Extra long chapter especially for LaiLai who sent me my first ever Golden Gachapon!! Girl I just can't thank you enough. Sobs QAQ.
The server girl said nothing as she noted down Yu Dong's order but Yu Dong swore she noticed a faint smile on the face of the server girl as she walked out of the room. Since Yu Dong no longer has to worry about money and she knew that she had to stay in the town for a long while until she can find a good spot for her shop, she ordered a large bowl of ramen noodles with pork belly and wine. It was better to fill her stomach before doing shop hunting because on 'an empty stomach one cannot even think properly.' How will she hunt for a shop with a dizzy head?
Because she was ranked top on the priority list of the restaurant because of her relationship with Song Yixu and Yu Xi, her order arrived pretty soon.
Yu Dong looked at the piping hot noodles and gulped in surprise, when she first gave this recipe to Yu Xi, the latter couldn't recreate as well as Chen Mi but now after many months of trial and error, Yu Xi has gotten so skilled that even Yu Dong who could eat this bowl of ramen noodles anytime felt like gobbling her tongue with it.
She then looked around and carefully sneaked out a small bottle of spiritual water from her sleeves and sprinkled a bit on her noodles to alleviate the taste and sure enough, after she was done sprinkling the spiritual water, the delicious aroma wafting from the bowl heightened even further. Yu Dong smacked her lips and was prepared to slurp it all down when the door to her parlour was pushed open and Song Yixu walked in with an enchanted expression on her face as she sniffed the scent that was filling up the parlour and then turned to Yu Xi with a smile, " Did you come up with a new dish? How come I haven't smelled something so good before?"
Yu Xi smiled awkwardly and answered, "It's not that Lady Song, I did not come with a new dish, it is just the usual ramen noodles and pork belly bowl that you have once in a while." She too couldn't understand how in the world the dishes that she cooked would somehow miraculously become even better once Yu Dong got her hands on them.
" Oh is that so?" Song Yixu tilted her head and looked at Yu Dong with a sly smile. " You seemed to be much more skilled than my best chef Dong Dong, why not take my offer and become a chef at my restaurant?"
Yu Dong only smiled at Song Yixu's words, she could sense the tiredness in Song Yixu's voice as she stood from her chair and bowed in greeting. " Good day to you lady Song, I hope I find you in good health?"
Song Yixu waved her hand as she dismissed Yu Dong's excessive greeting and sighed, " How many times do I have to tell you? You shouldn't stand on ceremony with me, you and I can at least be called friends after having such a close relationship … do you see me bowing to Sha Sha even though she has much high status than me?" She then breathed heavily and motioned Yu Dong to sit down before huffing. " If anything I wish, I could kick her butt once in a while."
" My Lady—-" Yu Xi interrupted Song Yixu at once, who rolled her eyes and then waved her hand again before dismissing Yu Xi. " You can go and finish your work, I will have a little chat with my one and only friend who doesn't act like a typical spoiled brat."
Yu Xi looked like she wanted to say something but she still bowed and walked out of the room, but not before furtively warning Yu Dong not to say anything along the lines of Song Yixu, since she wasn't even a noble and couldn't comment on either Qiao Sha or Song Yixu's behaviour.
Her heart warmed ever so slightly as she nodded at Yu Xi, thankful for all the worry that she showed for her sake.
" Anyway, I am tired enough to gobble an entire ox after dealing with Sha Sha," Song Yixu sighed loudly as she eyed Yu Dong's bowl of noodles, before cupping her cheek and sighing. " Xi bring me a bowl of noodles too before I starve here and now, that brat not only tested my patience today but also sucked all my energy."
Yu Xi who was at the threshold paused and then motioned Yu Dong to offer her bowl to Song Yixu before she hummed in acknowledgement, " As you wish, My lady."
Then with another exaggerated action of offering a bowl, she looked at Yu Dong and walked away.
Yu Dong too understood that Song Yixu didn't want a bowl of noddles but she wanted her bowl that had spiritual water sprinkled in it, so she cleared her throat and said, " You look really tired, Lady Song if you don't mind you can have my bowl and I will take yours later," she then thought about something and added, " I haven't taken a bite yet."
She knew Song Yixu enough to know that she had mysophobia, she would always eat out of clean bowls and would never use chopsticks that were so much as touched by anyone, of course, that was only applicable to things that were not touched by Yu Dong because Yu Dong touch meant —- spiritual energy!
Of course, Song Yixu did not understand the concept of spiritual energy and she didn't know that Yu Dong had such a big secret either. All she knew was that after eating something that was prepared by Yu Dong she would feel extremely energised and refreshed, that was why she was eyeing the bowl of noodles given that she was having a terrible headache after all the melodrama that Qiao Sha played out after getting drunk.
Song Yixu took a bite of her noodles and immediately tasted the fresh burst of spices on her tongue and before she knew it she was slurping the noodles like she was eating after many days of starvation. Seeing her speed even Yu Dong was startled as she hurriedly pushed the jar of wine and a clean cup towards Song Yan and said, " Slow down, or else you will end up choking."
However, neither did Song Yixu slow down nor did she choke on her noodles, she ate it all with ease and only stopped when she was done slurping half a bowl of noodles.
" Hah, now I feel like I am alive again," said Song Yixu as she wiped her lips and took a contented breath. " I am telling you, Dong Dong, if you have a friend who has relationship problems you better end that friendship and throw that friend as far as possible away from you because you know what, friends like these are…are…" she wriggled her fingers as she looked for a decent word then smacked the table and exclaimed, " Leeches, they are like leeches, once they come in your life, they will suck your peace of mind, your energy and your patience…everything! And what's more, they will even barge in your house at three in the morning all because they are kicked out of their bedroom by their husbands… like you can't sleep its fine, you were the one who wanted to get married right? Skipping around all day shouting ' Oooh I am in loveeee~'"
Song Yixu made a very funny face as she drawled before continuing. " But why do you have to ruin my sleep now? I didn't tell you to give up on your peace, did I? I swear being dragged out of the bed all because your friend needs someone's shoulder to cry about how her husband does not love her anymore is just not worth it."
Yu Dong stifled a smile as she looked at Song Yixu and said, " You look very experienced, my lady."
" I was one kidnapped by shadow guards at three in the morning all because she couldn't sneak inside her husband's bedroom. Its not a wonderful feeling ---- I mean imagine waking up to two burly mammies."