Although Yi Zhonghai earns 99 yuan, his demotion to a level-six machinist has dropped his salary to 72.3 yuan. While he can afford to support Jia Dongxu’s family, he is no fool; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been goading Shazhu into bringing leftovers to Qin Huiru every day, even at the expense of Shazhu ignoring his own sister.
After Chen Mo and He Yushui finished their meal and spent a long while lingering in each other's company, Yushui noticed it was getting late. Reluctantly, she left Chen Mo’s home and returned to the middle courtyard.
Qin Huiru, returning from the latrine, happened to see He Yushui coming back from the rear courtyard with a flushed face. She cursed inwardly, thinking, *That little hussy, she’s definitely been up to something with Chen Mo.* She realized that if He Yushui married Chen Mo, she would never be able to get her hands on his house. She had to sabotage their relationship.
Despite her resentment toward Chen Mo, she had to admit that he was an excellent catch. As the son of a capitalist, his family must have left him a tidy sum, and with a monthly salary of 35 yuan—plus the goods he brought back from his frequent medical trips to the countryside—he was a prime target. If she could make him her next "blood bank," her family’s life would surely improve.
Thinking of He Yushui eating fish and meat every day while she was stuck at home eating corn buns, Qin Huiru was consumed by envy and jealousy. *Why should that young girl have it so good?*
She wanted to handle Chen Mo the way she handled Shazhu, but Chen Mo had no interest in her whatsoever. She still had two younger cousins, Qin Yanru and Qin Jingru, both of whom were quite pretty—Yanru was seventeen and Jingru was fifteen. Since Chen Mo seemed to have a preference for younger women and Qin Yanru was around He Yushui’s age, she decided to bring her to the city.
With a plan forming, she realized she was nine months pregnant and would give birth soon. After the baby arrived, she would have Yanru come to the city to help care for the child, and use that opportunity to have her seduce Chen Mo.
Back inside the house, Qin Huiru saw Jia Dongxu sighing and asked, "What's wrong, Dongxu?"
"The monthly ration quota has been cut again. We can only buy seventy percent of our usual amount now, and food at the pigeon market is getting more expensive. If this keeps up, we won't be able to survive."
If it weren't for the fact that Mrs. Jia and Bangeng were in prison, life would be even harder. Now that he thought about it, their imprisonment wasn't such a bad thing after all.
In reality, Jia Dongxu had stashed away quite a bit of money. Over the years, he had made a good profit selling steel he stole from the Rolling Mill. His salary was actually a decent 33 yuan; he gave Qin Huiru ten yuan for household expenses and Mrs. Jia three yuan, keeping the remaining twenty for himself. Despite his habits of drinking and gambling, he still managed to save money every month.
He was well aware that Yi Zhonghai was suppressing his professional grade to keep him from advancing, all so Jia would be forced to provide for him in his old age. Because of this, Jia Dongxu was determined not to spend a single cent of his own money whenever he could avoid it—after all, there was still that fool Shazhu bringing food to Qin Huiru every day.
"What should we do then? Why not ask First Granduncle for some help?" Qin Huiru suggested.
Jia Dongxu nodded. "That's all we can do. I'll go see him in a bit."
After Yi Zhonghai finished drinking with Shazhu and spent some time at the Deaf Old Lady’s place, he returned home only to find Jia Dongxu waiting for him.
"What’s the matter, Dongxu?"
"Master, the food rations have been cut again. I’m the only one in our family with a quota. How are we supposed to get by? Huiru is still pregnant," Jia Dongxu lamented."I know about this matter, so rest assured. I will call a courtyard-wide meeting tomorrow to organize a collection of money and grain for your family."
Yi Zhonghai wanted to keep Jia Dongxu under his thumb to provide for his old age, but he was certainly not about to let himself be played for a fool by paying out of his own pocket. Besides, he could use this opportunity to make that little bastard Chen Mo bleed heavily.
Chen Mo lay in bed, tossing and turning, feeling incredibly uncomfortable. He had almost had his way with He Yushui just a moment ago, but after some thought, he decided to wait until her seventeenth birthday next month. However, at this moment, he found he could barely stand it. Thinking of Xiao Qiao, he immediately flashed into the Celestial Doctor Secret Realm.
Xiao Qiao was bathing in the pool. Seeing Chen Mo arrive, she let out a cry of surprise, but upon realizing it was him, she patted her chest and pouted playfully, "Brother Mo, you scared me to death."
Seeing this seductive scene, a wicked smirk tugged at the corners of Chen Mo’s mouth. He stripped off his clothes, jumped into the pool, and said with a laugh, "The weather is too hot; I’m coming in to bathe with you."
"Oh, Brother Mo, you’re so bad. Wait a moment, let’s go into the house."
Three hours later, Chen Mo felt refreshed and invigorated. As he lay on the villa bed, he felt the urge for a cigarette, but realized he didn't have one and found himself momentarily unaccustomed to the absence.
"Brother Mo, I think I can practice Qi as well," Xiao Qiao said, snuggling against him. "I can feel Qi circulating within me now."
"Oh?" Curious, Chen Mo felt her pulse and discovered that there was indeed Qi flowing through her body, following the same pathways as the Immortal Medical Canon. Her cultivation base had reached Level 3 Qi Condensation.
Although Xiao Qiao was created from an edited artificial human embryo, she was no different from a real person; her body structure was identical, even down to the traces of plum blossoms left on the sheets. This opened a new door for Chen Mo: it turned out that they could cultivate together. To his surprise, he had leveled up to Level 7 Meridian Opening (300/8000).
At this thought, Chen Mo looked at Xiao Qiao again and said with a smile, "Xiao Qiao, let’s try again and see if we can boost our cultivation a bit more."
"Mm," Xiao Qiao nodded, her face flushing red.
Three hours later, Chen Mo found his Qi had increased again. While he hadn't broken through to Level 8 Meridian Opening, he had reached Level 7 (6000/8000), meaning he was only 2,000 merit points away from a breakthrough. He still had 5,700 merit points in his balance, so he decisively invested 2,000 points, breaking through directly to Level 8 Meridian Opening (0/9000).
Xiao Qiao’s cultivation also reached Level 5 Qi Condensation. This speed was like riding a rocket. Checking the time, Chen Mo realized it was already past four in the morning.
After washing up, Chen Mo went into the villa’s kitchen and started preparing breakfast. He took out lamb and pork, using his Ox-Dissecting Knife technique to mince dozens of pounds of meat. Adding various vegetables and seasonings, he began making lamb buns, pork buns, lamb dumplings, and pork dumplings...
He made a huge batch in one go, and Xiao Qiao helped him on the side. The reason Chen Mo made so much was simply that he didn't want to cook every time; by making extra and storing it in the Secret Realm Warehouse, it wouldn't spoil and would stay piping hot whenever he took it out.
Once everything was steamed, Chen Mo took out goat milk produced by the Secret Realm farm and boiled it with sugar. The goat milk from the Secret Realm was different from ordinary milk; because the goats drank spirit spring water and had their constitutions transformed, the milk not only lacked any gamey smell but also had a refreshing, alluring fragrance.