had recovered 80%. This meant that Zaizai's cold was basically cured. After a few more days of rest, he would be alive and kicking again.

Su Xi smiled with a sense of accomplishment and went to check on Zaizai on the bed. His actions last night were not in vain.

It was midnight in the game. The moon was high in the sky and it was quiet. She thought that the game character would be sleeping soundly, but she didn't expect to see him tossing and turning in bed with his eyes open. He seemed to be upset and couldn't sleep.

His short legs were curled up, arching the quilt into a small hill.

His brows were furrowed, and his bun face was also wrinkled. It made people want to poke him.

… What's wrong?

Was it because of the crops and the hens that laid eggs?

Since he was awake, Su Xi didn't dare to mess around in the room. She was afraid that if she accidentally poked him, he would think that there was a ghost and be scared half to death.

Therefore, Su Xi switched the interface to the outside of the room and looked around the firewood courtyard. She couldn't help but be surprised.

Zaizai was too diligent!

Although he was still sick, he must have worked hard yesterday!

Outside the firewood courtyard, there were rows of chives and early spring zucchini seeds planted. There were also some other crops arranged neatly and orderly!

Su Xi thought that in this kind of game, all the crops had to be planted by herself as a player. She didn't expect Zaizai to be so motivated. She couldn't help at all!

However, there was a very difficult problem. It was winter now. Even if they planted winter crops, there wouldn't be any harvest in a short period of time.

Moreover, the temperature was low in winter. The days were short and the nights were long. The number of eggs laid by hens would be very low, or even completely stagnant.

The second main mission would probably be very difficult to complete.

"Is there a time limit for completing the main mission?" Su Xi asked.

"That's not the case. The main quests can be completed at the same time, and there's no time limit for all of them.

But the more main quests you complete, the more points you'll get. When your points reach 100, you'll be able to communicate with the game's main character. Don't you want that? "

Su Xi wanted to. Of course, he wanted to. This was a scene that money couldn't buy!

She was suddenly filled with energy!

She first switched the interface to the chicken coop next to the firewood courtyard and stared at a group of chickens hiding in the innermost area, snuggling up to each other for warmth. One of the chickens' comb was frozen and cracked. Although it wouldn't die of illness, the weather would definitely affect the egg production.

She pondered for a moment.

Then, he opened Baidu. "How do I raise chickens in winter?"

Su Xi suspected that when his parents saw the Baidu search results on his phone, their expressions would be very strange.

Baidu was quite reliable and provided a series of solutions. However, it was obvious that many of the methods such as temperature control boxes and sunlight lamps couldn't be done in the ancient times in the game.

Su Xi was quick-witted. She first bought wooden poles, tree branches, boards, and other materials from the shop. Then, according to the blueprint, she pieced them together on the screen with her fingers. This process was like putting together building blocks. It was quite interesting. She was immediately fascinated.

After piecing it together, she covered it with linoleum paper. Finally, she bought quicklime and poured it on top. It could prevent mice and insects.

In this way, a very large winter shelter was completed!

The one that Zaizai made with the fence was perfect and skillful enough for the ancient people. However, Su Xi used the best materials and made this one according to the blueprint. It was obviously a lot more modern!

After she was done, she silently set up the winter shelter inside the fence that Zaizai had originally made.

The hens seemed to feel that the temperature was gradually changing. It wasn't so cold anymore. A few of them shook their feathers and stood up to look for feed. Two of them also stretched out and burrowed inside. It seemed that they felt that they could lay eggs.

Not only that, Su Xi also searched for a circle of hen oxytocin in the shop. She shook it on top of the feed crazily and let the hens eat it all. After all, the things in the shop couldn't be useless!

After arranging the chicken shelter, Su Xi moved her fingers and turned over all the fields that Zaizai had planted. Similarly, she also scattered some things that she bought from the shop to promote growth.

In this way, it was finally a success!

She spent more than 200 gold coins in one go. However, if it was converted to RMB, it was only two RMB. Su Xi was rich now. She didn't feel any heartache when she spent money.

After she finished doing all this, a small harvest column appeared in the upper right corner.

It showed: "Current harvest: 2/500 eggs, 0/2000 kg of grain."

Mission 2's progress bar hadn't even been set yet.

However, Su Xi wasn't in a hurry. She saw that Zaizai tossed and turned in the game for most of the night. He seemed to have just fallen asleep, so she went to eat breakfast first. After breakfast, it was still dark in the game. She went online to play for a while. She wandered around and found traces of a fire in the kitchen.

Wow, what did Zaizai cook?

She was hungry.

Su Xi pulled at the stove. She was a little interested. Ever since she started playing this game, she had never seen Zaizai eat. His stomach was pitifully flat all day. However, thinking about it, he lived in Prince Ning Fu for so many years, so he should know how to cook?

She just didn't know how it would taste.

However, after Su Xi pulled at the stove, she didn't find anything other than soot. She could only give up.

The other places hadn't been unlocked yet. She opened the stream. There was no one there, so she could only return to the Chai Courtyard.

Inside the house, the little ball on the bed was sleeping quietly. His brows were still furrowed.

Su Xi gently opened the wardrobe. She saw that the few snow-white robes she had thrown inside hadn't been touched at all!

However, the two low-quality animal skins that the little game character had bought from the market outside had been touched.

Su Xi zoomed in and saw that there were some small holes on the edge of one of them. It seemed that Zaizai wanted to sew it onto the current clothes, but he wasn't good at embroidery. He clumsily poked the clothes and couldn't sew it back on. So he had to remove the thread.

Su Xi quickly picked up the little game character's finger and zoomed in to take a look.

His soft little hand indeed had traces of small blood holes caused by needles.

Su Xi couldn't help but laugh.

Damn, aren't you stupid? I thought Zaizai was omnipotent.

Although she didn't go online after going to bed every night, she could find clues once she went online. She could find out what Zaizai was doing when she wasn't online.

Su Xi imagined the game character sitting on the bed, staring seriously at the clothes in his hand and trying to thread the needle. However, he still messed up every stitch. She was overjoyed and thought it was very fun.

She quickly opened the shop and spent 20 gold coins to buy "needlework".

Then, after a while, two low-quality animal skins were sewn onto Zaizai's previous clothes. Who told Zaizai to refuse to wear new clothes?

However, although the animal skins were of poor quality, they were still cold and frostproof.

Su Xi was relieved. She temporarily put down the game to do her homework and let the System have something to do.

Lu Huan woke up before dawn. He didn't sleep very well last night. He opened his eyes and stared at the curtain expressionlessly.

Since that night when he sent the cold medicine package, that person hadn't appeared for two whole days. Today was already the third day.

The empty courtyard was empty from beginning to end. Only the sound of snow falling could be heard. It was so lonely that he was the only one there.

When he went out, he kept looking back. When he came back, he was still far away in the bamboo forest. He pricked up his ears to listen to the movements here.

However, it was very quiet. Only the wind and snow filled the sky.

Yesterday and the day before, he paid special attention to the things in the courtyard, even the flowers and grass.

However, nothing was touched again.

In other words, that person really didn't sneak in again.

Logically speaking, the sudden disappearance of this accident that had suddenly intruded into his lifeless days should have caused him to heave a sigh of relief like when he was extremely vigilant earlier. He should have even rejoiced, but for some reason, in his heart … he didn't feel that way.

It was like the ripples that had been set off could no longer be calmed down.

Lu Huan's face flashed with some complicated and irritated emotions. He got up and changed his clothes as usual.

He planned to go to the chicken coop to take a look, but as soon as he opened the door, he heard a servant from the Old Madame's side calling, "Third Young Master, the Old Madame wants you to go to the main courtyard."

Previously, when the servants saw the dishes, they wouldn't call him "Third Young Master". However, after the incident at the stream, when the servants saw that the Old Madame, who had the most authority in Prince Ning Fu, favored Lu Huan, they didn't dare to bully him like before. Although they didn't treat him well, they restrained themselves a little.

Lu Huan frowned.

He didn't know if the Old Madame's urging had anything to do with what he was thinking.

Half a month later, there would be a group hunt among the heirs on Autumn Swallow Mountain.

The Second Prince would also participate. Prince Ning Fu's side was the Second Prince's. However, in recent years, Prince Ning Fu's power had declined and he couldn't enter the Second Prince's eyes.

Therefore, Prince Ning and the Old Madame had been thinking of ways to get the two brothers, Lu Yu-an and Lu Wenxiu, closer to the Second Prince's side. They had even sent the two of them to the Imperial College. Unfortunately, Lu Yu-an's personality was mediocre and Lu Wenxiu was too stupid. The Second Prince disdained to interact with them.

Previously, they had thought of adopting a foster daughter and sending her to the Second Prince's side. Unfortunately, Lady Ning was jealous. Before the foster daughter could be sent to the Second Prince's side, she thought that the foster daughter had an affair with her father and killed the foster daughter first.

Lu Huan was very clear about the twists and turns of Prince Ning Fu's story. However, he didn't participate in it and wanted to protect himself.

Now that Lu Wenxiu was confined, the Old Madame must have other thoughts.

He pretended not to know and didn't reveal anything on his face. He directly followed the servant to the main courtyard. Because the Old Madame had called for him in a hurry, he didn't have time to go to the chicken shed and the kitchen to take a look.

Before he left, he took two packets of typhoid medicine with him. Before he returned, he would go to Fourth Madame's place and give them to her.

When Su Xi finished his homework and went online again, he saw that Zaizai was no longer in the courtyard. He didn't know where he went.

A mission suddenly popped up on the interface:

"Please accept the third main mission: Please befriend the Second Prince during the Autumn Swallow Mountain Hunt!

Successfully enroll into the Imperial College. "

"Difficulty: 6 stars. Reward: 200 gold coins. Reward: 12 points."

Su Xi was dumbfounded. She was confused. What was Zaizai doing? Why did a mission suddenly appear while she was doing her homework?!

These main missions could only be triggered when the protagonist came into contact with the relevant information.

Since a mission popped up here, it meant that the protagonist had this plan and idea in her heart, or it was something she wanted to do next.

Su Xi opened the map and looked at Zaizai's location. She saw that Zaizai was in the Old Madame's Mei 'An Court and hadn't moved for a whole hour.

What were they talking about?

Although Su Xi didn't know what they were talking about, she could roughly guess.

The System explained, "After the previous incident, the Old Madame didn't like Lu Wenxiu and felt that he wouldn't be able to achieve great things. She intended to send the protagonist to the Second Prince, hoping that the protagonist would have the ability to gain the Second Prince's recognition and become the Second Prince's study companion."

Although the Second Prince wasn't from the East Palace, he was still quite powerful. Once he became the study companion, he would at least be an assistant minister.

At that time, even if he was born a concubine's son, he couldn't be underestimated.

Lady Ning wouldn't dare to act rashly and plot against him anymore.

Other than that, she also had the opportunity to enroll into the Imperial College.

When Su Xi tidied up the wardrobe, other than the worn-out clothes, she saw that it was filled with books. She knew that Zaizai probably didn't care about befriending the Second Prince. Instead, she really wanted to enroll in the Imperial College!

He was only 14 years old, but he had already flipped through the Four Books and Five Classics in the wardrobe. He wouldn't be able to learn anything if he went to an ordinary private school other than the Prince Ning Fu. If he wanted to learn more, he had to enroll in the Imperial College that all the princes would enroll in and learn how to govern the country.

Moreover, Su Xi had seen in the background introduction that there was a rather famous imperial tutor in the Imperial College.

Therefore, rather than saying that this mission was to befriend the Second Prince, it was better to use the Second Prince to enroll in the Imperial College.

Although the ultimate goal of this game was to help the protagonist ascend to the throne, Su Xi had almost forgotten about his ambitions because Zaizai had always kept a low profile. Now that the main mission was approaching its goal step by step, Su Xi could faintly see Zaizai's ambition.

It was a good thing to have ambition!

"Then when I ascend to the throne, can I start choosing concubines?!"

The System was speechless.

Su Xi thought about the scene of so many beauties being placed in front of her, the Empress Dowager, with their chins raised and their eyes filled with amorous light, waiting to be chosen by her. She suddenly became excited and hurried to increase her points.

Last night, she repaired the chicken shed and flipped the ground, which could be considered to have improved the external environment. The System gave her two points, and now she had 13 points.

However, there was still a long way to go before she could unlock the next section!

'No, Zaizai is working on his career, how can I relax?'

Taking advantage of this time, Su Xi frantically looked for areas that could be improved in the game character's house. Seeing that the bamboo forest outside was crooked, she decided to straighten all the crooked bamboos in one go. Her fingers were about to be crippled from tapping, but she finally had one more point!

Then, she ran to the kitchen and washed all the firewood and messy pots and pans.

She did almost everything that could be done!

Only then did her points slowly increase to 15.

Finally, she could unlock another section. Su Xi collapsed on the bed and sighed in relief. She immediately asked the System, "Where is he now?"

The System replied, "He has already left the Old Madam's Mei En Court. He is currently in Fourth Concubine's courtyard."

Su Xi immediately asked the System to unlock Fourth Concubine's courtyard.

Fourth Concubine's courtyard was very small. Once it was unlocked, some of the servants' courtyards and the other concubines' courtyards were also unlocked.

This was an unfamiliar place to Su Xi. The greenish-gray brick road was covered with snow, but it was slightly better than Zaizai's courtyard. There were even servants who swept the snow to the side to prevent people from slipping. It was clear that Prince Ning treated Fourth Concubine much better than Zaizai.

Zaizai saw that there was an extra cold medicine and was worried that Fourth Concubine's daughter would catch a cold, so he sent the medicine over.

However, Fourth Concubine always put herself out of harm's way and could not bear to see Zaizai being treated well.

Su Xi immediately felt a little indignant, but she knew that this was the game's setting, so she quickly suppressed the injustice.

She swiped the interface in Fourth Concubine's courtyard and walked along the long corridor. Soon, a small white figure wearing an old robe appeared in her field of vision.

It was Zaizai. He stood in the corridor, as if he had finished delivering the medicine and was planning to return.

However, for some reason, he stopped at the end of the corridor.

What was he looking at?

Su Xi followed his line of sight and changed her perspective. She saw a mama under the eaves holding a bowl of freshly made osmanthus cake and feeding it to a young maidservant who looked to be around eleven or twelve years old.

The mama affectionately patted the maidservant's head and whispered, "Eat slowly. Today is your birthday, so there's no rush."

Two names slowly appeared on the interface.

Mama A, Maidservant A.

Su Xi was speechless.

Could the game name not be so random and crazy?!

However, Su Xi understood. The mama and the maidservant should be mother and daughter. The mama was on duty by Lady Ning's side. Su Xi saw her by the stream last time.

And this young maidservant was sent to Fourth Concubine's side. She was most likely sent by Lady Ning to keep an eye on Fourth Concubine.

However, no matter how much the madam and the concubines schemed against each other, the maidservant's mother still remembered her birthday. She risked her life to come over and deliver a mouthful of hot food.

Su Xi looked at Zaizai again in the corridor, only to see that the figure in the old white robe had already left at some point.

Su Xi was confused.

Su Xi suddenly asked, "When is the main character's birthday?"

The system opened the background introduction and showed it to her again.

It was actually today!

Her pig brain didn't remember when she was watching the background animation!

The text background introduction said:

[Lu Huan, the son of a concubine, was born on the same day as the current Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace. However, the timing was different. At the moment of his birth, Prince Ning offended the Emperor in the palace and was almost stripped of his official position. Since then, Prince Ning believed that Lu Huan was blocking his official path and treated him coldly. He hastily buried his mother, who had a difficult birth, and did not allow anyone in Prince Ning Fu to remember Lu Huan's birthday.]

No wonder Su Xi had just discovered that outside the courtyard walls, there was a festive atmosphere. There were lanterns and colored banners, and there was even the faint sound of music. It was the current Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace's birthday, and the entire capital was celebrating it.

There was a big banquet in the palace, and the streets were bustling with noise and excitement.

On the same day, Zaizai's Firewood Courtyard was cold and cheerless. The footprints he left behind when he walked out alone were covered by the wind and snow.

Su Xi's heart swelled, and she didn't feel good about it. Suddenly, she thought of something and quickly switched the scene back to the Firewood Courtyard!

She asked the System, "How long until Zaizai comes back?!"

The System estimated, "He's already walked to the stream, and there's still three minutes left."

That's enough!

Su Xi quickly opened the System Store and quickly chose.

There were a lot of birthday gifts in the System Store — — they were all gifts from the ancient mortal world, such as rabbit lanterns, sugar figurines, calligraphy and paintings, but Su Xi didn't have the time to choose.

She searched for a long time before she found the longevity noodles column.

Then, she carefully chose a bowl of longevity noodles that looked the most piping hot.

She quickly placed the bowl of noodles on the kitchen stove. As soon as the noodles landed on the stove, white steam rose up, and the faint light from the stove illuminated it, making it look especially delicious.

Su Xi even put a sugar egg in the noodles.

At this moment, footsteps could be heard from the bamboo forest.

Su Xi was afraid that the game character would go straight to sleep after coming back. If he didn't come to the kitchen, he wouldn't be able to see this bowl of noodles.

She was nervous, so she grabbed the last bit of time to go outside the kitchen, and hung a shaky rabbit lantern on the eaves of the kitchen.

Lu Huan walked all the way back through the bamboo forest, and naturally heard the bustling scene outside Prince Ning Fu's residence. He pursed his lips, and an indescribable expression appeared on his face.

In fact, this day every year was just like this for him, and he was already used to it.

But, that person … …

He hadn't appeared for three days in a row.

… … Was he not going to appear again?

Or, as he had expected, the occasional gift was just a whim of the other party.

Although he didn't have any intention of harming him, he was just teasing him. Or was it a temporary and fleeting sympathy?

Otherwise, as an insignificant bastard, wouldn't it be strange for the other party to go through so much trouble?

Lu Huan lowered his eyes, and a trace of mockery flashed through his heart.

He clenched his fists, and tried to stop himself from thinking about it. No matter what the other party did, he could just ignore it. He mustn't let his emotions waver, or else he would fall into the other party's trap.

He immediately quickened his pace, and walked towards the firewood courtyard.

But when he passed by the kitchen, he seemed to suddenly realize something, and inadvertently raised his head.

In that instant, snowflakes slowly fell on his shoulders. His footsteps immediately stopped, and his eyes were also stunned as he stared at the eaves.

Behind him was a cold bamboo forest, and a trail of footprints that came alone. There were three firewood huts in front of him, and they didn't seem any different from usual.

There was only one other thing — a bright yellow rabbit lantern under the eaves.

The lantern was swaying in the wind, and the scattered light penetrated the night and snow, falling into his pitch-black eyes.

"… …"

This was …?

He missed a breath, and his heart, which had been in a mess just now, suddenly skipped a beat because of the flickering candlelight that seemed to be welcoming him home.

Then, with a "thump, thump, thump," it beat faster and faster.

He quickly walked towards the kitchen … …

It was empty.

It was incomparably silent.

A trace of disappointment flashed through Lu Huan's eyes.

… … Until, he turned around, and saw the bowl of longevity noodles on the stove, steaming hot.