My Wife Came From A Thousand Years Ago

Chapter 50: There are many bad guys

"Isn't the seafood tasty?"

Halfway through the meal, Xu Qing casually asked as he broke apart a crab, having already figured out Jiang He's preferences.

He wasn’t as voracious as Jiang He. Eating nonstop was a challenge for him, so he nibbled on a crab leg at a leisurely pace.

"It’s good," Jiang He replied, her face full of satisfaction as she fished for more meat in the pot.

"Hmm? You don’t seem to like it," Xu Qing said, glancing at the untouched crab on her plate. She’d only sampled it once and then left it alone. Yet she claimed it was good?

"There’s no meat. It’s too much trouble to eat."

"...I see."

Fair enough. Crabs and shrimp are indeed a hassle to peel for such little meat.

Xu Qing immediately understood her perspective. To her, spending ages cracking shells only to end up with a tiny morsel wasn’t worth it. She preferred hearty, straightforward foods that you could dig into with gusto. Fancy dishes that required delicate effort? Those were for the idle rich, not her style.

"As long as you’re enjoying yourself."

Having figured it out, Xu Qing wiped his hands and began peeling shrimp. He meticulously shelled five or six, arranged the shrimp meat on a clean plate, and pushed it over to her.

"Thanks!"

Jiang He happily dipped a shrimp into the sauce, took a few bites, and then hesitated. Something felt off.

"...Aren’t you eating?"

"I’m full," Xu Qing said, smiling. "You go ahead."

Given the choice, no one would willingly wander a perilous world on an empty stomach, wielding a sword. Who wouldn’t prefer to sit in a cozy room on a cold winter’s day, enjoying a hot pot meal?

This side of Jiang He—content, cozy, and far from her usual combative demeanor—was much more endearing. All that fighting? Forget it. The best life was being a lazy homebody together.

"I... I can peel them myself," Jiang He mumbled, feeling a bit uneasy.

"Just focus on fishing out the meat. I’ll peel them for you. It’s faster this way. Friends help each other, don’t they?"

"Oh."

Eating at a buffet meant getting your money’s worth. Jiang He was beginning to grasp the concept—"buffet" simply meant "friends help friends." It made sense.

On the table, a precarious tower of plates and dishes stood as evidence of their feast. Xu Qing clicked his tongue. Even when eating with three or four others, including Qin Hao, the human vacuum, they hadn’t amassed such a pile.

No wonder people often went hungry in ancient times. Who could afford this kind of appetite?

"Full yet?" Xu Qing asked as he noticed Jiang He rubbing her stomach.

"A little stuffed."

"Perfect. We’ll walk back to work it off."

The pot was nearly empty; Jiang He had made sure of that. Even stuffed, she wouldn’t leave food behind. What remained was a battlefield of empty plates, bowls, and shells—proof of a lavish meal.

At the restaurant’s entrance, Jiang He touched her stomach and turned to glance wistfully at the food racks inside. Her face was full of contentment, tinged with regret.

"It feels like you’d live here if you could."

Xu Qing, now outside and feeling the chill, pulled his hat down snugly and hunched his shoulders. He glanced at Jiang He and adjusted her hat as well. On the steps, he looked left and right; Qin Hao was nowhere to be seen, having wandered off somewhere.

Xu Qing began plotting. He’d need to think of a way to rope Qin Hao into helping with the next phase of their identity preparations.

He looked up at the surveillance cameras mounted on the streetlights and then decided, "Let’s walk this way and take a stroll to digest."

"I want to go back and play games."

"There’s plenty of time for games later. Since we’re out, we might as well explore a bit."

Stuffed and itching to play, Jiang He reluctantly followed Xu Qing, her hands tucked inside her sleeves.

"Why are those officials—uh, police—patrolling when things seem so peaceful here?" she mused.

Jiang He often pondered random things during idle moments. To her, patrols only made sense during chaos. Everyone here seemed to live peacefully, so why keep watch when there was nothing to find?

"You’ve got it backwards," Xu Qing replied, glancing at her.

"...?"

"I used to wonder about these things too—why this, why that. Eventually, I realized everything has a reason. There’s a saying: ‘You don’t understand darkness until you’ve met evil.’ If you’ve never seen it, you’re lucky. But it doesn’t mean it’s not there."

"So this place isn’t truly peaceful?"

"Exactly. People like me—good-hearted, upstanding citizens—are rare." Xu Qing said this with a completely straight face. "There are plenty of bad people out there. If you’re unlucky, you might even get tricked into becoming someone’s wife. Imagine how scary that would be!"

Jiang He blinked, startled. Tricked into becoming someone’s wife?

"How... how do they trick people?"

"How would I know? I’ve never done it. Just be careful. Want to warm your hands in my pocket?"

Xu Qing gestured toward a nearby couple holding hands. "See? Like that. It’s warmer this way."

"No way."

Jiang He shook her head. "I feel like you’re trying to trick me."

"Exactly. Keep that attitude. Don’t let anyone trick you away." Xu Qing chuckled.

"..."

The afternoon sky remained heavy and overcast, as if preparing for a snowstorm. The streets were quiet, with only a few people rushing past. Xu Qing and Jiang He strolled leisurely, wandering wherever the mood took them.

With this ancient transplant adjusting quickly to modern life, Xu Qing deliberately took a winding route. Whether or not it mattered, making their movements less predictable felt safer than having her stay cooped up at his place all the time.

Better safe than sorry. And with Jiang City’s data surveillance systems improving rapidly, the less conspicuous they were, the better.

They eventually found themselves by the Lan River. The water hadn’t frozen yet, and its calm surface rippled occasionally with the wind. In the distance, small boats drifted lazily.

"Can you walk on water?" Xu Qing asked, pulling his collar tighter against the chill.

"Walk on water? Like walking on the surface?"

"Yeah. There’s a legend here about a monk who could float across on a reed."

"I can’t," Jiang He admitted honestly. She’d never even heard of such a thing.

"Then how strong are your martial arts, really?" Xu Qing was curious. Jumping off a four-story building seemed impressive, but could she beat someone like Master Chen? Or, say, a 200-pound brawler? How did martial arts even work?

"Uh... do you want to try?" Jiang He hesitated.

"No, no! What if you accidentally kill me?"

"I’d hold back," she reassured him.

"Still no." Xu Qing vividly remembered the thief she’d thrown to the ground with “restraint” and shook his head vigorously. "How about you demonstrate on something else? Like... could you break that rock with your bare hands?"

Jiang He stared at him like he was an idiot. "How could flesh and bone be harder than stone?"

"Fair enough. Then..."

Xu Qing looked around, spotted a small tree by the riverbank, and dragged her over to it. "What about this? Can you break it?"

"You want me to hit the tree?" Jiang He asked, puzzled.

"Yeah, let’s see if you can break it."

Before his words fully landed—

Bang! Bang! Crack!

Two shoulder slams later, the tree snapped in half. Jiang He turned back to find Xu Qing gaping at her.

"Like this?"

"That’s public property destruction! Run!"

The culprit grabbed her sleeve, and they bolted.

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