Adorable Food Goddess

“Who else entered my room?”

“Just me and my mum. My mother was beside herself when she saw you like that. Even when I was sick, I never saw her that worried. She sat on your bed and cried as she talked to you for a long time,” Jiang Yue told her.

Oh… it was Auntie Jiang.

“Sister Yaoyao, are you hungry? My mom made some porridge for you. Wait here and I will bring it.”

Ye Jiayao nodded and touched her stomach. “Thank you, Yue-er. After I eat, I need to make some ice cream, too.”

Jiang Yue smiled and shook her head. “My brother and I already made it with your recipe.”

“Really?” Ye Jiayao was a bit surprised. She had thought Jiang Yue how to make it ages ago, but she didn’t expect her to take the initiative like this.

“I’m just not too sure if it tastes good. I made the same quantity as we did a few days ago.” Jiang Yue wasn’t really confident in her work yet as it was her first time making ice cream without Sister Yaoyao’s guidance.

Ye Jiayao encouraged, “You need to trust yourself. In the next few days, when I am less busy, I can teach you how to cook. When I open my own restaurant, I will make you my manager.”

She actually had already planned this before. If she opened her own restaurant, she would need people she could trust. Jiang Yue, who was also gifted in cooking, was the ideal choice.

“Really?” Jiang Yue was elated.

“Of course!”

Jiang Yue said happily, “I will bring the porridge to you now! I will even add two eggs.”

“Ah… no. People who catch a cold can’t eat eggs.”

“Huh? Why?”

Ye Jiayao couldn’t really explain the risks of foods with high protein to sick people without revealing her modern knowledge so she just said, “I don’t know either. I just heard it from a doctor.”

After she ate, Ye Jiayao went back to sleep. When she woke up the next morning, she was refreshed and all better. She dressed in a set of moon-white gown because she wanted to look her best when she meets Liu Yiyi tonight.

Little Jing was waiting for her outside.

“Yaoyao, are you better now?” Helian Jing looked horrible. He had bags under his eyes and his mouth seemed to have been permanently set into a worried frown.

“I am fine! What about you? What is wrong with your eyes? You look like you haven’t slept in a week.”

Little Jing rubbed his eyes and said remorsefully, “I’m the reason why you were sick.”

“Tsk, tsk. What were you thinking? You don’t know how to swim and yet you dared to jump into the water to save people? If I wasn’t a good swimmer, we would’ve both drowned,” Ye Jiayao told him seriously. She really scared him that night. If anything had happened to him, she would’ve never been able to live with herself.

Little Jing defended himself awkwardly, “I was in a rush.”

“Well, next time, rush your head to think first!”

“I know, I know. Don’t be so mad!” Helian Jing looked at Yaoyao with sad eyes.

“Whatever. I need to go now and you need to go to the military, too.”

“Yaoyao, are you still going to see Liu Yiyi tonight? I can rent a more luxurious boat this time and take you to see her,” Helian Jing offered graciously, hoping to please her.

Ye Jiayao dragged Little Jing to the side and asked softly, “Will you still say those weird stuff?”

Helian Jing shook his head. He would lay off of her for now. That doesn’t mean that he was giving up, though. Now that he knew that Yaoyao was really a girl, he’d double his efforts to woo her.

Ye Jiayao patted his shoulder. “I will go after I finish work.”

Tonight’s show was much more lively than the night before. It was definitely a ‘hunting chick’ party. There were all kinds of rich kids in Jin Ling City joining in the festivity.

As Ye Jiayao finished work late, when she arrived, the boat could only hang around the outside.

“So I can’t see anything more?” Ye Jiayao went on her toes, craning her head to look above all the things blocking her way.

“Don’t worry, I will ask the boat in front of us to move.” Helian Jing said to the boatman, “Boatman, raise the lantern of the Helian Royal Mansion and ask the boats in front of us to move.”

As expected, when the people saw the lantern of the Helian Royal Mansion, they gave way for them. Their boat moved forward all the way until they were close to the water platform.

Suddenly, a voice called loudly, “Little Jing!”

Ye Jiayao looked towards the sound and saw Xia Chunfeng waving at them. She looked more closely and saw that Zhao Qixuan was with him as well.  Well, it looks like the honeymoon is over for the couple.

Little Jing pretended not to hear them and even hid behind a curtain.

“What are you doing? Chunfeng is calling you!” Ye Jiayao looked at Little Jing, baffled at his weird actions.

“Come here and hide, too! Don’t let them see us.” Little Jing dragged her in with him.

“Why? Do you owe Chunfeng money? Are you afraid that he will ask you to pay him back now?”

“No, no! I will tell you later.”

“What – stop! Hiding is useless because your big lantern is still on display!” Ye Jiayao pointed at the lantern hanging high at the front of the boat.

“Get it down, get it down,” Helian Jing yelled.

The environment was too noisy and the boatman couldn’t hear him.

Ye Jiayao peered outside and said, “Stop hiding, Little Jing. They are already on their way.”

Since the boats were close to each other, just a plank in between enabled Xia Chunfeng and Zhao Qixuan to cross over.

Little Jing frowned sullenly which made Ye Jiayao suspicious. “You’ve done something bad, haven’t you?”

“Little Jing, you lied to me. You told me you don’t have a boat! What is this?” Xia Chunfeng questioned. “I was lucky that Zhao got a boat, or I would have had to watch on the river bank.”

Little Jing said evasively, “I wasn’t able to get one until the last minute.”

Ye Jiayao suddenly understood what was happening.  Geez! This kid is really trying hard.

Zhao Qixuan’s face looked better and he looked well-recovered. He greeted Ye Jiayao and said, “Li Yao, I wanted to ask you to come along, but Little Jing said you were sick. Are you better now?”

Xia Chunfeng smiled mischievously. “I think Yaoyao wasn’t really sick. Little Jing was just lying to us both.”

“He was sick! If you don’t believe me, ask him,” Little Jing insisted, his cheeks red.

Ye Jiayao said, “I just caught the flu. I sweated it out last night so I’m better now.”

Xia Chunfeng let it go and he and Zhao Qixuan sat down and helped themselves to some tea.

The topic went back to the competition of the most popular courtesan.

“Qixuan, who do you think will win the competition this year?” Xia Chunfeng asked.

Zhao Qixuan shook his fan and said, “Lady Xiao would have a greater chance since Liu Yiyi is going to help her with the votes.”

“Yeah, I think so, too. However, the courtesan of this year is just a name since Liu Yiyi remains to be the real flower here,” Xia Chunfeng said.

Helian Jing wanted to jump in the discussion, but he thought that Yaoyao would like him better if he seemed a bit innocent in this area.

“Of course! I haven’t seen any girl who could look as good as Liu Yiyi,” Zhao Qixuan praised.

Helian Jing held in his snort of disbelief. Even Liu Yiyi couldn’t compare to his Yaoyao.  My Yaoyao looks and cooks the best!

“Is she that pretty?” Ye Jiayao asked sadly.

Zhao Qixuan said thoughtfully, “She’s not just pretty. It’s her quality that makes her stand out. She just looks… pure.”

Ye Jiayao has never had any problem with women like this who made a living by giggling. She knew that their life wasn’t easy as they would like others to believe. However, whenever she remembers how Chunyu spent thousands of silvers on Liu Yiyi, Ye Jiayao couldn’t help but despise the woman.

“Of course. Why else would Chunyu pay for her?” Ye Jiayao’s tone rang with jealousy.

Xia Chunfeng sneered. “You have heard of it, too?”

Ye Jiayao smiled coldly. “It is quite a story in Jin Ling City, it’s hard to not know about it.”

“Since the ancient period, only lovers could imprison the heroes. Brother Chunyu clearly wasn’t an exception!” Zhao Qixuan said laughingly.

Prisoner? Lover?  Ye Jiayao asked bitterly, “If he likes her that much, why doesn’t he just buy her out?”

Zhao Qixuan looked at Xia Chunfeng for an answer.

“I don’t know. My brother hasn’t even mentioned anything about this,” Xia Chunfeng responded.

“Maybe your mother would not allow him?” Helian Jing suggested.

“Yeah, maybe. After all, no matter how good Liu Yiyi is, her presence in our mansion would be bad for our reputation.”

Ye Jiayao couldn’t help but wonder if the same held true for her. Xia Chunyu promised to marry her, but could she really believe him? Would he really sacrifice his family’s reputation for her?

Suddenly, the crowd went wild.

“Lady Liu! Lady Liu…”

Xia Chunfeng and Zhao Qixuan stood up, exclaiming excitedly, “Liu Yiyi is here.”

She peered out at the incoming boat. All the noises of the night were washed away by the sound of the ethereal and sensuous qin. She was a bit stunned because the beautiful qin also seemed to conceal a faint tune of grief.

Ye Jiayao was brimming with curiosity. What does Liu Yiyi look like?