I want to snuggle into Beauty Ji’s arms and act spoiled!
Qing Huan wasn’t the type to get upset with customers. She was a fairly cheerful girl. When Yu Jinnian saw her so angry, he guessed that Master Yang must have said more than what she mentioned. He comforted Qing Huan with a few words and then said, “Don’t be angry, I’ll go take a look.”
When he reached the front of the store, sure enough, he heard someone cursing, “Damn it, what kind of low-class shop is this, making my back ache… Where is that wretch? Ptui, what kind of rubbish did you give me to drink! Someone! Someone!”
It turned out Yu Jinnian guessed right; Master Yang had indeed said more than those words.
Earlier, when Qing Huan saw him wake up, she opened the shop. Although she often heard about Master Yang’s escapades at Yicui Pavilion, she had only seen him from afar once. She didn’t know that he was not only lecherous but also foul-mouthed. Upon waking, he started making a scene, first complaining of a headache, then feeling dizzy. He was dissatisfied with everything, and if served a bit late, he would slam the table and kick the chairs.
Qing Huan, fearing recognition as a former courtesan of Yicui Pavilion, always wore a thick veil, claiming her face was too hideous to show. Familiar customers simply called her “Veil Lady,” and things had been peaceful until today. Master Yang, seeing Qing Huan’s voluptuous figure, used dissatisfaction with the tea as an excuse to unveil her face, which she naturally refused, evading him while asking him to behave.
Yang Cai, used to bullying people with his wealth, tried to forcefully lay hands on Qing Huan when she didn’t comply, causing a commotion. This scared away other customers planning to have breakfast, who now stood outside, watching the spectacle.
Qing Huan wasn’t really afraid, having encountered such people at Yicui Pavilion before. But when Yang Cai failed to get his way, he began to slander the noodle shop, calling it a black shop, claiming the tea was poisoned, causing him dizziness. Being a woman, she couldn’t outargue him, so she angrily ran to the backyard to complain to Yu Jinnian.
When Yu Jinnian lifted the curtain and came out, he heard Master Yang spewing obscenities, calling Qing Huan vile names. Realizing Yang’s ill intentions towards Qing Huan, even Yu Jinnian, usually good-tempered, couldn’t stand it. If it were an ordinary girl, she would have been crying in shame. Qing Huan’s patience was remarkable, given her broad-mindedness.
If someone cursed him like that, he would have beaten them up already!
Isn’t the Yang family supposed to be rich merchants? How did they raise such an ill-mannered son?
Yang Cai, thick-skinned and incompetent, only knew how to take out his anger on others. He raised his foot to kick over the table in front of him. Though truly dizzy, he missed the table when Yu Jinnian quickly kicked it aside.
Unexpectedly, Yang Cai missed and fell backward, landing on his butt with a painful cry. He was so thin his bones poked through his skin. Even Yu Jinnian felt a pang of pity.
Yu Jinnian, smiling, said, “Oh dear, Master Yang, are you unwell? Do you need a doctor? Our humble shop is far from the city; getting a doctor from the East City would take time. It’s winter, and the ground is cold. Shall we get you a mat to sit on for comfort?”
Yang Cai, now dizzy and feeling worse after cursing, looked at the speaking man. He saw a very handsome young man, even more so than the girl before. Offending him further, he said, “The saucy girl is gone, and now there’s a pretty boy. Help me to bed and massage my legs and head… ugh…”
Before finishing his sentence, he dry heaved. Having eaten nothing since visiting the temple yesterday, he couldn’t vomit, his face yellow and wilted like old cabbage. How some people never learn! Didn’t he cower all night over a few scraps of paper yesterday? Now he was playing the hero again, only to end up the fool.
Yu Jinnian looked him over, then went to the back yard. Returning with a bowl of water, he found Yang Cai still lying on the ground, groaning. Yu Jinnian forced him to drink the sugar water and slapped his back, calling out, “Hey, white-robed monk, come in for some vegetarian food?”
Hearing “monk,” Yang Cai trembled, rolling up and running out. Reaching the door, he saw no monk. Realizing he’d been tricked, he was about to react when a colorful paper fell from his clothes, depicting a grinning ghost child. Terrified, he tore at his clothes, fearing the ghost child was hiding inside. Tripping on the threshold, he fell flat outside.
Acting tough inside, he now looked a mess, his clothes in disarray, one shoulder exposed, face scratched by gravel. He no longer resembled a rich young master.
Someone in the crowd recognized him and whispered, “Isn’t that Master Yang from the Yang family?”
“Yeah, why is he in this state?”
“Could it be that someone threw him out?”
These words stung Yang Cai’s ears like fire. He wanted to stand up, but for some reason, his legs felt weak, and his vision darkened. He wriggled on the ground like a jellyfish but couldn’t get up, as if something had possessed him. He could clearly hear people talking around him, noisy and loud, but he couldn’t move no matter how hard he tried.
At this point, he was too ashamed to lift his head and just wanted to lie on the ground pretending to be dead.
Just then, some servants from the Yang family arrived. They had been searching the city all night, thinking the second master had gone to a teahouse again. The two men asked around at all the teahouses but found no trace of their master. They were distressed when, unexpectedly, they stumbled upon him right there!
—Their master, disheveled and lying in the street.
They were both relieved and troubled, hurriedly calling out “Second Master” and scolding the onlookers, “What are you looking at? Our second master isn’t someone you can just look at!” They were afraid others wouldn’t recognize Yang Cai.
Yang Cai was so angry that he wanted to kick them, but he had no strength. He could only whimper on the ground while the two servants, exuding anger, each grabbed one of his arms. They couldn’t understand what the weak Yang Cai was mumbling about and carried the thoroughly embarrassed second master back home.
“Second Master, come again for noodles next time!”
Yu Jinnian watched the master and servants leave, cursing and shouting, while leaning against the shop door, laughing heartily. Ji Hong came over and glanced at the scene, thinking the young man had probably drugged the second master again. After all, he had just seen the young man make someone drink a bowl of something that rendered him immobile. He asked, “What mischief have you done this time?”
“How could it be me?” Yu Jinnian picked up the colorful paper on the ground, crumpled it, and threw it away, laughing dismissively, “There’s no serious problem. Look at him, he hasn’t eaten for who knows how long. Last night he was scared and ran several streets, and this morning he got angry and blew his top. The little food in his stomach is long gone, so he has no strength left to waste. Serves him right!”
In short, it was just plain hunger and hypoglycemia.
However, Yu Jinnian had at least given him a bowl of sugar water to prevent him from actually fainting due to hypoglycemia. But it would take at least half an hour for that sugar water to take effect. Until then, he would have to endure the dizziness and nausea.
After the second master left, customers began to trickle into the noodle shop. Qing Huan, who had just been upset, seemed in a bad mood, so Yu Jinnian sent her to work in the kitchen to change her mood, while he took care of the front.
Earlier, Yu Jinnian had called out “White-robed Monk,” which sparked a conversation among the diners. What they talked about shocked Yu Jinnian. In just one night, it seemed everyone in the county had seen the white-robed monk. Rumors had spread, starting with a mysterious fog descending from the sky. As the stories circulated, each household added their embellishments, and the tales morphed into something entirely different from the original.
Yu Jinnian listened intently for a few moments. The customers told stories about the white-robed monk with great excitement. Whenever one person spoke of the monk’s deeds, someone else would immediately jump in with a personal anecdote, backing up the rumors with fabricated stories, like “My aunt’s second cousin’s nephew’s wife’s sister saw him catch an evil spirit with her own eyes!”
It seemed that if one went out in the morning and didn’t mention the white-robed monk, they would come across as outdated and uninteresting, like a country bumpkin who couldn’t keep up with the latest topics.
These kinds of stories, both amusing and frustrating, continued to circulate.
According to the customers, the white-robed monk had become a figure who could clone himself, fly, and perform countless good deeds overnight without rest, like a living Buddha. The stories often ended with the customers calling him a “high monk” or “divine monk,” and then adding a reverent “Amitabha” to show their sincerity. They would gather together, showing off the three to five talismans the white-robed monk supposedly gave them, some even stringing the coins together and wearing them around their waists for display.
These rumors spread vividly because they provided an escape from the dull and monotonous lives of ordinary people. Anything new and interesting was eagerly seized upon and discussed. In his previous life, during an era of information overload, such a story would have been quickly forgotten.
Yu Jinnian glanced at their talismans and thought, if these people knew that the white-robed monk they talked about had given him a basket full of money, they would probably be ecstatic.
But Yu Jinnian wasn’t so bored. He had no interest in spreading such unreliable rumors, nor did he want to be a killjoy. So, whenever someone brought it up with him, he would just smile and nod, agreeing with “yeah, yeah,” without commenting much, playing along quite smoothly.
After finishing this round of tasks, he hurried back to the kitchen to take out the steamed five-spice cake.
The cake was steamed just right. If Yu Jinnian had come a bit later, the steam on the lid would have dripped back into the cake, which would have been a great pity. Smelling the freshly baked rice aroma, he hummed a tune while slicing the five-spice cake and setting it aside to cool slightly before serving it to Ji Hong.
At this moment, the aroma of medicine, rice, and sweetness blended harmoniously. As Yu Jinnian held the plate, he couldn’t help but want to take a bite.
Since the five-spice cake contained many tonic ingredients, he didn’t prepare the cool and bitter green tea. Instead, he made a date and black astragalus drink to accompany it.
The black astragalus drink was made with twenty or so dates, one or two black beans, and half an ounce of astragalus, boiled in water and used as a tea substitute. It could warm and nourish qi and blood, especially for someone like Ji Hong, who was weak in many areas.
At this time, the golden egg was still boiling in the pot, and he couldn’t leave it unattended, so he asked Qing Huan to keep an eye on it while he eagerly took the cake to Ji Hong.
Ji Hong, unaware that he appeared as a “sickly person” in the young man’s mind, was standing at the front door talking to someone. The man, dressed in brown-grey clothes and wearing leg bindings, seemed to be a mail carrier, nodding and smiling all the while. After exchanging a few words with Ji Hong, the mail carrier walked away with him outside the shop.
The mail carrier was one of the foot couriers from the relay stations, a system originally meant for official messages but now often used by local nobles and wealthy merchants for private errands. These couriers took advantage of their position to earn some extra money.
When Yu Jinnian came out to find Ji Hong, he saw them speaking outside. The mail carrier handed Ji Hong a handwritten letter and said something, then left smiling after receiving some money.
Ji Hong read the letter and put it in his sleeve. Turning around, he suddenly noticed Yu Jinnian standing at the door. He didn’t react much, except for a slight pause in his step. He walked back, naturally lifted his hand to touch Yu Jinnian’s neck, and said, “For me? Let’s go to the back.”
Holding the five-spice cake and date and black astragalus drink, Yu Jinnian followed Ji Hong to the backyard. Although the mail carrier was just a small official, seeing his submissive behavior reminded Yu Jinnian that this man wasn’t just an ordinary, aloof beauty but a genuine nobleman from the capital, currently down on his luck.
“Should I not have seen that?” he asked, rubbing his nose.
Ji Hong didn’t answer but instead pulled the young man into his embrace.
He broke off a small piece of the five-spice cake. Though the cake had cooled slightly while they talked, it didn’t affect its soft and delicate texture, with the medicinal aroma filling his mouth. No matter what, anything made by the young man was a delight to him, even if it meant eating ice and snow in the middle of winter, let alone such a delicious cake.
Ji Hong took a bite and found it quite good. He then asked, “What’s this called?”
“Five-spice cake.” Yu Jinnian looked at him expectantly and explained the ingredients in detail, “It’s made with ginseng powder, atractylodes, poria, and wild rice, with licorice and fennel for seasoning. Is it good?”
“Yes.” Ji Hong responded softly, breaking off another small piece and feeding it to the young man, “You should try it too.”
Yu Jinnian obediently opened his mouth and licked the piece of cake from Ji Hong’s fingers, his soft tongue brushing against Ji Hong’s cool fingertips, causing Ji Hong’s fingers to tremble slightly. His eyes darkened instantly. He didn’t pull his licked fingers back but instead took advantage, pressing deeper into the young man’s mouth, touching the playful tongue and pressing against it.
The young man’s eyes narrowed slightly and then suddenly widened. Ji Hong caught a hand that was trying to sneak into his sleeve, playfully scolding him with a half-petulant, half-indulgent tone, “Little spy, when did you learn to seduce people with your looks?”
Yu Jinnian, seeing his “scheme” exposed, bit Ji Hong’s finger, grinding it slightly with his teeth, and mumbled, “Then you should fall for it…”
It didn’t really hurt. Seeing his frustrated expression, Ji Hong let him leave a faint red mark on his finger before taking out the handwritten letter from his sleeve. He smiled and said, “What is there to spy on? It’s just a handwritten newsletter I bought to keep an eye on the situation in the capital. It’s mostly about appointments, transfers, rewards, and punishments, nothing too interesting.”
The newsletter was a handwritten copy of the court report. At this time, the court report was no longer a tightly guarded central secret but rather a document circulated among high-ranking officials and nobles to keep track of current political affairs. It wasn’t a secret that the scribes in the capital copied these reports and sold them. Many officials found it convenient to have someone buy these copies for them to read. However, errors could occur in the copying process, sometimes mixing in false information, making the final content partly true and partly false.
Yu Jinnian looked at the newsletter carefully, trying to recognize the characters. He could now recognize most common characters but still struggled with writing them, especially obscure ones. The newsletter seemed to contain nothing significant, indeed quite dull, except for one interesting piece of news: the concubine was pregnant, and the emperor wanted to make her the empress, but the ministers strongly opposed it, so it had to be dropped.
To politicians, these matters represented the ever-changing dynamics of the court, but to Yu Jinnian, they weren’t as valuable as the changing prices of vegetables in the morning market. He had no grand ambitions; his highest dream in life was to open a medical clinic and take on a well-behaved apprentice to pass on his knowledge. So he had no desire to delve into the deeper meanings behind these words.
“These people are really something. When they don’t want to do something, they can come up with any excuse,” Yu Jinnian remarked. After speaking, he opened his mouth, hinting at Ji Hong to give him another piece of cake.
Ji Hong broke off another piece of the five-spice cake to feed him. After feeding him, he pinched his ear and, fearing he might choke, pushed the black astragalus tea he had prepared for himself towards the young man. “What do you mean by that?”
Yu Jinnian took a sip of the black astragalus tea, the medicinal aroma rich, and the dates sweet. He suddenly remembered that it was prepared for Ji Hong, not for someone as strong and healthy as himself, so he quickly pushed it back and pointed to the possibly fabricated news in the newsletter. “To prevent the emperor from making the concubine empress, they say the young master of the Ji family is ill and unlucky. Isn’t that funny?”
It was indeed quite funny, typical of those old-fashioned ministers. Ji Hong shook his head and slowly sipped the black astragalus tea. Holding the soft young man, he began to think.
The young master of the Ji family had been seriously ill for a long time. Court physicians had been summoned repeatedly, but his condition did not improve and had persisted for several months. However, he couldn’t remain ill indefinitely. Even the most mysterious illnesses needed a conclusion; either he recovered, or his body would be found. Hiding in bed, avoiding people, wouldn’t work forever, and a resolution would be needed eventually.
Looking down at the young man still engrossed in reading the newsletter, Ji Hong hesitated. He was reluctant to give up this peaceful life. He kissed the young man’s ear, feeling a surge of affection, and gently kneaded him. Yu Jinnian squirmed, laughing and wriggling in Ji Hong’s arms, his strength waning, and he eventually fell into Ji Hong’s embrace, laughing so hard he had no strength left, lifting his face and opening his mouth like a baby bird asking to be fed.
Qing Huan came out and saw the two of them sitting in the courtyard, feeding each other the palm-sized five-spice cake. After finishing it, Ji Hong pretended to wipe Yu Jinnian’s mouth but suddenly kissed the corner of his mouth, making Qing Huan blush and quickly look away, pretending not to see anything.
After the incident with Yang Cai, business at the noodle shop picked up even more. Qing Huan found out that people were saying the little boss of the noodle shop had thrown Yang Cai out, attracting customers who wanted to see this bold owner.
Upon arrival, they saw a handsome young man and felt a bit disappointed. However, the food was quite good, so they didn’t regret coming to watch the spectacle.
This unexpected episode didn’t cause any trouble for the noodle shop. The reputation of the Yang family was well-known in Xinan County, and Yang Cai had inherited his family’s “lustful” nature, deeply indulged in pleasures with no cure.
Speaking of lust, Yu Jinnian couldn’t help but think of the young master of the Jiang family he had encountered before.
Both had a fondness for beauty, but Yang Cai and the flirtatious young master of the Jiang family were different.
The Jiang family had a respectable lineage, even if they were merchants; they were cultured merchants. The young master of the Jiang family, though a playboy, had some knowledge and manners. When flirting, he would first chat, then get closer, give gifts, and finally invite someone to enjoy poetry or flowers before talking about intimate matters in a cultured manner.
Unlike Yang Cai, who was impatient and had no restraint, resorting to force and vulgarity if he didn’t succeed.
But this can’t be entirely blamed on the son, considering he had a less-than-stellar father. It’s said that Old Master Yang was a rascal in his youth, notorious for making his own father furious. After making a fortune in gambling, he decided to run a gambling den and later opened his own casinos, which still support the family.
In the gambling world, where conflicts were common, Old Master Yang had to be more ruthless than the gamblers. He cared little for refinement and elegance, and his approach to taking concubines was equally outrageous—if he liked someone, he would simply take them as a concubine. This led to him having seven concubines in total.
With such a father, it was almost inevitable that Yang Cai would turn out to be unruly. The Yang family was rotten to the core, so expecting them to be cultured and refined was unrealistic.
Reflecting on this, Yu Jinnian thought the young master of the Jiang family was almost cute in comparison.
Thinking of Jiang Bingren, Yu Jinnian naturally thought of gingerbread cookies, a pastry he was fretting about not having anything new to sell recently. Today, inspiration struck, and he decided to make gingerbread men.
An important ingredient in gingerbread men is turmeric powder. This spice has a unique pungent aroma and acts as a natural flavoring agent. It also has medicinal properties, promoting circulation, breaking up clots, and relieving pain. Turmeric powder could be found both in pharmacies and spice shops. Yu Jinnian didn’t go far and bought a jar of turmeric powder from a nearby spice shop.
The shop also had a new shrimp paste, dark red in color, with a delicious aroma that overwhelmed the other spices in the shop. The price was reasonable, and Yu Jinnian couldn’t resist the vendor’s “not fresh, no charge” slogan. He tasted a spoonful and found it savory and flavorful.
Making shrimp paste is more troublesome than other condiments. The shrimp must be fresh, preferably from late summer to early autumn when they are plump. They need to be thoroughly cleaned, without any debris. The heads and tails should be removed, leaving only the bodies, which are then crushed, mixed with salt, and fermented. The right amount of salt, fermentation climate, and timing are crucial. Good shrimp paste is thick, smooth, and brightly colored.
Yu Jinnian had tried making shrimp paste a few times according to the book, but it either turned out too salty or spoiled. He was thrilled to find the shop’s shrimp paste perfect, so he bought a small jar, convincing himself it was a worthwhile purchase for its versatility.
Lost in thoughts of the shrimp paste’s flavors, he didn’t watch where he was going and bumped into someone upon leaving the spice shop.
The person let out a dramatic “Ouch!” but didn’t actually fall or shed any tears. In contrast, Yu Jinnian stumbled and nearly dropped his precious jar of shrimp paste.
After securing his jars, he looked up to see a portly, white-bearded man with a jade-topped cane carved with lingzhi and cloud patterns. Before Yu Jinnian could apologize, the man shouted and swung his cane at him. Surprised, Yu Jinnian didn’t react in time and took five or six hits to his legs and waist. The man seemed to be attacking with a vengeance, as if he had a personal grudge against Yu Jinnian.
Thinking he had encountered a bad-tempered person, Yu Jinnian dodged while sincerely apologizing. After finally escaping the cane’s reach, the old man, seeing he couldn’t hit him anymore, threw his cane aside and clung to Yu Jinnian’s leg, sitting on the ground and wailing.
“…” Yu Jinnian wondered if he had checked his horoscope wrong that day—this was truly unlucky.
He tried to pull his leg free, almost losing his shoe in the process, but the old man didn’t budge. The crowd around them grew, but no matter what Yu Jinnian said, it was like throwing stones into the sea. He was exasperated, saying, “Please, stop crying! I’ve already apologized. What more do you want?”
The old man suddenly looked up, stood up on his own, startling Yu Jinnian.
Squinting his already small, cloudy eyes, the old man stared at Yu Jinnian, then suddenly smiled, grabbing his sleeve, “Fourth son! Good boy, don’t cry. Come home with Dad!”
Yu Jinnian was dumbfounded, thinking, regardless of which father you’re referring to, mine has been in the grave for years. Where did this new father come from?
He helplessly said, “You’ve got the wrong person.”
The old man wouldn’t let go of him and was on the verge of tears: “Sibao is mad at Dad. Dad didn’t mean to hit Sibao…”
Yu Jinnian was at a loss about what to do, when he saw two maids dressed in the same color squeezing out of the crowd in the distance. They didn’t look young, at least in their thirties, and were running over with panicked expressions. One supported the old man’s arm and coaxed gently: “Master, please don’t scare us. If you get lost again, Second Master and Third Master will beat us to death. Please come home with us.”
One of the maids, unable to free her hands, gave Yu Jinnian a simple bow and sighed in frustration, apologizing: “Our master has been forgetful in recent years, always mistaking people and losing his temper. Please don’t be offended… We’re truly sorry, really sorry for the trouble.”
Wasn’t it true about his bad temper? He came up and hit people!
But appearances had to be maintained, so Yu Jinnian endured the pain in his buttocks and returned the salute gracefully: “It’s nothing, it’s nothing.”
The two maids coaxed the old man to go home, persuading him step by step. After a long struggle, they managed to get him ten steps away when the man turned to look at Yu Jinnian again. Suddenly, his eyes widened, and he pushed the two maids aside, striding back quickly to grab Yu Jinnian’s sleeve and scold: “Sibao, come home with Dad!”
Yu Jinnian: “…”
This was great. No matter what was said, the old man refused to let go. Seeing that it was getting dark, the two maids were at their wits’ end, looking at Yu Jinnian with sorrowful faces. Yu Jinnian felt things were not going well and, sure enough, heard them pleading: “Young master, could you… could you come home with us first? Our house is not far, just on Beishui Street. When it gets dark, we’ll definitely send you back in a sedan chair. Please be kind?”
Yu Jinnian felt he was the real living Bodhisattva, beaten all over, yet still had to comfort others, pretend to be someone’s son, and escort people home.
Luckily, he grabbed a playful child on the road, gave him two coins, and asked him to notify Ji Hong at the One Bowl Noodle Shop, to avoid causing trouble for the pampered Young Master Ji for not coming back at night after dealing with this stubborn old master.
With a tearful face, he followed the maids to Beishui Street. Hearing a gentle “Young master, we’ve arrived,” Yu Jinnian looked up and was dumbfounded—
Well, what a small world!
Yang Cai, who had been embarrassed at the One Bowl Noodle Shop last time, had been recuperating at home for a few days. The more he thought about it, the more he couldn’t let it go. Seeing the scar on his mouth caused by a stone in the copper mirror made him even angrier. That day, it was first the ghost noodles, then the spooky white-robed monk, and finally being laughed at in a small restaurant. Many people saw him being carried home, making him feel very downcast. When he got home, he was beaten and scolded by the mad old man in the house.
Alright, he endured all this because the old man hadn’t mentioned splitting the family property. He was still counting on the old man’s money, so he had to treat the old man well.
He was hit on the left cheek outside, and on the right cheek at home, filled with anger with nowhere to vent. In his miserable state, he couldn’t go out to have fun and had to take care of it at home. Just when he was about to engage in an intimate act with a maidservant washing his feet, his crazy wife suddenly burst in, shouting and screaming, scaring him out of his mood.
His gambling den wasn’t peaceful these days either, bringing him bad luck!
Yang Cai, full of grievances, had no place to vent and blamed it all on Yu Jinnian. He couldn’t swallow this anger and decided to take people to find trouble at the rundown restaurant. Just as he stepped out, he ran into his crazy old man coming back. He had nowhere to hide, so he had to go up and call “Dad.”
“Hmm, hmm…”
The sun must have risen from the west today because the old man didn’t hit or scold him? Yang Cai looked up in confusion and was shocked. He pointed in disbelief and stammered: “You, you you you—”
“Smack—!” Yang Cai received a solid blow. The old man scolded sternly, “You don’t even recognize your father?! Get out, get out, I’m hungry, let’s eat!”
Yang Cai: “…”
Yu Jinnian was forcibly dragged to the table and seated among the Yang family members who trickled in one after another, sitting awkwardly next to the head of the family, Yang Jufu. The one who seemed the most reluctant was Yang Cai, slouching with poor posture and accompanied by a coquettish young woman, who Yu Jinnian guessed was not his wife. Next to Yang Cai sat a more serious-looking couple, likely the Third Master Yang Jin and his pale-faced wife, who appeared to be recovering from a long illness.
The entire family waited for the head of the household to speak and start the meal, but Yang Jufu sat there blankly until a maid whispered in his ear. Then he happily tapped the table and said, “Eat, eat! Let’s eat!”
Yang Jin ate his food indifferently, not caring about the presence of an outsider at the table.
Yang Cai, on the other hand, was furious at the sight of Yu Jinnian, slamming his chopsticks on the table and exclaiming, “What is he doing here?”
Yu Jinnian thought bitterly, I really am nothing. I was supposed to just be dropped off at the door, but now I’m eating with them. Will I end up sleeping here too? Please, Second Master Yang, get your father to let go of my sleeve so I can go home to my beautiful Young Master Ji!
Yang Jufu, after being yelled at by Yang Cai, clung even tighter to Yu Jinnian’s sleeve, whining like a disobedient child, “Yang Bao, Yang Bao! This is Yang Bao!”
The names in this family were quite arbitrary. The father was called Yang Jufu, and his sons were named Yang Cai, Yang Jin, and Yang Bao. Yu Jinnian now suspected that their deceased eldest brother might have been named Yang Zhao, completing a set of “Zhao Cai Jin Bao” (wealth and treasure). This family was really eager to get rich overnight!
Hearing the name “Yang Bao,” everyone at the table except Yang Jufu changed their expressions, turning pale. The one who put down her chopsticks was the sickly Third Madam. She stood up coldly and left without a word.
Yang Jin, impatiently, said, “Second Brother, shut up.”
Yang Cai, filled with resentment, sat back down, gritting his teeth.
After this incident, the atmosphere at the table became even more silent and awkward, with everyone glancing at each other before finally staring at Yu Jinnian. This made Yu Jinnian extremely uncomfortable. He realized how gentle, considerate, and understanding his own Beauty Ji was, longing to turn into a butterfly and fly back to the noodle shop to nestle in Beauty Ji’s arms.
Yu Jinnian was just a passerby dragged from the street by Yang Jufu, who seemed to be suffering from dementia. Yu Jinnian had dealt with many dementia patients in his previous life due to his profession, understanding how difficult it was to care for them and knowing that coaxing them wasn’t easy. That’s why he agreed to temporarily pretend to be Yang Jufu’s son for the two maids.
Who could have foreseen the situation would escalate like this?
Surrounded by the gazes of the Yang family, Yu Jinnian felt like he was sitting on pins and needles, wishing desperately to escape and find solace in the arms of his dear Beauty Ji.