Translator: Fan Translation Studio

  “Ma, we don’t have to do that. Sister Xiang was angry, so we shouldn’t confront her. If she gets provoked she will pick on us.”


  Li Hongmei said, “Even if we don’t react she will pick on us anyway.”


  Ye Xiaoxian thought about it and sighed. “A tall tree catches the wind – a person of high position is liable to be attacked. It’s impossible to make others not pick on us. We won’t provoke others but if they cause trouble for us we won’t be afraid of the trouble!”


  That morning Ye Xiaoxian only stayed in the restaurant for one hour. Afterwards she gave her instructions to the others she then went back home. She needed to make some seasonings secretly at home. Before making it she carefully closed all the doors and windows.

  She had just moved the stuff into the room and suddenly heard some noise at the gate in the yard. Ye Xiaoxian was alarmed, as she was worried about being spied on by someone else.

  However, there came Xiao Baoshan’s voice from outside. “Little Ye, are you in?”


  Ye Xiaoxian’s heart beat wildly all of a sudden. She put down her work and went to open the door immediately.

  Only she, Li Hongmei and Xiao Baofeng usually lived in this new house, so whenever she was home alone she would lock the door safely and secure it with a wooden beam.

  Ye Xiaoxian opened the door and saw the large, tall figure of Xiao Baoshan standing outside with his handsome face. She blushed instantly.

  “Baoshan, how come you came back now?” asked Ye Xiaoxian.

  Xiao Baoshan went in while talking. “I went to sail with a ship a couple of days ago and just came back this morning.”


  “Didn’t you go to the restaurant?” asked Ye Xiaoxian.

  “I haven’t. I wanted to come home to see if you were here. If you weren’t here I’d have gone to the restaurant to find you.”


  Ye Xiaoxian felt a bit shy. Since he had brought a horse that day and kissed her beside the river bank, she had begun to miss him and looked forward to his return.

  But as a woman in this era she was supposed to be rather self-controlled, so she did not show her passion and pretended to speak calmly. “Have you had breakfast yet?”


  “Yes, I have. You?” He walked in front of her.

  Ye Xiaoxian smiled. “Look at the time. I have surely had breakfast.”


  “Are you making seasonings at home?” He walked towards her with his breath blowing on her face. She felt her body becoming extremely warm.

  It was early spring but Ye Xiaoxian felt that her body was sweating, as if feverish. She wanted to take off her cotton jacket, but as Xiao Baoshan was here she felt too shy to take if off in front of him, so she had to bear it.

  “Yes, I’m doing the seasonings at home so I didn’t go to the restaurant,” said Ye Xiaoxian. She then pretended to put some star anise and Zanthoxylum together and ground them into powder.

  Xiao Baoshan took over for her and said, “Let me help you.”


  Xiao Baoshan was strong and had seen Ye Xiaoxian grinding spices before, so he knew how to grind it. It took no time before he had finished all the work for Ye Xiaoxian.

  She involuntarily praised him. “You’re so strong.”


  “I’m always very strong. You know that,” said Xiao Baoshan.

  “.……” Ye Xiaoxian blushed and once again suspected that Xiao Baoshan was flirting, but when she looked at Xiao Baoshan, he still put on a straight face which did not look suspicious at all.

  “I’ll go in and pour some water for you,” said Ye Xiaoxian.

  As she was at home today she spared some charcoal. A bottle of boiled water was on the top of the charcoal.

  Ye Xiaoxian poured a bowl of boiled water and was going to give it to Xiao Baoshan. She was about to turn around when Xiao Baoshan also came in, so she accidentally spilled some hot water on him.

  “Oops, sorry, you suddenly came in……” Ye Xiaoxian was worried about his clothes getting wet, so she hurriedly put down the bowl, took out a handkerchief and wiped his clothes.

  However, Xiao Baoshan suddenly gripped her hand and gazed at her rather affectionately.

  Ye Xiaoxian’s face blushed again.

  What is he going to do?

  Xiao Baoshan lowered his head slowly to reach her lips.

  She was nervous and took a step back while wondering why Xiao Baoshan used to be very thick-headed and never made a move, but lately seemed to have changed into another person? Has he learned this from some experts?

  He went sailing everyday and must have seen all kinds of promiscuous people whose behavior could easily rub off on Xiao Baoshan.

  Seeing Ye Xiaoxian withdrawing, Xiao Baoshan firstly paused but then, again, pulled her close to him and continued to kiss her.

  Ye Xiaoxian failed to say anything. They started with kissing and ended up with you know what.

  Xiao Baoshan panted and repeated, “Little Ye, you’re mine. Say it, you’re mine.”


  Ye Xiaoxian had no other option but have to do what he told her to. She ended up collapsing in exhaustion.

  Xiao Baoshan had only been back for several hours and was going to leave in the afternoon. He explained that he still had another sailing job in the evening.

  She was too tired to even get up while he was still extremely energetic without looking remotely tired. Ye Xiaoxian truly suspected that he came back this time specially to make her sweat.

  “Ah……” She sighed deeply in bed and turned over, but when she thought about Xiao Baoshan she suddenly giggled.

  At last, she pulled up the duvet and covered herself in it tightly. She was feeling so shy that she thought she was going to die!

  In the evening Ye Xiaoxian took the seasonings to the restaurant and then did some accounting work at the counter.

  Li Hongmei was originally serving customers outside but when she saw Ye Xiaoxian giggle while fiddling with the abacus she felt confused. What kind of happy thing has Little Ye encountered?

  After Li Hongmei observed her closely, the look on Little Ye’s face was not like some ordinary happiness but like something that happens in spring.

  She could not help but walk over and asked, “Little Ye, why did you come so late today?”


  Ye Xiaoxian spoke before thinking. “Baoshan came back today and I spent some time with him.”


  “Oh……” Li Hongmei drawled. So that explained it.

  “Where’s Baoshan?” asked Li Hongmei again.

  Ye Xiaoxian blushed and said, “He went back to the dock.”


  “So soon?”


  “He said that he just came to have a look back home and did not have anything important to do.”


  “Why didn’t he come back to see me?” asked Li Hongmei with a smile.

  Ye Xiaoxian said shyly, “Ma……”


  “Haha, he came back to see you in particular. I see, I see. Well, Little Ye, have you got changed? I don’t think you were wearing the same clothes in the morning.”


  Ye Xiaoxian’s face was scarlet. “Ma, please stop.”


  “.……” The mother-in-law and her daughter-in-law were talking playfully in front of the counter and did not notice that new customers had arrived. The people who came in were Fan Shanding and a friend of his.

  Fan Shanding always knew that Ye Xiaoxian was good at cooking but after his son’s one-month birthday he had not eaten any food cooked by Ye Xiaoxian. After all he just had a son and once he left work he would go back home to check on his son.

  He did not stop paying all his attention to his son until the new year. Also, he sometimes felt the food cooked in his own family was too light. He somehow thought about the dishes cooked by Ye Xiaoxian that day and after he had discovered she owned the restaurant he decided he’d have to go there sometime.

  After they entered Fan Shanding saw Ye Xiaoxian with a blushed face being teased by Li Hongmei.

  Fan Shanding felt rather strange. It was not like he had never seen Ye Xiaoxian before. When he saw her twice previously he only felt that Ye Xiaoxian was stubborn and headstrong, but now when he laid his eyes on her, he found that she possessed a kind of feminine charm which was beyond words. She was active and also timid, like a Chinese rose that had just bloomed, dripping with dew.

  Fan Shanding was in a daze looking at Ye Xiaoxian and felt a tickle in his heart.

  After a long while, Li Hongmei and Ye Xiaoxian saw Fan Shanding enter.

  Ye Xiaoxian hurriedly said, “Ma, the tax official from the government office is here.”


  “The tax official? Him?” asked Li Hongmei.

  “Let’s go now and serve him.” Ye Xiaoxian dared not slight Fan Shanding, so she pulled Li Hongmei over to greet him and said, “Sir, how do you do? Are you here to dine in our restaurant?”


  Fan Shanding’s eyes were fixed on Ye Xiaoxian. From her bowing to greet him to getting up again. Every movement of hers emanated a charm possessed by young women.

  “I came here to eat,” said Fan Shanding. He was a little tongue-tied.

  “Sir, this way please.” Ye Xiaoxian served him with extreme hospitality, leading Fan Shanding and his friend to the booth on the second floor. She then asked him, “Sir, what would you like to eat? Our signature dishes are……”


  Fan Shanding said, “We’ll have a portion of braised pork and a Pearl and Emerald Soup, and some wine also.”


  “Yes sir, just a minute. I’ll ask the kitchen to cook your meal right away,” said Ye Xiaoxian.

  Ye Xiaoxian turned around and went downstairs while Fan Shanding looked at her back. She had slender figure with curves. Her waist was slim and her behind was plump which made her look very attractive.

  Downstairs, Li Hongmei felt a bit uneasy. “Little Ye, why did that tax official come here to eat?”


  Ye Xiaoxian smiled. “Ma, even a tax official needs to eat meals. Who doesn’t?”


  “But why do I feel that he……” Li Hongmei had been through a lot of men and she could tell the nasty thoughts in a man’s mind from just one look. “Oh, maybe I thought too much. Little Ye, I’ll serve him later. Don’t you go,” said Li Hongmei carefully.

  “Right, I’ll go to the kitchen to deliver the orders then,” said Ye Xiaoxian.

  Li Hongmei looked at Ye Xiaoxian’s back and also found that Ye Xiaoxian was seeming more and more good-looking. For a woman who had a man, she was indeed different from a woman without a man. A woman without a man looked unripe no matter how you looked at her, however, once she had a man she would become alluring.

  It seemed that she had to guard Ye Xiaoxian on behalf of Baoshan.

  Fan Shanding did not find this meal very tasty as his mind was occupied by Ye Xiaoxian’s looks. Fan Shanding also had wife and concubines back home but he was already fed up with them. Apart from his little son, he did not even feel like going back home.

  After he finished the meal he then asked his subordinate, “Don’t we have two attendants in the government office? One is called Xiao Tieshu and the other is called Xiao Tongshu. Go and inquire about their family issues, especially their second household.”


  The subordinate was a little puzzled but as it was an order from the tax official he thought it must be some kind of case, so he went out to do it like a loyal dog.

  Xiao Tieshu and Xiao Tongshu were still on duty and when the subordinate of the tax official came to ask them about the second household, they looked very annoyed. Last time they made fools of themselves because of Xiao Baozhu. As time had passed they had become more and more confused about what was going on with the second household.

  For example, during new year each family had to pay their respects and worship their ancestors, but only Xiao Baoshan came back to represent the second household. He left right away after he finished the ritual. They figured that perhaps after a longer while the second household would separate themselves from the Xiao Family completely.