Start By Parsing The Sun

Chapter 20: Eating a Free Meal to This Extent

The evening grew darker.

Cheng Han entered the Shanyi Lane and rode for a while, catching sight of two small figures playing beside their own house.

Even though they were more than ten meters away, he still recognized them at a glance. They were the two children from the neighboring house.

One of them was a six-year-old boy named "Zhang Tie," and the other was a girl named "Zhang Wen" who was slightly younger at four years old.

Cheng Han muttered softly, "Did the smell of the roasted bird from the kitchen last night spread through the chimney and reach the neighboring house?"

It was early autumn now, and the temperature had dropped to around fifteen degrees, which was relatively cold. It was almost completely dark, so why would any children stay outside?

The only answer was that they were pretending to play while actually wanting to smell the aroma of roasted meat again.

Cheng Han sighed softly, "Is this like trying to quench one's thirst by looking at plums?"

The income of the common people in Shanyi Lane was generally low. The neighboring family had three children, so their lives were naturally quite difficult. They probably could only afford to eat meat once every ten days or so.

These two children were probably plagued by their cravings for a long time, which led them to make such a move.

Cheng Han hopped off his bicycle and pressed the bell on the handlebars.

"Ding-ling~"

The crisp sound of the bell startled the two children.

Zhang Tie turned around, showing a panicked expression, and stuttered, "G-g-good evening!"

Zhang Wen hid behind her brother, tightly gripping his clothes with both hands.

Cheng Han looked at their patched clothes and smiled gently, "Hey, do you want to eat 'Honey Orange Candy'?"

He took out two candies from his pocket and handed them to the two children.

Honey Orange Candy was a relatively common candy that sold for four copper coins per piece in stores. It wasn't cheap, so low-income families couldn't afford to buy it.

Perhaps only during the New Year or major festivals like the "Sacred Banyan Festival" would these two children have a chance to eat candy.

Zhang Tie's eyes were filled with longing, but he ultimately shook his head, "My mom said we can't just take other people's things."

Zhang Wen peeked out half of her head and couldn't help but swallow her saliva.

"Gurgle!"

Cheng Han deliberately put on a slightly unhappy tone, "Hey, I've been living in Shanyi Lane for more than half a year. Do you still see me as a stranger?"

Zhang Tie quickly shook his head, "I don't!"

Cheng Han smiled and asked, "If I'm not a stranger, then I'm an acquaintance, right?"

Zhang Tie was stumped by the question.

This child always felt that something was off about that statement, but he couldn't figure out what was wrong.

Cheng Han continued to tease the children, "Since we're so familiar, I want to give you a little something, but you're refusing me. Isn't that impolite?"

Zhang Tie wanted to explain, but he didn't know how to defend himself. His little face turned red with anxiety.

Cheng Han laughed heartily and directly stuffed the candy into Zhang Tie's hand, "You must be a polite child, so you must accept the candy."

Zhang Tie was completely confused, not knowing whether to accept it or not.

Cheng Han patted the heads of the two children, pushed his bicycle, and walked towards his own house.

Zhang Tie glanced at the candy in his hand, gritted his teeth, and shouted, "This candy is too expensive. We really can't accept it!"

Cheng Han stopped in his tracks, activated his Spiritual Seal, and his eyes became slightly deeper.

He turned around and looked at Zhang Tie, his voice carrying a strange power, "Accept the candy and hurry home!"

A hint of confusion flashed through Zhang Tie's eyes, and his resistance instantly disappeared without a trace. He replied, "Okay!"

Cheng Han curled his lips, took out his keys, opened the door, and brought the bicycle inside.

In addition to enhancing his mental power, the Spiritual Seal could quietly penetrate into someone's spiritual sea and influence their subconscious, making them obey his will.

Zhang Tie was influenced by the Spiritual Seal, which was why he obediently followed Cheng Han's instructions.

Of course, with Cheng Han's current strength, he could only influence ordinary people and couldn't affect warriors or stronger individuals.

*

Outside the door.

Zhang Wen tugged at her brother's sleeve, her little face filled with longing: "Brother, can I have some candy?"

The little girl licked her lips and added, "Just a small piece."

Zhang Tie shook his head: "We'll talk about it when we get home."

Zhang Wen immediately looked disappointed.

But Zhang Tie's next words made her instantly happy again: "I'll cut each candy into four pieces later, two will be eight pieces, and then we can eat one piece every day, so we can enjoy it for a long time."

*

As soon as Cheng Han entered the house, he immediately heard the customary greeting from his black cat.

"Meow~"

The police chief ran over in a flash, rubbed against his owner's leg, then turned and gracefully ran a few steps, stopping at the kitchen door.

Cheng Han followed and immediately saw a fluffy little animal lying motionless next to the stove, with a smile on its face.

This was the burrow rabbit.

Yesterday, he instructed the black cat not to go bird hunting, but to hunt burrow rabbits. He didn't expect it to actually bring back a burrow rabbit.

"Meow~"

The black cat meowed, squatting next to the rabbit, looking up at its owner, seemingly waiting for praise.

Cheng Han glanced at the rabbit, then at the black cat, and said in surprise, "How did you catch such a big rabbit?"

This burrow rabbit was longer than an adult's forearm, and its weight was estimated to be no less than five catties.

The black cat weighed only about ten catties, yet it was able to catch prey that was half its own weight and drag it back. This was truly surprising.

The police chief flicked its tail lightly, seemingly quite pleased.

Cheng Han stroked the cat's head a few times and praised, "You're getting more and more capable!"

The black cat narrowed its eyes and wagged its tail even more happily.

Cheng Han reached out and picked up the burrow rabbit, feeling its weight, and became a little worried: "There's too much meat, it's also a troublesome matter."

When he was at school, he was fed by Qian Qingqing every day, and recently, Wanteng Jiao seemed to have shown a tendency to feed him as well. After coming home, he would also be fed by the black cat.

To be so dependent on others for food, he himself was quite amazed.

Cheng Han took out a small knife and gestured at the burrow rabbit, sighing, "This rabbit is too big, I have to skin it, it's really a big project!"

It took him a full half an hour, his hands covered in blood, before he finally peeled off the rabbit's skin.

Unfortunately, because it was his first time doing this kind of work, he wasn't skilled, and the intact rabbit skin ended up with several holes, looking tattered.

Cheng Han smacked his lips, "The appearance is too poor, it's probably difficult to sell at a good price."

"Meow~"

The black cat meowed, as if saying: It's okay, I can catch another one.

Next, he started a fire to cook.

Cheng Han first placed a honeycomb fuel in the stove, activated the True Flame Seal with his mind, and lightly waved his right hand. A large cluster of sparks fell, landing on the surface of the fuel.

"Whoosh~"

The blazing flames instantly shot up.

In the past, he needed to pour a little brown oil first to quickly ignite the stove.

By comparison, the former was obviously more convenient and quick.

The black cat crouched beside, watching intently.

Cheng Han grinned happily, "We can save money on buying brown oil in the future."

Last night, he analyzed the sun again, and the completeness of the True Flame Seal increased by 0.34%, reaching a new height of 1.52%. The temperature of the Transcendent Flame also increased significantly, enough to easily ignite the fuel.

(End of this chapter)