It’s so delicious! I did not expect Muzi to be skilled in cooking too. I have to come here more often to eat now. George had those silent thoughts in his mind. After he finished it, he held his bowl up and looked endearingly at Han Muzi. “Can I have another bowl?”
Han Muzi glanced at him and laughed. He had an expectant expression on his face and looked like he was drunk on fish soup. It was an affirmation and compliment to cooks when other people enjoyed their food. Even though she was not a cook, she did prepare dinner today. Watching George enjoy her food was the biggest praise for her.
Naturally, she felt delighted. She stood up immediately and retrieved his bowl. “Sure, I’ll get some for you.”
At that moment, Ye Moxuan, who was sitting quietly the whole time, broke his silence and said harshly, “Don’t you have hands?”
The sudden voice stumped both of them. George met Ye Moxuan’s eyes and saw the ominous look behind his jet-black eyes.
George fell silent for a while then looked away as he stood up. “Let me do it instead!” Taking the bowl from her hand, he helped himself to the fish soup with a dejected heart. Hmph. Yuchi Shen must be jealous that I received a bowl of fish soup from Muzi and he did not.
It was then that Han Muzi realized Ye Moxuan did not take one bite since he sat down. Is the food not to his liking? She was not able to figure it out so she just grabbed a bowl and scooped some fish soup for him too. “Why don’t you have some warm fish soup first?”
George took a peek at Ye Moxuan. The latter looked at the bowl of fish soup in front of him and did a mental comparison. He saw that he had slightly more soup than George and his mind started to ease. He looked up and glanced at her coldly. At least you’re not tactless.
It was not that he was adamant about receiving a bowl of fish soup from her, rather, he was irritated that she had given one to George and disregarded him.
She finally saw him hold the bowl up to his lips and she waited as he drank some. When he placed the bowl back down again, she quickly asked, “How is it?” Since George liked it so much, it must mean that the soup is not bad, right?
Ye Moxuan did not say a word. She looked at him eagerly. Her small, fair face and anticipating eyes were calling out to him to compliment her.
“It’s delicious. Yuchi, your assistant has some skills. I think we should come here more often to eat now.”
Ye Moxuan’s expression quickly turned cold, and his voice also became apathetic. “It’s alright.”
At that moment, her anticipating eyes grew dark and lost their light while the smile on George’s face also fell. “You have too high expectations. Do you think everyone is like the prestigious cooks at the Yuchi residence? You should know better than to be so harsh when you’re at someone else’s house to eat.”
“It’s fine.” She quickly stepped in and explained, “I don’t think he’s wrong. I’m not a professional cook anyway so my food will not be excellent. Let’s just eat.” Then, she lifted her bowl and ate some rice. In truth, she had expected that answer from him. She did not expect him to compliment her as that would not be like him at all. She was content.
The image of her eating with her head down caught Ye Moxuan’s attention. He narrowed his eyes. Am I misinterpreting this? Why does it feel like she’s disappointed? What could she be disappointed about? That I didn’t compliment her? George had already showered her with compliments. Does she need my approval as well?
On the other hand, George was cursing at Ye Moxuan in his mind. Throughout that one meal, the three of them were thinking of completely different things.
After dinner, while Han Muzi put the bowls and chopsticks away in the kitchen, George took the time to give Ye Moxuan an earful. “I must say, Yuchi, is there anyone who courts a woman as you do?”
Ye Moxuan frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“Did I say something wrong? She worked so hard to cook that meal for you. Would one compliment have killed you? Would you lose a pound of flesh?” George closed in on him and said in a low voice, “Don’t say I didn’t warn you. You will never get her at this rate.”
Ye Moxuan gave him a look. That look made George tremble in fear. He then cleared his throat and avoided eye contact with him. “Just pretend I didn’t say anything. Hey, I just feel bad for your assistant, okay? She put her heart into this meal but did not get praised in return. As a woman, she might feel upset.”
Ye Moxuan did not respond. His phone rang suddenly and he looked down at the caller ID.
“Oh no! I forgot to settle the situation with Duanmu Xue before coming here. Could Grandfather Yuchi be calling to tell you off?” George explained urgently when he saw the caller ID on the screen.
Ye Moxuan calmly answered the call. “Grandfather.”
“You rascal! I asked you to look after Xue but where did you run off to instead?”
He pursed his lips then suddenly glanced at George and explained, “George got into some trouble and asked me to help him.”
After being thrown under the bus like that, George was rendered speechless. Wow. Who got into trouble and looked for whom to help?
“What? George, that little rascal. He will never learn. Don’t bother with him anymore and come home now. I have some important business to discuss with you.”
Important business? He narrowed his suspecting eyes and automatically looked in the direction of the kitchen, thereafter he bluntly said, “I’m afraid I can’t, Grandfather. I have other things to do right now.”
“Didn’t I tell you not to bother with George anymore? You’d better come home right away. This is very important.”
“I can’t talk now. I’m hanging up,” he said and hung up the phone on Yuchi Jin without a second word.
George’s eyes widened. “Important business? Could it be about your engagement with Duanmu Xue?”
Ye Moxuan did not say anything. His expression did not look good and his lips were pursed tightly.
George glanced at the kitchen. “I don’t think you can run away from this. Grandfather Yuchi will arrange for you and Duanmu Xue to get engaged. It will be hard for you to go against this.”
“It’s my life. I don’t need someone else to take ownership of it.” Nobody could. So what if it’s Grandfather?
“But he is your grandfather. Nevermind. I think this issue is quite serious. Why don’t we head back first? Running away is not the solution either.”
Just then, Han Muzi walked out of the kitchen and bent down to place a plate of freshly-cut fruits in front of them.
George spoke up, “Hey, assistant. It’s getting late. We have to return now.”
She was dumbfounded for a moment and looked down at the time on her watch.
It’s already seven. It is getting late indeed. She did not expect time to pass by so quickly but she eventually nodded her head. “Okay, I’ll send you guys down.”
