Xiahou Xuanyu's expression twisted for a moment. "What do you mean by 'having a special affection'? As long as I kill that male supporting character, I naturally have ways to make the female lead forget about him and fall in love with me, the male lead, according to the original plot."

Having learned his lesson from last time, Xiahou Xuanyu felt that he could no longer indulge the male supporting character and female lead being together. He couldn't possibly make the same mistake twice.

As for what to do with the male supporting character's role after his death, compared to the female lead directly betraying him and causing him to lose the fortune of this world in the end, it was a small matter. Someone could always replace the male supporting character's role.

Tapping his finger on his knee, Xiahou Xuanyu revealed an overbearing and disdainful smile on his peerlessly handsome face. "What kind of thing dares to fight with me over a woman?"

Thinking about how in the original story, after the female lead Chu Li became friends with the Ninth Young Master of East City, she had been living in Jiuyan City under the East City's jurisdiction. Xiahou Xuanyu issued an order, sending his subordinates to conduct a comprehensive search for Chu Li's whereabouts in Jiuyan City.

...

Xun Nu and Tang Li arrived at the nearest Bailu City. This city wasn't large, but it was located at the border between North City and East City, so there was still a considerable flow of people coming and going.

"Why don't we stay here?" Tang Li asked for Xun Nu's opinion. She was still worried about Xun Nu's injuries. Such severe wounds couldn't possibly heal so quickly. It required more time and careful nursing to recover, and it was unwise to travel for too long.

Since entering the city, Xun Nu had been quietly observing the surrounding crowds and the passing horses and carriages. Hearing Tang Li's question, he nodded. "Okay."

The city was mostly inhabited by ordinary people who appeared relatively prosperous. Such a city should be suitable for living.

With Tang Li taking the lead, they selected a small residence. This house was next to a small river, and there was a weeping willow tree in front of the door. "Look, this house isn't big. There's a shop in the front that can fit three tables. We can start by selling breakfast, tea, and such. The small courtyard in the back is for us to live in, and there's a water well, so we don't need to go to the big well at the street corner to fetch water." Tang Li pointed out to Xun Nu bit by bit.

Xun Nu was an assassin. Housing was arranged by the organization, and meals were either provided by the organization or eaten at a restaurant after completing a mission. He wasn't familiar with this kind of ordinary people's life, so he could only act like a large pet, following behind Tang Li and watching her give directions.

"This room is for you. I think you'll like this window. When I have time, I'll plant some flowers for you here. What flowers do you like?"

"This kitchen is nice. I'm most satisfied with this kitchen. Many ingredients need to be purchased. I also considered this when choosing this place. It's quite close to the market, so it'll be convenient to buy vegetables in the future."

Tang Li explained item by item, while Xun Nu could only nod because in this regard, he couldn't even compare to the little sister's little finger. Only when buying things could his value be demonstrated.

The two bought daily necessities, rice, noodles, meat, and vegetables at the market. Xun Nu carried the heavy items without letting Tang Li help. Tang Li could only carry a basket of vegetables, asking him from time to time if he was tired.

When they walked to a vegetable stall, the aunt selling vegetables looked at them and smiled, saying to Tang Li, "Little lady, you're so considerate of your own man. Your affection is really good. You must have just gotten married, right?"

Tang Li: "..."

The two of them were both wearing ordinary cloth clothes. Walking together, although not intimate, they appeared a bit shy when looking at each other, seeming very young and inexperienced. They looked like a young newlywed couple.

Not only the vegetable-selling aunt but almost everyone who saw them in the market thought so. A vendor selling hairpins even called out to Xun Nu, "Little husband, buy a hairpin for your wife. Your wife is so pretty, but her accessories are too plain."

It was the first time Xun Nu had been casually joked with by strangers. After all, he used to come and go alone, dressed in black and carrying a sword, looking unapproachable, so naturally, no one dared to chat with him casually.

However, at this moment, he was carrying rice and noodles, with a young girl who looked like a little wife beside him. The two were considerate of each other. Even though he had a cold face, he appeared harmless.

"That's right, little husband, come and take a look at the hairpins."

Xun Nu glanced at the young wife who spoke, noticing that she had several silver hairpins in her hair. He then looked at Tang Li's hair, realizing that she indeed wasn't wearing any hairpins or jewelry, only tied with a hair ribbon. Seeing that hair ribbon, he paused for a moment before truly walking to the stall and carefully selecting a few pieces of jewelry.

Tang Li was explaining to the aunt who jokingly asked if they had children, but when she turned her head, she saw Xun Nu selecting jewelry for her. She instantly blushed, at a loss for words.

The aunt laughed heartily. "Don't be shy. Your husband cherishes you. Little lady, you're too thin-skinned."

What made it even more embarrassing was that since Xun Nu had given her all the money, she had to go over to pay. The couple selling hairpins saw this, and the wife patted her husband, pointing at Tang Li and Xun Nu angrily, "Look at them. Her husband is so considerate, even giving her all the money to keep. You still hide private savings behind my back."

Tang Li quickly tugged the little male god and left.

When they went to buy bedding and clothes, they were teased again. The shop owner heard that they wanted bedding and immediately took out a red wedding quilt, smiling and saying, "You two newlyweds look like you haven't been married for long. Our wedding quilts are very famous. I guarantee that if you use our wedding quilt, you'll have two children in three years! Harmony and happiness!"

Tang Li couldn't handle the enthusiastic shop owner and kept waving her hands, feeling extremely embarrassed. She glanced at Xun Nu beside her and saw him staring at the wedding quilt, looking quite serious.

She looked at the intertwined lotus pattern on it and tentatively asked, "Xun Nu, do you like this quilt? Otherwise, I'll buy one like this for you."

Xun Nu snapped out of it and shifted his gaze to the shop entrance. "... You can choose whatever you like."

Tang Li noticed that the tips of the little male god's ears had turned red. She didn't know why, but her mind went blank, enchanted by his beauty. She blurted out, "Then let's take this one."

The shop owner smiled and said without surprise, "Alright, I'll wrap it up for you. Do you want wedding pillows too?"

Bringing back a bunch of things, Tang Li took out a notebook to record the expenses. After finishing, she started cleaning and pasting new window paper. Being short, she couldn't reach high, but Xun Nu, who was tall, took the window paper from her hands and pasted it on the window.

As he was inexperienced, it wasn't pasted very neatly. Tang Li smiled, stepped on a stool and went up to fix it. She was also inexperienced, but had strong practical skills, so she got the hang of it after a few tries. She pasted the window paper and wanted to look back to see if it was crooked, but the stool under her feet shook and she fell to the side.

Xun Nu opened his arms and caught her, lifting her down from the stool.

Tang Li's heart was pounding from the scare. Xun Nu patted her shoulder, "It's okay, I'll catch you."

This heartbeat won't be calming down, Tang Li thought.

Hanging the bed curtains, putting on the bedding, Xun Nu didn't know how to do anything. He lowered his eyes and learned bit by bit, looking a little pitiful with his clumsiness, making Tang Li really want to poke his thick, curled eyelashes.

The young male god noticed her gaze and looked over. Meeting those clean, calm eyes, Tang Li immediately retracted and went back to work. That wedding quilt, she carried it to Xun Nu's room, specially for him to use. Xun Nu didn't say a word.

Although the house wasn't fully tidied up yet, the kitchen was an important place. Tang Li had already cleaned it up. She specially bought a chicken and stewed it early, and also bought a few medicinal ingredients from the pharmacy, specially to make food for the sick young male god.

Even if it was medicinal cuisine, it had to be made without any medicinal taste, and the aroma alone would make people drool. Tang Li used to be a private chef boss. Although she couldn't make some of the hard dishes of big restaurants, she could make all kinds of home-style delicacies, various stews and soups, and new dishes. She could also make traditional desserts and sugar cakes.

Looking at the dishes Tang Li brought out one by one, Xun Nu's eyes flickered. After Tang Li was also seated, he picked up his chopsticks.

In the quiet night, the city gates were all closed, only occasionally could one hear dogs barking and the laughter of children from neighboring courtyards. The two sat quietly eating under a lone lamp.

The lamplight was hazy, the food fragrant. As Xun Nu ate, he couldn't help but look across. He always felt that everything at this moment was too illusory.

Such a peaceful and ordinary life was illusory, and the person smiling at him under the lamp across from him was also illusory. It was something he had never imagined before, yet he accepted it exceptionally easily.

The small river flowed with gurgling water. The hawking of the peddlers crossing the small bridge in the early morning woke up Tang Li. She got up to open the window and sat in front of the bronze mirror to comb her hair.

She was originally going to casually tie a braid, but her eyes touched on those few silver hairpins. She hesitated for a moment, then finally picked up the hairpins to coil up her hair, putting the original hair tie into her sleeve pocket.

After getting ready, she walked out the door. Xun Nu from the next room also happened to open his door and walk out. Tang Li looked at his hair, still tied with the piece of cloth torn off casually that time. She took out the hair tie from her sleeve pocket, "I have new hair accessories, this, tie your hair with it."

Xun Nu took it. The two stood in place looking at each other for a good while before Tang Li lightly coughed and quickly ducked into the kitchen.

Tang Li wasn't clear about what to pay attention to when opening a shop in this world. She could only prepare while going to other shops to take a look. She also made some sweet cakes first to build good relationships with the surrounding neighbors.

She accidentally made too much. Leaving the rest in the shop that hadn't opened yet, the result was, because they looked so good and novel, it attracted passersby to inquire about the price, and unexpectedly sold more than half.

Tang Li thought that maybe opening a dessert shop in the future might work too.

She had no self-awareness that she had turned a dog-blood abusive romance script into a food-farming sweet pet script. She happily prepared for the shop opening, not forgetting to make all kinds of delicious food for Xun Nu.

Xun Nu also seemed to forget that he was an assassin. Every day he helped buy groceries and clean, and when he was free, he even fixed up the dirt road in the small backyard, while munching on soup buns. Tang Li saw the young male god squatting in the yard laying stone slabs, his cheeks bulging on one side, and especially wanted to laugh.

Glancing at the duck stewing in the pot, she picked up a duck leg with the skin removed, scooped some soup, and called out to Xun Nu in the yard, "Xun Nu, come taste this soup and see how the flavor is."

Xun Nu's bulging cheeks paused and he looked at the bowl she was holding in her hand. Steam rising, fragrance wafting.

That night, Xun Nu jumped out the window to find a place to practice his blade. He practiced for two hours before returning.

Tang Li not only nourished him with food every day, but also specially went to the pharmacy to buy medicine and applied it to Xun Nu's wounds every day. Perhaps because of this, Xun Nu's injuries healed very quickly, much faster than every previous time.

In a short period of time, the external wounds on his body had all healed, leaving only the internal injuries that needed to be slowly nursed.

The small eatery opened under Tang Li's hands. If it was just her alone, the small shop wouldn't have been so easy to open, but with Xun Nu added, many things became convenient.

The shop had only been open for a couple of days when local ruffians and hooligans swaggered in to collect "protection fees". A few big men walked in with a swagger, and moments later ran out staggering with shaky knees.

Someone stood at the door and shouted inside, "You wait for me... ouch."

Before he finished shouting, he was smacked on the back of the head by the boss. The boss made a fist salute and shouted to Xun Nu, who was holding a broom inside the store, "Friend, I see your martial arts skills are extraordinary. It's really beneath you to stay in such a small place. Why don't you come to our hall and work together with our brothers!"

Xun Nu said to the few small hooligans with a blank face, "Our paths are different, we cannot work together."

Tang Li witnessed this scene and didn't know why she really wanted to laugh. She couldn't hold it in for a long time and ran to the back kitchen to laugh out loud.

Xun Nu: "??"

In addition, there was also the trouble brought by Tang Li's appearance. The female lead Chu Li was a beauty. Even without makeup or fancy dresses and hairpins, Tang Li's beauty was still hard to conceal.

As a result, it was inevitable to attract some unscrupulous wanderers. The eatery had only been open for a few days when a unscrupulous traveler, relying on knowing a bit of punching and kicking skills, came into the store to make advances.

Tang Li: "What would you like to eat, customer?"

Unscrupulous customer: "With the boss lady's looks, why be a cook? Why not come with me instead?"

Xun Nu quickly walked out from the kitchen and went to Tang Li's side. "I'll handle it."

To the unscrupulous customer, his tone was not so gentle. Without a second word, he first drew his blade. After a flash of the blade, he sheathed it. At the same time, a large piece of thin hair floated down. The man only felt a chill on his scalp. After coming back to his senses from the threat of death, he stared with shocked eyes, his eyeballs not even turning.

Xun Nu: "What do you want to eat?"

The man stammered: "Eat... eat... eat..." Xun Nu: "Eat noodles."

Man: "Eat... eat noodles."

Xun Nu turned to Tang Li, his voice low: "He wants to eat noodles."

Tang Li: "..."

The two went to the kitchen. As Tang Li was about to start cooking the noodles, Xun Nu said: "I'll do it."

Tang Li was stunned, "You'll do it? But, do you know how to cook?"

Xun Nu picked up the noodles and briefly scalded them in hot water, then casually scooped them into a bowl without adding any seasonings. He carried it to the front hall and placed it in front of the restless man with a thud, spitting out a single word: "Eat."

After the man finished eating the half-cooked noodles like swallowing poison, he put down the money for the meal and scurried away with his tail between his legs. Tang Li shook her head, feeling a bit helpless.

It seemed that no matter what era, running a shop was not an easy thing, especially in this world with low legal constraints. If it weren't for Xun Nu, handling these matters alone would be countless times more troublesome for her. She had still been thinking too simplistically about many things. Without the ability to protect herself, she probably wouldn't be able to live well in this world.

"Xun Nu, can I take you as my teacher? Teach me some self-defense skills." This way, even if Xun Nu left in the future, she wouldn't be so afraid.

Author's Note: Although the young lady wants to live a good life, the script is not a farming novel, so there can't be peace for even two chapters...