The ten buns bought at a great cost were all eaten by the yellow dog. Ye Wanmian had no choice but to start cooking again, planning to make a simple dinner for herself.
When she bought that raw meat in the market, she was so eloquent that she managed to persuade the shopkeeper to give her some scraps for free.
Those bits that could hardly be called meat were extremely distasteful to Xiao Jingcheng, but Ye Wanmian treasured them.
First, she deftly put the dry firewood into the stove. Then she picked up a bamboo tube and blew gently into it. Immediately, the fire started burning.
After that, she threw the carefully processed scraps into the pot, added some spices and stir - fried them. Then she covered the pot and let it simmer.
Before long, the aroma of cooked meat gradually wafted out of the pot, spreading everywhere and boldly sneaking into Xiao Jingcheng's nostrils.
Strangely enough, although he had just eaten ten buns not long ago, after smelling this aroma, that insatiable hunger came back from his abdomen again, making his stomach emit a clear "growl".
His Highness the Crown Prince was quite embarrassed. He quickly looked at the busy figure in front of the stove and was relieved to find that she didn't look in his direction.
Before long, the dish was ready. However, when Ye Wanmian put the food on a plate and was about to take it into the house to enjoy, someone pulled at the corner of her clothes.
She lowered her head and unexpectedly met the yellow dog's dark, beady eyes again.
The yellow dog stared at the bowl in her hand and unconsciously licked its mouth.
Understanding its expression, Ye Wanmian looked shocked. "Didn't you just eat ten buns? Don't tell me you're hungry again?"
His Highness the Crown Prince was enraged and let out a loud "woof".
What's there to be so surprised about? He hadn't eaten for a whole day. Besides, he had just recovered from a serious illness. Was it wrong for him to eat more?
However, when Ye Wanmian placed the silver bowl filled to the brim in front of Xiao Jingcheng, he got angry again.
Did she take him for a pig? Filling the bowl so full!
Moreover, what was this!
Although the taste of the food in the silver bowl remained the same, it looked terrible. It was all black, and one couldn't tell what ingredients it was made of at all. Xiao Jingcheng couldn't help suspecting that there might be some poison in it. Ye Wanmian was trying to poison him!
He would rather starve to death than take a single bite!
Just as Xiao Jingcheng was about to turn his head away disdainfully, suddenly, something was quickly stuffed into his mouth.
The next moment, a delicious and well - seasoned flavor exploded on his tongue. Before Xiao Jingcheng could react, his body had automatically swallowed the food.
He looked up. Ye Wanmian was holding a spoon in her hand, smiling brightly with a sly look of success in her eyes.
"How is it? Tasty, right? How does it compare with the meat buns?"
Xiao Jingcheng was extremely shocked.
He never thought that the food that looked so unappetizing could taste so delicious. Not to mention the meat buns he had just eaten, it was even comparable to the food made by the imperial chefs in the East Palace.
Inside his mind, that timid voice rang out again.
[Mother cooks very delicious food. Dahuang likes it very much.]
He didn't have the time to care about the other soul in his body. After eating that mouthful of food, the hunger in his abdomen hit him again, even though he had just eaten ten meat buns.
He thought to himself that it was not because the village woman's cooking was delicious, but because he had been hungry for too long!
The yellow dog, which had looked so disdainful just now, after tasting the food, was now nuzzling him eagerly. Ye Wanmian sat down beside it, trying not to laugh.
She would take two bites and then lower her head to feed the yellow dog with another spoon. Before she knew it, the full silver bowl was emptied again.
After nightfall, the whole Dongli Town was shrouded in darkness. The stars dotted the sky, and the Milky Way stretched across the horizon, looking incredibly beautiful. The gentle breeze blew through the small courtyard, rustling the grapevines on the trellis.
The yellow dog was lying on the ground. Beside it, Ye Wanmian was combing its fur with a wooden comb.
"Dahuang, Dahuang, could it be that you're really the Heavenly Hound from the sky who has been reincarnated?" Ye Wanmian recalled Dahuang's behavior after being poisoned and couldn't help muttering to herself.
Compared with a few days ago, her Dahuang seemed to have undergone a complete transformation. Its temperament and habits had changed completely. She couldn't figure out the reason and could only associate it with gods and ghosts.
Xiao Jingcheng glanced at her and suddenly thought that the Taoist priest they met in the market during the day had appeared just in time. At least he didn't have to worry about his identity being exposed. Let this village woman mistakenly think that he was the reincarnated Heavenly Hound. It would save him a lot of trouble.
After thinking for a while, he let out a "woof" as an answer to Ye Wanmian.
Who would have thought that she would then say, "The Taoist priest said that I'm fated to marry a nobleman from the east and will have a happy marriage with him in the future. Could it be true?"
Xiao Jingcheng "jumped" up from the ground and barked at her excitedly.
[Impossible, absolutely impossible! How could this Crown Prince ever take a fancy to you, a rough - behaved and ugly woman! I advise you not to have such wild fantasies!]
The barking of the dog filled the entire small courtyard. One after another, the barking of dogs outside also rang out, breaking the tranquility of the night.
Naturally, Ye Wanmian didn't know what the yellow dog was saying. Seeing it so excited, she thought that the yellow dog was afraid that she would abandon it. She quickly comforted it:
"Okay, okay, I'm just joking. I have a feud with that nobleman from the east. Even if the sky were to fall, I would never marry him, and I would never abandon you."
The barking yellow dog suddenly stopped upon hearing this. It stared at her with its beady eyes.
Xiao Jingcheng was full of suspicion.
As he had guessed, this woman must have had some connection with him in the past. But he was sure that he had no impression of her and couldn't remember when he had offended a woman.
Mentioning "the nobleman from the east", Ye Wanmian naturally recalled the experience two years ago. She gritted her back teeth angrily.
"Dahuang, do you know how annoying that nobleman from the east is?"
Xiao Jingcheng's gaze darkened.
Him?
Annoying?
Did this village woman know what she was talking about?
"He relied on his noble status and didn't take others seriously. He never considered others' feelings and trampled on them wantonly, almost ruining others' lives because of him."
Ye Wanmian clenched her fists tightly. Grief and anger welled up in her chest, but she couldn't find an outlet to vent.
"A selfish, unjust, self - serving and opinionated villain like him deserves to be in such a situation of being hunted and missing. It's his just deserts!"