Adorable Food Goddess

“He knows you?” Xia Chunyu asked.

“Of course! He even gave me a 100-tael reward!”

Ye Jiayao intentionally wanted to annoy him. She wanted him to know that him giving her a 100-tael banknote wasn’t such a magnificent thing. She could easily earn that in tips alone.

Xia Chunyu’s face went tight with anger. Wasn’t Zhao Qixuan faithful to his Xiao Su? Why was he so generous towards Yaoyao? Was it because she was good-looking?

ven dressed up like a man, Yaoyao was still in danger.

“Don’t interact with him so often in future. Actually, it’s best if you don’t interact with him at all, ” Xia Chunyu told her gravely.

Ye Jiayao has always disliked that commanding tone of his. In the past, she has no choice but to obey him because her life was in his hands. Now, her life was her own and she doesn’t have to do anything he tells her.

“And why should I listen to you? He is one of Heavenly Residence’s best customers. He’s a nice person, he doesn’t have the arrogance of a  certain  Heir-son Lord I know, and he is quite generous. What is the problem with that?” Ye Jiayao demanded.

Xia Chunyu’s dark expression only got worse the more he listened to her. He said through gritted teeth, “Aren’t you afraid he’ll take advantage of you?”

Ye Jiayao paused. “He is a man, and I am currently a man. What is there to take advantage of?”

Xia Chunyu really did not want to discuss that topic with her, but he knew that if he didn’t make it clear to her, she’d never heed his warning. In fact, he was sure that she’d do the opposite of what he told her just to spite him.

“He would want to take advantage of you precisely because you’re a ‘man’. Zhao Qixuan is Jin Ling’s most famous homosexual,” Xia Chunyu said, his tone unkind.

Ugh… Homosexual? Gay?

Ye Jiayao stared at him blankly for a few seconds before bursting out in laughter. She has read about gay relationships in novels in the past, but she has never met one in real life. Perhaps it was because they hide well. She didn’t imagine that she’d run into one in the ancient times of all places!

“Is there anyone he likes? He seemed so happy to see you earlier that he couldn’t stop smiling! Does he like you?” Ye Jiayao asked, half-teasing.

Xia Chunyu spat his wine out and stared disdainfully at her. “What nonsense are you talking about?”

Ye Jiayao replied in a disappointed voice, “Oh, it’s not you? That’s such a pity! With your looks, he should be attracted to you! Could it be that he is the top and he prefers someone weaker? Someone like Little Jing?”

Shopkeeper Li’s warning to her made sense now. He once had told her that if it was that Heir-son Lord asking for her company, she should be worried.

Xia Chunyu looked at her in disbelief. Why doesn’t she find people like Zhao Qixuan disgusting? It even looked like she was very interested in the dynamics of these homosexual relationships! She even dragged Little Jing to her ridiculous mutterings. Didn’t she know that Helian Xuan almost killed her because he suspected that Little Jing was in a homosexual relationship with her?

This woman is going to be the death of me.

“I am not kidding, Yaoyao. Stay far away from him, and stay far away from Little Jing, too,” Xia Chunyu said angrily.

The angrier he got, the more Ye Jiayao wanted to oppose him.

“Why should I listen to you? I actually find being with you even more dangerous!” Ye Jiayao retorted.

Xia Chunyu was furious. “You will listen because you belong to me.”

Ye Jiayao laughed bitterly. “Xia Chunyu, is your brain working fine? I belong to you? Did you marry me or buy me? You think I belong to you just because we acted as husband and wife for a while, and had some physical intimacy? That I should just be a good little lap dog for you? Ha! Dream on.”

Xia Chunyu was confused as to how could she say something like that. Didn’t all women place their chastity over their lives? Well, of course, the women in the brothels are the exceptions. How could she, a lady from a noble family, be so alright with this?

He thought that she was only angry at him for not keeping his promise and hurting her. He thought that despite this hostility, she was holding him deep in her heart, so he apologized and groveled. He didn’t retaliate when she hit him, didn’t talk back when she scolded him. He was prepared to take on the responsibility of his mistake. However, she was acting like he didn’t really matter to her, like what they had was nothing more than an act.

It stung.

“Ye Jinxuan, don’t push your luck.”

Ye Jiayao lifted her chin up and looked at him straight in the eye. She has no intention of backing down. She had submitted to him for far too long.

“In the mountains, I had no choice but to say ‘how high?’ every time you told me to jump. I am my own person now. I don’t have to listen to you. Chunyu, we can’t see eye to eye, so we should just go our separate ways. We don’t need to see each other ever again.” With that said, Ye Jiayao swiftly turned around and jumped out the window.

Xia Chunyu almost had a heart attack at her sudden movement. He rushed after her, jumping into the river without even thinking about it.

However, she was nowhere to be seen in the water. The only sign she was in it was a splash in the distance.

He should’ve realized that she was a good swimmer. Haze Lake was 10 lis wide, and if someone who doesn’t know how to swim falls in, the impact alone would knock them out. Even if they managed to survive the fall, the current and the depth would’ve drowned them. Yaoyao survived that.

That wench! If you think that a few ruthless comments would make me give up and let you go, you don’t know me at all. You belong to me, Yaoyao. You’re not going to get away from me – not in this lifetime.

Xia Chunyu slapped the water surface in annoyance, making a large splash.

Ye Jiayao swam away a good distance, only coming up at the next harbor.

The quality of the water in the ancient times was excellent. There was no pollution unlike the rivers in the modern times. She couldn’t even think about going down for a swim in a river in the 21st century. Even fishes in the water were about to go extinct.

Ay, that was cooling. I wish I could do that every day.

Ye Jiayao returned to the motel dripping wet.

Little Yang stopped in his tracks when he saw her. “Um, Little Brother Li, did you… um, did you fell into the river?”

Ye Jiayao replied embarrassedly, “I went into the river to catch some fish, but I didn’t manage to catch any.”

She didn’t want to say that she didn’t fall in today, otherwise, that spy would snitch on her again. Why must Little Jingjing plant a spy around her? What was the need?

Ye Jiayao returned to her room to change, grateful that it was summer and the clothes dried fast. She could wear the clothes she had on yesterday. However, what little clothes she owned were all for sloppy dressing. She still had to go to Fu Ji to scout for information, and she wouldn’t even make it past the door with the current state of her clothes.

Tomorrow, she’d go out to shop for some decent clothing.

She would not think about anything else for the next few weeks – that includes Dumb Donkey. She has her culinary competition to focus on, she doesn’t need additional distractions. Anyways, after her heartless words today, she doubted he’d bother her anymore.

Ye Jiayao closed her eyes and slept in peace.

Xia Chunyu rode on the back of his horse to the mansion, dripping wet. The servants were all curious as to what their Heir-son Lord was up to. He looked like he jumped into the river fully clothed. Though from his gloomy expression, no one dared to say anything. They silently gave him blankets and fresh clothes, serving him cautiously.

Xia Chunyu got more and more frustrated as he thought about what had just happened. He has already humbled himself so much, what more does she want? How long would she continue to torment him for?

Ah, forget it! That woman was too much trouble. She’s not the least bit gentle and she mingles around the marketplace like a hooligan. Why do I need to worry about her?

He settled down on his bed and tried to sleep, but instead, spent the night tossing and turning around. He couldn’t get his mind to shut off because all his thoughts were filled with  her.

Xia Chunyu, you’re already a goner over this pesky woman.

The next day, in the morning, the first thing Zhao Qixuan did was look for Little Jing.

Helian Jing was just about to leave with his older brother when he heard that Zhao Qixuan has arrived looking for him. He immediately rushed to meet him.

“What’s the matter, Zhao Qixuan? It’s very early,” Helian Jing asked.

In a low voice, Zhao Qixuan told him, “Guess who I saw last night when I was touring the river?”

Helian Jing was not in the mood to play along. “I don’t have the patience for your games. Just tell me.”

Zhao Qixuan leaned in closer to Helian Jing, afraid of being heard by anyone else. He whispered, “I saw Xia Chunyu and Li Yao touring the river, just the two of them.”

“Just the two of them? Are you sure?” Helian Jing asked, stricken.

“Yes, I’m sure. I even greeted them. I saw how awkward Li Yao looked when he saw me,” Zhao Qixuan said. “Don’t you think that two men touring the river in the middle of the night is too weird? If it is me with Little Su, that’s fine, but…”

Last night’s incident had him thinking. He thought of the possibility that Xia Chunyu might be a homosexual. If that was true, that’d be great. Xia Chunyu would be a great boost to the gay community! The whole of Jin Ling’s princes and noblemen looked up to Xia Chunyu as their role model. Perhaps he would be able to take the bad connotation of gay men away.

The problem was that Little Jing liked Li Yao. If what he imagined was true, Little Jing would suffer from heartache.

“Little Jing, I just thought that you should know about this. I came here to tell you first thing.” Zhao Qixuan patted Helian Jing’s shoulder sympathetically.

Helian Jing replied, “Don’t tell anyone else about this. The situation is still not clear. If this gets out and causes a big scandal, Brother Chunyu is going to murder you.”

Zhao Qixuan unconsciously puts a hand over his heart. “I definitely won’t go around telling anyone. If it wasn’t Li Yao, I wouldn’t have even told you.”

“That’s good.”

After sending Zhao Qixuan away, Helian Jing resumed his activities. However, he wasn’t really able to concentrate on anything. He could not fathom what kind of relationship do Brother Chunyu and Big Yaoyao has. What has happened these past few days that he did not go to Big Yaoyao?

Ping An insisted that there was nothing going on. The only news there was to report was Big Yaoyao falling into the water last night. Did Brother Chunyu save Big Yaoyao? He wanted to look for Big Yaoyao to get some answers, but his big brother was bringing him to the army today.

Oh, that’s right!   Feign illness. Helian Jing immediately started coughing uncontrollably.

Helian Xuan came over to take a look at Little Jing upon hearing that he was not feeling well.

“What’s wrong? Weren’t you just fine yesterday?”

Helian Jing mustered some coughs before he replied, “I didn’t close the window last night, maybe I caught a cold.”

Helian Xuan looked at him suspiciously. “Don’t tell me Zhao Qixuan spread it to you.”

“That is not possible. He only came here to ask if there was anything he could do to help with Grandmother’s birthday feast. He organized the birthday feast for his grandfather so he has some experience,” Helian Jing lied guiltily.

“Then don’t go to the camp today, stay home and rest,” Helian Xuan told him after some thought.

Helian Xuan immediately called the servants over to him. “Tell the princess that the little prince is ill and get a physician quickly.”

With Mother keeping an eye on him, Helian Xuan believed that Little Jing would not sneak out.