Chapter 13: How Green Tea Practices!

Li Hongying had planned things very well, and Li Xiuxiu had spent the entire afternoon eagerly anticipating the evening.

Before delivering the meal, she had even specially changed into a new set of clothes and rebraided her two long braids. Standing at the door, she bit her lips hard, just to make herself look a little more beautiful.

Upon hearing this, Gu Ye looked at the large bowl of sweet potato rice that Li Xiuxiu was holding, filled to the brim, pressing down firmly. On top of the rice were stir-fried cabbage stems.

He withdrew his gaze and spoke gently: “No need. We’ve already eaten! You can take the food back with you.”

Since Li Xiuxiu usually brought Ningning, Gu Ye was relatively polite to her.

Food was the most precious thing these days. Grain was in limited supply, and for families like Chen Baozhu’s, with many children and mouths to feed, the grain was never enough each month. With that in mind, Gu Ye certainly couldn’t accept this bowl of food.

“Eat, already eaten?” Li Xiuxiu was shocked, suddenly recalling that she had seen Gu Ye washing dishes just a moment ago. She should have figured it out—if there were no food, how could he be washing dishes?

Li Xiuxiu’s face turned bright red. She stood at the door, feeling even more awkward, especially since Gu Ye was very tall and imposing. She felt as though she was trembling in front of him.

“Then, then that’s fine…” Li Xiuxiu didn’t dare look up at Gu Ye. She turned around with the bowl and left, not even hearing Ningning saying goodbye to her.

“Who’s here?” Jiang Yue came out of the room and saw Gu Ye and his daughter standing at the door, but no one was outside. She curiously asked.

“Aunt Xiuxiu brought food for Dad.”

Perhaps the magic of French fries with ketchup had worked, because Ningning actually dared to answer Jiang Yue’s question, though her voice was still a little timid.

“Aunt Xiuxiu?” Jiang Yue searched her memory and seemed to recall such a person.

“She brought food?” Jiang Yue looked at Gu Ye again, puzzled, and asked: “Aren’t you full?”

She remembered that Gu Ye had gotten two bowls of rice earlier, and those bowls weren’t the small ones that she and Ningning used—they were large bowls, enough to last her three days.

“No!” Gu Ye closed the door and, holding Ningning’s hand, walked toward the courtyard. “The Chen Baozhu family was worried we might not have food for dinner, so they sent this over! I’m full already. Tell her to take it back.”

As he spoke, Gu Ye gave Jiang Yue an unreadable look. Although Jiang Yue had unusually cooked tonight, who knew if it was just a whim of hers? Maybe tomorrow, things would return to the way they were.

Just like how, from the very first night of their marriage, she had been crying for a divorce. After so much time, when he finally agreed to the divorce today, she unexpectedly didn’t want it anymore.

She was always so unpredictable, her moods constantly shifting. Whether it was marriage or divorce, she treated it like a child’s game.

“Chen Baozhu’s family… You mean Li Hongying?” Jiang Yue looked at Gu Ye, opened her mouth as if to say something, then thought better of it and held back.

Forget it. She and Gu Ye weren’t close enough for her to ask about his finances.

However, there was one thing Jiang Yue still needed to say.

“Gu Ye, I don’t want Li Hongying coming to our house anymore. You see, I can clean the house myself, and I can cook now too!”

Upon hearing this, Gu Ye squinted his beautiful, sharp eyes and stared meaningfully at Jiang Yue. His gaze made Jiang Yue nervous. After a long pause, he finally spoke: “It’s up to you.”

“Ah! Alright!” Jiang Yue immediately became excited, rushing over to hug Gu Ye. She quickly pulled away, then looked up, her big, bright eyes staring at Gu Ye, who was clearly stiffened, and smiling she said: “Gu Ye, you’re really great!”

Gu Ye could respect her opinion—one more point for him!

After praising Gu Ye, Jiang Yue didn’t linger. She immediately left because she was afraid Gu Ye might lose his temper.

Changing Gu Ye’s impression of her all at once wasn’t easy, but by complimenting him often, creating some physical contact, and teasing him from time to time, she felt she had experience dealing with this “iron straight man.”

Jiang Yue was confident she could make Gu Ye think better of her.

However, this teasing couldn’t be too frivolous, nor too reserved. She needed to find the right balance so as not to turn Gu Ye off.

Gu Ye stood in place for a long time, and only after a while did his stiff muscles begin to relax. However, the place where Jiang Yue’s head had rested on his chest, and where her arms had circled around his waist, still felt a little sore and numb, as if tiny ants were biting him.

—

Li Hongying saw Li Xiuxiu walking in with the bowl, and then walking back out again, the food still untouched. She was somewhat puzzled and asked: “Didn’t you deliver food to Team Leader Gu?”

Li Xiuxiu set the bowl down and lowered her head as she answered: “I delivered it, but Team Leader Gu didn’t want it. He said they had already eaten.”

“Already eaten? That’s impossible! Isn’t there no one at their house to cook?” Li Hongying was even more confused.

If there was someone cooking at Gu Ye’s house, would they have to hire her?

“I don’t know either! When I went over, Gu Ye was washing dishes, and Ningning was chewing on a little strip of something. It was Gu Ye who said they had already eaten and told me to bring the food back!” Li Xiuxiu said weakly.

She pinched her thick braid, feeling a little sad. She had dressed up carefully and spent the whole afternoon looking forward to the evening. She thought delivering food to Gu Ye would leave a good impression on him. She had rehearsed in her mind what she would say, but in the end, she didn’t even get inside the door.

“What? You said Gu Ye was washing dishes? Then where was Jiang Yue?” Li Hongying was shocked.

“I didn’t see her! In the courtyard, it was just Gu Ye and Ningning!” Li Xiuxiu replied.

Li Hongying immediately spat: “That lazy woman, she must have gone back to the room to lie down again! Always avoiding work, lazy to the core! If you ask me, Gu Ye probably cooked the meal himself!”

Li Xiuxiu thought the same: “It must have been because Ningning was hungry, so Gu Ye cooked for her!”

Li Hongying had a look of amusement on her face: “Gu Ye is such an important person, and Jiang Yue actually made him wash dishes! What use is a woman like that? Mark my words, it won’t be long before Gu Ye will divorce Jiang Yue!”

Li Xiuxiu’s eyes flashed with hope: “Really?”

Li Hongying snorted, then pushed the bowl of rice that Li Xiuxiu had brought back into the pot. Since Gu Ye didn’t want it, that was fine—she didn’t have enough food at home. With the month almost over, the rice barrel was almost empty, and every meal had to be cooked with sweet potatoes to stretch it out. The half-grown boys in the house were already crying about being hungry.

“Stupid girl, didn’t I tell you to just serve a little rice? Why do you have to serve almost a whole pot of it?” Li Hongying scolded as she poured the rice back into the pot, realizing how tightly Li Xiuxiu had packed it. This wasn’t just one bowl of rice—it was clearly two!

“No wonder Big Niu and Second Niu were complaining they weren’t full tonight! You, eating at someone else’s house, and yet you’re already betraying us before you’re even married?” Li Hongying continued to scold as she pinched the soft flesh of Li Xiuxiu’s arm.

Li Xiuxiu winced in pain, tears welling up in her eyes, but she didn’t dare to make a sound.

Li Hongying finally loosened her grip after venting some frustration. She didn’t really take today’s events too seriously.

“There are still about ten days left until the end of the month. Our rice and flour will only last for three or five more days. I need to think of a way to get some more rice!” Li Hongying couldn’t bear to spend money buying food on the Black Market. She planned that when she went to cook for Jiang Yue tomorrow, she would find a way to get Jiang Yue out of the house so she could secretly take more rice back with her.

Gu Ye’s family only had three people, unlike theirs, where everyone ate quickly. Actually, every time Li Hongying went to cook for Gu Ye’s family, she would sneak some food on the side.

After all, Gu Ye had a high position and a good salary. If their family ran out of food, Gu Ye had the money to buy more.

Li Hongying felt completely justified in sneaking food.