Chapter 34

“You’re only nineteen?”

Those words threw Xi Mi into a panic and turned Ying Quhe’s expression dark. As he handed back the documents, his hands trembled violently. A wave of immense shock attacked his brain from all sides, leaving his mind completely blank as he walked out like a living corpse.

With a wooden expression, he put on his shoes, tied his necktie, grabbed his keys, and opened the door…

Xi Mi clutched her ID card and ran after him. Staring at the back of his head, she asked, “Where are you going? Weren’t we going to eat?”

“Walking…” His throat felt like it was on fire, dry and burning with pain. “…the dog.”

Xi Mi knew Ying Quhe was angry.

She returned to the living room, sat cross-legged on the sofa while holding the household registration book and her ID card, and opened the front cover. A slip of paper fell out, inscribed with firm, powerful handwriting.

“Get married as soon as you reach the legal age. If you need anything else, just say the word and your First Senior Brother will take care of it. The rest of the brothers and I are your maiden family.” (Zou Chengfeng)

Xi Mi raised the back of her hand to rub her hot eyes and closed the registration book.

She went back to her room to put away the documents, then watched the news for half an hour, but Ying Quhe still hadn’t returned. She called Ying Shengnan for help, but Tian Jian answered the phone.

“Mimi, calling so late, is something wrong?”

Tian Jian’s speech was as slow and airy as always, though her breath sounded slightly hurried.

Gripping the warm phone with her fingers, Xi Mi asked, “Is Ying… Shengnan there?”

Tian Jian turned and slapped Ying Shengnan’s bare chest; even through the earpiece, Xi Mi could hear the crisp smack. Ying Shengnan took the phone with a disappointed sigh. “Miss Xi Mi, next time you call, could you pick a better time?”

Xi Mi instantly realized what was happening. Her cheeks flushed red, and she apologized awkwardly, “S-Sorry.” She briefly explained to Ying Shengnan what had happened that evening.

“Oh, he’s not walking the dog. He’s running away from home,” Ying Shengnan let out a long sigh and said, “What goes around comes around. Retribution strikes without fail!”

Immediately after, a burst of wild, infectious laughter echoed through the phone from Ying Shengnan.

Tian Jian snatched the phone back from Ying Shengnan and told her, “Mimi, Lao Qu used to mock Old Ying for robbing the cradle. Knowing that you’re only nineteen, it must be really hard for him to accept all at once.”

Xi Mi didn’t really understand. It was just an age difference; why did Ying Quhe care so much?

Was there an age limit on taking an apprentice? Shouldn’t someone with talent be as young as possible? Unless… Ying Quhe felt that way about her too?

If he did, why didn’t he react at all when she said she might end up liking Ji Donglin?

Torn by conflicting feelings, Xi Mi hung up and went to the backyard to check on Ulrica. The dog was gone. Could it be… Ying Quhe really ran away from home with the dog?

As it turned out, he had.

Xi Mi sat in the living room until six in the morning, but Ying Quhe still hadn’t returned with Ulrica. Around nine o’clock, she received several phone calls. Just as Ying Quhe had predicted, a few well-known restaurants and hotels were reaching out to offer her a job, with quite respectable annual salaries and benefits.

However, she held back and didn’t reply right away.

Around eleven in the morning, Zhou Ming came back walking the dog, bringing along a contract for her. Ying Shi Pavilion was inviting her to join them on a one-year contract, offering an annual salary of 400,000 Yuan plus benefits. Upon signing, she would receive 5% of her annual salary upfront as a signing bonus.

Zhou Ming told her in an official tone, “As a new hire, you’ll still have plenty of room for promotion. We adjust benefits according to each chef’s experience and contract duration. Since you weren’t willing to sign for sixty years, HR adjusted it to the shortest term possible. Though your compensation package is lower than that of other chefs at Ying Shi Pavilion, compared to what other restaurants and hotels are offering, I believe we still have a significant edge. Ying Shi Pavilion has chefs who are even better than the boss. Don’t you want to see them for yourself?”

Holding the contract in her hands, Xi Mi was filled with endless anticipation.

There were… chefs even better than Ying Quhe?

Seeing through her thoughts, Zhou Ming smiled. “The boss is certainly an outstanding chef, but he is also an outstanding businessman. There are indeed better chefs than him, but businessmen who cook better than him are very few and far between.”

Persuaded by Zhou Ming’s silver tongue, Xi Mi signed the contract. As she handed it back, she casually asked, “Where is Ying Quhe? He hasn’t come back since last night.”

Her start date was the 1st of next month. Over the remaining twenty-five days, she needed to hurry up and recover her sense of taste.

“Last night… the boss had an emergency board meeting back at head office and slept at the company.” Zhou Ming’s eyes crinkled in a smile. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll be taking my leave.”

“Alright, take care.” Xi Mi stood up to see him off, then froze at the door holding her contract, looking down at Ulrica, who stood there with pricked ears and his tongue hanging out.

Xi Mi squatted down and scratched Ulrica under the chin. “Wolf King, your pooper-scooper^[1] sure is loyal to you, bringing you along to a board meeting?” She flashed a thumbs-up at the dog. “To achieve this much as a dog, you really are something.”

“Woof! Woof!” Ulrica barked twice, startling Xi Mi so much she tumbled backward.

After tying up the dog, she walked back to the front yard and heard the doorbell ring. Thinking it was Ying Quhe, she opened the door, only to find Ji Donglin.

Dressed in a casual black-and-white outfit, he presented a single rose to her. “Goddess, congratulations on winning the championship! Are you free today? I bought two movie tickets, want to go together?”

Xi Mi instinctively leaned back before taking the rose he handed over. “Didn’t we agree on tomorrow? Why did you come over today?”

Ji Donglin gave a light cough and said, “Tomorrow we’re going back to see the old man. As my girlfriend, you need to fix yourself up a bit, right? Do you want to go buy clothes or get your hair styled? My treat.”

“I don’t need clothes, I have plenty already.” She reached up to touch her short hair, paused to think for a moment, and asked him, “Is there… a place where I can get hair extensions? I’d like my hair to be a bit longer.”

Ji Donglin enthusiastically draped an arm over her shoulders. “Of course! Come on, Mr. Ji is taking you to get a makeover!”

Xi Mi slapped his hand away. “Wait for me, I’m going to change my clothes and shoes.”

When she emerged again, Xi Mi had changed into a high-waisted mini-skirt that showcased her slender, fair, and straight legs. Her sleeveless top subtly revealed a trim waist, her smooth, pale arms devoid of any excess fat.

The salon was located in a busy commercial district and spanned four floors: haircutting and styling on the first floor, shampooing on the second, and a lounge area on the third.

Business was slow, so Xi Mi was taken straight up to the second floor for a shampoo. The stylist pressed into her scalp with just the right amount of pressure. It felt so comfortable that forty minutes into the shampoo, Xi Mi nearly fell asleep.

Two hours later, Ji Donglin, sitting in the third-floor lounge, couldn’t contain his curiosity about how the Goddess’s new look turned out. He walked downstairs to take a look. Instead of seeing Xi Mi with hair extensions as expected, he spotted a mop of fluffy, brownish-chestnut short curls.

He patted a staff member’s shoulder and looked around. “Where is the young lady who came in with me earlier?”

Xi Mi, sporting a head of brownish-chestnut curls, raised her hand. “Ji Donglin, I’m over here.”

“…” Ji Donglin turned around and froze, staring at her in disbelief. “Goddess, your hair…?”

Xi Mi ruffled her hair slightly. “Does it look bad?”

It… wasn’t bad, exactly. He just wasn’t used to it.

Her original hair fell to her jawline. She had intended to get extensions to match Nan Qing’s long locks, but the stylist had suggested a perm and dye instead.

Her hair curled inward, framing her small face. The new hairstyle softened the contours of her face, giving her already deep, refined features a vibrant, ethereal quality. For a moment, Ji Donglin was at a loss for words. Aside from “exquisite,” he couldn’t think of any word to describe how captivating Xi Mi looked after her transformation.

The stylist reached out from behind, framing her face in his hands and tilting her chin up toward the mirror. “Your features are fantastic, miss. You almost look mixed-race.”

Xi Mi stared into the mirror. Her fluffy, loosely curled hair was a slightly brighter shade, making her features pop and giving her an overall softer aura.

When she stood up, Ji Donglin was dazed again for a second. The hairstyle matched her dress perfectly.

By the time Xi Mi and Ji Donglin finished watching a movie and returned home, night had fallen.

Ying Quhe was still not home. She squatted outside Ulrica’s doghouse, scooping up dog food while muttering, “Wolf King, tell me… should I give him a call? After all… being lied to really feels terrible. I at least beat him up last time to vent, so logically, he should probably beat me up to vent too…”

Ulrica lowered its head to eat, its ears twitching slightly.

A crescent moon hung high in the dark night sky. The air carried a damp chill, and the wind rustled through the leaves. Xi Mi looked up, wrapped her arms around the dog’s head, stroked it, and sighed.

Ulrica wriggled out of her embrace, nudged the dog bowl farther away with its snout, turned its rear end toward her, and continued eating. Xi Mi hugged her knees and glared at it. “You ungrateful hound. All you care about is food! Your pooper-scooper doesn’t even want you anymore!”

A knot of frustration swelled in Xi Mi’s chest, leaving her deeply restless. She illuminated her phone screen and finally mustered the courage to dial Ying Quhe’s number.

The moment the call went through, the quiet of the backyard was shattered by the crisp melody of a Morin Khuur^[2].

Xi Mi raised her head toward the sound just as Ying Quhe slowly stepped out of the darkness and into the light. He hung up the call, snapped his screen off with a click, and walked over. Seeing her hairstyle, he paused for a fraction of a second before calmly pulling back his gaze and shifting his eyes to Ulrica. “Why aren’t you asleep yet?”

“I… was waiting for you.” A strange sense of distant unfamiliarity suddenly hung between them, as though a wall had sprung up. “I signed the contract with Assistant Zhou. I start work at Ying Shi Pavilion on the 1st of next month.”

“Mm, that’s good.” Ying Quhe squatted down and placed Ulrica’s dog bowl on a high ledge of the doghouse.

Xi Mi added, “Um… the money I owe you, I’ve already sent it to your WeChat. Remember to accept it.”

Ying Quhe’s eyes brushed over her fluffy curls. He felt an urge to reach out and stroke her hair, knowing it must feel soft, his index finger twitching slightly before he quickly suppressed the strange impulse. “Mm. It’s late, get some sleep.”

As he turned to walk toward the front yard, Xi Mi stood up and called out to him, “Bastard Dao!”

Clenching her fists, she tried to calm her racing heart. “For the next few days, I might not… be back. I promised to act as Ji Donglin’s fake girlfriend, so I have to go back to his hometown with him. I won’t be able to stay home and cook for you these few days, so you…”

Ying Quhe stopped beneath the retro English garden light without turning around. Half of his profile was shrouded in shadow, while the other was bathed in a warm yellow glow, making him look like a striking portrait. Stripped of his usual cold demeanor, a subtle softness touched his features, and a complex swirl of emotions glimmered within his weary, dark eyes.

After a long pause, he murmured softly, “Mm, it’s fine. Things will be busy at the company over the next few days, so I won’t be coming home either. Go and come back safely.”

“Oh…” Xi Mi couldn’t think of anything else to say. She scratched her fluffy hair and said, “Well, good night then.”

“Good night.”

The two of them had inexplicably fallen into an awkward deadlock. The familiarity they had painstakingly built up seemed to crumble in an instant. She could feel Ying Quhe’s distant coolness toward her, yet he gave no clear sign of whether he was angry or not. That unfathomable, elusive discomfort felt like a fishbone lodged in Xi Mi’s throat, impossible to swallow and impossible to cough up.

*

Ji Donglin’s hometown was in Xiyang, located in the same province as Jialing County. The next afternoon, Xi Mi and Ji Donglin arrived at the provincial capital’s international airport, where the Ji Family’s driver was waiting at the exit.

The elderly driver’s eyes swept across Xi Mi’s face. A bright smile broke across his features as he took the luggage from her hands and ushered them into the car.

Xiyang, Jialing, and Tangxi were three small towns separated by only two mountain ranges. Although driving to Xiyang wouldn’t take them through Jialing County, Baiyan Mountain of Jialing was visible from the highway.

Seeing her stare fixedly at Baiyan Mountain outside the car window, Ji Donglin explained, “Below Baiyan Mountain is the famous Jialing Ancient Town. Speaking of which, Xi Wendao, who made things hard for you on that show last time, lives right there.”

“I know.”

Ji Donglin nodded. “True. How could you not know?”

Xi Mi lowered her eyelids and said softly, “I grew up in Jialing Ancient Town. My grandmother has a small cottage on Baiyan Mountain. Every autumn, around this time of year, I go up the mountain to stay for a few days.”

“Huh? God-” Ji Donglin glanced at the driver in the front seat, swallowed the word “goddess,” and hurriedly changed his tune. “Mimi, your hometown is in Jialing Ancient Town? No wonder Xi Wendao was always picking on you during the show! That old man was just jealous of your cooking skills.”

Xi Mi gazed at Baiyan Mountain, her mind drifting back into her thoughts.

The Ji Family’s ancestral residence was a large Siheyuan^[3] courtyard house, featuring seven rooms facing south and seven facing north. Couplets written in black ink over red lacquer flanked the main entrance’s glossy black gate. Beyond it lay a beautifully painted hanging blossom gate^[4]. The eaves and rafters were lacquered in blue-green, with the rounded rafter tips painted in nested rings of blue, white, and black, resembling jewel patterns. The moon gate was painted in a vibrant, colorful motif, a classic residence of ancient nobility and aristocracy.

By the time they arrived, it was already six in the afternoon.

The birthday family banquet had already begun. A round table was set up in the main hall. At the seat of honor sat a stern old man clad in a Tang suit. Despite it being a festive occasion, no one at the table dared to speak. Ji Donglin stepped over the threshold, breaking the silence. “Grandpa! Your good grandson is back!”

Old Master Ji completely bypassed Ji Donglin with his gaze, fixing his eyes on curly-haired Xi Mi’s face, his brow furrowing slightly.

Ji Donglin grabbed Xi Mi’s wrist and pulled her forward a step. “Grandpa, this is my girlfriend, Xi Mi.”

Elder Ji narrowed his eyes slightly. “Mm. Find an open seat.”

Only three seats remained empty. Xi Mi handed over the gift Ji Donglin had prepared earlier to the old master, politely offering her wishes: “May your blessings be as vast as the Eastern Sea, and your longevity match Nanshan^[5].”

“Mm, sit down.”

Elder Ji’s expression remained stern, without the slightest hint of softening. Most elderly men were probably like this. Remembering her own Old Man Xi at home, Xi Mi instantly felt at ease.

As soon as they sat down, Elder Ji spoke up. “Donglin, people from the Nan Family will be arriving shortly. After the evening banquet, you take her to look around the area.”

“The Nan Family?” Ji Donglin picked up some shark fin with his chopsticks and placed it in Xi Mi’s bowl. Just as he was wondering about it, a familiar, elegant figure stepped into the main hall.

Nan Qing’s gaze swept over Xi Mi and Ji Donglin. She handed the gift box in her hands to a servant and offered her birthday congratulations to the old gentleman.

The chicken wing Xi Mi was halfway through eating dropped back into her bowl.

This was far too coincidental.

Mother Ji teased with a smile, “Donglin, do you still remember Nan Qing? She held you when you were little.”

Nan Qing was shocked. “The little boy I held back then? That was him?”

As Ji Donglin served food to Xi Mi, he said, “I’m surprised to see Miss Nan Qing at our family banquet too, but Mom, could you not bring up stuff from when I was a kid? My girlfriend is sitting right here. Aren’t you afraid she’ll get jealous?”

His natural, doting tone almost made Xi Mi choke.

Nan Qing popped a bite of food into her mouth and smiled silently, making no move to expose their charade.

Mother Ji laughed. “Why shouldn’t I bring it up? Even though Nan Qing is a few years older than you, by family seniority, she still has to call you Uncle.”

Cough… Nan Qing, who was eating, choked on her food.

Old Master Ji interrupted the chatter. “Alright, eat.”

A meal bound by so much formality was never going to fill anyone up. After dinner, Nan Qing went for a night tour of Nanhu, and Old Master Ji told Ji Donglin to act as her guide. Since Xi Mi hadn’t fully recovered from her cold, she couldn’t go out in the wind, so she stayed in her room, lounging in bed and playing on her phone.

Opening the carved solid-wood lattice window, a breeze wafted the fragrance of courtyard flowers inside. Resting her chin on the windowsill, she inexplicably recalled her first encounter with Ying Quhe at the inn in the ancient town.

By eight o’clock, Xi Mi was too hungry to stand it any longer, so she asked the Ji Family butler if she could use the kitchen. Not a speck of cooked food remained; the kitchen had been cleaned spotlessly. The only ingredients left in the fridge were seafood. Rubbing her empty stomach, she had no idea what to make.

She put a pot of water on to boil. As she stared at the rising bubbles, she impulsively called Ying Quhe.

No one answered. A wave of disappointment washed over her. Leaning back against the counter, her hands hung limply at her sides.

Ten minutes later, Ying Quhe called her back.

Hearing his deep male voice through the phone, Xi Mi felt a sudden thud against her heart. She nearly stammered, “Ying… Bie…” Taking a deep breath, she decided to address him formally: “Master.”

“What is it?”

“Um…” Xi Mi tapped her fingers on the cutting board like piano keys. “I’m a little hungry and wanted to cook something, but the fridge only has seafood. What should I make?”

Silence hung on the line for a moment before his deep, magnetic voice came through the receiver again. “Seafood porridge. It’s light.”

“Mmm…” Xi Mi gripped the phone tightly, nudging the base of the stove with her toe. “Got it. Then… should I hang up now?”

“Wait.”

Her urge to end the call was checked by the voice on the other end.

“Set your phone down and put it on speaker.” Ying Quhe paused. “You haven’t fully recovered, so something light is better. Follow my recipe.”

“Okay…” Following his instructions, Xi Mi set the phone down. “Done.”

Ying Quhe said unhurriedly, “A small half-bowl of rice, a small handful of glutinous rice, 100 grams of scallops, two fresh shrimp, and half a cucumber, diced. Add water to the rice and bring it to a boil, then add ginger and scallions and simmer over low heat. Once the rice grains break open and the porridge turns thick, add the scallops and shrimp. Cook for about five more minutes, then stir in the diced cucumber and a small pinch of salt. The cucumber doesn’t need to be soft; keep it crisp, just barely cooked through.”

By the time he finished reading the recipe, Xi Mi had already put the rice into the pot and chopped all the main ingredients and garnishes.

Wiping her hands, she sat on a low wooden stool in the kitchen and cautiously asked into the phone, “I’ve noted down the recipe. Should I… hang up for now?”

“In such a rush to hang up on me, hmm?”

Hearing the slight touch of displeasure in his voice, Xi Mi quickly explained, “Cooking porridge takes forty minutes at least. How about once it’s done… I take a picture and send it over to submit my homework?”

“I want to hear the entire process of you completing this assignment.”

“Alright…”

A stretch of silence followed immediately.

The sudden silence was a bit awkward, and she began to regret calling him. Seafood porridge was obviously the best choice late at night like this; why had she felt compelled to call Ying Quhe to ask?

Clearing her throat softly to break the awkwardness, she asked, “What are you… doing?”

Ying Quhe said, “Walking the dog.”

“This late?” The water was boiling now. Xi Mi lifted the pot lid and stirred the rice with a wooden spoon. She asked, “Um, is Ulrica okay?”

Without the slightest hesitation, Ying Quhe answered, “Not really.”

“Wh-why?” Xi Mi was confused. The dog had been lively and bouncing all over the place before she left. How could she not be doing well?

“She’s a bit gloomy,” Ying Quhe replied. Standing under a streetlight on the other end of the line, he watched Ulrica gleefully wrestling with a Samoyed in the distance, exhaled softly, and added, “Probably because you aren’t here, so she’s gloomy.”

Xi Mi thought to herself that if the gloomy one were Ulrica’s master rather than Ulrica herself, she would probably feel happy.

The conversation drifted along intermittently until the savory seafood porridge was cooked. Xi Mi wedged the phone between her ear and shoulder, carried the bowl out of the kitchen with both hands, and sat down on the backyard steps. Scooping up a spoon of porridge, she blew on it to cool it off and said, “I’m eating now. Things still taste pretty bland to me, but it smells great. Are you and Ulrica still outside? Take her back early and get some rest.”

“Mm.” Ying Quhe fell silent for a moment on the other end of the line, then called her name. “Xi Mi.”

“Hmm?” Xi Mi switched the phone to speaker and set it on the ground, continuing the call while spooning porridge into her mouth.

“Actually… I miss you.”

Clack!

The ceramic spoon fell to the ground, shattering in two.

Xi Mi’s heart felt as though it had been struck by a thunderous hammer, thudding heavily in her chest.