"You can't just dismiss someone's hard work with a single blow."

Upon hearing this, Yunling couldn't help but snort at him.

"This might work for anyone else, but who are you? The young master of the Lu family business, you've been in business with your father since childhood. If you didn't have shrewdness and skill, how could you have secured this position? Right?"

Lu Yinghuai's eyes flickered, but a smile remained on his lips.

“Lingniang, even so, you can’t wrong me. We always discuss business in proper places. I’ve never been to a brothel.”

"There are plenty of places better than brothels. You rich young masters have all sorts of tricks and methods to play. Like...like that Third Master Song, isn't he the same?"

Lu Yinghuai's expression immediately turned serious. He pulled his chair forward, his gaze fixed intently on Yun Ling.

"I didn't, I really didn't."

Yunling quickly turned her gaze back to the fried dumplings. She didn't know how things had developed this way, and her words just now sounded like she was jealous. How could she be like this? It was too strange.

Seeing that Yunling remained silent, Lu Yinghuai, fearing she might misunderstand, hurriedly rolled up his right sleeve and extended his wrist forward.

“You are skilled in medicine. As soon as you take my pulse, you will know whether I have been indulging in sexual activity, whether I have been promiscuous, and even when I have nocturnal emissions. You will know everything.”

"You...you...you...you scoundrel."

Yunling immediately stood up and left, but when she got to the stairs, she remembered that she still had two fried dumplings left on her plate. She quickly went back, put the two dumplings in her mouth, and angrily stomped on Lu Yinghuai's foot as she left.

Lu Jiamin and Uncle Cao, who were watching the commotion from below the stairs, quickly dispersed upon seeing Yunling's clothes. Lu Jiamin picked up her suitcase and said to Yunling:

"Lingniang, I'm ready, let's go."

Because Yunling was still chewing on fried dumplings and couldn't speak, she nodded and led Lu Jiamin out.

On the other side, Uncle Cao saw Yun Ling with a blush on her face and excitedly lifted the hem of his robe to walk up the stairs. As soon as he got to the second floor, he saw Lu Yinghuai with a silly grin on his face. This...this...this...this...something seems off about these two.

"Huai-ge'er? Huai-ge'er!"

Lu Yinghuai was still immersed in what had just happened, and was naturally displeased by Cao Shu's interruption. However, since he was in a good mood, he didn't dwell on it.

"Uncle, Lingniang stepped on my foot just now."

Uncle Cao's lips twitched involuntarily. All he did was step on his foot, and he was grinning like an idiot as if that young mistress had kissed him. He just couldn't understand it. He really couldn't understand it.

"She stepped on your foot, what are you so happy about?"

“Uncle, she just had a fight with me. She always thought I was the kind of good-for-nothing playboy who only knew how to seek pleasure. So I asked her to take my pulse so she could see if I was a womanizer. She called me a hooligan and stepped on my foot.”

"She's been a little temperamental with me, not as polite as before. I even think she has some feelings for me. Uncle, today is truly a good day."

Uncle Cao felt that every day was a good day. The best thing was that he could arrange the three letters and six rites this year, get married at the end of the year, and welcome his little master next year.

**

Yunling sneezed loudly. She felt that it must be that rogue Lu Yinghuai talking about her. He said that if he hadn't been through so many battles, how could he have so many tricks to please girls? He was just lying.

"Lingniang, did you catch a cold from getting up too early today?"

"No, it's just my family nagging. It's alright. By the way, Sister Lu, our family isn't wealthy. We have little land and many people, unlike your spacious house. It's a shame to put you through this."

Lu Jiamin quickly shook her head. She really wanted to see what her future sister-in-law's home was like. Her brother didn't feel wronged, so how could she feel wronged?

“I’m not wronged at all. You’re asking me to do something, so how could you expect me to go hungry? My brother told me that my aunt’s cooking skills are superb, even better than the chefs at Shengfu Restaurant. I love to eat, and if I could eat my aunt’s cooking, I would gladly walk.”

Yunling was amused by Lu Jiamin's words. No wonder when she saw her on the second floor earlier, although she was eating seafood porridge, there were still some crumbs like pancakes left on the corners of her mouth, and she could still eat eight fried dumplings.

Yunling initially thought this person was afraid of not having enough to eat at her house, so she wanted to eat more beforehand to fill her stomach. Who knew this person really loved to eat, and was the kind of person who could eat as much as they wanted without gaining weight, which was quite infuriating.

"Young master, you flatter me. But my mother's cooking is truly a delicacy. In our entire Dongtou Village, if we're talking about culinary skills, my mother is second to none."

Lu Jiamin exclaimed "Wow!" in excitement.

“Why didn’t you say so earlier, Lingniang? We should have bought some chicken, fish, or meat at the market earlier. I love beggar’s chicken so much. I usually ask Aunt Cao to make it, but it never tastes the same at home. When I think about eating it at the street stalls, they say it’s not clean and filthy.”

"Then its name is Beggar Chicken, how can it be clean?"

"I always said, the beggar's chicken is all about the taste, it's not clean, but you won't get sick from eating it. It's just like roasted sweet potatoes, you put them in the stove and they simmer until they're incredibly fragrant."

Yunling never expected that Lu Jiamin, a young lady who had been pampered since childhood, would have such a down-to-earth side. It turns out she really is a true foodie.

"The timing of Sister Lu's arrival is really bad. My maternal grandmother's family especially likes to dig sweet potatoes for food. Every year when I go back on the second day of the Lunar New Year, I will see my eldest cousin either drying sweet potato flour or stewing vegetarian slices. They look good and taste delicious."

This made Lu Jiamin's mouth water, and she quickly tugged at Yun Ling, asking:

"I'm a big fan of sweet potato noodles, but what's with this vegetarian dish?"

Yunling explained, "The method of making these vegetarian slices is very similar to that of making sweet potato starch, but..."

Because they started the conversation with food, and since both of them also enjoy eating, they became more and more engrossed in their conversation, and the journey back to the village from the city didn't feel awkward at all.

Yunling and Lu Jiamin chatted and laughed as they returned to their front door. Xiaobai ran out upon hearing the noise and barked twice at the unfamiliar faces until Yunling yelled at it, at which point it sat down on the ground and started panting.

Lu Jiamin said with a smile, "Brother said that Lingniang's family has a cat and a dog named Xiaobai and Dahei respectively. This is Xiaobai now. I wonder where Dahei is?"

"Where else could it be? It's hot right now, so it's just like a salted fish sleeping by the water tank to cool off. Don't bother it, or it might scratch you out of frustration, which wouldn't be worth it."