Early morning sunlight spilled through the curtains.
Jiang Chen sat cross-legged on the bed, his breathing even, his expression calm. After circulating his qi for an entire night, he finally opened his eyes, a faint gleam flashing through them.
"My current cultivation… should be at the peak of the Acquired Realm," he muttered, stretching his limbs. "To step into the Innate Realm, I'll need to temper my physique first."
Physical tempering required medicinal herbs and spiritual energy. He needed to concoct a Body Refining Elixir—something simple in his past life, but now…
He turned on his old laptop and pulled up an online marketplace.
A hundred-year-old ginseng: ¥180,000.
Wild lingzhi: ¥210,000.
Golden honeysuckle: cheap, but not enough alone.
Morning dew from a spiritual grove? Basically priceless.
"…Hah." Jiang Chen sighed and dug into his pocket, producing two lonely coins.
Looks like I need money. Fast.
While his mind was still racing through options, he unconsciously drifted into a nap—dreaming of his old life, of roaring skies and blades of fire. It wasn't until a series of rapid knocks shook the door that he bolted upright.
Bang bang bang!
"Jiang Chen! Are you trying to starve your mistress to death?! Get up and cook already!"
It was Lin Yuechan. Again.
Jiang Chen rolled his eyes. "This girl's got lungs like a war drum…"
Ever since his parents died and he moved into the Lin household, he had taken over most of the chores. Aunt Tang, Yuechan's mother, was a chief surgeon—rarely home—and her father was always away on business trips.
Which left Miss Lin Yuechan—princess of the house—hopeless in the kitchen and completely dependent on his cooking.
He slipped out of bed and shouted, "Alright, alright! Quit banging before you break the door!"
Yuechan's muffled voice snapped back, "Even if I do, it's my door! What do you care?"
Jiang Chen groaned, washed up quickly, and headed into the kitchen.
Moments later, a familiar voice rang out behind him.
"Hey, Chef Jiang, what's for breakfast?" Qin Yanyan stood by the kitchen doorway, grinning like a fox. She had stayed over the night before.
Jiang Chen didn't even look up. "Noodles."
"Oh~ fancy." Yanyan's eyes twinkled as she leaned in. "Yuechan says you make the best tomato and egg noodles. Is that true?"
From the living room, Yuechan snorted, "I never said that!"
Jiang Chen smirked. "You ate three bowls last time."
"That was because I was hungry!" Yuechan snapped back.
Despite her words, a faint blush tinged her cheeks.
Twenty minutes later, the table was set. Two bowls of steaming hot tomato and egg noodles sat ready, fragrant with sesame oil and green onions.
Yanyan took a bite and practically melted into her seat.
"Oh my god… this is divine! Yuechan, if you ever throw this guy out, I'm adopting him."
Yuechan glared at her. "You're free to take him now."
Jiang Chen casually stirred his own noodles, watching them banter like always. But inside, his heart warmed.
Back then, when he was dying in a pool of blood, it was these quiet moments he longed for most.
Yanyan nudged Yuechan with her elbow and whispered just loud enough for Jiang Chen to hear, "So? You sure you don't like him even a little?"
Yuechan choked on her noodles. "What—? Of course not!"
"Really?" Yanyan raised an eyebrow. "Because I'm thinking of chasing him."
Yuechan froze, noodles dangling from her chopsticks.
"You—You're joking, right?"
"Nope," Yanyan said with a dreamy sigh. "He's funny, he can cook, he's cute when he smirks… totally my type."
Yuechan stared at her as if she'd just said she wanted to marry a frog. "Are your eyes broken?! Jiang Chen, handsome?! More like… mildly tolerable!"
Jiang Chen didn't even blink. "Thanks for the high praise."
Yanyan giggled, covering her mouth, while Yuechan huffed and turned her face away. But Jiang Chen caught the flicker of something in her expression—something almost like… uncertainty?
He smiled to himself.
This life was different.
And he had all the time in the world to repay what he owed them both.