Chapter 23 The Hungry Wolf in the Woodshed (0908 Bug Fixing) Chen Junbo facepalmed...

Upon hearing Li Yang's words, Chen Junbo's eyes softened, and a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. "Of course I don't believe it."

As he spoke, he glanced around the furnishings in the woodshed and then coaxed in a low voice, "Alright, you can rest now. Is there anything you need here?"

Li Yang: "I want to go out!"

Chen Junbo gave a faint smile, looking at her without saying a word. Knowing she had no chance, Li Yang pouted and turned her head away.

A moment later, the man in front of her sighed softly, patted her on the head, and stood up.

Li Yang: "I want to eat!"

As he spoke, he reached out and pressed his hand to his abdomen, frowning as he looked at the other person.

Sulking won't fill her stomach, and now that she's a little free, the damp hunger in her belly comes in waves. She's destined to spend the night in this godforsaken place; she doesn't want to starve to death in this woodshed.

Chen Junbo: "Okay, what do you want to eat? I'll ask Bi Fang to prepare it."

"Roast chicken!" Li Yang blurted out, then rolled his eyes and immediately added, "Two!" He even held up two fingers to show his expression.

She had it all figured out. Roasting duck and fish might be a bit of a hassle, but there were egg-laying chickens in the plot of land in the central kitchen. She had to get a couple of them to fill her stomach.

Chen Junbo's smile froze instantly. The room and the surroundings were deathly silent; you could hear a pin drop.

Seeing this, Li Yang licked his lower lip, withdrew a finger and said, "Then... how about... just one? No less than that..." He looked straight at Chen Junbo, shook his finger, and raised his eyebrows to wait for the other party's confirmation.

Chen Junbo closed his eyes, paused for a moment, glanced at her face, and then turned and left the room.

Ziyan followed closely behind with a slight smile on her lips.

"Can this chicken still be roasted?" Li Yang craned his neck, his gaze shifting as he followed the two men's steps.

"Bifang, go prepare two roast chickens, and also arrange a dinner for the young mistress." Chen Junbai gave the instructions outside the house before striding away.

Upon hearing this, Ziyan smiled and turned to look at her, "Young Madam, please relax and get some rest." She then left the woodshed as well.

Li Yang watched the two figures leave, his eyes filled with gratitude.

Suddenly, a pair of bright, round eyes peeked out from the door of the woodshed. The little girl clung to the door frame, blinking her eyes rapidly. Li Yang was delighted. "Little Deer, come here quickly." She beckoned the girl to her side.

Xiao Lu quickly stepped forward and ran to her, kneeling down in front of her. "Young Madam, are you alright?"

Li Yang: "I'm fine. Did you call the young master and the others over?"

Xiao Lu raised her sleeve to wipe her eyes. "After the young master came back, he asked where you had been. Young mistress, I'm so glad you're alright. You scared me to death..." She was about to cry again.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Li Yang quickly took her small hands and patted them gently to comfort her. "Xiao Lu, you have to do something for me."

Seeing the little girl blinking her watery eyes, she continued, "Tomorrow you go to the Fang family and ask Yuanyuan to get my contract with the manager of Tongyanlou. After you get it, hand it to Chen Junbai yourself. Do you understand?"

Xiao Lu nodded. "Get the contract from Sister Fang Yuan and give it to the young master."

“Yes!” Li Yang excitedly squeezed her hands and shook them, then looked up and muttered to himself, “Once Chen Junbai sees the contract, he will know that what Mo Lian said is all lies.” Then he added, “You must remember this.”

"Yes!" Little Deer nodded vigorously.

Before long, the kitchen had prepared dinner. Bi Fang led someone to bring over a low table, which was then filled with various dishes. He then led Zhao Di away.

Li Yang was left alone in the woodshed, facing a table full of delicious food. She was so hungry that she didn't care about her table manners and tore off a chicken leg to eat.

This chicken leg smells so good!

The golden, crispy chicken skin revealed glistening, juicy meat inside. It must have been a young chicken; the meat was incredibly tender, prompting her to devour it one bite after another. In no time, she had devoured both chicken legs.

She picked up the tip of another chicken wing with both hands, nibbling at the bone in small bites, muttering to herself: "This Mo Lian is really crazy, she can't even pick a decent rumor to spread. Manager Zhou could be her father, for goodness' sake, and she actually feels like she and Manager Zhou might do something inappropriate... Goodness, Manager Zhou's big belly..."

Oh my god, just thinking about Manager Zhou's sullen and unapproachable appearance sent chills down her spine.

Is it because he's fat? Because of his big belly? Or because he's old?

Recalling Mo Lian's righteous and eloquent manner when she spoke, Li Yang sighed inwardly. Appearances can be deceiving; even Chen Junbai could be so naive. He thought Mo Lian was sensible, but she turned out to be so foolish. What bad luck!

Lost in thought, she had already eaten all but two pieces of chicken breast from the roast chicken. Her hunger had subsided, and even her mood had improved considerably. Thinking about how Xiao Lu could slap everyone in the face after handing the contract to Chen Junbo tomorrow, she couldn't help but grin.

She glanced at a bowl of braised pork ribs on the low table, quickly wiped her hands on her clothes, grabbed her chopsticks, picked up a rib, and put it in her mouth to gnaw on.

These ribs! The Chen family's chef is truly excellent! The ribs, with their perfect balance of lean and fat, are coated in a rich, glossy red sauce. The aroma of meat mixed with the fragrance of sauce and sugar fills the air, even surpassing the roast chicken from before. The meat trembles gently on the chopsticks, falling off the bone with a light touch, tender and succulent, savory with a hint of sweetness, a rich and savory flavor that fills the mouth.

Hehe, it's still Young Master Chen's influence that matters. If she went to the kitchen herself, she doesn't know how much money she would have to spend to eat such flavorful ribs.

I wonder if Chen Junbo ate the same thing as me tonight. But he's entertaining guests every day, so he must be used to these fancy dishes.

Thinking about it, Li Yang stuffed several more pieces of ribs into his stomach before he felt the food in his stomach reaching his throat.

He put down his chopsticks, rubbed his belly clockwise with one hand, and tapped the fabric of his clothes with the other hand on his knee.

Anyway, once Xiaolu retrieves the ledger tomorrow, I'll be free again!

Li Yang was having such a sweet dream that he slept through the night in the woodshed.

The next day, she got up at cockcrow, stretched, and loosened her limbs, while also twisting her waist that was tied to the pillar. Li Yang sat cross-legged against the pillar, calmly looking at the door of the woodshed.

Before long, this door will open for her! Then, the entire household will know how ridiculous and utterly untenable the accusations against her were! She is innocent! Completely innocent!

This energy lasted for less than an hour before Li Yang's eyes lost their sparkle and his head drooped.

What happened? Did Xiaolu manage to get it done?

The beam of light filtering through the crack in the woodshed door was dark with a hint of purple, then turned orange-yellow, then pale yellow, and slowly turned white.

The leftover chicken bones and meat bones from last night were piled up on the low table in front of her, and half a bowl of fish soup gave off a muddy smell.

Two tiny flies skimmed across the soup bowl like dragonflies skimming the water, then plunged into the pile of bones, each claiming a piece of bone as their territory. Facing the leftover scraps, the two flies excitedly rubbed their front legs, preparing to feast.

Are you kidding me? Even if you won't let me out, at least someone should bring me some food! It's already noon, even the flies are eating, isn't anyone going to do anything about me...?

"Century egg and lean pork congee...black glutinous rice congee...millet congee...plain congee...is anyone coming to bring me food...steamed buns...meat buns...vegetable buns...I'm starving...is anyone there?!"

She rattled on and on like a train for ages, until her tailbone ached from sitting so long, but there was still no sign of her.

Li Yang swayed his hips from side to side, inwardly wailing: Damn it, someone come here, I'm so hungry!

After some time, Li Yang simply moved his buttocks forward, leaned against the pillar, and started throwing pebbles at the ground.

The stone was thrown at the door, and the door opened. Upon seeing this, Li Yang sat up straight, stretching his neck out as far as he could, and poked his head towards the door of the woodshed.

When Chen Junbo entered the woodshed, Li Yang's hair was loose, and her face and body were covered in streaks of gray and yellow, whether from oil or ash. The table in front of her was a mess, making her look like a dirty cat scavenging for food in a garbage dump.

His eyes narrowed sharply, and seeing that only her eyes remained bright and clear, he frowned and said sternly, "Untie the young mistress!"

His usual demeanor was somewhat aloof, but now it was tinged with a hurried tone and a suppressed anger.