Chapter 134 - Reeling it in (2/2)

Tung Mei blinked, ”No, Xiao Ting said that.”

”But you agreed to it.” Lei Xing annoyingly reminded.

”Ahh...” Tung Mei offhandedly responded then shrugged, ”It seems like you have been making progress with that annoy- The Emperor.”

Lei Xing narrowed her eyes, ”Don't change the topic!” Lei Xing bit out, then raised an eyebrow, ”Why do you care about that?”

”Care? I don't.” Tung Mei said with a scoff, ”It was just an observation. You seem to be getting along.”

Lei Xing scrutinized her for a bit, then she sighed and then asked, ”Did mine do it too?”

”Do what?”

Lei Xing frowned, she could not decide who was more annoying right now, Tung Mei or the bracelet, ”I meant did mine have a voice or whatever that thing is?”

”Don't know.” Tung Mei said with a shrug.

Lei Xing's frown deepened, ”So you can't take it off, you can't explain anything in a way that makes sense either...Fine.” Lei Xing released her arm and turned to go back to the Emperor.

Tung Mei immediately grabbed her arm, ”Xing jie don't be angry. It's not that I don't want to help you it's just...that I can't...You can just ignore it, that's what I do...Or maybe not...But it's really not bad, technically.” She finished with a deep frown and stared at Lei Xing with an aggrieved expression as if she was being wrongly blamed.

Her expression further irritated Lei Xing and she brushed her off and walked back. Tung Mei lowered her head and followed her with a pout.

When she got back to the Emperor, Lei Xing noticed Lei Yong narrowing his eyes at her and wondered what his problem was. The Emperor saw Lei Xing looking upset and wanted to ask what was wrong but before he could speak, an excited shout suddenly came their way, ”Ah, found you!”

They all turned to see An Hao excitedly jump off his horse holding a box and hop straight to Xiao Ting, who was pouting on the edge of the group because Lei Xing and Tung Mei left her out. An Hao had gone to the Lei manor and was informed she went shopping, so he made his way here. It was a situation of utmost importance and urgency, it could not wait.

He got to her front and opened the box and showed its contents to her, ”It took a while but I finally made it, I had to go all the way to Zheyi city to get the ingredients, but it's definitely worth it. Try it.”

Xiao Ting smiled happy someone was finally talking to her and curiously looked at the box filled with little fried cakes, at An Hao's urging she picked one and took a bite and her eyes went wide, ”Mm, it's good.”

”Right? It tastes just like the real thing, doesn't it?” An Hao smugly asked.

Xiao Ting smiled and responded, ”Well, I don't know what the real thing tastes like...But you should have properly cleaned up yourself up before coming. You have flour on your face.”  She said pointing to his cheek.

”Oh.” An Hao dusted his cheek as he said, ”Hehe~ I was in a bit of hurry. This has to be eaten when it's hot or it's not good.” He was missing the flour, so Xiao Ting reached out and helped him, while An Hao just stared at her. Xiao Ting then asked, ”Aren't you going to eat any?”

”Oh, oh yes.” An Hao looked down at the box and then glanced back at her to see her happily eating and smiled, he had spent a lot of work on this particular recipe.

Other than eating, An Hao collected snack recipes so he could always enjoy them whenever he wanted. It's been a habit of his since he was little. If he asked the sellers and they refused to tell him, he would shadow them and hide on the roof or somewhere near to watch them cook the snacks.

Of course, he asked her about the snacks he ate at the Lei manor and she happily took him to the kitchen, he learned a lot from the cooks and thought she was really a good one.

He also wished the cooks in his manor were as skilled. He actually kicked the cooks out of the kitchen after they annoyed him with the rubbish they kept making. An Hao gave them the recipes, told them exactly how to make them and yet they still messed it up.

After a few chances, An Hao got angry and took on the task himself. He could not present sloppy goods and since he was on vacation he had time. In the end, since they were eager to learn he let took them under his wings, and told them to be sure to take notes or he'll really kick them out.

An Hao thought Xiao Ting had good taste and felt bad that there was so much she had not tried beyond the capital. So he took it upon himself to recreate the snacks here and put it in a lot of effort to make them as authentic as possible for her to try.

”Ah, I knew that smelled familair, duli cakes! I can tell if the taste authentic, let me-” Princess Nalan said poking her head between the two, duli cake was a Zou kingdom delicacy.

An Hao immediately snapped the box shut, almost locking her finger in and frowned at her and spat out, ”There's only enough for two.”

Princess Nalan knit her brows and opened her mouth, but before she could speak, Lei Yong who had been frozen watching the scene with a frown finally woke up and exclaimed, ”An Hao!”

{...When did these two -?! o_O)...}