Transmigrating into the world of Jade Dynasty, I was targeted by the female lead in a reverse romanc

The sun rose directly overhead, shining brightly and dispelling some of the fog. The sea shimmered, making one dizzy.

Lu Xueqi softly called out, "Xiao Chuan."

no response.

She paused, then raised her voice slightly: "Jiang Xiaochuan."

The person in her arms murmured something and nuzzled against her chest, but didn't wake up.

Lu Xueqi looked down at his flushed face from sleeping, hesitated for a moment, then reached out and gently nudged his shoulder.

"It's time to wake up."

Jiang Xiaochuan groggily opened his eyes, his vision initially blurry before slowly focusing.

The first thing that catches the eye is a piece of moon-white fabric, which obscures most of the view. The cool scent of cedar lingers in the air, mixed with a very faint body odor belonging to a young girl.

Then he felt his face pressed against something unusually soft and warm, and he could even feel the slight bulge under his clothes and the vibration of his heartbeat.

His mind went blank for a second, and he instantly snapped back to reality. He felt as if he'd been scalded, and he jerked backward, nearly falling off the Tianya Sword.

"Be careful!"

Lu Xueqi cried out, and almost instinctively, the Tianya Sword flashed and swooped down, catching up with Jiang Xiaochuan's falling figure just before he was about to fall into the sea.

She reached out her arms, wrapped them around his waist and knees, and pulled him firmly, catching him and holding him horizontally in front of her.

The azure sword light hovered just a few feet above the sea surface, swaying slightly.

Jiang Xiaochuan, still shaken, lay in Lu Xueqi's arms, looking up at her face so close to his. Her brows were slightly furrowed, her eyes filled with lingering anxiety, and a hint of... helplessness?

The two stared at each other for a few seconds, locked in a tense standoff.

Jiang Xiaochuan was the first to react, his face flushed red, and he struggled to get down.

"Put me down!"

Lu Xueqi didn't let go, but held him tightly as she slowly ascended into the air on her sword, flying towards a black reef protruding from the sea not far away. After landing and standing firmly, she gently put him down.

Jiang Xiaochuan stepped back two steps as soon as his feet touched solid ground, creating distance between them.

He dared not look at Lu Xueqi, his eyes darted around, his face was still flushed, and his throat was dry.

"Um... next time if I fall asleep again, you... you can wake me up, or just throw me out the window, please... please don't..."

"It's alright," Lu Xueqi interrupted him, her voice calm and devoid of emotion.

"It's not that it's not a problem!"

Jiang Xiaochuan was a little anxious: "This isn't good for you, I..."

"What's wrong with it?" Lu Xueqi looked at him, her eyes clear and bright. "I think it's fine."

Jiang Xiaochuan was speechless, opening his mouth but unable to utter a word.

He raised his hand, as if to slap himself on the forehead to wake himself up.

He had only raised his hand halfway when Lu Xueqi grabbed it.

"Don't hit him," Lu Xueqi said, her voice lowered. "It hurts my heart."

Jiang Xiaochuan froze, all the words stuck in his throat.

He looked into Lu Xueqi's calm yet persistent eyes, and at the suspicious blush that hadn't completely faded from the tips of her ears. He felt as if something had gently bumped into his heart... and he panicked a little.

He lowered his eyes and remained silent.

Lu Xueqi didn't say anything more, but simply let go of his hand, turned around and walked to the edge of the reef, looking at the sky.

"It's noon, let's take a break."

As soon as she finished speaking, a soft "gurgling" sound came from her stomach. The sound was not loud, but it was particularly clear in the quiet sea and sky.

Lu Xueqi's body stiffened almost imperceptibly, her face remained expressionless, but her ears turned even redder.

Jiang Xiaochuan paused for a moment, then wanted to laugh, but felt it was inappropriate and forcibly held it back.

He touched his nose, reached into his pocket, pulled out an oil paper package, and handed it over.

Here, have some to tide you over.

The oil paper package contained several pieces of pastry and dried meat, which looked hard and dry.

Lu Xueqi took it, but didn't eat it immediately; she just looked at him.

Jiang Xiaochuan had already turned around to face the sea, and his hand started rummaging in his pocket again.

This time, they pulled out more things.

A small, dark iron pot, several rough porcelain bowls, a spoon, and even a small cutting board and a kitchen knife were piled up on the rocks with a clanging sound.

Lu Xueqi's eyes widened slightly as she stared blankly at the pile of things that had appeared out of nowhere.

Jiang Xiaochuan didn't notice her expression. He rolled up his sleeves, walked to the edge of the reef, stared at the clear seawater below for a few seconds, and then jumped in with a "plop".

"Jiang Xiaochuan!" Lu Xueqi was startled and took two steps forward.

The seawater churned a few times, and Jiang Xiaochuan popped his head out, holding two large, menacing blue crabs in his hand.

He shook the water off his head, threw the crab onto the rocks, took a deep breath, and dived down.

After repeating this process, when he finally climbed back onto the reef, soaking wet, he had a small pile of "spoils" around him: three or four palm-sized blue crabs, five or six plump shrimp, two still-jumping fish, several dark sea urchins, and even two abalones bigger than his palm and a few oysters.

Looking at the pile of lively seafood, and then at Jiang Xiaochuan's soaking wet black clothes clinging to his body, Lu Xueqi was at a loss for words.

Jiang Xiaochuan wiped the water off his face, chuckled, and then took out a wooden bucket from his pocket (storage space). Inside was clear fresh water, followed by several small jars of oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar, a small bag of rice, and even a few green bok choy and a bunch of scallions and ginger.

Lu Xueqi felt her brain wasn't quite working properly. She looked at the excessively complete set of cooking utensils and seasonings, then at Jiang Xiaochuan, her eyes filled with clear confusion.

Jiang Xiaochuan arranged everything, clapped his hands, and looked up to meet Lu Xueqi's gaze.

His smug smile faltered for a moment. As if remembering something, he scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly and looked at Lu Xueqi with a hint of probing and expectation in his eyes.

"Um... Xueqi, how about... you do it?"

Lu Xueqi looked at his wet hair and bright eyes, then at the pile of fresh ingredients that still smelled of seawater, paused for a moment, and nodded.

"Um."

She walked to the pile of things, squatted down, rolled up her sleeves, revealing two slender, fair forearms. She processed the fish first, her movements swift and efficient: scaling, gutting, removing the innards, and cleaning them all in one smooth motion. Then came the crabs, shrimp, abalone, and oysters.

Jiang Xiaochuan squatted down to watch, wanting to help but unable to get involved, so he could only take charge of starting the fire.

He built a makeshift stove out of the rocks, gathered some dry sawdust and wood, lit it with a tinderbox, and the flames leaped up, dispelling the damp chill of the sea breeze.

Lu Xueqi washed the rice thoroughly, put it in a pot, added an appropriate amount of water, and slowly cooked it over the fire. On the other side, she prepared a simple sauce in another bowl, arranged the prepared fish, shrimp, and crab on the cleaned shells, poured the sauce over them, and then added some shredded ginger and scallions. The sea urchin and oysters were grilled directly by the fire.

While waiting, Jiang Xiaochuan used his spear to fly to the coconut grove on the coast not far away, picked two green coconuts, and used a dagger to cut open the tops, revealing the clear juice inside.

The aroma of congee, mingled with the sweet scent of seafood, gradually permeated the rocks, carrying far away on the sea breeze.

Before long, the porridge was ready. The rice grains were blooming and thick. The grilled seafood was sizzling with oil and emitting an enticing aroma. Lu Xueqi took the grilled seafood off the plate and put it into the cleaned shells. She then divided the cooked porridge into two bowls.

"Eat," she said, pushing a bowl of porridge and a shellfish dish in front of Jiang Xiaochuan.

Jiang Xiaochuan was already hungry. He took the bowl and first drank a big mouthful of porridge. The porridge was cooked to perfection, soft and smooth, with the natural sweetness of the rice grains. He then picked up a piece of grilled fish. The fish was snow-white, slightly charred on the outside, and tender and juicy on the inside. The salty and fresh sauce perfectly brought out the original flavor of the fish. The shrimp and crab were plump, the sea urchin was sweet, and the oysters were smooth and tender.

He ate with gusto, almost wolfing down his food, mumbling praises between bites: "Delicious...so delicious...Xueqi, your cooking has improved again..."

Lu Xueqi sat opposite him, sipping her porridge. She didn't say anything, just watched him eat, the corners of her mouth curving upwards in a barely noticeable arc.

Jiang Xiaochuan quickly finished his portion, smacked his lips with lingering satisfaction, and then looked longingly at the bowl of porridge in front of Lu Xueqi that had barely been touched.

Lu Xueqi glanced at him and silently pushed half of her bowl of porridge towards him.

"That's enough!" Jiang Xiaochuan quickly waved his hand, his face a little hot. "I'm full, really!"

Lu Xueqi didn't take it back, but instead used a spoon to scoop some of the remaining porridge from her bowl over to him.

"You eat."

Jiang Xiaochuan looked at her calm face, hesitated for a moment, and then accepted it.

After finishing the last bite, he patted his belly contentedly, let out a long sigh of relief, and became so happy that he started talking more.

"These crabs are so plump, they must have lots of roe... The shrimp are fresh too, the meat is firm... This porridge is so well made, much better than mine... Xueqi, you're amazing, you can do everything..."

He talked on and on, a smile on his face, his eyes bright, as if he had unloaded a heavy burden and relaxed completely.

Lu Xueqi listened quietly, the corners of her mouth curving upwards even more. She didn't speak, but just watched his animated expression with gentle eyes.

Jiang Xiaochuan said he had said enough, and then he remembered to clean up. He quickly cleaned up the bowls, chopsticks, and seashells, rinsed them with the remaining fresh water, and then put them all into his storage space.

The rocks were clean again, as if the sumptuous seafood feast had never happened.

He glanced at the sky; it was still early before evening. He took out two clean, coarse cloths from his storage space and laid them on the relatively flat rocks.

"Sit down for a while and rest before you go."

He sat down on a cloth, stretched out his legs, and sighed comfortably.

Lu Xueqi looked at the two sheets of cloth laid out side by side, hesitated for a moment, and said in a low voice, "Two people... one sheet should be enough, two sheets are a bit of a waste."

Jiang Xiaochuan was stunned for a moment, then turned to look at her. Lu Xueqi, however, did not look at him. Her gaze was fixed on the distant sea, her profile was clearly defined, and her ears seemed to be a little red.