Chef Hua
Chapter 39: Episode 32: Muddle Through for Now

Chapter 39: Episode 32: Muddle Through for Now

Meng Yuhuai did not anticipate her sudden move. As she leaned towards him, his feet were rooted to the spot, and before he could retreat, a soft breeze brushed past his face, and he caught a whiff of a light scent, not sweet like flowers and fruits, but rather reminiscent of grass warmed by the winter sun, dry and crisp. Before he could step back, her soft lips lightly touched his face.

Her lips carried a hint of coolness, touching him only briefly before pulling away, fleeting and almost imperceptible, leading him to doubt whether what just happened was merely his imagination. However, the words "Thank you," spoken in a hushed tone, softly floated into his ears, the warm breath teasing his ear and causing uncontrollable goosebumps on the back of his neck.

Even though Meng Yuhuai was normally composed and experienced, he felt his heart skip a beat. He quickly took three large steps backward and stared at Hua Xiaomai, his eyes filled with surprise and disbelief.

He had lived twenty-three years and as an Escort Master had seen much of the world, yet his interactions with women were exceedingly rare. Two years ago, he had been engaged, but before the wedding, the girl from the neighboring village had fallen ill and died suddenly. Although he didn’t believe in the "bad luck" his mother talked about, it had unsettled him slightly, and over time, he had let the matter of marriage fade from his mind, preferring to let things take their natural course. He had grown even more distant from the village girls, barely speaking to Guan Rong, who lived next door.

In his view, unmarried girls were shy and timid, always adhering to propriety, with the especially introverted ones blushing at speaking more than a few words to a man. How could he have imagined that Hua Xiaomai would be bold enough to... kiss him?

"You..." His brows furrowed slightly, he took a deep breath to calm the unusual thumping in his heart, wanting to say something but hesitating.

The moment her lips touched Meng Yuhuai’s cheek, Hua Xiaomai immediately realized what she had done and inwardly cursed herself, wishing she could slap herself twice.

Look at what she had done! She had known that living in the "unhealthy" environment of the Jing Family courtyard would affect her sooner or later, and now what? She had indeed been led astray by Erniang Hua and Jing Taihe!

A simple kiss on the cheek was nothing significant to her, but the trouble was that people of this era didn’t think the same way! As a woman, she was not only failing to keep her distance from men but was even boldly offering kisses, practically inviting a drowning in a pig cage!

...Well, perhaps it wasn’t as serious as she thought, but what should she do now? Meng Yuhuai was always so stern and serious; who knows what he might think of her now, perhaps as a frivolous woman!

No matter how, she had to muddle through this situation first!

"Big brother Meng..." Thinking this, Hua Xiaomai bit her lip, lowered her head, and spoke softly, "I’m sorry, I was just thinking about how much you helped me today, and I truly felt grateful. In that moment, my mind went blank. I didn’t mean to... Please don’t take it to heart, okay?"

Her words were filled with a pitiable urgency, making her seem all the more heartfelt. Meng Yuhuai was silent for a moment, visibly discomforted as he pressed his lips together, then after a long pause, he said, "I already mentioned that what I did today was but a trifle, you didn’t need to do this."

"I really didn’t mean to!" Hua Xiaomai seemed on the verge of tears, her voice full of remorse, "So much happened today, Chef Wei kidnapped me without explanation, locked me in that broken house and continuously threatened me. Even with my courage, I couldn’t handle such fright! My mind is still foggy, and I only realized what had happened when I heard you talking about how I fought back against Chef Wei. I was incredibly scared afterwards; I wouldn’t dare do such a thing if I were in my right mind. My thoughts were all over the place... Can you please not hold this against me?"

As she spoke, her sniffling added an extra layer of sincerity to her plea.

Unaccustomed to dealing with girls, Meng Yuhuai couldn’t quite grasp the intricacies of her emotions. Thinking she was merely shaken up, he quickly gestured with his hand and said, "Don’t panic, I haven’t taken it to heart."

"Really?" Hua Xiaomai suddenly looked up, her eyes sparkling with spirit, like broken stars in a summer night, "You don’t blame me? Big brother of the Meng Family, you are truly kind!"

This person didn’t seem like the type who says one thing and does another, so if he said so, it should be...all right, right?

"Of course, I don’t blame you," Meng Yuhuai felt a heat on his face, his tongue almost failing to obey, "You shouldn’t think too much about it."

"Yes!" Hua Xiaomai let go of a huge burden in her heart, hurriedly wiped away her tears and smiled, nodding vigorously.

"Well..." Meng Yuhuai glanced again at the tightly shut door of the eastern room, striving not to listen to the fluctuating enchanting sounds coming from inside, "It’s getting late, you were frightened today, so better rest early if nothing else. I still need to rush back to the county; if it gets too late, I might miss the curfew, which would be troublesome. Could you please pass on a message to Brother Taihe and Madam Hua for me?"

Having said that, he forced a cough from his throat, hurriedly walked out of the courtyard, untied the horse tethered to the tree stump, leapt onto it in one motion, and rode off quickly, disappearing into the vast night in just a moment.

Hua Xiaomai felt her own face heating up as well, she sighed deeply, staring in the direction he left for a while, then resentfully glared at the door of the eastern room and slowly returned to her room.

...

A night passed without words; the next morning, Second Madam Hua roused Hua Xiaomai from bed early, didn’t even bother to make breakfast, but first checked the wounds on her hand and cheeks, firmly pressed medicine into them, then grabbed her hand and asked in detail about the events of the previous day.

Hua Xiaomai had no intention of hiding anything, so she recounted the cause and effect in detail, and then at the end, she looked up and said, "Oh right, second sister, I wanted to ask you, how did you know yesterday that I was abducted?"

Second Madam Hua was quick-tempered, and before Hua Xiaomai could finish, she had already burst into swearing, cursing Fatty Wei’s entire family and even the dog they raised with three hundred rounds of curses. Now hearing her question, she still couldn’t suppress her anger, throwing her voice loud: "It’s quite a coincidence, right after you left from Brother Li’s home, his hired worker finished up his tasks, got his pay, and prepared to head home. Coincidentally, he took the same path as you and saw you being dragged into the deep grass and stuffed into a sack. He knew that guy who grabbed you, recognized him as Fatty Wei’s apprentice Niu Ali, and felt something bad, so he hurried back to tell Sister-in-Law Li, and she rushed over to notify me, right?"

After taking a breath, she continued, "It really did take a lot out of your brother-in-law and me to find you yesterday. We nearly turned Fire Knife Village upside down! Haven’t I always told you? As a young girl, showing your face and serving at feasts isn’t quite appropriate; hasn’t this just invited trouble?"

Hua Xiaomai was startled, thinking that this time, she was most likely not allowed to cook for the village people anymore, she hastily interjected, "Second sister, listen to me, I..."

Expecting Second Madam Hua to scold further, her tone suddenly changed, her voice as commanding as roaring rivers, with a swing of her hand: "Hmph, but what of that? I, Second Madam Hua, am not a vegetarian! Fatty Wei doesn’t want you to steal his business, then we’ll just have to steal it. If he dares to trouble us again, you don’t need to lift a finger, I have a thousand methods to make sure he’ll never have peace!"

**********

Please follow, vote, and engage, okay~~~~(╯3╰)