Grandma Sun was a seasoned person. With a quick glance between the two, she vaguely understood what was going on.
A Ying was a single mother, yet she had bought a good - looking Kunlun slave boy to serve her.
Little Lu's strange expression clearly showed that he was jealous!
A Ying, usually so good at sizing up situations and being well - rounded, seemed rather dull today!
"A Ying, I'll take this Kunlun slave back to tidy up first. You two chat slowly!" Grandma Sun pulled the Kunlun slave's arm and rushed away.
When she was out of sight, Li Ying finally came to her senses. Only then did she notice that Lu Xunguang's face looked far from happy.
"Brother Lu... I carefully selected this Kunlun slave. Although he's a bit unruly, his eyes are sincere. I believe he has a pure heart. Moreover, he's still young. If I hadn't stepped in to help today, he might have been beaten to death. I just couldn't bear it..."
As soon as the words came out, even she herself felt strange.
What was wrong with her?
Lu Xunguang just stared at her silently, but somehow she felt inexplicably unsure of herself. She just wanted to explain, like pouring beans out of a bamboo tube.
Seeing her like this, Lu Xunguang's eyes softened a bit, but he still said seriously,
"Buying this Kunlun slave is indeed your kind intention to save someone. But you're a young lady after all. Having a man around in your house... It'll inevitably cause a lot of inconvenience, and there might even be gossips, which could damage your reputation..."
After much thought, he finally managed to voice out the concerns that had been like a tangled mess in his heart.
But as soon as he finished speaking, Li Ying waved her hand nonchalantly and smiled.
"Thank you for your concern, Brother Lu. It's okay. I'll give him a separate room, and Grandma Sun and I will lock our doors when we go to sleep. Besides, I'm a divorced woman with a daughter. I'm no longer an unmarried young girl, so I don't have so many concerns."
Moreover, deep down, she was a modern person who had time - traveled. She didn't have so many concerns about the gender barrier. As long as she was innocent, that was enough.
Seeing her nonchalant attitude, Lu Xunguang frowned even deeper.
The words "unmarried young girl" were like a sharp blade, stabbing him deeply.
"Please don't say that, miss! Although others call you Mrs. Li, in my eyes, since you're divorced, the title of 'Mrs.' is completely unfounded. Miss Li is a pure and innocent young lady. You mustn't let others slander you!"
He was usually a man of few words, but today he surprisingly rambled on. He spoke in a hurry, his face flushed red as he looked at Li Ying seriously.
Li Ying was slightly taken aback.
Since the day she left the Qin family, she had made up her mind to take care of Grandma Sun until her death and raise Mianmian to adulthood. As for herself, like most divorced women, she would spend the rest of her life alone.
She never expected that Lu Xunguang, a proper ancient person, would have such an open - minded thought and still regard her as an innocent young lady!
Although the porters she often dealt with at the dock and the clerks at Deji Hall were polite to her, they still regarded her as a married woman. In their words, there was inevitably less caution than when dealing with unmarried girls.
In contrast, Lu Xunguang's simple words were all the more precious.
Li Ying put away her touched feelings and bowed gracefully to Lu Xunguang. "Thank you for your concern, Brother Lu. But I really need someone to help. Please don't try to persuade me anymore."
Thinking of the Kunlun slave's defensive look, she was afraid that if he went wild, Grandma Sun alone wouldn't be able to handle him. She quickly bowed to Lu Xunguang, then didn't waste any more time and rushed after them directly.
Lu Xunguang stood there, watching her elegant back gradually fade away. He only felt that the tangled mess in his heart seemed to become even heavier.
Miss Li, if you need help, just order me. If you need a guard, I can even build a thatched shed next to Grandma Sun's house and live there.
These words were stuck in his throat before he could say them, turning into an indescribable tea stem.
It was bitter and astringent, impossible to swallow or spit out. But when chewed carefully, there was an inexplicable and hardly noticeable after - taste of sweetness.
And that Kunlun slave... He was indeed handsome, quite different from the people in the Central Plains, with a wild and unruly air... It was only natural that Miss Li might fall in love with him at first sight.
A chaotic jumble of thoughts flashed through Lu Xunguang's mind, and there was a faint, dull pain in his heart.
He hadn't felt like this for a long time since his mother passed away.
He forced down the indescribable sourness in his chest. By this time, Li Ying had already returned to the fishing village. Sure enough, Grandma Sun was standing in the room at a loss, staring at the Kunlun slave.
"A Ying, come quickly! I wanted this young man to take a bath and change his clothes, but he won't let anyone touch him at all! He also refuses to eat a single bite. It's so worrying!"
The Kunlun slave looked at her warily, tightly clutching the few strips of cloth on his chest, like a small beast trapped in a trap.
Li Ying took the clothes and tentatively placed them on the table in front of him.
"Don't be afraid. This is Grandma Sun, and my name is Li Ying. Although we bought you, we won't beat you like the human traffickers. These are the clothes for you to change into. Even if you want to run away, you should at least clean yourself up, so that you won't be beaten and killed as a runaway slave."
After Li Ying finished speaking, she pulled Grandma Sun and quietly exited the room.
Sure enough, through the crack of the door, they saw the Kunlun slave hesitate for a while, then slowly take off his tattered clothes and carefully step into the bathtub.
Li Ying smiled with relief and turned to go to the kitchen to prepare some food for him.
Since the Kunlun slave came from a foreign land, it was only natural that he might not be used to their local food.
She kneaded a soft dough, heated up some hot oil, and prepared the oil paste. She also added enough pepper to the oil - paste dough for seasoning.
There was still a piece of streaky pork at home. She cut it into fine mince, mixed it with yellow wine and scallion - ginger water to remove the fishy smell, then added oyster sauce and a large amount of pepper to make a juicy filling.
First, she wrapped the oil paste with the dough and folded it into a crispy crust like making a pancake. Then she filled it with the meat filling, and finally stuck a layer of fried sesame seeds on it. She fried and baked it until both sides were golden brown, turning it into delicious pepper pancakes.
Taking a bite, the outer crust was crispy and flaky, and each bite of the meat filling was plump and juicy. The spiciness of the pepper and the fragrance of the meat juice, harmonized by the sesame seeds, were spicy but not over - bearing, fragrant but not greasy, leaving one's mouth full of oil.
Surely these pepper pancakes would be able to conquer the Kunlun slave's stomach and make him talk?
Li Ying confidently carried out a basket of pepper pancakes, but saw Grandma Sun secretly pulling her and whispering in a low voice, "A Ying, this Kunlun slave is actually a girl!"