Chef Hua
Chapter 283: Episode 166: Reasonable but Heartless

Chapter 283: Episode 166: Reasonable but Heartless

Hua Xiaomai was startled and stepped back, fixing her eyes to see the fierce figure leaping in front of her was actually Meng’s old mother.

Wow, over forty years old and still so spry — impressive indeed!

Meng’s old mother looked quite displeased, her gaze sharp as a knife, as if she wanted to carve a piece of flesh from her body. She snorted coldly and burst out angrily, "The audacity! You’ve only been married into this family for a few days and you’re already so bold. It’s late and you just show up now. I thought you were dead... I thought you were kidnapped!"

Oh, you thought ’dead’ was bad luck and changed your words on purpose, didn’t you? But is being kidnapped any better?

Tired from a long day, Hua Xiaomai didn’t have the energy to argue. She squinted her eyes and gave a sweet smile, "I’m sorry, mother, I didn’t go anywhere else. I was held up at the restaurant. I’ll be more careful from now on. Please don’t be upset, okay? It’s so late, why haven’t you gone to bed?"

"Bed?" Meng’s old mother was even more upset upon hearing this. She jumped up and said, "How could I sleep? With a family member not yet home, I can’t close the gates. If I were to doze off and a thief came, who would reimburse the stolen goods?"

With that, she pointed at Hua Xiaomai’s face, looking fierce. "Don’t think that Yuhuai always covers for you and that you have a talisman. I’ll let you off today, but if you ever dare to be so thoughtless again, I’ll make sure you taste the consequences!"

Hua Xiaomai sighed quietly, struck by an idea. She brought her food box forward with a beaming smile, "Mother, I’m sorry for making you worry. I feel quite guilty about it. Here are some dishes I cooked today; I put a lot of effort into them. Why don’t I warm them up for you? It’s late, you must be hungry," she said, opening the food box to show the dishes inside.

Meng’s old mother said nothing, took a glance inside the food box, and rolled her eyes, "It’s so dark, how can I see what you made?"

"That’s easy to fix!" Hua Xiaomai immediately pulled her to the hall, lit the oil lamp on the table, and laid out the dishes one by one for her to inspect, "How about that, is it alright?"

Meng’s old mother didn’t respond to her question, scrutinizing each dish carefully, and murmured quietly, "Eating this late, what if I have indigestion? I’m not as young and strong as you. Eating too much at night, I won’t feel good all day tomorrow!"

Running out of patience, Hua Xiaomai let out a long breath, "So, are you going to eat or not?"

Meng’s old mother still wouldn’t answer directly, continuing in a soft tone, "It does look rather nice..."

Got it, loud and clear! Hua Xiaomai, bemused, dropped a "I’ll go heat it up," thought for a moment, then went to her and Meng Yuhuai’s room. She pushed the door open and said softly but irritably, "Meng Yuhuai, are you asleep? Do you want something to eat?... Yuhuai?"

The room was empty, the quilt on the bed neatly folded, with no sign of anyone.

"Ghost-shouting in the middle of the night, what for?" Meng’s old mother came up from behind her, smacked her back unceremoniously, and shouted, "Yuhuai is not at home! This morning, Dazhong took him away, saying there was something at the Escort Agency. Looks like he definitely won’t be back tonight!"

The slap on her back stung, and Hua Xiaomai sucked in a breath through her teeth.

Aunt, could you please speak with some sense? From the moment I walked through the door, who exactly has been the one screaming like a banshee here?

But... Meng Yuhuai went to the Escort Agency? When she saw Dazhong this morning, she felt something odd about him. He’s usually all smiles, but today there seemed to be dark clouds furrowing his brow — what happened that made him come in such a hurry and take Meng Yuhuai with him?

"You should have at least let me know..." she muttered under her breath, not expecting Meng’s old mother’s ears to be so sharp that she caught every word.

"Why do I need to let you know? When men go out to do their business, do they need their wives’ permission? Isn’t it enough that I know about it! Go on, heat the dishes, eat up quickly, and go to sleep. We have loads to do tomorrow and if you don’t wake up early, it will hold everything up!"

With that, she pushed Hua Xiaomai into the kitchen without another word.

Left with no choice, Hua Xiaomai efficiently reheated the dishes, let her eat, cleaned everything up, then went to the bathhouse to wash up before returning to her room and closing the door.