Adorable Food Goddess

Helian Xuan was about to explode with anger. Why was Little Jing still denying it when all the facts were already clear?

“Tell me, are you in love with that fellow Li Yao?” Helian Xuan questioned.

Helian Jing blinked, momentarily stupefied. Then he doubled over and busted out laughing.

“How can you laugh about this? Don’t you know how embarrassing this is? All your life, I’ve set up a good example for you, I don’t know how you’ve become… this.  Helian Jing stop laughing!” Helian Xuan clenched his fists, fighting the urge to slap his brother sober.

Helian Jing was laughing so much he had tears rolling down his face. He tried to stop, he really did, but it took him about a few more minutes of roaring out loud before he could pull himself together.

“Brother, I thought only brains like Zhao Qixuan’s would think of something like that. You even managed to be more preposterous than him! I am close with Li Yao because he is my rescuer. If not for him, I would’ve had to  beg  my way back to Jin Ling. Besides, we click together very well, even more than the other princes and noblemen. Brother, we are close, but Li Yao and I are only friends,” Helian Jing explained.

Helian Xuan scoffed, “If that’s really just the case, then why are you trying to hide it? Why are you always sneaking around to meet him?”

“That’s because I am afraid you would put too much into it – just like you’re doing now. I don’t want to cause him harm.”

Helian Xuan was quiet for a while. When he finally spoke, his voice was low as he said, “Do you swear to heaven that there really is no such thing going on?”

“Brother, if someone says you and Brother Chunyu are having  that  kind of relationship, how would you feel? You’re both of age and you’ve yet to get married. If you really want to talk about suspicious…” Helian Jing hinted.

Helian Xuan  really  wanted to smack his brother then. However, as mad as he was, he couldn’t help but feel a bit impressed that Little Jing actually had learned how to checkmate him.

“What is all this ruckus about?” Princess Yu De demanded. She had heard from a servant that the brothers were fighting so she came over to see what was going on.

Helian Jing quickly replied, “Mother, it is nothing. Big Brother is lecturing me because he heard that I want to hire acrobats.”

Princess Yu De looked at both her sons with suspicious eyes. She asked Helian Xuan with a stern face, “Xuan-er, is this true?”

Helian Xuan glared at Little Jing and answered, “It is Grandmother’s birthday, I don’t see the reason why he should invite acrobats.”

“Little Jing has already discussed this with me. Honestly, son, I don’t think it is such a big deal. You men don’t like to watch opera shows and an acrobatic act to entertain you instead is not a bad idea,” Princess Yu De said.

Helian Jing looked at him smugly.

Helian Xuan rolled his eyes at his little brother. Mother has always pampered Little Jing. If he comes to her with no evidence of his suspicions, she’d just end up siding with Helian Jing just like what she was doing now. He had to put this matter with Li Yao on hold for now until he could gather concrete evidence.

“Xuan-er come with Mother, I have some things to discuss with you,” Princess Yu De told Helian Xuan.

As soon as his mother and brother left, Helian Jing leaned back on the couch, heaving a huge sigh of relief.

Ye Jiayao has already taught everyone how to make the chilled drinks so she doesn’t have to oversee it that much. There really weren’t many skills involved, but of course, they couldn’t let the customers know that. They had to make the drinks sound as magical and complicated as possible to keep attracting patrons.

Extracting agar alone used up a whole day of work. The next step would be drying it in a shady area, and to complete the whole work, it would require about half a month’s time.

She could finally get on with her plan of shopping for clothes and trying out the other restaurants’ food that has been delayed for two days.

Ye Jiayao was going to go shopping after the lunch orders. For the past few days, the newly served chilled drinks brought so many businesses that there were almost always no seats vacant during lunchtime. The restaurant at night, however, was a lot quieter so she could afford to leave for a bit.

She just stepped out the hall when she saw a young man rudely pointing a finger at Manager Qian, scolding him.

“What kind of lousy restaurant is this? You’re only selling 20 bowls of chilled drinks so that the people will come back every day? You’re just trying to cheat people on purpose! Don’t you know that I can close this restaurant down?”

Little Lu told Ye Jiayao softly, “That person is here for the chilled drinks, but since it’s so late, he didn’t manage to get any, so he just settled on scolding everyone.”

Ye Jiayao nodded. It was inevitable that they’d run into someone difficult. Hopefully, Manager Qian would be able to handle this well.

“Also, your head chef, Li something, who does he think he is? Does he think he’s a master chef to limit only 200 bowls a day?”

Ye Jiayao took back her earlier stance on letting Manager Qian handle the situation. She sashayed over to them, her eyes squinted as she looked over the chap with such a loud voice.

He has quite the looks with his willow brows, almond eyes, jade-like nose, and delicate red lips. He was shorter than her by around four to five centimeters.Another brat who has yet to be fully grown.

Ye Jiayao made a show of sniffing around. “Mm? What’s so smelly? Manager Qian, did you fart?”

Manager Qian blushed, replying embarrassedly, “What nonsense are you talking about? Who farted?”

Ye Jiayao went to the young boy’s side and sniffed again. She exclaimed, “Oh! So that smell is from you.”

The young boy’s face flushed red, her willow brows raised so high. “Who the hell are you? If you dare to spout that filthy lie again, I’ll have your head cut off.”

Ye Jiayao used her hand to fan her nose lightly. “Sir, you have a lot of internal heat. I think your constipation must be very serious, otherwise, your breath would not stink so much.”

Little Lu and Ah Xing standing by the side snorted, trying to stifle their laughter. Brother Yao was too sarcastic.

The young boy was so angry he was shaking. He pointed a finger at Ye Jiayao and stammered, “You… you…”

Ye Jiayao raised her chin defiantly. “You, you what? There is no lack of princes, noblemen, and influential officials who eat here. There are a great number of them who return after not getting to try the chilled drinks. Unlike you, they don’t lack proper manners and common human decency. Ha! Who are you to make threats about closing the restaurant and cutting people’s head off?

“If you’re really that affronted just because you were not served chilled drinks, let’s take this to court. I’m sure people would love to hear your side of the story, you know, fighting for your right to chilled drinks and whatnot. Come to think of it, maybe they’d think your certifiable, but they could also think that Heavenly Residence’s drinks are just that good. Win-win for us.”

The brat looked at Ye Jiayao incredulously. This young boy who was dressed so shabbily was actually lecturing  her. Her.  Worst of all, she was unable to clap back because she can’t have people finding out her identity.

“You… I’m not going to talk to someone who is so full of crap anymore. Just wait and see.”

The brat walked away furiously with the good-looking servant boy who came with him hurrying behind him.

Manager Qian smiled and gave Li Yao a big thumbs up. “That was awesome! You sent him off with just a few sentences.”

“However, judging by that chap’s dressing, he doesn’t look like someone ordinary. Is it okay to offend him?” Manager Qian worried a bit.

Ye Jiayao shrugged, indifferent. “What’s there to be afraid of? We have the right to send him away, we are not in the wrong. If this gets out, it won’t be us who would lose face. Next time you encounter someone as difficult as him, just stand straight and hold your ground. There’s no need to be afraid of bullies like him.”

“Big Brother Yao is formidable,” Little Lu and Ah Xing praised. It was not their first time to encounter such a rude customer, and as waiters, they almost always took the brunt of the people’s displeasure. Today, although that young mister was not targeting them, they were still delighted to see Brother Yao show off his prowess.

That young master exited angrily, murmuring, “Infuriating, infuriating! I must get my revenge on that chap.”

The servant advised, “Princess, just let it go. If the empress dowager finds out that you sneaked out of the palace, there will be many more people who will be punished. There is no need to take a poor fellow so seriously!”

“Little Ya, I cannot just silently take this insult. I have already risked getting scolded by the empress dowager by sneaking out just to try the chilled drinks, and all I got was a slew of insults. I might as well take this fellow down if I’m going to get in trouble anyways,” Princess Liu Li said, kicking a stone in her path angrily.

“Princess, calm down, please. That fellow looks like he works in the restaurant, so when you return, you can just find some reason to arrest him. You can vent your anger at him however you want when the time comes,” Little Ya reasoned.

Princess Liu Li’s smiled and patted Little Ya on the shoulder. “That’s a fine idea. After all, it is never too late for revenge.”

Ye Jiayao walked to the most flourishing decorated archway. There were many shops here selling ready-made clothes as well as silks and satins. Fu Ji was also just around the corner, and she could head straight there for dinner after getting her clothes.

Ye Jiayao entered the shop that does not stand out and was also quiet in business. She chose three sets of clothes, two sets of normal cotton clothing, and a set of slightly better silk clothes, spending a total of six taels. Ye Jiayao put on the silk clothes merrily. She gave the helper of the satin shop five coppers as tips to get him to send the other two sets of clothes to Laifu Motel. She still has to go out to eat and she didn’t want to carry a baggage as she does.

When Ye Jiayao came out of the shop, it was still a little early to eat so she decided to walk around and familiarize herself with this ancient city.

“Princess, princess..” Little Ya tugged on the princess’ sleeve urgently.

Liu Li glared at her with her large, round eyes. “What’s the fuss about?”

Little Ya corrected herself, “Young Master, look at the person there! Isn’t that the chap from Heavenly Residence?”

Liu Li looked towards the direction Little Ya was pointing at.  Hey, that’s the chap!  He has changed clothes and looked a bit more human now, but he was still detestable.

“Go ask around in the shop he just entered,” Liu Li ordered.

Little Ya went to ask. She came out after a while with a grin. “Young Master, that chap is Li Yao! He is staying in the Laifu Motel, and he even got the worker to send his clothes back to the inn.”

I’m going to get even with you, Li Yao.

“Let’s follow him.”

Little Ya protested, “But Young Master, it is not early anymore, what if…”

“Stop nagging! It is not dinnertime yet, no one will be looking for us.” Liu Li had already gone to so much trouble just to sneak out, she didn’t want to return without achieving anything.

Ye Jiayao browsed through a few female products in a stall. There were hairpins, earrings, cosmetics, and many more. They all looked so beautiful that she wanted to buy some, but since she was a ‘man’ at the moment, she really couldn’t use them. She bought a white jade hairpin, though, to gift to Li Erniang.

Just as she was about to leave, a beggar ran over, knocking into her.

“Ay, watch where you’re going!” Ye Jiayao cried out.

The beggar bowed and apologized profusely, even offering to help Ye Jiayao up.

“Forget it, forget it, just be careful next time.” Ye Jiayao waved her hand, she did not wish to make things difficult for a child.

The beggar turned away and ran off.

Ye Jiayao took a few steps away before she felt that something was off. She felt around for her money pouch, it was still there, but it didn’t feel right.

She pulled it off to look at it and gasped.

This money pouch was not hers!