Transmigrator meets Reincarnator

Ch. 20 Wontons

He Changdi was momentarily stunned. He hadn't imagined that that would be the reason for Laiyue's urgency.

He pursed his lips and was about to admonish Laiyue angrily, but then he suddenly remembered that faintly tantalizing aroma he had smelled in the study last night.

Actually, He Changdi could imagine how tasty that dish must've been from the way Laiyue had been wolfing his food down.

Laiyue was his personal servant and had been serving by his side since he was young. He had eaten plenty of delicacies in his life. If a picky eater like him liked something, it was probably really good. However, since Chu Lian had made the dish, his brain refused to acknowledge that fact.

He Sanlang coldly snorted, got up, and refused to pay any attention to Laiyue. He originally intended to head to the outer court, but when he caught sight of the busy kitchen out of the corner of his eyes, He Changdi abruptly changed his path and headed to the parlour.

Senior Servant Gui, who was in the middle of tidying up the parlour, suffered a shock and rushed to greet He Changdi. "Good Morning, Third Young Master."

He Changdi's gaze swept across the room before he asked in a no-nonsense manner, "Where's your mistress?"

Senior Servant Gui looked down, but secretly glanced at him before replying in a soft voice, "Third Young Madam is in the kitchen."

"Preposterous! The House of Jingan isn't so poor as to have their Third Young Madam cook her own meals! If this were to get out, what would other people think of us?"

Senior Servant Gui's head dipped even lower upon hearing He Sanlang's rebuttal. She was rendered completely speechless.

He Changdi harrumphed. He sat down at the table and refused to leave.

He was merely taking out his frustrations from yesterday night on Senior Servant Gui, since she was Chu Lian's most trusted steward.

Senior Servant Gui gave a pointed look to a young maidservant standing nearby, signaling her to pour some tea while she observed He Sanlang from the side.

She found it strange that Third Young Master was still calmly sitting here in the parlour. He was clearly unhappy with Third Young Madam, so to avoid her, he should have already gone to the outer court, rather than sit here like he was waiting for something.

He Changdi, left with nothing to do, looked around the room as he waited. Chu Lian's dowry was placed in boxes all around the parlour. The more he looked at them, the more he thought they were an eyesore. He would have left long ago had it not been for last nights dishes arousing his curiosity.

Meanwhile, Chu Lian had figured wontons were pretty easy to make, so she brought Xiyan and Mingyan to the kitchen early in the morning to try.

After mincing the meat, they added eggs, spring onions, and garlic. Then, they rolled out the dough and wrapped up the stuffing. By the time the wontons were ready to be cooked, an hour had already passed.

Although Chu Lian didn't personally do anything, she had recited instructions to Xiyan and Mingyan from the side. It was already early summer by now, and the kitchen was hot, so she was already sweating by the time they were done.

She had worn a light, thin pink dress today. The skirt was made of several layers of fabric, and was extremely pretty. After she had finished dressing this morning, Senior Servant Gui had even complimented her, saying how well it suited her and how she looked like a tender blooming peony.

However, now that she had started sweating, the thin translucent fabric clung to her body, revealing the silhouette of her light pink undergarments. The thin straps on her shoulders were completely exposed.

It was only when Chu Lian stood up that she realized the awkward state of her clothing.

Chu Lian instructed Xiyan and Mingyan to bring the wontons to the parlour. She had even specially taught Xiyan how to fry up some delicious scallion pancakes as a side dish to go with them. However, there was no vegetable oil, so they used the lard from the pork instead. Unfortunately, that meant it might taste a little greasy later.

Senior Servant Gui had told them that Third Young Madams recipes were all to be kept a secret, and ordered them to keep out any curious passersby. While Chu Lian was cooking with the maidservants, the kitchen door was always closed.

When they finally opened the doors and let a refreshing morning breeze blow in, the sweaty Chu Lian felt much better.

Chu Lian wanted to return to her room quickly to change, so she couldn't help but increase her pace. However, when she reached the parlour, she spotted He Sanlang sitting there.

He Sanlang raised his head the moment he heard footsteps. When he saw Chu Lians state of dress, he blushed. Then, his expression turned ugly.

Chu Lian froze for a moment before she strolled right up to He Changdi, a round fan in her hands. She blinked her big, beautiful eyes before asking, "Husband, why are you up so early?"

He Changdi saw that her slender shoulders were practically exposed and, upon abruptly remembering that Laiyue was also in the room, he quickly stood up and pulled Chu Lian by her thin wrists towards the bedroom.

Upon receiving such rough manhandling, Chu Lian was so shocked that her eyes were wide open. She didn't even have the time to react.

When they entered the bedroom, He Changdi carelessly threw Chu Lian's hands to the side. Then, in an equally frigid manner, he said, "Change your clothes!"

Chu Lian furrowed her brows and rubbed her reddened wrists. At his pointed remark, she looked down at her clothes.

The fabric had turned sheer from her sweat. However, to someone like Chu Lian who regularly wore bikinis to the beach, this didn't seem immodest at all.

Chu Lian inwardly rolled her eyes before looking back at He Changdi. Didn't this guy dislike her? What did it matter to him how she dressed?

Furthermore, what was going on with him? Didn't he want her to change? Then why was he still here staring at her?

Although she had a slender figure, she usually wore loose clothing that masked it. Now this translucent pink dress was doing exactly the opposite and exposing her curves.

He Changdi was a little stunned.

Chu Lian frowned and used the round fan in her hands to hide her chest. She glared at him. Then, she headed over to her closet and casually took another dress out. When she turned around, He Changdi was still standing by the folding screen with his hands behind his back. She pouted and said unhappily, "I'm going to change. Get out."

It was only then that He Changdi realized that he had been staring at her the entire time. Frustrated with himself, he turned around and left without another word.

As Chu Lian was changing, she complained, hmph, he left pretty quickly. If he was a real gentleman, he should've left much earlier!

He Changdi returned to the parlour, where Xiyan and Mingyan had already placed the freshly made breakfast on the table.

Although there was an enticing aroma filling the room, He Sanlang didn't look at the food and instead gave Laiyue a pointed look, ordering him out.

When Laiyue left, He Sanlang finally sat down.

He was staring so intently at the food that Mingyan automatically scooped a serving of wontons for him. She poured some vinegar onto it before passing over an exquisite little spoon as well.

He Changdi hesitated, but he still took it. Then, he stared at her.

There was so much pressure in He Sanlang's gaze that Mingyan trembled and couldn't speak.

"Third Young Master, these are the wontons that Third Young Madam taught this servant to make. Next to it are some scallion pancakes. Third Young Madam said that you have to eat the wontons with vinegar and finely chopped spring onions. Third Young Master, w-why don't you try it first?"

He Changdi appeared completely unmoved by Mingyan. His cold exterior didn't betray the depth of the astonishment he felt inside.