Chef Hua
Chapter 38 - 31: Clove Lips

Chapter 38: Chapter 31: Clove Lips

Fatty Wei was originally about to put a piece of saltwater duck liver into his mouth when a basket full of sour and pungent beer dregs suddenly fell from the sky. Not only did it cover his entire head and face, but a considerable portion also entered his half-open mouth. He shouted "Ah" and jumped up, quickly shaking his hefty body and spitting several times onto the ground, trying to get rid of the beer dregs in his mouth.

The incident happened so suddenly that his colleagues, sitting beside him at the dinner table, were severely startled and stood up in unison, two of them rushing over to pat down Chef Wei, while the other two looked toward Hua Xiaomai with panic-stricken faces.

In the dimly lit courtyard, only a candle was lit in the corner, making Hua Xiaomai’s already skinny figure appear even smaller. She stood in front of the table, hands on her hips, and in the darkness, her eyes seemed to blaze with furious flames, causing sparks to fly whenever she blinked, and one could even hear a crackling sound as if something was burning fiercely.

For some reason, those two apprentices, swept by her gaze, suddenly felt intimidated and couldn’t bring themselves to utter the coarse words they had in mind. Meanwhile, Chef Wei, having finally cleaned himself up, turned his head and saw Hua Xiaomai, anger shooting from his feet to his head.

This was truly like digging at the grave of Tai Sui, he thought. If he didn’t teach this young girl a lesson today, he might as well hang up his face for good!

At that moment, he didn’t even stop to think about how Hua Xiaomai had escaped from that abandoned house. Red with both shame and rage, his face swelled up to the color of a liver, and he charged forward, lifting his fist, large as a mortar bowl, and shouted through gritted teeth, "You insolent little wench, if I don’t teach you a lesson today, I might as well write the Wei character upside down!"

His fist, whistling through the air with an ugly expression, was about to reach Hua Xiaomai’s face. Hua Xiaomai, having dared to throw those dregs at him, knew a storm of violence was inevitable today. Although she was not afraid of him, she was somewhat afraid of the pain and was about to jump to the side when suddenly a firm arm reached out from an angle, grabbed Chef Wei’s wrist just right, and gently twisted it backwards with seemingly little effort. Fatty Wei immediately contorted bizarrely like he was possessed, his face twisted in pain, screaming like a slaughtered pig.

"It hurts, it hurts, my arm is broken..."

Meng Yuhuai snorted coldly, released his wrist, and Fatty Wei fell to the ground like a swollen sack of rice, immediately beginning to rant with filthy words, "You goddamned righteous thief, you filthy beast, open your dog eyes and look, am I someone you can mess with? I... ow!"

Before he could finish, he screamed in pain again as Hua Xiaomai, not knowing where she had gotten a stick from, ruthlessly struck him hard on the small of his back.

Although Hua Xiaomai was small, she was strong enough to strike swiftly and fiercely, causing Fatty Wei to roll on the ground, his body covered in mud, howling miserably. Meng Yuhuai hadn’t expected her to strike again so suddenly, and he furrowed his brow slightly but did not say anything to stop her.

"Your father? Whose father are you?" Hua Xiaomai’s stick fell on Chef Wei like raindrops, as she kept cursing while striking, "Thought I was easy to bully? Walk the night long enough and you’re bound to meet a ghost. You abducted me, you should’ve seen this coming! It hurts, right? Good, you should feel pain! Remember this, next time you dare to bully me, I’ll..."

She was about to say "cut off your d**k and feed it to the dogs" but suddenly recalled that such words, under no circumstances, should come from a young girl’s mouth in this era. She quickly changed her words, "I’ll cut off your ears and pickle them to nibble with liquor!"

The four apprentices, watching their master being beaten to a wail of torment, were terrified out of their wits, unsure who to call for help. One of them finally recognized the man beside Hua Xiaomai was Meng Yuhuai, startled for a moment, then hurriedly came forward to beg for mercy, "Brother Yuhuai, please make her stop. If this continues, my master might..."

Meng Yuhuai saw that it was the son of the small winery’s owner and his eyes flashed coldly, speaking sternly, "Collaborating with outsiders to bully a girl in our village, Niu Ali, you are really growing bold!"

"Brother Yuhuai, I know I was wrong, I know it!" the man said with tears in his eyes, "My master ordered it, I... it was beyond my control. Although Miss Hua was frightened, she wasn’t really hurt, but my master... Brother Yuhuai, please help speak a word!"

They were making quite a loud commotion in this winery, and as the villagers had just finished their dinner and had nothing else to do, they ran out one after another, and more and more people gathered around. Hua Erniang and Jing Taihe also hurried over, and upon seeing the scene, they were too shocked to approach, only standing on tiptoes among the crowd to look.

Hua Xiaomai’s stick continued to strike Fatty Wei, who was lying on the ground, gradually unable to cry out, only managing to drag out a low moan. Seeing that this could not go on, Meng Yuhuai stepped forward and grabbed her hand, saying softly but firmly, "Enough!"

"Whew... whew..." Hua Xiaomai was quite exhausted, breathing heavily, and threw the stick aside, pointing at Fatty Wei and gritting her teeth, "Today was just to give you a taste, to let you know not to mess with me. If you dare come back, what hits you won’t be a stick!"

Fatty Wei, the chef, was fearless, visibly in pain but still not stopping talking as he shrunk to the ground and scooted back, his breath thin as he said, "You dare to hit me? I have a life-and-death friendship with the County Magistrate. You’ve offended me today, just wait and see, you won’t get away with this tomorrow!"

Hua Xiaomai’s eyes were about to split with rage, and she was about to rush over and kick him again, but Meng Yuhuai suddenly stretched out his arm to stop her, coldly looking down at Fatty Wei on the ground, he said word by word, "I’ll be waiting."

Fatty Wei wanted to say something more, but was half-dragged, half-carried into the house by the four apprentices, wriggling desperately like a big fat worm, mumbling something which nobody could clearly hear.

Mrs. Hua and Jing Taihe and the others finally caught up and grabbed Hua Xiaomai’s hand, repeatedly asking questions. Meng Yuhuai turned to look at the gathered crowd, slightly bowed and said, "Sorry for disturbing everyone late at night, please go back and rest."

With no more drama to watch, the crowd dispersed in twos and threes. However, this fight had made Hua Xiaomai’s fierce temperament, no less intense than her elder sister’s, well-known throughout the village. People sighed in admiration when they talked about it over tea; even if others were envious of Hua Xiaomai’s cooking for money, they dared not make a move... but of course, that’s a story for another time.

...

Since the matter was resolved, Meng Yuhuai planned to return to the County immediately, but Mrs. Hua and Jing Taihe would not have it, insisting on inviting him to dinner at their home to express their gratitude for his righteous help in protecting their sister. Meng Yuhuai thought for a moment and then agreed.

Jing Taihe wasn’t good with alcohol to begin with, and the day’s events had stirred him significantly. After just a few drinks, he became groggy. They quickly carried him back to his room to rest, and Mrs. Hua stayed by his side while Hua Xiaomai made a bowl of Hangover Soup and sent it into the east room. When she came out, she saw Meng Yuhuai standing in the courtyard.

She was no fool. She knew that although he had stood by her side at the tavern all evening, he had never tried to stop her from beating Fatty Wei. Clearly, he had been supporting her, and she felt somewhat grateful. Seeing him standing there, his sharp features softened by the night, her heart skipped a beat. Biting her lip, she whispered, "Meng, thank you for today; I know I was reckless..."

"It doesn’t matter," Meng Yuhuai seemed to look back at her, his voice calm, "That chef brought it upon himself. Still, being a girl, it’s better to be careful in your daily actions."

"I heard him say that he’s very close with the County Magistrate, and you stood up for me. I’m afraid that might..." At that moment, Hua Xiaomai started to feel scared.

She had traveled to Fire Knife Village and had picked up this life; she didn’t need to fear that damned Fatty Wei, but if it brought trouble to Meng Yuhuai...

Meng Yuhuai curled the corners of his lips disdainfully, "What kind of relationship can a chef have with the County Magistrate? He’s just bluffing... Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean to look down on chefs, but he really..."

"I understand," Hua Xiaomai nodded.

After that... she didn’t know what else to say.

Just then, there was some rustling from the east room, followed by Mrs. Hua’s coquettish voice half pushing, half joking, "Oh dear, Taihe, stop it, Meng is outside, and your sister hasn’t gone to bed yet, don’t... oh my..." The rest of the noises became rather inappropriate to hear.

Hua Xiaomai’s face suddenly heated up. When she looked up at Meng Yuhuai again, she saw he also seemed a bit uneasy, and he almost started to leave but hesitated.

She didn’t know why, but something in her made her walk straight up to him, standing less than an arm’s length away. She tiptoed and gently touched his cheek, whispering so softly, "Meng, thank you."