Adorable Food Goddess

Chapter 37: Sad Little Jing

Translator: Kats Editor: Perriemix

Both of them wanted to eat watermelons, but neither were willing to steal it . When it was clear that no one was going to budge in their staring contest, Ye Jiayao suggested a game to end it .

“Let’s play Rock, Paper, Scissors, and whoever loses has to go take a watermelon . ” Ye Jiayao smiled cunningly . “Little Jingjing, what are we going to play?”

Helian Jing hid his hands behind his back and stared at her cautiously . “What are you playing?”

Ye Jiayao laughed . “I will play scissors . ”

Helian Jing contemplated . Is he lying just to make me play paper? Or make me play rock? Whatever! I’ll just play scissors too and get an even game .

“Come on, let’s get on with it! Just don’t be a sore loser, okay?” Ye Jiayao looked downright maniacal . She was not satisfied with the simple conclusion made by a psychologist . She wanted to improve her odds and find other ways for a sure win .

“Are you sure you’re not the sore loser?” Helian Jing sneered at her .

“Rock, paper, scissors, show . . . ”

Ye Jiayao laughed when she saw him play scissors . Little Jingjing really was adorably naive when it comes to the ways of the world .

Helian Jing’s mouth gaped open, speechless . “You played it unfairly! You told me that you were going to play scissors? Why did you play rock?”

Ye Jiayao flicked his forehead . “Little Jingjing, are you really just this easy to fool? Haven’t you ever heard of ‘strategy’? It’s just like making a noise in the east and attacking from the west . You still have a lot to learn, little brother . For now, be good and go take a watermelon . I’ll teach you how to smartly play this game, afterward . ”

Helian Jing was so confused and dejected he wanted to hit something . He really couldn’t do anything right with this guy .

Ye Jiayao watched as Helian Jing sneak inside the watermelon field, walking wobbly on his toes . She couldn’t steal a chicken before, but she figured that stealing a watermelon wouldn’t sit so heavily on her conscience . She actually thought it was funny . There were so many watermelons in the field anyway, taking one or two wasn’t a big deal .

Helian Jing really didn’t want to do it . If he continued with this, he would forever be a watermelon thief . Also, the watermelons weren’t mature yet, they might not be sweet enough .

He turned his head and hesitantly looked at Ye Jiayao .

Ye Jiayao gestured for him to hurry up .

Helian Jing had to force himself to pull out the biggest watermelon he found .

Woof! Woof! Woof!

No one knew where the big black dog came from, but they didn’t notice it until it rushed right in front of Helian Jing and barked menacingly at him .

Helian Jing turned pale and immediately scooped the watermelon up, fleeing away without heeding the path he was running in .

Ye Jiayao was spooked by the incident . They didn’t know there was a big guard dog here! Ye Jiayao waved at Helian Jing desperately and shouted, “Come up, here!”

However, the dog blocked the way Ye Jiayao was pointing to . Helian Jing ran to the other side of the field, desperate to get away . In his hurry, and factoring in the bleak sky, he stepped into a dung jar buried near the field, failing to notice it .

Ye Jiayao blinked and small Jingjing was gone . Stupid kid! How is he such a fastrunner? It wasn’t until she spotted the dog barking at one spot incessantly, did she realized that something was wrong . She waited until the dog walked away before carefully walking over there .

Ye Jiayao was speechless as he watched Helian Jing slowly crawl out of the field, his whole body covered in shit .

Two hours later, Ye Jiayao sat next to the river, gazing up at a sky full of stars and listening to the water’s crashing sound .

“Small Jingjing, have you finished showering yet? It has been almost two hours . ”

Ye Jiayao found it strange that when she was with little Jingjing, she barely felt any mosquitoes . Now that small Jingjing was away, it seemed that all mosquitoes in the area have come to bite her . I guess hungry mosquitoes are not very choosy .

Helian Jing ignored her and continued to scrub his body raw . It just felt like no matter how hard he rubbed, he was still dirty .

“Aye, just be careful with snakes and leeches in the water . They can get inside where they are not supposed to be . ” Ye Jiayao tried to scare him . Does he really want to stay in the water for the whole night?

Helian Jing subconsciously covered his private part and immediately jumped out of the water . Perhaps it was a trick, but as soon as she said it, he started to itch and felt like there were worms crawling all over him .

Helian Jing got dressed in the clothes Ye Jiayao had dried next to the fire . His back was to her, so Ye Jiayao stole secret glances at him . Wow, this kid has a good-looking body! He was tall, slim, long-legged, and has curled hips . His muscles weren’t as strong and bulky as that stupid donkey, but he had clear curves and defined muscles .

Helian Jing felt the strange feeling of eyes on him and suddenly turned around . Luckily, Ye Jiayao had quick reflexes and was able to look away just in time . “Will you hurry up? I’m almost drained by the mosquitoes!” she complained .

Helian Jing wrinkled his nose at her . Drained by mosquitoes? I was dropped in a dung jar! He finished dressing and walked to her sulkily . His mood was the lowest it has ever been after all that has happened to him today . He felt like his whole world was tilted on its axis .

Ye Jiayao saw his sorrowful eyes and consoled him empathically . “Hey, consider yourself lucky you didn’t drop inside a big dung jar . Stop worrying too much . You’ve clean yourself up now, no harm done . ”

Helian Jing’s face turned red and he shouted angrily, “This is all your fault! If it wasn’t for you, I won’t be so miserable . ”

“Little Jingjing, I understand you’re feeling pretty crappy, but do you really need to be unreasonable? I didn’t force you to play Rock, Paper, Scissors . We agreed that whoever loses will steal the watermelons . If you want to blame someone, blame the dog . If it’ll make you feel better, we can go back to fetch the dog and steam the meat . ” Ye Jiayao said innocently .

“You can go by yourself if you want . I will never go back to that place again . ” Helian Jing walked away angrily .

That was a place of nightmares and he was never going to set foot in there again . He couldn’t believe that the two things he hated the most now were watermelon and dogs . He swore that he would never eat a watermelon again, and never raise a dog inside his mansion in this lifetime .

Ye Jiayao stood up and chased after him . “Alright . Don’t be mad . No one else saw it anyway . You don’t talk about it and I won’t talk about it . No one else will know . ”

Well, he’s right! No one else saw my humiliation . This will stay with brother Jin and I . No one else can know .

Helian Jing abruptly turned around and stared at Ye Jiayao quietly .

Ye Jiayao saw the dangerous glint in his eyes and immediately realized that what she said violated some taboo . She held her right hand up immediately and promised, “I swear that I won’t tell this to anyone, or I will get hit by a car when I go out . ”

It was convenient since there were no cars in this ancient time and little Jinjing knew nothing of it . However, she really didn’t have any intention to spread it like a gossip . The kid was already tragic, and she didn’t want to add humiliation to the list of bad things he was feeling .

Helian Jing gradually calmed down, but he was still in a saddened mood as he walked forward, head bent low .

Tonight, they had to sleep in a pavilion again . Luckily it was summer, otherwise, the wind blowing from all four sides could get chilly real fast .

Ye Jiayao gave him a big bun to cheer him up, but Helian Jing had no appetite and couldn’t eat .

“Just eat it . I will make something good for you tomorrow . ” Ye Jiayao held the bun in front of his mouth .

Helian Jing reluctantly bit some off .

The past times, she was always yelling, reprimanding, and swearing at him, but tonight, she refrained . His mood was so low and he was so quiet that Ye Jiayao started to feel sorry for him .

It rained again come midnight . Ye Jiayao was roused by the coldness . She looked for small Jinjing and found him curled up against a pole, his eyebrows knitted . She scooted closer to him, letting his head rest on her shoulder . We’ll just warm up for a bit .

Dawn broke, and the early birds perched the handrails of the pavilion, chirping happily .

Helian Jing opened his eyes and glanced at his surroundings . Ever since this crazy, miserable journey, he always felt disoriented and lost when he woke up .

His heart started to flutter when he realized that his head was rested on brother Jin’s shoulder . It’s weird that he always smells good .

He watched her at a close distance . Her skin looked translucent and soft under the morning sunlight and he could almost see the veins hidden under her skin . The way her long lashes, defined brows, and button nose stood out made her facial features appear delicate . Her lips looked deliciously light pink and could give the people an urge to bite it . . .

Helian Jing averted his eyes and shifted awkwardly, the unusual feeling surprising him .

There were some gays among the capital’s noble families . He heard funny stories about them sometimes, but he always felt that it was ridiculous . How could a man feel something towards another man?

Only now, he not only didn’t dislike this man but also has some crazy ideas about him .

Helian Jing shook his head promptly, trying to shake off the ridiculous idea in his head .

Forget it! He’s just a poor kid with a bad temper . He is ferocious and always swears at him . Even if she is a girl, I won’t like her .

Ye Jiayao opened her eyes and lazily said, “Hey! You’re already awake . ”

Helian Jing moved away from her awkwardly and mumbled something incoherent . He wanted to get away from her and what he was feeling . He got up and told her he was going to take a piss .

Ye Jiayao looked away . The sound of flowing water reached her ears and she shifted uncomfortably . She was a woman and there’s never going to be a time that she wouldn’t feel awkward hearing that .

“Little Jingjing, I will go find some food,” Ye Jiayao said, glad that she had an excuse to walk away .

The rain was a gift of nature . It dampens everything and paves the way for food materials to grow, such as mushrooms and different types of fungus .

Ye Jiayao learned how to distinguish edible fungus when she had followed auntie Jiang and auntie Zhao to dig wild herbs during her days in Black Wind Ridge . She now has a pretty great understanding of what was poisonous and what was edible .

She didn’t spend too much effort in preparing the cep mushrooms she picked . She only cleaned them up, put them in a jar, added some salt in, and stewed it on the fire .

It didn’t take long before the water started boiling and the bubbles and the fragrance came out .

“So, the jar you bought is used to cook things . ” Helian Jing observed, coming up to Ye Jiayao as he smelled the delicious fragrance .

Ye Jiayao took out a big pancake and tore it into small pieces . “Of course, it’s used to cook things . Did you think we’re just lugging it around for nothing? Oh! We can get a big pan! We can cook in it and it can also protect us during rainy days!”

Ye Jiaoyao looked at the gray sky in apprehension . Damn it! I forgot to prepare umbrellas!

Helian Jing tittered . This Jin brother is very funny .