Chapter 20: Shameless
Editor: Perriemix
"Big brother," Ye Jiayao greeted with a smile.
The first-in-charge looked up in surprise and exclaimed, "Sister-in-law! Did you come to deliver good food for second brother?"
"Yes. I’ve seen that second brother’s complexion looks better."
The first-in-charge’s smile was not genuine, it was a little estranged and sinister. It was impossible to guess what he was thinking about. His stare always made everyone feel as if he could see right through them. Ye Jiayao has no liking for someone so mistrustful. However, he was the first-in-charge, the king of the mountains. Even Chunyu has to be watchful of him, and as a subsidiary, she should try to curry his favor even more.
"Big brother, how did you get heat sores? You need to eat something cooling. I made some winter melon and spareribs soup, big brother, come have some!" Ye Jiayao invited passionately. The first-in-charge might have developed a huge heat sore on his philtrum due to his worries from the increasingly frustrating matters he has to deal with. He looked like someone from a certain island country, appearing to be even more scheming.
The first-in-charge touched the heat sore under his nose and laughed. "No need. I still have some matters to deal with. I shall try your skills another day."
Ye Jiayao said, "Then I shall get Peng Wu to deliver it to you. I'll get him take the honeysuckle tea too, it would go well with the soup."
Ye Jiayao took her leave without waiting for the first-in-charge to decline.
The first-in-charge squinted his eyes, watching Ye Jiayao thoughtfully as her silhouette became smaller with distance. That woman was not simple. She had only been here for a few days and she had already settled down so quickly.
Upon seeing first-in-charge enter the house, second-in-charge, who was munching on a pigeon leg with the bowl of soup clasp in his hands, paused, putting the bowl down.
First-in-charge waved his hand. "Eat."
"Big brother, do you want some? The soup sister-in-law made is delicious, it is so fragrant," second-in-charge said, presenting the treasure.
"It's alright, you have it." First-in-charge has never been obsessed with delicacies. "What do you think of sister-in-law’s character?"
"I think she is not bad. She's cheerful and is also a good cook. Most importantly, she is pretty. If I have known, I would not have given her to third brother. I would have taken her for myself," second-in-charge answered, his tone filled with obvious regrets.
First-in-charge muttered, "Precisely. She is too good to be true that I think something is amiss. She was extremely hysterical when she first came here and now..."
Second-in-charge replied jealously, "Perhaps it’s because she thought she would have to be married to us. With third brother’s looks, why would she be unwilling? The women on the mountains all swoon at third brother. Hell, even the hens would cluck merrily when they see him."
First-in-charge frowned, knowing that second brother has a point.
"Peng Wu had been with him for so long and still hasn't discovered anything strange." First-in-charge was extremely perplexed. He had to admit, third brother had made many great contributions to the stockade. If he really was reliable, he would make Hei Feng Gang immensely strong. However, first-in-charge could not put his mind at ease and he could not tell why. It was an intuition. In the stockade, he only trusts the earlier batch of people who tolled with him.
Second-in-charge asked in a soft whisper, "Is the spy sent to check on third brother back yet?"
First-in-charge shook his head. "I think it would be soon."
"What I am most worried about now, is that if third brother is really the spy sent by the imperial courts." First-in-charge was conflicted. On the one hand, he cherished third brother's talent, and on the other hand, he was doubtful and worried. Third brother has many supporters. If he was punished without concrete evidence, the masses would not be convinced and the brothers would be disappointed.
"I think the possibility of that is small. This time, third brother did risk his life to save me. Even I was hopeless during the situation then. I told third brother to escape but he insisted on pulling me along. If he is indeed the spy, wouldn’t it be better if he had left me to die under those circumstances? Even if I died, you wouldn’t be able to blame him would you?" Second-in-charge looked at the pigeon leg in his hand, thinking of what sister-in-law had said just now. He recalled the bloody battle, his heart softening towards third brother.
First-in-charge nodded. "I am very grateful to him for that."
"What about the rest? Wasn’t anyone suspicious found?" second brother asked.
First-in-charge sighed. "That is difficult! Without any concrete evidence, it is hard to come to a conclusion. There are already complaints all around the stockade now."
"F*ck! If only we could have heard a little more then, we wouldn’t have to spend so much effort now," second-in-charge grumbled.
"However, I have a last resort. You just focus on resting your mind and recuperating," first-in-charge said, leaving second brother to rest.
Ye Jiayao returned to the courtyard, coincidentally, at the same time as Xia Chunyu and Peng Wu.
"Just wait a while, I’ll whip up two more dishes and then we can eat." Ye Jiayao put the lunch box down, rolling up her sleeves as she entered the kitchen. Just as she added two more firewood into the fire stove, she heard Xia Chunyu’s angry howl, "YE JINXUAN!"
Ye Jiayao jumped, suddenly remembering that she brought the two rabbits into the house to play in the afternoon and had left them there.
"Song Qi, watch the fire." Ye Jiayao rushed to the house. Xia Chunyu's face was mottled red with anger as he stood before the bed, glaring at the rabbits on the bed like they were his arch nemesis.
"I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I will carry them out right this moment."
Xia Chunyu furiously said, "Who allowed you to bring them into the house? Take a look at this! Can this bed still be slept on?"
Ye Jiayao glanced at the bed and instantly felt like crying. Obedient rabbit babies, how could you take a dump on the bed?
"Don’t be angry, don’t be angry! Da Bao and Er Bao don’t know better. I would educate them properly." Ye Jiayao picked the rabbits up and set them down on the floor. "I told you not to go up the bed! Why did you disobey me? Do you want me to stew you?"
Xia Chunyu was in disbelief. Da Bao and Er Bao? I think you are a buffoon.
"Why are you trying to reason with them? They don't understand you! If I find them here again, I would throw them to Old Head Yu."
"Did you hear Father Rabbit’s words? If you do this again, I won’t be able to protect you," Ye Jiayao said, carrying the rabbits out.
Xia Chunyu was flabbergasted. When did he become Father Rabbit?
"Ye Jinxuan, if you want to become Mother Rabbit, don't drag me with you!" Xia Chunyu was almost roaring in frustration and annoyance. An address like Father Rabbit was intolerable to him, even more unacceptable than being called Dumb Donkey.
"Alright, alright. Da Xiao Bao, don’t be scared. Father Rabbit does not like you but I do. You just have to be good, do you hear?" Ye Jiayao cooed softly as she stroked the rabbits’ ears.
Xia Chunyu was almost certain that he was about to have a coronary. This woman always had to come up with some affair that could infuriate him to no end.
Ye Jiayao changed the bed sheets quickly. She glanced at Xia Chunyu, laying on the couch, reading a book, his face still clearly annoyed. "Chunyu, can I send the honeysuckle tea Auntie Jiang gave us to big brother? When I went to deliver the pigeon soup to second brother just now, I saw big brother. He grew a huge heat sore above his mouth, honeysuckle can clear the heat and detoxify."
Ye Jiayao was the best at changing topics.
Xia Chunyu snorted flippantly. "How considerate."
"Ay! What do you want me to do? Living under someone’s shelter, you have no choice but to lower your head." Ye Jiayao curled her lips in indignation.
Xia Chunyu looked at her from the corner of his eyes. "You know that too? Your head's just so full of knowledge, you're going to break the roof."
Ye Jiayao laughed mischievously. "You're exaggerating! You're just mad that the rabbit babies took a dump on the bed. Why are you mad at me? It's not like I am the one who did it!"
This woman really did lack the basic manners of a lady.
"What I mean is, I did not make them shit," Ye Jiayao explained embarrassingly, realizing what she had just said.
"Besides, though they are big brother and second brother, we're not blood-related. If we fall out with them, that would be the end. It is different with you because as husband and wife, it is only common for couples to quarrel and squabble. It creates interest, you know." Ye Jiayao said happily. She had already found a way to deal with Chunyu's anger. She would just ramble incoherently with a smile, and it would confuse him, displacing his anger.
"I shall go make dinner!" Ye Jiayao pouted and sent him a flying kiss, leaving with the honeysuckle tea on the table.
Xia Chunyu rolled his eyes at her back with detest. With skin thicker than the city wall, frivolous in manner, she really was not like any decent woman at all.
He lowered his head to continue reading, yet, all he could think of was the image of her pouting. The way her small mouth puckered cutely looked so irresistible, and he wanted to kiss it badly. Xia Chunyu closed the book in frustration. After living with that woman for too long, even his concept of right and wrong was a mess.
Ye Jiayao finished the dishes in record time. She set the winter melon spareribs soup aside, scooping out a bowlful to put in the lunch box.
"Peng Wu, Peng Wu!"
Peng Wu scurried in. "What do you need, big sister?"
"Send this over to first-in-charge, I've already promised this to him." Ye Jiayao handed the lunch box and honeysuckle tea to Peng Wu. "Hurry, we’ll wait for you before we eat."
Peng Wu accepted the delivery mission gladly.
Song Qi asked jealously, "Sister-in-law, why do you always instruct Peng Wu to run errands for food delivery to first-in-charge and second-in-charge? Why don’t you let me go?"
Ye Jiayao thought about it. Was that weird? Why? Maybe she felt that Peng Wu was more reliable. It was also because she felt that he was more familiar with them.
"You think too much. Why don’t you think about how I always get you to be my helper and not Peng Wu? I don’t even know why! Tell me when you thought about it," Ye Jiayao replied.
Song Qi was confused. How would I know what you are thinking inside?
After setting the table, Ye Jiayao walked to the door and called for her husband sweetly.
"Chunyu, time for dinner."
Xia Chunyu immediately put his book down and headed for the kitchen. Those who don’t know would think that he was famished, eager to eat. In actual fact, if he waited for her to call him for the second time, that tongue would start to roll, and she would call louder.
Xia Chunyu was annoyed that he had actually been reduced to a state where he was at the beck and call of a woman. She should be the one obeying him, yet it was the total opposite now. Whatever warnings or threats he gave were useless to her. She would be responding well in his presence, and in the next moment, would revert to her old ways, acting cute, acting pitiful, and any other theatrics. He had never seen a woman more difficult to deal with.
She really was shameless.
What else could he do?
Chapter 21: Do you like me?
Editor: Perriemix
On the second day, Song Qi came over to the house after breakfast to fix the broken table leg. After he saw how badly the table was damaged, Song Qi felt empathy towards his sister-in-law.
"Third in charge is not in a good mood recently, please don’t take it personally sister-in-law. Just treat whatever he says as passing wind."
"You heard everything?" asked Ye Jiayao, embarrassed.
Song Qi shrugged his shoulders. "With that scream so loud? In the middle of the night? I am not deaf."
Ye Jiayao muttered, "I just can’t be bothered to respond to him."
Thank goodness, I put on such a show last night that no one suspected a thing!
Auntie Jiang came to give today’s portion. It was allocated per head, but Ye Jiayao was too lazy to get it. Luckily, Auntie Jiang didn't mind coming to her house every day just to give her ration.
"You said you were going to make dumplings for the second-in-charge, so Old Yu gave an extra 500 grams of pork and 1500 grams of flour. The food is becoming more and more scarce, even the last pig was killed," Auntie Jang said, sighing.
Ye Jiayao sympathized, but truthfully, she didn't have to worry about these problems. Chunyu would hunt for prey every day, and Song Qi would sometimes catch a few fishes and prawns in the Lake Yanxia. There was also a huge excavated area in the mountain to plant all kinds of vegetables. Their food supply was still guaranteed its quantity and quality.
"That's great! There is still some flour left from last time, so, if you'd like, you and Uncle Jiang could come and eat with us," Ye Jiayao offered with a smile.
Auntie Jiang grinned widely. "Sure, that would be nice. Although, during lunchtime, the Kitchen need some help, otherwise, I'd lend you a hand in preparing the food."
"That's not necessary, Auntie Jiang. I can handle it by myself," Ye Jiayao assured her.
It was time that Ye Jiayao needed, and the one thing she wasn't lacking since she was brought to the mountain, was time.
After sending Auntie Jiang away, Ye Jiayao got started on preparing the dumplings. She had to consider the four people in her own house, the second-in-charge, the first-in-charge, and the Jiang couple.
After calculating, Ye Jiayao added three more tablespoons of flour, and another two eggs into the mixture to make the flour more resilient. She then proceeded in controlling the softness of the flour mix by playing with the water content. She decided to wait for Song Qi to massage the flour, and she started on chopping the dumpling fillings.
According to the preference of the two brothers and herself, Ye Jiayao prepared three types of fillings. The second-in-charge wanted to eat pork filling with Chinese chives, and Chunyu liked the filling with mushroom, cabbage and pork meat. Ye Jiayao was more partial to pork with wild rice stem. The others weren't so picky and were amenable to eat any filling.
The deliciousness of the dumplings depended on the taste of the filling. In the modern times, because of the presence of HCL, people would boil the meat as they prepare it to get rid of any foam. However, in these ancient times, the pork was all natural and uncontaminated, that boiling it would just get rid of its natural flavor. Ye Jiayao only needed to mince the meat into fine grains and marinate it in all kinds of seasonings.
Ye Jiayao then worked on chopping the cabbage, adding a bit of salt in it, and then squeezing the excess water out to make it especially tender. The chives, on the other hand, didn't need to be dehydrated as it cooked so easily that drying them out would ruin the taste. The rice stem needed to be cubed and stir-fried until it was about seventy percent cooked, and the mushroom needed to be fried in oil to bring out its fragrance.
After she has finished all these, Ye Jia Yao went to call Song Qi. "Song Qi, have you finished fixing the table leg yet?"
"It’s done!" Song Qi stepped out with his tools and smiled. "It's fixed now, but, it could not withstand another kick from third-in-charge. Big sister, you need to talk to him."
"As if he would really listen to me. If he breaks it again, I'll just carry a stone and let him kick it instead."
"That is a good idea!" Song Qi agreed laughingly.
"Is that a good idea?" The cold voice of Xia ChunYu seemed to ring.
Song Qi flinched and immediately looked down. He didn’t want to see how terrifying third-in-charge looked.
Ye Jiayao wanted to laugh but she didn't want to add to Song Qi's misery.
"No, you're right, Song Qi. I reckon that rock on the mountain is pretty suitable for a kick, you go ahead and carry it back," said Xia Chunyu casually.
"B-but... third-in-charge, that rock is a few thousand kilograms. How could it be carried?" Song Qi stuttered.
Xia Chunyu slapped Song Qi’s shoulder hard, almost causing Song Qi’s knees to buckle. "I believe you can do it."
Song Qi cried desperately on the inside. Can I smash it before I carry it? I only agreed with what big sister said! Why are you punishing me?
Ye Jiayao could not stand to see Song Qi being bullied. She threw Chunyu a deadly stare, and said, "Song Qi go and massage the flour. There's no purpose in carrying that rock. Hurry up."
Song Qi turned to third-in-charge in desperation. "Third-in-charge, sister-in-law is calling me to massage the flour!"
"Go. You can carry the rock after you finish massaging the flour," Xia Chunyu said blankly.
Song Qi needed a bit of punishment. Nowadays, he seemed to be permanently glued to Yaoyao's side, he wasn't even taking his master seriously.
Song Qi cowardly slipped into the kitchen.
"Big sister, you have to save me," Song Qi cried.
Ye Jiayao smiled. "Don’t you get that he is deliberately trolling you? Do you really think that he's going to kill you or kick you down the mountain if you don’t carry it?"
She really didn’t know if anyone else could get away with disobeying Chunyu, but it had always worked when she did it.
Song Qi realized that his sister-in-law made sense. It was just that, given the temperament of third-in-charge, even if he didn't make him carry the rock, he would still think of other ways to punish him.
"That’s okay, don’t worry. I will talk to him later," Ye Jiayao consoled him. The most urgent thing was to make the dumplings.
Song Qi started to massage the flour worryingly while Ye Jiayao went to fry a few eggs. After it was cooked, she chopped them up and mixed it with the vegetable and the meat fillings evenly.
"Put your muscles into it! It needs to be a bit hard if its soft then it won't taste good." Ye Jiayao told Song Qi. He was feeling so down, he didn’t even have the energy to work.
"Oh, okay." Song Qi picked up the speed.
"You just work on the flour, and I will go and check out what he is doing," said Ye Jiayao as she left the kitchen.
Xia Chunyu was sat in the study room, casually turning the pen bottle in his hands. It seemed as though he was in deep thought about something.
"Chunyu, why are you back so early today? Where is Peng Wu?"
Xia Chunyu lightly glanced in her direction, and said dispassionately, "There is so little food these few days, everyone is acting like a sick chicken. No one is in the mood for practicing."
Ye Jiayao frowned. "If the spy wasn't found, is the Dragon-breaking Stone going to remain closed forever?"
"Who knows what the first in charge had in mind? Feng Chaolin had collusions with the government so attacking the mountain cottage is imperative. Right now, we were forced to save resources, and it was just making everyone starve. How could the spy be captured, if the way they were doing it was endangering everyone, and dividing people’s hearts?"
"Does he really think that the Dragon-breaking Stone could hold off the attacks of the government troops? Did he really think that their cannons could not be transported up here?" Xia Chunyu smiled coldly.
Could the government really break through the defense? Ye Jiayao didn't know if she wished the mountain village to be attacked or not. Even though this was the hiding place for gangsters and outlaws, there were still good people within them. Some people were forced to go up the mountain even if they didn't anything wrong, like the Jiang couple and Song Qi. Also, there were people like herself who were abducted up the mountain. These people were all innocent. If the government troops attacked the village, would they spare these people? Would they spare her? She was the wife of the third-in-charge!
"Then you should talk to first-in-charge!" Ye Jiayao snapped.
"What will I say? He thinks everyone is the spy! I am not going to bring contempt on myself."
He was right. If first-in-charge already suspected Chunyu, whatever he said would make him appear as though he has other intentions.
"What if the cottage was broken in, what would you do? What should I do? Would you care about me?" Ye Jiayao asked, still perturbed.
"When the government troops get up here, wouldn’t you be saved? Maybe they would want to decapitate me and you can add a stab." Xia Chunyu's tone and stare were all kinds of emotionless, it was a bit terrifying.
Ye Jiayao suddenly felt enraged. "How could you say such a thing?"
Even though she was forced to be his woman, and hated his arrogance, and stubbornness, she never wanted him dead. She just wanted to leave.
"Oh? What are you saying? Are you in love with me?" Xia Chunyu smiled mockingly.
Of course not! I am just not like you guys without any humanity! I don't view killing people like cutting grass!
Ye Jiayao turned and walked away, not wanting to answer his question. If she said yes, she would be lying, and he would mock her. If she said no, she would offend him. It was a lose-lose situation.
He knew where the secret channel was, so even if the troops attacked up here, he could get away. Yes, he treated her like a toy, but surely there would be some gratitude from seeing her serve him with full dedication. Would he take her with him when he escapes?
Xia Chunyu was simply teasing her. How could he leave her behind? There were innocent people in the cottage, and he would also think of a way to protect them. She might annoy him but she still shared the same pillow with him.
He didn't expect her to walk out on him. Was she mad? Or was she not in love with him at all?
Xia Chunyu felt anxious as he thought about all the possibilities. He couldn't wait until after everything was finished, and she could go wherever she felt like. It would save him some worry then.
Ye Jiayao returned to the kitchen angrily.
Song Qi saw his sister-in-law came back looking enraged. He wanted to console her, but he was scared that third-in-charge would see and punish him again. He studiously turned back to his task, quietly continuing to massage the flour.
Ye Jiayao shoved Song Qi away, taking over the flour dough, and started squashing it with all her might. You smelly donkey! Dead donkey! You're a first-class bastard!
Song Qi watched as Ye Jiayao massage the flour like she was stabbing her nemesis. He couldn't help but imagine third-in-charge at her mercy.
If that day really came, it would surely be a great feeling to see the mighty fall.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
24 Power
stone 
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