Adorable Food Goddess

Both of them wanted to eat watermelons, but neither were willing to steal it. When it was clear that no one was going to budge in their staring contest, Ye Jiayao suggested a game to end it.

“Let’s play Rock, Paper, Scissors, and whoever loses has to go take a watermelon.” Ye Jiayao smiled cunningly. “Little Jingjing, what are we going to play?”

Helian Jing hid his hands behind his back and stared at her cautiously. “What are you playing?”

Ye Jiayao laughed. “I will play scissors.”

Helian Jing contemplated. Is he lying just to make me play paper?   Or make me play rock?  Whatever! I’ll just play scissors too and get an even game.

“Come on, let’s get on with it! Just don’t be a sore loser, okay?” Ye Jiayao looked downright maniacal. She was not satisfied with the simple conclusion made by a psychologist. She wanted to improve her odds and find other ways for a sure win.

“Are you sure you’re not the sore loser?” Helian Jing sneered at her.

“Rock, paper, scissors, show…”

Ye Jiayao laughed when she saw him play scissors. Little Jingjing really was adorably naive when it comes to the ways of the world.

Helian Jing’s mouth gaped open, speechless. “You played it unfairly! You told me that you were going to play scissors? Why did you play rock?”

Ye Jiayao flicked his forehead. “Little Jingjing, are you really just this easy to fool? Haven’t you ever heard of ‘strategy’? It’s just like making a noise in the east and attacking from the west. You still have a lot to learn, little brother. For now, be good and go take a watermelon. I’ll teach you how to smartly play this game, afterward.”

Helian Jing was so confused and dejected he wanted to hit something. He really couldn’t do anything right with this guy.

Ye Jiayao watched as Helian Jing sneak inside the watermelon field, walking wobbly on his toes. She couldn’t steal a chicken before, but she figured that stealing a watermelon wouldn’t sit so heavily on her conscience. She actually thought it was funny. There were so many watermelons in the field anyway, taking one or two wasn’t a big deal.

Helian Jing really didn’t want to do it. If he continued with this, he would forever be a watermelon thief. Also, the watermelons weren’t mature yet, they might not be sweet enough.

He turned his head and hesitantly looked at Ye Jiayao.

Ye Jiayao gestured for him to hurry up.

Helian Jing had to force himself to pull out the biggest watermelon he found.

Woof! Woof! Woof!

No one knew where the big black dog came from, but they didn’t notice it until it rushed right in front of Helian Jing and barked menacingly at him.

Helian Jing turned pale and immediately scooped the watermelon up, fleeing away without heeding the path he was running in.

Ye Jiayao was spooked by the incident. They didn’t know there was a big guard dog here! Ye Jiayao waved at Helian Jing desperately and shouted, “Come up, here!”

However, the dog blocked the way Ye Jiayao was pointing to. Helian Jing ran to the other side of the field, desperate to get away. In his hurry, and factoring in the bleak sky, he stepped into a dung jar buried near the field, failing to notice it.

Ye Jiayao blinked and small Jingjing was gone.  Stupid kid! How is he such a fastrunner?  It wasn’t until she spotted the dog barking at one spot incessantly, did she realized that something was wrong. She waited until the dog walked away before carefully walking over there.

Ye Jiayao was speechless as he watched Helian Jing slowly crawl out of the field, his whole body covered in shit.

Two hours later, Ye Jiayao sat next to the river, gazing up at a sky full of stars and listening to the water’s crashing sound.

“Small Jingjing, have you finished showering yet? It has been almost two hours.”

Ye Jiayao found it strange that when she was with little Jingjing, she barely felt any mosquitoes. Now that small Jingjing was away, it seemed that all mosquitoes in the area have come to bite her.  I guess hungry mosquitoes are not very choosy.

Helian Jing ignored her and continued to scrub his body raw. It just felt like no matter how hard he rubbed, he was still dirty.

“Aye, just be careful with snakes and leeches in the water. They can get inside where they are not supposed to be.” Ye Jiayao tried to scare him. Does he really want to stay in the water for the whole night? 

Helian Jing subconsciously covered his private part and immediately jumped out of the water. Perhaps it was a trick, but as soon as she said it, he started to itch and felt like there were worms crawling all over him.

Helian Jing got dressed in the clothes Ye Jiayao had dried next to the fire. His back was to her, so Ye Jiayao stole secret glances at him.  Wow, this kid has a good-looking body!  He was tall, slim, long-legged, and has curled hips. His muscles weren’t as strong and bulky as that stupid donkey, but he had clear curves and defined muscles.

Helian Jing felt the strange feeling of eyes on him and suddenly turned around. Luckily, Ye Jiayao had quick reflexes and was able to look away just in time. “Will you hurry up? I’m almost drained by the mosquitoes!” she complained.

Helian Jing wrinkled his nose at her. Drained by mosquitoes? I was dropped in a dung jar!  He finished dressing and walked to her sulkily. His mood was the lowest it has ever been after all that has happened to him today. He felt like his whole world was tilted on its axis.

Ye Jiayao saw his sorrowful eyes and consoled him empathically. “Hey, consider yourself lucky you didn’t drop inside a big dung jar. Stop worrying too much. You’ve clean yourself up now, no harm done.”

Helian Jing’s face turned red and he shouted angrily, “This is all your fault! If it wasn’t for you, I won’t be so miserable.”

“Little Jingjing, I understand you’re feeling pretty crappy, but do you really need to be unreasonable? I didn’t force you to play Rock, Paper, Scissors. We agreed that whoever loses will steal the watermelons. If you want to blame someone, blame the dog. If it’ll make you feel better, we can go back to fetch the dog and steam the meat.” Ye Jiayao said innocently.

“You can go by yourself if you want. I will never go back to that place again.” Helian Jing walked away angrily.

That was a place of nightmares and he was never going to set foot in there again. He couldn’t believe that the two things he hated the most now were watermelon and dogs. He swore that he would never eat a watermelon again, and never raise a dog inside his mansion in this lifetime.

Ye Jiayao stood up and chased after him. “Alright. Don’t be mad. No one else saw it anyway. You don’t talk about it and I won’t talk about it. No one else will know.”

Well, he’s right! No one else saw my humiliation. This will stay with brother Jin and   I . No one else can know.

Helian Jing abruptly turned around and stared at Ye Jiayao quietly.

Ye Jiayao saw the dangerous glint in his eyes and immediately realized that what she said violated some taboo. She held her right hand up immediately and promised, “I swear that I won’t tell this to anyone, or I will get hit by a car when I go out.”

It was convenient since there were no cars in this ancient time and little Jinjing knew nothing of it. However, she really didn’t have any intention to spread it like a gossip. The kid was already tragic, and she didn’t want to add humiliation to the list of bad things he was feeling.

Helian Jing gradually calmed down, but he was still in a saddened mood as he walked forward, head bent low.

Tonight, they had to sleep in a pavilion again. Luckily it was summer, otherwise, the wind blowing from all four sides could get chilly real fast.

Ye Jiayao gave him a big bun to cheer him up, but Helian Jing had no appetite and couldn’t eat.

“Just eat it. I will make something good for you tomorrow.” Ye Jiayao held the bun in front of his mouth.

Helian Jing reluctantly bit some off.

The past times, she was always yelling, reprimanding, and swearing at him, but tonight, she refrained. His mood was so low and he was so quiet that Ye Jiayao started to feel sorry for him.

It rained again come midnight. Ye Jiayao was roused by the coldness. She looked for small Jinjing and found him curled up against a pole, his eyebrows knitted. She scooted closer to him, letting his head rest on her shoulder.  We’ll just warm up for a bit.

Dawn broke, and the early birds perched the handrails of the pavilion, chirping happily.

Helian Jing opened his eyes and glanced at his surroundings. Ever since this crazy, miserable journey, he always felt disoriented and lost when he woke up.

His heart started to flutter when he realized that his head was rested on brother Jin’s shoulder.  It’s weird that he always smells good. 

He watched her at a close distance. Her skin looked translucent and soft under the morning sunlight and he could almost see the veins hidden under her skin. The way her long lashes, defined brows, and button nose stood out made her facial features appear delicate. Her lips looked deliciously light pink and could give the people an urge to bite it…

Helian Jing averted his eyes and shifted awkwardly, the unusual feeling surprising him.

There were some gays among the capital’s noble families. He heard funny stories about them sometimes, but he always felt that it was ridiculous. How could a man feel something towards another man?

Only now, he not only didn’t dislike this man but also has some crazy ideas about him.

Helian Jing shook his head promptly, trying to shake off the ridiculous idea in his head.

Forget it! He’s just a poor kid with a bad temper. He is ferocious and always swears at him. Even if she is a girl, I won’t like her.

Ye Jiayao opened her eyes and lazily said, “Hey! You’re already awake.”

Helian Jing moved away from her awkwardly and mumbled something incoherent. He wanted to get away from her and what he was feeling. He got up and told her he was going to take a piss.

Ye Jiayao looked away. The sound of flowing water reached her ears and she shifted uncomfortably. She was a woman and there’s never going to be a time that she wouldn’t feel awkward hearing that.

“Little Jingjing, I will go find some food,” Ye Jiayao said, glad that she had an excuse to walk away.

The rain was a gift of nature. It dampens everything and paves the way for food materials to grow, such as mushrooms and different types of fungus.

Ye Jiayao learned how to distinguish edible fungus when she had followed auntie Jiang and auntie Zhao to dig wild herbs during her days in Black Wind Ridge. She now has a pretty great understanding of what was poisonous and what was edible.

She didn’t spend too much effort in preparing the cep mushrooms she picked. She only cleaned them up, put them in a jar, added some salt in, and stewed it on the fire.

It didn’t take long before the water started boiling and the bubbles and the fragrance came out.

“So, the jar you bought is used to cook things.” Helian Jing observed, coming up to Ye Jiayao as he smelled the delicious fragrance.

Ye Jiayao took out a big pancake and tore it into small pieces. “Of course, it’s used to cook things. Did you think we’re just lugging it around for nothing? Oh! We can get a big pan! We can cook in it and it can also protect us during rainy days!”

Ye Jiaoyao looked at the gray sky in apprehension.  Damn it! I forgot to prepare umbrellas!

Helian Jing tittered. This Jin brother is very funny.