Chef Hua
Chapter 459: Episode 251 Hard to be Alone_2

Chapter 459: Episode 251 Hard to be Alone_2

Meng Yuhuai was originally somewhat annoyed. Seeing that he kept rambling nonstop, he could no longer sit still. Pushing the bowl aside, he left a note, "Aunt and uncle, you eat slowly," went to the corner, picked up a basket of tender grass, and then headed to the back of the house.

Hua Xiaomai knew he was going to feed Old Black, and seeing his wilted demeanor, she truly started to worry. But she couldn’t follow him just then, so she had to keep making conversation, hoping to get through the meal quickly.

...

Shortly after, the meal was over.

The dishes were all taken back to the kitchen, but the family of three did not return to their rooms. Mrs. Ding brought out some tea, and they sat in the middle of the courtyard chatting idly.

Hua Xiaomai, still thinking about Meng Yuhuai at the back of the house, wanted to go check on him several times but didn’t want anyone to pick on her. She paced around like an ant on a hot pot.

"Are you bored?" Meng’s mother was also sitting in the courtyard chatting intermittently with Mrs. Ding, occasionally glancing her way. Seeing her agitated appearance, she rolled her eyes and said, "Yuhuai barely ate anything just now, probably because the weather’s hot and he doesn’t have an appetite. Go ask him if he wants something to eat, and you can fix it for him. How can a man be so careless about himself?"

Hua Xiaomai felt as if she had been granted a pardon. She almost wanted to hug her and quickly turned around, heading to the back of the house.

The stable was always cleaned every two or three days and was very clean, but in the hot summer, it still smelled a bit. Hua Xiaomai hadn’t been to the back recently because of her condition, and today, stepping there unexpectedly, she was driven back three steps by the odor.

At that moment, Meng Yuhuai was pulling out tender grass to feed Old Black, noting how the horse ate unhurriedly, a slight smile appeared on his lips. Hearing the noise behind, he turned around, unable to suppress a smile, "You haven’t seen Old Black for a while, do you still have the nerve to complain?"

Hua Xiaomai giggled, not responding to him, instead approached the big black horse and wrinkled her nose, complaining, "Old Black, you stink!"

The big black horse glanced at her and snorted loudly in response.

"I know you’re scolding me!" Hua Xiaomai stuck her tongue out at it, carefully walked over to Meng Yuhuai, casually picked a small handful of tender grass from the basket, pulled off the juicy tip, and fed it to Old Black. Then she turned and said, "What’s wrong with you? Right when you entered the house today, you looked troubled. You barely ate anything. After working all day, aren’t you hungry? Instead of telling me, you prefer to come to Old Black?"

"I wanted to talk, but it was too noisy in the house, no chance." Meng Yuhuai brushed off the grass bits from his hands, pulled her to a clean spot under a nearby tree, and made her sit down. He sat down beside her himself.

Hua Xiaomai pursed her lips with a smile, guessing that Tang Maolin’s family would likely not come to this area, so she boldly took his arm, "You said, we now have the opportunity, didn’t we?"

"Actually, there’s not much to it," Meng Yuhuai lowered his eyes and shook his head, "Today I went with Uncle Ke to visit Big Zhong’s family and felt somewhat uneasy. Their family is different from ours, with many mouths to feed, solely depending on his salary from the Escort Agency. Now that he has passed away, their life will be difficult... Uncle Ke and I discussed, and decided to continue sending Big Zhong’s salary to his family every month, after all, he died because of the Escort Agency’s business... But my heart is really heavy, his youngest son hasn’t even reached one year old..."

Perhaps it was because he was about to become a father himself, seeing that child who had lost his protector, he felt an unusual pity, a feeling he had never experienced before.

Knowing he was feeling down and that persuading him was of no use, Hua Xiaomai simply stretched out her hand quietly and slipped it into his large palm.

"And Uncle Ke," Meng Yuhuai continued, "after coming out from Big Zhong’s house, he told me that after the new year, he plans to completely hand over the Escort Agency’s affairs to me, and he will not manage it himself anymore, sharing the profits with me—though he is just over fifty years old, his health isn’t what it used to be, but if it weren’t for that incident before the new year, he probably wouldn’t have lost his spirits so quickly."

Hua Xiaomai hesitated slightly, blinking her eyes, "I’ve always been a bit confused, he’s handing over the Escort Agency to you, and acts like this, do his family members have no objections?"

"You don’t understand," Meng Yuhuai sighed deeply, "The Escort Agency business is unlike any other, it relies on reputation. His son has never been involved in this business, knows nothing about it. Suddenly taking over the Escort Agency, those Banks, merchants, would they accept it? Uncle Ke also made it clear to me, in the future when he passes away, if I want to completely overtake the Escort Agency under my name, I just need to give a sum of money to his family and take over the entire Escort Agency, but... how do I know that once the Escort Agency is in my hands, it will definitely prosper? If something goes wrong, how can I face him?"

While he spoke, his brows were still tightly furrowed, his expression somewhat solemn, and his tone involuntarily revealed a hint of uncertainty. Seeing him displaying such a lack of confidence, Hua Xiaomai knew he was mostly feeling choked up. After thinking a bit, she moved closer to him and whispered, "If you were a different type of person, I might not be sure, but you’ve always been cautious, so I dare say, you definitely won’t have a problem."

"Where did you learn to praise your own man like this?" Meng Yuhuai laughed.

"Otherwise what? If I don’t believe in you, wouldn’t that show how poor my judgment is?" Hua Xiaomai giggled, resting her head on his arm, "Anyway, just go ahead and do what you need to, I dare not make promises about other things, but at least I won’t add to your troubles, you can be assured of that."

Meng Yuhuai reached out to touch her head, not saying anything, but he seemed to look a bit happier.

The two sat in silence for a while, then Hua Xiaomai lifted her head and with a smiling face said, "I saw that just now at the dinner table, you didn’t eat anything, aren’t you hungry by now? This afternoon I made gardenia cakes with gardenias Yun’er picked, I was afraid they would all be gone, so I especially hid a plate in the cupboard. They taste fragrant and are cooling too, how about I brew a pot of salted bamboo shoot tea and bring you a couple of pieces?"

"Well..." Meng Yuhuai was about to agree when suddenly a dark shadow darted from the other side of the courtyard wall.

"Cousin and his wife, so you were here... oh, sorry, sorry, did I interrupt you?" (To be continued. If you like this work, feel free to cast a recommendation ticket or monthly ticket at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)