The staple of hot pot is noodles, and for spicy hot pot, rice is the main course. Qi Huan's original intention was for everyone to choose what they liked to eat.
Unexpectedly, no one was fussy about whether it was rice or noodles. They made a clean sweep of both the hot pot and the spicy hot pot.
After they rinsed their mouths, Qi Huan asked expectantly, "How is it?"
Old Master Song stroked his beard, "Spicy but not dry, fresh but not greasy, and the numbing flavor lingers on."
Old Lady Song smiled and said, "Anything our Huan cooks is delicious. Huan is terrific!"
Elder Master Song and his wife nodded vigorously, "Father and mother are right!"
Song Jingcheng chimed in, "What my grandparents and parents have said is correct."
Young Madam Song looked at her husband with fondness, gently saying, "Granny, father, mother, and my husband are all correct."
......
Baffled, Qi Huan let out a dry chuckle.
In her heart, she asked: 'Are you playing a game of sentence continuation?'
At this moment, Song You'an's lips were tingling from the spice, her eyes were red, and she spoke in a soft, sticky voice, "It's... it's so spicy..."
Before, she saw the chili oil looking so appetizing that she added spoonful after spoonful. It was so spicy that it numbed her lips and teeth, but it was also so delicious that she felt she couldn't stop eating.
She decided to finish eating before addressing it.
And that's how she ended up like this......
Seeing her drink a whole cup of tea and still unable to suppress the burning, Qi Huan took out some candy from her purse and handed them to her.
Song You'an was stunned, she mustered a smile, gently saying, "Thanks, cousin."
"You're welcome. Next time, I'll make you bone soup hot pot or tomato flavored hot pot, those won't be spicy."
After watching Song You'an's reaction, Qi Huan quickly thought of those who can't eat spicy food and started planning flavors that aren't spicy.
After the meal, everyone from the Song residence felt stuffed. The group took a leisurely walk to Qingfeng Court to visit "Song Jingche".
They vividly described the deliciousness of the hot pot and spicy hot pot. Elder Master Song, in particular, even let out a contented belch, happily rubbing his belly.
Ximen Ye's eyes flashed mysteriously towards Qi Huan, silently rebuking her for not thinking of him.
He no longer wants to be her boyfriend.
Having detected his gaze, Qi Huan quietly stuck her tongue out at him, her smile radiant and bright.
Ximen Ye awkwardly looked away. How long had it been since he had seen such a brilliant smile in the Song residence?
In his memory, the members of the Song family were always solemn and disciplined. Because of his illness, an invisible haze of sorrow seemed to always hang over the Song residence.
If the Song residence were once a stagnant pond, then Qi Huan was a pebble, stirring up ripples on the silent surface.
As Ximen Ye looked at each person in the Song family, he keenly noticed a renewed genuine spark in their eyes.
He couldn't help but curl the corners of his lips.
"If this cousin can improve the Song's, I don't mind being nicer to her."
Although she was quite a bit of trouble, he didn't mind that.
At night.
Ximen Ye skillfully climbed in through the window, catching the crossbow arrow shot by Qi Huan.
"Hisss, so fierce."
"If you continue to sneak into my room at night, I can get even fiercer."
Qi Huan raised the crossbow in her hand.
"You can't scare me with your little tricks."
Ximen Ye grinned wildly, "When your brother was snapping necks, you were still sucking candies."
Having said that, he moved quickly like a lightning bolt towards Qi Huan's bed. His slender fingers seized her chin and his gaze boldly traced her facial contours.
The memorial day for Che was coming soon. Every year, he would personally draw portraits of everyone in the Song mansion, burn them for Che, so Che could see what his family looked like.
This year, there was an additional cousin daughter in the Song family.
He had never drawn Qi Huan before, so he needed a good look at her.
His eyes were serious and Qi Huan, who couldn't break free from his strong control, spat at him hoping to disgust him by covering his face with her saliva.
Sure enough, Ximen Ye frowned irritably, and the other hand grabbed her lips, pinching her into a duckbill.
The candlelight gradually died out, plunging the room into darkness.
Ximen Ye finally let go of his hand, got up and wiped his face with a handkerchief.
In the moonlight, Qi Huan watched his every move intently and purposely taunted him, "It has been dried long ago. You can't clean it up however much you try, you better go back and wash your face."
"Remember, you should stop touching me, or else my boyfriend will chop off your paws sooner or later."
"Li Shuchen?" Ximen Ye scoffed and commented dismissively, "Let him come."
"I promise not to assassinate him anymore, but if he wants to die, I have no objection. After all, he is worth 50,000 liang."
Qi Huan was dumbfounded and asked for clarification, "Why the discount?"
"Weren't it 100,000 liang before?"
Under the dim light, the color of Ximen Ye's eyes was hard to distinguish, and his voice was as flippant as ever, "Of course it's because of you, my dear cousin. I have never failed before this. After I promised you, I took the initiative to tell the employer that Li Shuchen is on high alert and cannot be killed. I then returned half the bounty."
"So from that point, my reputation plummeted, and now if I am asked to act, 50,000 liang will suffice."
Qi Huan toned down her voice, "We are family after all, let's stop talking about murder, love and peace."
"Who is he related to? What's this 'love and peace' you're talking about?”
Impatient with the conversation, Ximen Ye turned and prepared to leave.
Approaching the window, he threw over his shoulder, "Gu Ziling's lightness skill is not bad, those drunkards can't catch up. I'll help you capture her when I have time."
Having said that, he jumped out of the window.
To make it easier for him to sneak into the girl's room at night, Zhu Yan was dedicated to creating distractions - at this point, he was being chased haplessly by secret guards.
Ximen Ye cynically curled his lips, "Useless thing."
Nevertheless, he quickened his pace to rescue Zhu Yan, defeating the secret guards in the process.
"Why doesn't the master kill them?"
"Are you instructing me now?"
"Are you going to pay for the broken tiles?"
"Without the secret guard, will you protect them?"
He asked three questions in succession, rendering Zhu Yan speechless.
Upon returning to Qingfeng Court, it was already late. However, Ximen Ye had no intention to retire for the night.
Instead, he smoothed out some drawing paper and started painting with deep concentration.
Under the candlelight, his side profile was as delicate as a painting. Zhu Yan couldn't help but grumble: they all have two eyes, a nose and a mouth, so why does our leader look so much better?
If he were also born with such brightness, he wouldn't be serving as a page boy for the master. He'd be standing by the princess's side, living off her kindness!
Zhu Yan grew more and more envious.
After Ximen Ye finished the drawing, he noticed Zhu Yan's salivating stare and frowned, "Stop looking at me with that lecherous expression."
"Alright."
Zhu Yan’s lecherous gaze turned towards the painting, the corner of his mouth twitching uncontrollably, "Is this Lady Biao?"
The figure in the painting had two eyes, a nose, a mouth, not lacking any facial features, but it didn't look anything like Lady Biao.
Their master pretty much drew everyone the same. As long as there were five features and a name, he declared it was a portrait of that person.
Chicken scratches in ink would probably look better than the master's drawings.
Ximen Ye saw his contempt and his beautiful phoenix eyes narrowed, swiftly rolling up the painting.
"Go buy some more sugar tomorrow."
"Master, who burns sugar for the dead? It's hard to burn sugar, isn't it?"
Ximen Ye's expression became desolate, "Che suffered a lot in his life, I want to make his journey in the underworld a bit sweeter."
Che once said, they are the best of friends. He'll wait for him to reincarnate, to be brothers again in the next life.
He hasn't lived enough, he doesn't want to die yet.
Most importantly, he has to watch over the Song family.
But he is afraid Che might get bored waiting, so he wants to burn more stuff for him.
Late in the night, there was no coal in the heater, making it rather cold.
Che died in the frigid winter. His winters were never warm after that.
Ximen Ye looked unwell. Zhu Yan didn't dare ask more.
Early next morning, after breakfast, he left from the secret tunnel. Just as he arrived at Tai'an Street, he saw Qi Huan hopping off the Song family's carriage.
