My wife is a witch princess.

The snow outside the window had thickened, and the familiar chirping of insects filled the winter air. In the mirror of the washbasin, the girl's face gradually blurred.

Xia Li moved her somewhat stiff legs. First, a cool, sore sensation shot up her calves, followed by a tingling numbness, and finally a heavy, aching pain. She had been standing and walking too much today, and her injured legs were protesting, making her a little unsteady on her feet.

Xia Li finally gave up smiling, turned around and went to the bedroom, her gaze unconsciously falling on the small book under the mattress. She quickly and feigned looking away, sat on the bed, and picked up another magazine to flip through.

"...Safety tips for electricity use: Do not touch with wet hands, disconnect the power immediately if there is a leakage. All electrical appliances must be connected to the power source through a 'plug' before they can be used."

"Heating is precious, but safety is even more valuable..."

"Save water, turn off the tap when not in use. Below is the switch control... It seems that many appliances here have 'switches'."

She muttered to herself, summarizing the patterns.

"...Science is definitely not magic at all!"

"...Frequently disposing of trash and keeping the environment clean can effectively inhibit the growth of bacteria and viruses..."

"Bacteria and viruses... what exactly are they?" She pondered. Were they some kind of harmful spirits? Or an unseen curse?

Song Che should know the answer, know how to prevent it, and how to get rid of it...

But when will he come back?

She switched to a different magazine and randomly flipped to a page.

"The hit series 'The Burial of Frillian' has resonated with viewers... The once-heroic companion has grown old, from a tall, upright youth to a short, hunched old man..."

She turned another page.

"Controversy surrounding the final season of 'Retreating Titans' and the banning controversy..."

She was drawn to these unfamiliar stories.

So this world is surrounded by a huge wall?

Are there terrifying giants outside?

An elf named Frilian is collecting magic on a long journey within the walls.

There's another wall outside the wall?

What lies on the other side of that ocean?

Song Che should know all of this.

When he comes back, she must ask him. Where are those walls? She wants to go out and see; are those giants like monsters?

She picked up another magazine, then relaxed and lay down on the bed with her legs dangling over the edge and her hands raised high to read.

"ah--"

Her arm, which had been holding it up for so long, ached, and the magazine slipped from her grasp, hitting her squarely in the face. She gasped softly, rubbing her nose where it had been struck.

Xia Li simply covered her face with the book, closed her eyes, and everything around her quieted down. The only sounds in the room were her breathing and her heartbeat.

The light gradually faded into darkness, the girl's face remained serene and peaceful, and outside the window, the snow had stopped...

"Xia Li, please open the door!"

"..."

"Xia Li, are you asleep?"

"..."

"Xia Li, I'm back. I don't have hands to open the door."

"I am coming!"

Chapter 30 Xia Li's Lifelong Rival - Fish

Song Che, carrying his schoolbag and with a melancholy look on his face, walked through the door holding a lively, fresh fish. After finishing his exams today, Song Che felt that he might not be suited for studying.

He knew absolutely nothing about science and English. What was outrageous was that when he picked up his pen, he wrote several lines of potion-making formulas and magic circle location calculations on the science exam paper, and a string of magic spells on the English exam paper.

Let's think about how to explain this later.

The school might just scold him at most, but what Song Che is afraid of is... his parents worrying.

Smelling the fishy smell, Bruce snored and rubbed against others, letting out two barks. Song Che snapped out of his daze, put down his schoolbag, and went to the kitchen.

"I'm going to clean the fish, you sit on the sofa and wait."

"...I'll help."

"Then get me the knife."

"...I'll give it a try."

Song Che turned around and found Xia Li staring intently at the fish. He hesitated and asked, "You... are you going to kill the fish?"

"Yes, I'll give it a try." Xia Li's eyes were extremely serious.

"Let me do it."

“…I want to come.” Xia Li lowered her head, her toes tapping the ground.

If you don't understand how to kill me, I'll strangle you tonight!

"Okay, take it easy, be careful with your hands, the fish is quite slippery."

"..."

Xia Li reached out to chop off the fish head, but the knife went astray and chopped off the fish tail, leaving a wound.

You're so brutal.

"Smash it on the head with a kitchen knife to stun it. Once it's stunned, it won't jump around." Song Che couldn't bear to watch her fish-killing technique. He understood Xia Li's little scheme: she wanted to prove her worth and uphold some of His Highness's dignity. Song Che reminded her, "Be careful, watch the blade. Don't point it at yourself, and hey, don't point it at me either! If you stun it, it'll jump up like crazy! I shouldn't have let you kill the fish. Be careful!"

clap clap-

That's too cruel, this fish is unbearable to look at.

Song Che bought this fish because it was the only one labeled "fresh." However, after carrying it all the way, it was almost deprived of oxygen. But Xia Li patted it a few times, making it excited and thrashing about on the cutting board.

—This fish is indeed fresh!

Bruce sat lazily by the kitchen door, watching the two of them frantically trying to catch fish.

It's time for dinner today... and it wants to eat too.

"Wang Wang!"

Song Che didn't have time to pay attention to Bruce. Under the stimulation of the 'slapping therapy', the fish was jumping around like it had been injected with chicken blood. Well, it's not its fault. Xia Li made several cuts on the fish's body and slapped its head more than a dozen times. Not to mention fish, even Kapibal would be angry if it came.

Seeing the knife in Xia Li's hand, Song Che dared not make a move. He could only guide her, saying, "Don't panic. Aim at the fish's head and stun it. Yes, once you aim, use force. Don't hesitate."

Snapped--

The scene was too beautiful for Song Che to bear. A girl was using a kitchen knife to slap a fish, which was jumping around excitedly as it was being slapped.

"...It got dizzy."

"If you're dizzy, just cut open your abdomen and scrape off the scales. Forget it, give it to me, I'll scrape it off."

"...I want to shave."

"Don't you find it fishy?"

"...I want to shave."

If you don't scrape it properly, I'll strangle you tonight!

"Go ahead and scrape, but be careful with your hands while you scrape, scrape slowly, the fish scales are very slippery, you still have time to finish it now..."

Huffing and puffing—

Huffing and puffing—

The stunned fish twitched as Xia Li scraped its body. It was clear that Xia Li was trying hard, but she wasn't very good at removing the scales. Song Che silently cleaned up the scales that were jumping around everywhere.

She shaved the front, then the back. She worked diligently; without her witch's dress and magic, Xia Li was no different from a human girl. Song Che always felt this Xia Li was an imposter; her practical spirit was far superior. Why did her witch personality improve so much after she died once?

Song Che collected the scales and dumped them into the trash can. Looking back, he saw that the cutting board was stained with blood, like a crime scene. The murder weapon and the perpetrator were still standing there, seemingly ready to continue their attack.

Song Che decided to confiscate Xia Li's tools of the crime. "You did a good job this time. Wash your hands with soap to remove the fishy smell."

Fish, you are so lucky to have met me in this life.

Song Che put the fish, which had lost its innocence, into the pool to wash it, washing away the mud and humiliation of its life, revealing the fish's body that had been slashed several times by Xia Li.

"I'll do the cesarean section. It's full of internal organs and stuff inside. If it's not cleaned properly, it will affect the taste."

After Xia Li washed her hands, she observed Song Che, who had already removed his internal organs and cleaned them thoroughly.

Song Che raised the knife horizontally, made cuts, dried the fish with paper towels, stuffed it with ginger, chili, minced garlic and other ingredients that Xia Li had never seen before, coated the fish with starch, heated oil in a pan, fried it until golden brown, and set it aside.

Xia Li memorized it all, thinking it was incredibly easy.

Leave some oil in the pot, add ginger and other ingredients, stir-fry until fragrant, then Song Che adds many other ingredients that Xia Li doesn't know about, and finally adds the fish and starts to simmer.

"You only need to rinse one bowl of rice."

"...One bowl isn't enough."

"There's enough rice after cooking, so don't put two bowls in the pot," Song Che explained. "The rice will absorb water and expand, so there will be a whole pot of rice after cooking."

Is this also science?

"It is."

"...This science doesn't conform to the laws of magic at all."

"..."

After Xia Li rinsed the rice, Song Che demonstrated how to use the rice cooker, and then handed it over to her to steam rice.

Simmer the fish until cooked through, then reduce the sauce over high heat. Wait a while, and dinner is perfectly ready.

Song Che served the rice and placed it on the table. He tore off a small piece of fish and tossed it to Bruce before finally starting to eat.

Xia Li learned to use chopsticks, so there was no need to worry about eating. Song Che, however, was worried about something else.

In his memory, Xia Li was not good at talking, did not like to go out, and her favorite thing was to tinker with potions by herself. She could make a potion for several months without going out, so there was no reason for her to be afraid of being alone. But in the past two days, Song Che found something was wrong.

Xia Li wanted to follow him everywhere she went.