Chapter 58

Chapter 58: I’m Hungry

Chun Zhi lifted a hand to tap the tip of her nose and said in a low voice: “Not really.”

She felt that her days with Huo Qi had been quite good. Especially on the night Zhou Rong kidnapped her, when Huo Qi saved her like a god dropping from the sky to pull her out of danger. [Saying she never felt anything for him would be a lie.] And as long as a person is alive, a heart keeps beating. If a heart stops, a person dies.

But Chun Zhi also knew very clearly that she and Huo Qi were only chance acquaintances, a fleeting couple who shared one beautiful night, and one day they would part. That day would not be far off. Because she knew this, she never let herself dream about forever with Huo Qi. [Back on that warm spring night, she told herself to enjoy the moment and not ask for more.]

So now she told Huo Qi: “You’ll have to leave one day, won’t you?”

Huo Zheng had no way to argue with that. [He wanted to tell her: I can take you with me.] But facing Chun Zhi, who wasn’t sad at all about parting, he never found the chance to say it. He looked at her with shadowed eyes, feelings surging too strong to name.

Chun Zhi smiled and asked: “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Huo Zheng said nothing.

Chun Zhi asked: “Are you hungry? I’m hungry.”

His tone was a bit stiff as he said: “Not hungry.”

Earlier today at Drunken Immortal House, Huo Yu set out a grand feast, as if he wanted to put every best thing in Nanzhou City on the table. But Huo Zheng had no mood to eat or drink. He only wanted to hurry back to Linshui Town, back to the small tofu workshop, to tell Chun Zhi that the father and son of the Zhou Household had already been brought to justice. Lu Jing Yun had reached Peach Blossom Lane before him, and Huo Zheng was already a little displeased. After hearing Chun Zhi say he would leave sooner or later, that little displeasure turned into a lot.

He had served as Prince Chang’an for years and learned to hide his anger well. He rarely got mad at anything. But Chun Zhi seemed able to tug at his moods more than anyone.

“Then I’ll go cook a bowl of noodles,” Chun Zhi said as she started putting on her shoes and socks.

Huo Zheng reached out to stop her: “I just told you not to move around.”

She tipped up her face and looked pitiful as she said: “I’m hungry.”

Huo Zheng was a bit helpless and tossed out two words: “Wait here.”

Chun Zhi answered “Oh,” and watched Huo Qi walk out, go to the stove, and start the fire to boil water. Worried he didn’t know how to cook noodles, she raised her voice: “Use more water, watch the heat, and don’t cook the noodles to mush.”

Huo Zheng didn’t answer.

Waiting on the couch by herself was boring, so she put on her shoes and socks and hopped out on one foot to sit beside the Eight Immortals Table.

Huo Zheng looked back at her.

Chun Zhi smiled at him: “I hopped here on one foot. I didn’t use the injured one.”

He didn’t speak. After getting the fire going, he set the water to boil. When it boiled, he put in the noodles and washed two small greens to cook with them.

Counting the time, Chun Zhi called: “Huo Qi, you can probably dish it out now.”

Huo Zheng scooped the noodles into a bowl, then fried two eggs for her. He made quite a show of it, but both eggs got burnt. Even before he brought them out, Chun Zhi could already smell it.

She stood up, ready to hop over to help, but Huo Zheng ordered: “Stay there. Don’t come over.”

Chun Zhi sat back down, helpless. [Burnt eggs aren’t a big deal. As long as the noodles are edible, it’s fine.]

After quite a while, Huo Zheng carried the noodles over. It shouldn’t even be called a bowl; it was a whole basin of noodles. Chun Zhi was stunned when she saw how big it was. She looked up at Huo Zheng and said: “Are you feeding pigs or what?”

It was his first time cooking noodles, and he didn’t know how much to use, so he put in too much. His handsome face darkened as he said: “Are you eating or not?”

“Eat,” Chun Zhi said, sounding very helpless. [Just be glad there is food. Don’t be picky.]

But the basin was really too much. And the two burnt eggs were truly a sad sight.

“This is way too much. You should eat some too,” Chun Zhi told Huo Qi.

“I’m not hungry,” Huo Zheng said.

“Even if you’re not hungry, eat a little so we don’t waste food,” she urged.

Hearing that, Huo Zheng fetched two bowls. He thought the noodles only looked bad; the taste should still be fine. If he didn’t eat a bite, wouldn’t it look like even he felt the noodles weren’t fit for people?

He started ladling noodles. Chun Zhi picked up the chopsticks, grabbed a burnt egg, and dropped it into Huo Zheng’s bowl. She said seriously: “This is your first fried egg since you got here. You should taste your own cooking.”

Huo Zheng said nothing, but holding the egg, he couldn’t bring himself to bite it. Chun Zhi took a bite, forced it down, then took a mouthful of noodles. This taste… was hard to describe. She fought the urge to spit it out.

Only after she swallowed did Huo Zheng ask: “How is it?”

“It’s… okay?” Chun Zhi said.

“Only okay?” he frowned slightly.

“It’s very… good. You should eat too,” she corrected at once.

Huo Zheng bit the burnt egg and had a hard time swallowing it. Why was it bitter? Not believing his cooking could be that bad, he tasted the noodles again. They were painfully salty.

“You call this ‘very good’?” he couldn’t help asking.

Chun Zhi poured him a cup of cold tea and handed it over: “It’s your first time cooking noodles. For a first try, it’s not bad.” It was only that the eggs were burnt and he had added too much salt.

She kept eating the noodles with sips of cold tea, dead set on not wasting anything. Huo Zheng snatched the chopsticks from her hand and said: “Stop eating.”

Chun Zhi cradled the bowl with both hands: “But I’m hungry.”

“I’ll go buy food,” Huo Zheng said.

She watched as he poured both bowls back into the basin, carried the basin out and dumped it, then headed out to buy food. She shouted at his back: “Come back quick, Huo Qi.”

Huo Zheng didn’t look back and kept walking. Chun Zhi hopped inside and found a bag of jerky to eat.

After leaving, Huo Zheng stood at the hidden end of the lane and blew a bamboo whistle to summon Jiang He. He told him to go buy food. [I never thought I’d be running errands for a little Tofu Beauty,] Jiang He thought, and his look toward his prince turned odd.

Huo Zheng shot him a glance: “Go and be quick.”

“Yes!” Jiang He answered and hurried off.

“Wait,” Huo Zheng called him back. After a moment he added: “Go find a donkey.”

“What? A donkey?” Jiang He thought his ears were playing tricks. “Prince, why do you need a donkey?”

“Why ask so many questions?” Huo Zheng said, annoyed.

Chun Zhi had hurt her foot. She was the type who only thought about earning money and would probably make tofu and sell it even while injured. He couldn’t stop her, so he could only have someone find a donkey to help her grind soybeans.

“I spoke out of turn. Don’t blame me, Prince,” Jiang He said, giving himself a slap. “I’ll do it right away.”

Jiang He had just left when another figure came to the end of the lane. Huo Zheng turned to look and saw…