How I Pampered the Tyrant Into Devotion With My Space-Chapter 24: You’re Too Noisy in the Middle of the Night

He looked up and saw Lin Yu approaching Pei Shu’er to help her with her things.

The gloom he had just suppressed surfaced on his face once more.

Ha, Pei Shu’er, you’re really something.

In the Capital, you have the Third Prince, and on the exile journey, there’s Lin Yu.

Those who know might think she’s on her way to exile, and those who don’t might think she’s just changing places to flirt.

He gripped his staff so hard that his hand turned white, yet the feelings in his chest were not entirely anger.

It felt like a mix of other emotions.

A little sour, a little irritated, somewhat beyond his control.

And a bit involuntary.

The resting place for the night was a forest, with a stream nearby and abundant wild vegetables in the woods.

Due to the tall grass, wild rabbits occasionally sprang out, and everyone went off to catch rabbits and pick wild vegetables.

When Pei Shu’er saw a cluster of bamboo in the woods, her eyes lit up.

She took a sip of Spiritual Spring Water and walked over, finding an unnoticed spot to cut down the suitably sized bamboo with a machete, then divided the bamboo into sections.

Afterward, she carried these cut bamboo sections back, sat by the campfire, and gently poked holes in them with a wooden spear.

Tang Qingning and Liu Xu saw Pei Shu’er’s actions and came over to help.

Tang Qingning asked, "Shu’er, what are you doing?"

Pei Shu’er smiled and said, "Judging by the landscape, it seems like we’re going to enter the desert soon. I need to make more bamboo tubes to store water so that everyone won’t run out of water to drink along the way."

Tang Qinghua rolled her eyes beside them, "The grass is still so green, and you’re talking nonsense."

Tang Peilin sneered, "You know well that your cousin-in-law has never been far away and is very inexperienced."

Pei Shu’er laughed, "Believe it or not, I’m not harming you in any way."

She couldn’t be bothered to enlighten this family; after all, she wouldn’t be the one to suffer later.

Mrs. Li snorted coldly, "She obviously just wants a free meal, won’t catch wild vegetables and rabbits, just makes useless things, and then, isn’t she going to take advantage of the Tang Family later."

Pei Shu’er was amused, "Aunt, you said that, and I feel embarrassed for you."

Even if she hadn’t gone to find wild vegetables herself, she had Yinxing and Granny Zhang do it. The eldest branch of the family was now practically crippled, only eating free meals, yet still had the nerve to say such nasty things.

Just then, the water in the stone pot boiled, and Pei Shu’er couldn’t be bothered with Mrs. Li anymore.

She used a bamboo ladle, poured water into the bamboo tubes, and sealed them with carved wooden stoppers.

The others didn’t pay much attention because looking at the grass, it didn’t seem like they were nearing a desert, so they weren’t worried.

The Tang Family members came to help Pei Shu’er, and Tang Zan carried half of the bamboo tubes himself; he was strong and had inner strength, poking finger-sized holes in the bamboo tubes.

Pei Shu’er looked up, surprised at Tang Zan.

This was her first time in this world seeing something as mysterious as inner strength.

Tang Zan raised his head and cocked an eyebrow at her.

Pei Shu’er: "???"

Why did she feel like Tang Zan was in a good mood?

No.

It must be her illusion.

With many people involved, they soon finished making the bamboo tubes—fifty in total, about the thickness of a man’s forearm and the same length.

Fifty tubes seemed a lot, but the Tang Family had twenty people; not counting the four from the eldest branch, plus Yinxing and Granny Zhang, there were eighteen people.

So each person would have a little over two tubes, and that’s the quantity needed for the next ten days.

It still wasn’t enough.

For dinner, everyone ate wild vegetables, and after that, everyone went to sleep except for Pei Shu’er, Yinxing, and Granny Zhang, who stayed by the fire.

Liu Xu and Tang Qingning didn’t sleep either, and they worked alongside the three of them.

Though they didn’t know what Pei Shu’er intended to do, they knew that Pei Shu’er wouldn’t do something pointless.

Pei Shu’er was smarter than anyone could imagine.

Moreover, they indeed needed water for the journey tomorrow.

Seeing them come over, Pei Shu’er smiled, "You stay here and boil water, I’ll go cut more bamboo."

With so many people during the day, Pei Shu’er stopped cutting after a while because it was too conspicuous.

Now that everyone was asleep, she didn’t worry about it anymore.

She went to the bamboo grove, cut down all suitable bamboo, and made them into bamboo tubes.

The unsuitable ones she threw into her space, thinking they might be useful later.

She even saw bamboo shoots and unceremoniously tossed them into her space, planning to plant them in the exile location to weave bamboo products.

Now away from the crowd, Pei Shu’er comfortably used a knife to make holes in the bamboo tubes.

Upon sensing footsteps approaching, she quickly switched to a sharp wooden spike.

The footsteps stopped behind her and paused for about five minutes.

Pei Shu’er thought the person was going to attack, but then the person came closer again.

They squatted beside her.

Under the clear moonlight, Pei Shu’er saw the cold, hard side profile of Tang Zan.

"In the middle of the night, you’re too noisy."

Pei Shu’er: "..."

This man used his inner strength again, poking a hole with a single finger. Even though she had drunk the Spiritual Spring Water, she spent quite a while poking holes in the bamboo tubes.

But under Tang Zan’s hands, the bamboo tubes seemed like screws on an assembly line, quickly done.

Pei Shu’er raised an eyebrow.

No wonder he’s the main antagonist; he’s got some skills.

Realizing Tang Zan’s sinister gaze sweeping over, Pei Shu’er didn’t want to stay any longer. She quickly grabbed her backpack and loaded the bamboo tubes inside.

When she turned around again, she saw Tang Zan had also packed the remaining bamboo tubes into his bamboo basket and was limping along behind her.

Those deep, dark eyes, his pace unhurried, surprisingly had the relaxed demeanor of teasing a prey.

And she was that prey!

A shiver ran through Pei Shu’er, and she hurriedly turned around.

If ordinary people were under Tang Zan’s gaze, they’d probably be scared stiff.

Upon reaching Tang Qingning and Liu Xu, Pei Shu’er placed her backpack down.

The two of them were surprised to see so many bamboo tubes.

"How come there are so many more?"

Pei Shu’er shook her head.

"This is barely enough for everyone to last another three days."

This made 70 bamboo tubes, plus the previous 50, totaling 120 bamboo tubes.

And they’d have to consider giving some away to bribe people along the road, so it might still not be enough.

Fortunately, she had her space.

Only when she sat down did Pei Shu’er notice two large iron pots filled with water burning in front of them, boiling much faster than the stone pot.

Liu Xu explained with a grin.

"Zan’er borrowed them; he probably couldn’t bear to see you keeping watch in the middle of the night."

Pei Shu’er looked at Tang Zan with suspicion.

No way, could such a cruel antagonist be thinking of her?

Tang Zan snorted, "My mother and sister are not in good health; if they don’t rest well, they may have issues with tomorrow’s journey."

Pei Shu’er understood the implication of Tang Zan’s words: don’t be self-absorbed.

Once all the bamboo tubes were filled, Pei Shu’er gave Yinxing and Granny Zhang twenty bamboo tubes each, about a pound each, totaling around twenty pounds.

The next morning, the path led through lush grasslands, and even though the eldest branch was all but half-dead, they still scornfully mocked Pei Shu’er for her wasted efforts.

When Pei Shu’er finished making the bamboo tubes yesterday, she didn’t give any to the eldest branch, distributing them to the other households instead.

Until around four in the afternoon, when they stepped into the endless sandy desert, everyone was dumbfounded.

They thought Pei Shu’er’s words were false, as nothing seemed remotely like they were close to a desert.

Even knowing about the poisonous miasma, Pei Shu’er couldn’t predict everything like a prophet.

But, unexpectedly, it was true.

At that moment, the hearts of the eldest branch were chilled.

And so were the hearts of the others.

They had prepared nothing, yet arrived at the desert where the mortality rate was highest.