The Emperor’s Beloved Ugly Girl

53. The Fragrance

Translator: Iris Guo

Zhong Mingwei listened to her and sipped at the tea. The cheap tea did taste nice, better than any tea he had before, including the outstanding oolong from the Phoenix Mountain.

“Is it fragrant?” asked A’Chou with expectation.

“Yes,” Zhong Mingwei looked at A’Chou’s dark eyes and said in an extremely soft tone, “The best I’ve ever tried.”

“Haha, of course! I picked every piece of jasmine and tried to get the big ones,” A’Chou was pleased with herself and continued to feed Zhong Mingwei, “I thought the tea smells nicer than the incense when I made it.”

“You bought it?” asked Zhong Mingwei in surprise. He never asked about the money, but he understood their poor life. Moreover, A’Chou’s lifestyle suggested that she was frugal, so he didn’t expect that she would spend money on tea.

“Yes. It looks nice. I’ll make you tea every day if you like it.” A’Chou became a little bashful and obviously didn’t want to continue the subject. She put the empty bowl aside, hastened to take a plate of sticky steamed buns stuffed with red beans, and handed one to Zhong Mingwei: “Come on, try it. They told me that it is a specialty in NingGuTa, so I bought some specially from the market for you.”

“Is it really sticky?” asked A’Chou hurriedly after seeing Zhong Mingwei finishing a bun slowly. Actually, a patient bedridden for a long time shouldn’t eat food that didn’t digest easily, but she still wanted him to try the sticky steamed buns stuffed with red beans which were hot and freshly made. Since he couldn’t walk, she did want to make him happier, especially about the food.

“Why don’t you just taste it?” Zhong Mingwei was still chewing. He hadn’t eaten chewy food for a long time. It was a bit like Lvdagunr(Chinese dessert, glutinous rice rolls with sweet bean flour), sticky, sweet, and steaming. He enjoyed it, and supposed that A’Chou would like it too, so he raised his chin and looked at her, “Come on!”

“Oh, you eat. I already tried in the market.” A’Chou hastened to look away, put another bun in front of Zhong Mingwei, and continued, “No matter how delicious they are, you can only eat two. I’m afraid that they won’t digest easily. There are steamed buns stuffed with pork in the pot. I’ll bring you one later.”

A’Chou fed Zhong Mingwei half of a bun. He stared at her sleeve for a long time while eating. Suddenly, he noticed something strange, stopped eating, sniffed, and then frowned and looked at her: “Why you came back so late?”

A’Chou’s hand trembled, and the bun fell on the bed. She was obviously startled, hastened to pick it up, and dared not feed him anymore. Then, she said nervously with head down: “Well… There were several things I couldn’t find, so I went to many places…”

“It’s already late. Why did you change?” Zhong Mingwei stared at A’Chou’s high collar with gloomy eyes. In early summer, nobody needed such autumn clothing with high collars. He remembered her round collar blue summer wear this morning, so he figured something must have happened.