Transmigration: The Little Chef Calls The Shots
Chapter 1144 - 053 Blocked at the eleventh hour

Chapter 1144: 053 Blocked at the eleventh hour

Su Qiuyu hadn’t finished speaking when Su Tianyou cut her off, his voice soft, "I know she has no place for me in her heart, only for that dead man. But in the end, that person is dead, and how can the dead compete with me? Does Cuiwei really want to spend her whole life with the memory of a deceased person? Even if she is willing, our aunt won’t agree."

"Yes, aunt only has Cousin Cuiwei now, how could she bear to let her spend her whole life in the palace without getting married?"

Su Qiuyu pursed her lips and suddenly felt, upon looking at Su Tianyou again, that this elder brother, who had always been distant from herself and their second brother, wasn’t as cold as he seemed— at least, he had been wholeheartedly devoted to Cousin Cuiwei, unchanged for twenty years.

The chestnuts from this stall were indeed delicious: fragrant, sweet, glutinous, and soft, and there was also a long line of people waiting. However, Su Tianyou had never taken advantage of his status to skip the line.

Finally, it was his turn. Upon seeing him, the stall owner’s smile curled up at the corners, "Young Master Su is queuing up again? Next time, just let me know in advance, and I can have a boy deliver them to your mansion, saving you the trip here."

Su Tianyou’s lips slightly curled into an almost imperceptible smile, his voice returning to its usual aloofness, "No need to trouble yourself, I just happened to be passing by."

It seemed the stall owner knew Su Tianyou’s habits well as, without him saying a word, she efficiently weighed out a half kilo of chestnuts.

Su Tianyou took the chestnuts and placed a silver ingot on the counter.

The stall owner deftly took out a smaller piece of silver in return, but by the time she looked up again, Su Tianyou had already walked far away.

"Young Master Su, your change!"

The customers in line behind Su Tianyou, upon realizing he was the eldest son of the Su family, couldn’t help but praise him.

"Is that really Young Master Su? He truly has an impressive appearance."

"Not just impressive in appearance, but also very respectful and courteous! You must be new here; Young Master Su always queues up politely whenever he comes to buy chestnuts. He refuses when others let him cut in line. No wonder Prime Minister Su is so beloved by everyone— it’s clear to see in the behavior of this son."

Listening to the endless stream of admiring voices, Su Qiuyu felt the gloom in her heart dissipating considerably.

"Big brother, how did you get here? Did you walk again?"

Su Tianyou collected the top of the paper bag filled with chestnuts and nodded, "Yes, walking allows me ..."

"Walking lets you think, I know." Su Qiuyu playfully winked and looked up at the sky, "Big brother, I came by carriage. You should come back with me; otherwise, by the time you get home, everyone will have finished dinner."

Rarely encountering Su Qiuyu outside like this, Su Tianyou hesitated for a long while before agreeing.

No sooner had they settled into the carriage than Su Tianyou naturally opened the bag of chestnuts and began peeling them with utmost care, not only the hard outer shell but also the inner soft membrane. He attentively inspected each chestnut and discarded any with a black spot or damage to one side.

Seeing her big brother’s careful and earnest manner, Su Qiuyu felt a pang of pain in her heart and softly said, "Cousin Cuiwei is truly fortunate to be treated with such sincerity by big brother."

Su Tianyou paused peeling the chestnuts, a wry smile on his face, "Yet, I feel that the pleasure of being able to treat her with such honesty is my good fortune."

Su Qiuyu was taken aback and couldn’t help but ask, "Big brother, don’t you find it exhausting?"

Su Tianyou peeled a chestnut and placed it on his clean handkerchief before picking up another to continue peeling. "Tiring? Perhaps you think it’s tiring, but I’ve been treating her this way for over twenty years. Being good to her has become a part of my life; if there were a day when I stopped being good to her, I would probably be the one feeling uncomfortable."

Upon hearing this, Su Qiuyu fell into contemplation, murmuring with her gaze lowered: "It has already become a part of life, has it? What about me?"

Perhaps having heard Su Qiuyu’s words, Su Tianyou looked up, laughed lightly, and said, "Aren’t you the same? Since you were little, you’ve always clamored about wanting to become Xia Zheng’s wife. I think that if one day you were not allowed to like him, wouldn’t you also feel as if something was missing?"

"Yes." Su Qiuyu laughed at herself with a trace of self-derision, feeling a certain emotion swelling inside her heart: "Just like how you silently care for Cousin Cuiwei, I also feel the same about Brother Zheng. I like him, and this fondness has been deeply engraved into my bones. No one can steal it away, nor can it be erased."

Su Tianyou smiled and continued peeling his chestnuts. Even though he didn’t know whether Princess Cuiwei would get to eat these chestnuts, or if they would be returned unopened, he was still peeling them carefully and diligently, without a single slip.

Because Lin Yuan and Xia Zheng had left home openly and honorably, while Xiao Linshuang had crawled out through the Dog Hole, naturally, she had to return the same way she left.

Looking at the Dog Hole, Xiao Linshuang pouted, "Big sister, do we really have to go back this way?"

With her arms crossed, Lin Yuan looked at her with a smile and nodded, "Yes."

"But, but Brother-in-law knows martial arts, doesn’t he? Can’t he just carry me over the wall, wouldn’t that work?" Xiao Linshuang’s eyes were full of hope as she looked towards Xia Zheng.

Before Xia Zheng could speak, Lin Yuan had already pre-emptively said, "No, we ran to many places today to find you, both tiring ourselves out and worrying constantly. How could we have the energy to climb the wall?"

Hearing her big sister’s words, Xiao Linshuang gazed up with innocent eyes and bit her lip, trying to look pitiful to Xia Zheng.

Xia Zheng rested his chin on his hand and looked up at the sky, pretending not to see her pitiful little expression.

"Alright, come on, it’s almost time for dinner. If mother finds out you sneaked out again, forget about going out in the future."

Lin Yuan’s final warning struck Xiao Linshuang like the last straw that broke the camel’s back, completely crushing her spirit.

Pouting, she bent down, preparing to crawl back through the Dog Hole. She didn’t understand why the Dog Hole, which she had crawled through so happily in the morning, now seemed so difficult to move through.

This might really be the true feeling of crawling through a Dog Hole!

If she must crawl, then crawl she would!

Just as Xiao Linshuang closed her eyes and steeled herself, lowering her head to crawl into the Dog Hole, she suddenly felt a strong grip on her back, and then her entire body was lifted into the air.

"Ah! So high up!"

This was Xiao Linshuang’s first time experiencing the allure of qinggong; she was really flying!

Seeing Lin Yi appear suddenly and carry Xiao Linshuang over the wall, landing in the courtyard, Lin Yuan couldn’t help but laugh and cry. She really hadn’t expected Lin Yi, who was usually so cold and reticent, to be so tenderhearted towards this little girl!

Listening to the sound of Xiao Linshuang’s excited and joyful screaming from inside the wall, along with Du Ruo and Lian Qiao’s mixed sounds of crying and laughing, Lin Yuan kicked the Dog Hole and shouted loudly to the other side: "Lin Yi, tell Uncle Zhou to get someone to seal this up in the afternoon!"