Chapter 7: Adorable

She secretly withdrew her gaze, walking into the hall while talking to herself.

“Could he be involved with the underworld? Did he get injured in the head after being attacked by enemies?”

The man followed her without hesitation, quietly tugging at the corner of her clothes from behind.

“Wife, I…”

“Not allowed—”

Xia Li hadn’t even finished her sentence when the tall, sturdy man nervously lowered his head, his thin lips pressed together in a pout.

Xia Li could only see his silhouette against the moonlight, his clean face showing prominent cheekbones and long eyelashes.

His dark eyes glimmered like glazed tiles under the night, slowly lifting his gaze back to her.

His voice was still rough, low, deep, and filled with grievance.

“Wife… I’m hungry. I want food.”

If thoughts could take form, Xia Li believed she would surely see a fluffy, large tail swaying behind the man, looking pitiful.

Earlier, he had drunk two pots of water he got from the old village chief, and he had gulped it down as if he were starving, leaving not a single drop.

No matter what his identity was—whether he was a fisherman, a thug, or simply the silly son of a landlord—out of humanitarian principles, Xia Li certainly wouldn’t let him go hungry.

Moreover, he had caught the fish himself.

Sitting across from each other at the small wooden table in the hall, one tall and one short, Xia Li served the soup and handed him a pair of chopsticks. The man obediently took them with his large hand, waiting for further instructions.

She seemed to see his invisible tail wagging even more happily.

His gaze was fixed on her, his face under the dim yellow light looking firm and clean. He sat very straight, trying hard not to glance at the fish soup, otherwise, he would be unable to resist diving into the bowl and gobbling it up.

A big man putting on such a well-behaved demeanor.

Ah… unexpectedly, she found it a bit adorable.

However, Xia Li would never admit it.

She found it amusing in her heart but still slightly stiffened her expression, asking in a tone like coaxing a child, “Is the fish soup delicious?”

“Delicious.” The man swallowed hard.

“Then after drinking the fish soup, you have to behave and not call me randomly, okay?”

“Okay, wife.” The man nodded vigorously, as if it were nothing difficult.

“…”

Xia Li closed her eyes, then looked back at the man guarding her fish soup. “I mean… don’t call me ‘wife’ anymore.”

“You should understand what I mean. If you call me that, it will make me uncomfortable, and if I’m uncomfortable, you won’t get any fish soup.”

“…” Now it was the man’s turn to be conflicted.

He looked dejected, staring down at the bowl of creamy, fragrant fish soup, his fists gripping the chopsticks tightly at the table.

It’s my little wife.

He felt uncomfortable as he thought to himself.

The first thing he saw was his beautiful, soft, and tender little wife. She was his wife.

But he was too hungry; the aroma made his stomach churn, and he had to force himself not to touch the soup.

Xia Li, sitting across from him, was also surprised by his expression. Was it really that difficult?

Did this man subconsciously have some significant obsession with calling her his wife? Did he have to call her that?

With his head down, he looked serious and dejected, as if it were a matter of life and death.

Xia Li was prepared to take a step back and let him eat first.

Suddenly, the man seriously raised his head, his dark eyes filled with grievance, and fixed his gaze on her face. “…Li.”

Xia Li blinked, realizing that he meant he had decided not to call her “wife” anymore, but “Li.”

She lifted the corners of her lips, “Then hurry up and drink the soup; it’ll taste fishy if it cools down.”

The man picked up the chopsticks and began to eat heartily.

Xia Li had stewed two fish and was marinating the remaining one after chopping it into pieces.

The pot was filled with fish soup, layered with plenty of tender vegetable stalks and radish slices, all stewed together for flavor. Unfortunately, there was no tofu; otherwise, it would have been even richer and tastier.

Growing up by her grandmother’s stove, Xia Li had learned to treat cooking as a craft to be perfected, rather than just a mundane task to fill her stomach. She was quite confident in her culinary skills.

Having not tasted meat for several days, she was also craving it, feeling hungry herself.

Lowering her head, she took a spoonful of the fish soup. The first taste was fresh and fragrant, with a subtle, rich aftertaste on her tongue.

The radish slices were juicy, soft, and cooked just right.

The fish was even better; the fried fish skin was fragrant and crispy, and the fish meat beneath was tender and soaked with the soup, deliciously sweet.

It was truly fresh fish, caught and killed just moments ago, giving it an authentic taste without any fishy smell.

Xia Li sighed, slowly sipping the warm fish soup. When she looked up again, she saw the man puffing up his cheeks, the large bowl in front of him already empty, his eyes reddening and staring at her intensely.

“…Eat slowly; be careful of the bones,” she said helplessly.

It seemed he was really starving, looking fierce as he ate; at this moment, he resembled a big dog even more.

Since it was getting late, Xia Li only stewed the fish soup and didn’t cook any staple food. She picked up half a fish for herself and pushed the entire bowl of soup toward him. “Eat, but take your time.”

The man grinned foolishly, didn’t say much, and buried his head back into his meal.

Xia Li finished eating.

The fish soup warmed her body, and she leisurely wiped the thin sweat from her forehead with a towel. Under the dim light, her face looked exceptionally beautiful, with delicate skin as white as porcelain.

To her surprise, although the man ate quickly and ferociously, he made almost no noise.

With his thin lips tightly closed and his cheeks puffing up, he finished a few large bites, revealing the bottom of the bowl, reminiscent of a leopard devouring its prey, clearly a habit ingrained in him.

What kind of person could he be?

Curiosity aside, Xia Li decided to take him to the police station in the town tomorrow to report a case, to see if there were any missing persons nearby. Perhaps she could find out something.