Chapter 179: Third Brother Drugged Father

That night, they stayed at an inn, thankfully avoiding sleeping in the wild.

The inn wasn’t large, and to save money and avoid explaining why they were sleeping separately, Jiang Dai and Bai Tian decided to share a room.

Juanjuan naturally ended up squeezing in with her parents.

The child lay between her parents, dutifully acting as the boundary¹.

Although Juanjuan didn’t quite understand what this boundary meant, she guessed it was to separate her parents.

She glanced at her father, who was still groggy from the carriage ride, hesitated, and then reached out to pat his shoulder, her small head peeking out from Bai Tian’s shoulder with concern.

“Papa, are you feeling better?”

Bai Tian’s weak voice drifted out, “I’ll feel better once I fall asleep, but I just can’t sleep…”

Juanjuan fell silent and looked helplessly at her mother.

Jiang Dai said, “I can’t just knock your father out!”

Juanjuan: ???

That wasn’t what she meant!

Bai Tian: ???

【That’s too brutal!!!】

Jiang Dai tied her smooth hair with a simple cloth strip, half-sitting on the bed, looking at her husband lying there like a corpse.

“There’s some rice soup on the table. Do you want some? If you don’t eat, you’ll probably feel worse on the carriage tomorrow.”

Bai Tian waved his hand, like a ghost, “I won’t eat, but I can drink water. I won’t die in seven days.”

Jiang Dai tilted her head and asked, “Do you want ice cream? Lemonade? Want…”

“You’re a devil!”

Bai Tian groaned weakly, trying to express his frustration.

Jiang Dai looked at Bai Tian seriously, “Go to sleep. You might find them in your dreams. Good luck tomorrow.”

“Do you think I could walk all the way to Jingcheng?”

Bai Tian mused, indulging in a fantasy.

Jiang Dai suggested, “Why don’t you switch places with your sons tomorrow? You can run alongside for a while, then get back on when you’re tired.”

Bai Tian silently gave a thumbs up and then turned over to sleep.

Juanjuan quietly crawled over to her mother’s side and asked curiously, “Mom, what’s lemonade? And what’s ice cream?”

Jiang Dai: …

【After the family came clean, we’ve been talking quite freely, forgetting there’s a little ‘why’ machine here.】

“Lemon is a sour fruit used to make drinks that refresh you.”

“Ice cream is like snow, but you can have it in the summer. It’s cold and refreshing.”

Jiang Dai wasn’t worried. After all, her identity was questionable, and she wasn’t from Niantao Village. She had already told the children she came from a faraway place.

It was normal for Juanjuan not to have seen some things.

Juanjuan snuggled against her mother, her small body soft and sweet like a little cake.

The little cake spoke, “I want to eat…”

Mother and daughter exchanged a glance, and Jiang Dai, like a “pervert,” bent down and began to tickle the little one.

“You want to eat? Mom wants to eat too. How about we eat Juanjuan?”

“No, no, Juanjuan isn’t tasty. There’s porridge over there.”

Jiang Dai loved her daughter’s soft and cuddly demeanor.

To avoid disturbing Bai Tian, the mother and daughter kept their voices low, played around a bit, and then fell asleep in each other’s arms.

In the morning, breakfast was still simple porridge and pickles.

After a night’s rest, Bai Tian was starving. He looked at the food in front of him and pondered for a moment.

Then he decided to eat.

If he got motion sick, he could just throw up later!

Eat when you want, vomit when you must, never let small matters inconvenience you.

“Papa, have some porridge.”

Bai Yun’an calmly handed the porridge, mixed with medicine, to his father.

“Thanks, son.”

Bai Tian took it without hesitation and drank it down, smacking his lips afterward, “Why does this porridge taste a bit bitter?”

Bai Yun’an replied, “Maybe you’re still not feeling well, Papa.”

【I can’t exactly say it’s drugged, can I?】

【This batch of medicine cost as much as thirty-six rolls of toilet paper. I didn’t stock up on anything yesterday, just exchanged it for medicine.】

【Having my Favorability Score stuck at 60 is really frustrating. When will it go back to 78?】

“Ah-choo!”

Juanjuan, drinking porridge, choked. She hadn’t expected her third brother to say something like that.

Drugged?

Was it something to make Papa sleep peacefully for a day?

After all, drugging someone didn’t sound like a good thing.

Soon, Juanjuan understood what her third brother meant by drugging.

Watching her father bounce around the carriage, chattering non-stop, the whole family fell silent.

Bai Tian was overjoyed. He really wasn’t feeling sick anymore!

No more motion sickness, no more nausea—what an exciting development!

Bai Tian said, “I think I’ve gotten used to it. I’m very adaptable.”

He turned and whispered to Jiang Dai, “See, I told you, I’m the chosen one. Heaven must be watching over me.”

The “Heaven” beside him, Bai Yun’an: …

【Maybe I was too soft-hearted. Instead of giving him anti-motion sickness medicine from the Spatial Storage, I should have given him a sleeping pill.】

Juanjuan glanced at her lively father and thought her third brother’s logic, though crude, made sense.

Fortunately, Bai Tian calmed down after a while, as traveling by carriage was a bit dull. At least they could enjoy the natural scenery of ancient times.

Jiang Dai, Bai Tian, and Bai Yun’an relished the view.

Juanjuan peeked outside, finding it all quite ordinary. She couldn’t yet grasp why her “amazing” family found joy in watching grass and clouds.

But being with her parents made her feel happy and content.

In ancient times, traveling between counties often took more than a day.

So, on the way to Jingcheng, not every night offered the luxury of an inn.

Tonight, it was the Bai Family’s first time camping in the wild.

Juanjuan watched the fire rise and the bubbling porridge cooking over it, swallowing her saliva.

Though she didn’t have to walk, riding in the carriage was tiring and made her hungry.

“Here, Juanjuan, be careful, it’s hot.”

Mu Zhaoyuan handed the little one a bowl of porridge.

Juanjuan thanked him politely, took the bowl with both hands, blew on it, and sipped carefully.

Jiang Dai divided the sugar cakes she had made before the journey among them.

“My mom’s sugar cakes might not look great and are a bit hard, but they go well with porridge.”

Bai Yunxing spoke the truth, but his tone held no disdain.

Jiang Dai: …

【It’s good enough to have something to eat. In modern times, with recipes, spices, and tools, I didn’t cook. Here, everything’s unfamiliar, and I’m not used to it. It’s a blessing to have food.】

Juanjuan soaked the sugar cake in the porridge, making it soft and sweet—absolutely delightful.

After eating, she felt warm all over.

Mu Zhaoyuan even sprinkled some military-grade insect repellent herbs around.

Juanjuan, full and sleepy, was almost asleep when she vaguely heard her eldest brother and mother talking.

“Mom, there’s a significant Spiritual Energy fluctuation about six miles away. Can I go check it out?”

“Go ahead, I’ll watch over you. Be quick and careful.”

“Got it, thanks, Mom…”

Her eldest brother’s voice faded as Juanjuan tried to open her eyes but couldn’t resist the overwhelming drowsiness.

As the night deepened, the child slept, but someone wept.

Translator’s Notes