Adorable Food Goddess

Chapter 66

Xia Chunyu stared at the banknote in his hand as he listened to the guard, his eyes gradually turning stormy with anger .

“Where is this person?”

The guard saw the anger on Heir-son Lord’s face and answered with fear, “He’s gone, Your Highness . ”

“How long ago did he leave?”

“He just left . As soon as he turned away, I immediately rushed here to tell you, Heir-son Lord . I don’t think he has gone far, yet . ”

Xia Chunyu took a saddled horse and quickly chase after Yaoyao .

As expected, he caught up with Yaoyao not too far away from the mansion .

It is already late, and this infuriating woman isn’t even afraid to wander alone in the street!

Xia Chunyu spurred the horse faster and moved closer to her . He used his long arms to drag her onto the horse .

Startled, Ye Jiayao started to scream .

Xia Chunyu pushed her to sit in front of him and plastered her against him with an arm around her waist . He was afraid that all her struggling would cause her to fall off the horse .

He said softly, “Stop screaming . ”

Ye Jiayao closed her mouth and gaped angrily at Chunyu . “Why the hell are you kidnapping me?”

Xia Chunyu frowned . “How is this kidnapping?”

“You took me against my will! What else would you call it? You know what, don’t answer that . Just let me go!”

“No way . You came to me first . I’m not letting you go,” Xia Chunyu said stubbornly .

“I only came to return the money and tell you to stay out of my business,” Ye Jiayao retorted angrily .

“It doesn’t matter . We’re here now, and I think that it’s high time that we have a chat . ”

“We don’t have anything to say to each other . We’re nothing to each other . What will we talk about? We only acted on a show together,” Ye Jiayao said coldly . His close proximity to her was wreaking a havoc on her hormones . With her back against his muscled chest and his arm around her waist, she couldn’t help but think of the steamy nights they spent in bed . She squirmed, starting to feel hot . She was extremely aware that she was blushing .

“Can you stop mentioning that? You have to understand my situation back then . ” Xia Chunyu’s jaw brushed her ear . Her long, soft hair floated to his face and he felt a bit ticklish . Despite her hostility, Xia Chunyu’s heart was happy and at peace as he held her close to him .

Ye Jiayao rolled her eyes . Oh, she understood his situation perfectly . She also understood that denying connection to her and telling Song Qi that ‘there’s no need to act anymore’ was him trying to ditch her . She might have acted shamelessly towards him in the past, but she was not a complete airhead .

“Alright, let’s not talk about the past . Can we just pretend that we don’t know each other? You are an Heir-son Lord and I work as a chef . We have nothing to do with each other . Deal?” Ye Jiayao offered sulkily .

“No,” Xia Chunyu answered without even pausing for a beat .

Neigh…

The horse stopped . Xia Chunyu nimbly maneuvered his body and got off the horse . He was going to help Yaoyao down, but when he turned around, she has already jumped down to the ground . Woman, for once, can you pretend that you need my help?

Ye Jiayao dusted her hands and said, “I am going now . There’s no need for us to see each other again, alright?”

She turned to walk away but Xia Chunyu dragged her back easily . “I said we need to have a chat . ”

“Yo, Heir-son Lord, you should be sitting in a boat, drinking alcohol, listening to music, and hugging beautiful girls this time of the night . You shouldn’t drag unwilling people with you,” Ye Jiayao mocked .

Xia Chunyu smiled at her roguishly . “That’s a good idea, and that’s exactly what I am going to do . Come along!”

He pulled Ye Jiayao to the dock .

“Yo, don’t corrupt me! I am only a poor guy . I don’t want to learn what you rich kids do . ” Ye Jiayao struggled against his hold .

“Don’t worry, it’s my treat . You don’t need to spend a single cent . ”

Xia Chunyu dragged her straight into a boat and immediately said, “Boatman, start the boat . ”

The boatman immediately did as he was told, happy to get a business this late at night . He acquiesced, “Yes, sir! I will start the boat right away . ”

Usually, there would be male or female – or both – prostitutes inside the boat . It depended on the customer’s preference, so the boatman really didn’t blink an eye as he saw the two men board his boat .

Xia Chunyu made her sit down .

A coquettish woman appeared before them, bringing up some snacks and wine . She winked at Xia Chunyu and softly asked, “Sir, what else do you want to order?”

This lady didn’t even spare Ye Jiayao a look . There was no point to look at such a poor kid since it was clear that Xia Chunyu, with his clothes in gold, was the rich master .

Xia Chunyu put a 100-silver note on the table . “Bring whatever you have and get us a pot of Liu An tea . ”

The lady’s eyes brightened and her smile turned wider . “Of course . Please, wait a second, sir, I will go fetch it now . ”

Ye Jiayao stared at the 100-silver note and thought that it was so easy to make money in a boat . They only had to bring drinks, a few plates of dry fruits, cruise for a while, and they already get 100 silvers . When I get rich, I’m going to buy a couple of boats .

Xia Chunyu saw her staring at the silver note and started to feel sorry for her . “You can take this note if you’d like . ”

Ye Jiayao suddenly snapped awake from her daydream and called, “Boatman, stop the boat!”

The boat kept its cruising pace . The boatman wouldn’t stop the boat unless the rich man ordered him to do so .

Ye Jiayao was furious as she saw Chunyu’s cocky look . She really wanted to kick him .

The beautiful lady brought out some green grapes, almonds, preserves, and a plate of crispy small dried fish, as well as a pot of Liu An tea .

Xia Chunyu waved her away .

“Do you want to know Aunt Jiang’s situation?” Xia Chunyu poured tea for Ye Jiayao and he poured himself a glass of wine .

Ye Jiayao rolled her eyes and ignored him .

Xia Chunyu just kept talking, “Their family is going to be coming to Jin Ling in a few days . They just set out to look for their son in Ji Ning first . They were forced to become bandits . It was a good thing that this time, Uncle Jiang did the right thing and cooperated with me . I had the police take their case off so they can go back to their hometown without any concerns . ”

Ye Jiayao was happy to hear that . She was curious as to what kind of case Uncle Jiang was involved in, though .

“Do you know why they became bandits?”

“There was a gangster who was interested in Uncle Jiang’s daughter and wanted to rape her . In the urgent situation, Uncle Jiang used a hoe to knock him out but he accidentally killed him, instead .

Ye Jiayao didn’t know that the fatherly Uncle Jiang she met had that much guts .

“I also let Auntie Zhao and the rest of the people who were forced to go up the mountain free . I tasked Feng Chaolin take care of the people who didn’t really do bad things . ”

Ye Jiayao couldn’t stop herself from asking, “What about Peng Wu? I heard that you framed him . ”

Xia Chunyu squinted at her and smiled ambiguously . “What do you think?”

“He treated me very well and called me big sister all the time . He was hardworking and he helped me out a lot . ”

Xia Chunyu scoffed, “You can’t judge someone’s nature just by that . He didn’t talk much and he worked very hard, yes, but he was also the fiercest killer in Black Wind Ridge . At the time when the group of Bai Chongye has just expanded, most of the bloody cases involved him and Sheng Wu . They wiped out whole villages . Their hands were full of blood . ”

Ye Jiayao was shocked . I guess it’s true that you never really know what’s inside a person’s heart .

“He was as a serious criminal, and I handed over to the governors to take care of . He might not be able to evade death . ” Xia Chunyu finished the alcohol in his cup . The topic of their conversation seemed to have gotten very heavy and it was not his intention . He only wanted to get closer to her by talking about the old memories they shared .

Ye Jiayao drank her tea in silence, her heart saddened . Even though he was as bad as Second-in-charge, he has never shown her anything but kindness . Ye Jiayao has always believed that even the evillest person has a good side .

“Yaoyao, go back to your family . I am here, I won’t let them do anything bad to you again,” Xia Chunyu told her earnestly . He was starting to actualize his plan .

Ye Jiayao looked at him as if he was the biggest idiot she has seen . “You don’t need to worry about my issues . ”

Her life was full of happiness now . Why would she want to face the people she hated? To torture herself? No, thank you .

“Do you want to stay in Heavenly Residence for life?”

“Of course not! I’ll be working there for three years at most, and then, I will open my own restaurant and earn lots of money,” Ye Jiayao said casually . Ay! Why did I tell him my plans?

“So you’re planning to be a ladyboy for the rest of your life?” Xia Chunyu asked .

Ye Jiayao blinked and said unhappily, “What do you mean ladyboy? I’ll have you know, everyone praised me as a pretty, young man . ”

Xia Chunyu frowned . She even called herself pretty . Truly admirable .

“Pretty is a word used to describe beautiful girls . Handsome is the word for guys, or smart, or dashing . Understood? If they’re calling you pretty, they might mean that you are a bit . . . ” Xia Chunyu trailed off .

Ye Jiayao put the teapot aside and stared at him angrily . “What? Your brain is full of strange ideas!”

“It is because I know who you really are . ” He looked at her flat chest which was wrapped and concealed tightly by her clothes .

Ye Jiayao covered her chest . “What are you looking at?”

They might have done the deed before, but they don’t have any relationship now . He has no right to see or even think of her in that state anymore .

Xia Chunyu smiled as if he couldn’t care less at how indignant she was . “I heard that if you wrap it tight like that, the blood will clot and you’re going to fall ill easily .

“That is none of your business . ” Ye Jiayao rolled her eyes .

Another boat matched up to their pace . It was a summer night so the windows on both boats were open from all sides to let in the cold wind . It also made watching the night scenery of the river easier .

“Oh? Is that Xia Chunyu?” Zhao Qixuan who was cruising in the boat next to Ye Jiayao’s exclaimed . “Xia Chunyu! Xia Chunyu!”

Xia Chunyu looked to the side and saw Zhao Qixuan on the boat beside theirs, waving his paper fan . He really didn’t want to have a conversation with him so Xia Chunyu merely nodded and held up his wine glass as a greeting .

Ye Jiayao found the calling voice familiar so she also turned around to take a look .

Zhao Qixuan was taken aback when he saw Li Yao . “Um . . . Li Yao? What are you . . . ”

Zhao Qixuan found this too odd . It would make sense if it was Li Yao and Little Jing cruising together . . . but he was with Brother Chunyu! How did the two of them know each other? And why were they cruising together on a very late night?

Ye Jiayao smiled and waved awkwardly, silently cursing herself . Why did I have to show my face? Damn you curiosity!

“Xia Chunyu, do you want to have a drink together?” Zhao Qixuan offered .

Xia Chunyu smiled calmly and said, “No, thank you . Perhaps some other day . ”

“Alright . It’ll be my treat then,” Zhao Qixuan said graciously, still perplexed .

As the two boats drifted apart, Zhao Qixuan worried . Did Xia Chunyu turn down his offer to drink together because he was spending time with Li Yao? Did Little Jing know about this relationship?