Chapter 3 mainly focuses on the power of food.
The old butler, Uncle Fu, appeared at the entrance of the flower hall. He rubbed his hands together, his face full of embarrassment, and cautiously began to speak:
"Miss, um... Young Master Zhou is here again."
He glanced at Tang Xiaoning's face and said, "He insists on seeing you no matter what. He's sitting in the front hall right now and refuses to leave. He even said that he won't leave until he sees you today, Miss."
Tang Xiaoning's mood, which had improved slightly because of the delicious food and the novel female warrior, was instantly shattered without a trace.
She let out a wail and, like a deflated balloon, slumped onto the smooth tabletop without any regard for her image.
She pressed her forehead against her arm, her voice muffled: "Ugh! Isn't he annoying? Why is he here again? He's a hundred times more clingy and annoying than those persistent pests in storybooks!"
Even her hair bun had become a little loose from being rubbed by her restless arms.
After lying down for a moment, she suddenly raised her head, as if grasping at a lifeline, and looked with her big, watery, pleading eyes at Li Minghua across the table, who had just finished eating and was elegantly and quickly wiping the grease from the corners of his mouth with a clean cotton handkerchief.
The message in his eyes was crystal clear: It's time for you to step up, heroine, save me!
"Miss Li..." she drawled out her voice, soft and suggestive.
Li Minghua put down the handkerchief in her hand with a swift movement.
She looked at Tang Xiaoning, her eyes still holding a trace of the peaceful satisfaction soothed by the delicious food, but more so a clear and unambiguous question.
She adjusted her posture slightly, sitting even straighter, as if ready to carry out a mission at any moment, her tone as calm and natural as if discussing the weather:
“Miss Tang, do you need me to…” She paused slightly, seemingly considering the most appropriate wording, and finally chose the most direct and effective method, “…throw him out?”
That matter-of-fact straightforwardness is as if it's about handling something utterly mundane.
"Pfft—cough cough..." Xiao Cui, who was standing to the side, finally couldn't hold back anymore and burst out laughing. She quickly covered her mouth and coughed.
Tang Xiaoning was amused by Li Minghua's straightforward suggestion and burst out laughing. Her previous worries lessened somewhat, and she quickly waved her hand.
"Oh dear, no need for that! No need for that! Our Tang family is a civilized family that values etiquette, how could we resort to violence!"
She spoke of civility, but her eyes darted around, and a cunning, mischievous smile appeared on her face.
She stood up, walked around the table, and went to Li Minghua's side. She leaned down slightly, close to Li Minghua's ear, and lowered her voice, as if sharing an interesting little secret:
"However... you performed quite well just now, so I'll have to trouble you, Miss Li, to cooperate with me... and perform another scene!"
This time, we have to convince him completely and make him give up entirely!
She emphasized the word "persuade," her eyes gleaming with the light of a cunning scheme.
The atmosphere in the front hall of the Tang residence was tense.
The finest sandalwood furniture and the elegant landscape paintings on the walls could not suppress the anxiety emanating from Zhou Wenyuan.
He paced back and forth in the hall like an ant on a hot pan. As soon as he heard footsteps at the door, he rushed over as if he had seen a savior.
"Xiaoning! You've finally seen me!" Zhou Wenyuan's voice was filled with urgency and a hint of inexplicable grievance.
He reached out to tug at Tang Xiaoning's sleeve: "You have no idea how worried I was! My mother said..."
“Brother Wenyuan,” Tang Xiaoning gracefully turned to avoid his hand, deliberately falling behind by half a step, cleverly highlighting the figure behind her who stood as upright as a pine tree.
Li Minghua's face was calm as water, and his eyes were calm and undisturbed.
Tang Xiaoning's voice was deliberately soft, tinged with a hint of helplessness: "Why don't you understand?"
She tilted her head slightly, her eyes sparkling: "Minghua and I are truly in love."
As soon as he finished speaking, the fingers hidden in his sleeve swiftly and accurately poked behind him, targeting the soft flesh of Li Minghua's lower back.
Li Minghua's body stiffened almost imperceptibly, as if he had been struck by an acupuncture point, and even his breathing froze for a moment.
She could clearly feel the playful force coming from that slender fingertip through the fabric.
She took a deep breath, suppressing the unfamiliar tremor, and took a steady step forward.
This move perfectly shielded Tang Xiaoning behind him and completely separated him from Zhou Wenyuan.
She was already slightly taller than Zhou Wenyuan, and now she stood straight, her shoulders and back with smooth lines and a strong sense of power.
Those calm eyes fell on Zhou Wenyuan's face. Although there was no sharp killing intent, there was a kind of imposing aura that a martial artist had cultivated, like an invisible wall, which made Zhou Wenyuan subconsciously shrink his neck.
“Young Master Zhou.” Li Minghua spoke, his voice not loud, but exceptionally clear, each word reaching Zhou Wenyuan’s ears clearly, as well as those of Uncle Fu and Xiao Cui who were standing nearby.
Xiao Cui quickly lowered her head, biting her lip to hide her smile, her shoulders trembling slightly.
Li Minghua continued in a flat and straightforward tone, yet with an undeniable force:
“Miss Tang has repeatedly expressed her feelings to you. I hope that you will not force her,” she paused, her gaze calm and serene, “to do not insist.”
This statement is concise, powerful, and hits the nail on the head.
Zhou Wenyuan felt a chill run down his spine from her gaze, as if he were being stared at by some ferocious beast.
But remembering his mother's instructions and the "childhood sweetheart" he had always believed in, he mustered his remaining courage, straightened his back a little, but his voice trembled:
“You, you’re a woman!” He pointed at Li Minghua, as if accusing her of something unconventional, “How can you… how can you give Xiaoning happiness? This is against the rules! My mother said…”
“Whether you are happy or not,” Li Minghua interrupted him calmly. This sentence was not her original idea; it was just something her master casually mentioned when teaching her how to conduct herself and distinguish right from wrong before she left the mountain.
At this moment, however, it flows out with perfect naturalness, carrying a kind of open-mindedness that transcends worldly concerns: "Like drinking water, one knows for oneself whether it is hot or cold."
Her gaze swept over Zhou Wenyuan as if she were looking at a stubborn person: "Whether he is male or female," she finally uttered four words clearly and firmly, "has nothing to do with it."
Tang Xiaoning, who was hiding behind Li Minghua, suddenly brightened up upon hearing this, as if she had discovered a priceless treasure.
She hid behind Li Minghua's shoulder and secretly gave him a thumbs up, her lips curving into a proud smile, full of admiration for Li Minghua's "extraordinary performance".
Zhou Wenyuan was completely speechless.
He stammered "you, you..." for a long time, his face turning bright red like a boiled shrimp, and his finger pointing at Li Minghua was trembling.
Looking at Li Minghua's unyielding and stubborn attitude, he felt both anxious and angry, realizing that the principles he had believed in since childhood were utterly useless in front of this person.
Finally, he could only stomp his foot like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, his voice trembling with tears:
"You, you guys... this is utter nonsense! Unbelievable! I, I'm going back to tell my mother!"
After saying that, she turned around and staggered as if she were being chased by something terrifying, running out of the front hall without looking back, her back view extremely disheveled.
Only after that hurried figure disappeared behind the screen wall did Tang Xiaoning finally break down in laughter, letting out a "pfft" followed by a hearty "hahaha".
She abandoned her previous "dignified" demeanor and laughed heartily.
He couldn't help but reach out and pat Li Minghua's strong, upright shoulders a few times, the gesture intimate and natural.
"Hahaha! Heroine Li! You are simply... amazing!"
Tang Xiaoning laughed until tears welled up in her eyes, her voice filled with undisguised admiration and pride: "Just one sentence! Just one sentence! 'Don't force it!' Hahaha, that shut up that 'My mother said' guy! Didn't you see his face? It was as red as a monkey's bottom!"
She imitated Zhou Wenyuan's exasperated manner perfectly.
Li Minghua turned her head slightly to look at her employer beside her, who was laughing heartily and was radiantly beautiful.
Her strong, brows twitched almost imperceptibly, and a hint of pure confusion flickered in her clear eyes, as if she were assessing the completion of the task:
"So... that's it, the mission is complete?"
In her opinion, this seemed much easier and less troublesome than dealing with the stray dog that stole the bun, at least it didn't require expending energy chasing it.
"It's more than just completing it!" Tang Xiaoning nodded vigorously, her smile dazzlingly bright. "It's a complete success! An overachievement!"
As she laughed, she suddenly leaned closer, her bright, lively eyes blinking with intense curiosity and inquiry, almost peering into Li Minghua's calm gaze.
“However, Miss Li,” she lowered her voice, with a hint of mystery, “what you just said… ‘Like drinking water, only the person drinking knows whether it’s hot or cold’… was truly excellent! So profound and insightful!”
She paused, her eyes becoming exceptionally serious: "Don't you... also feel that truly liking someone should be like this? It shouldn't be limited by worldly constraints like identity or gender?"
Her gaze was fixed on Li Minghua, filled with expectation and a certain eagerness for confirmation.
Li Minghua was taken aback by this sudden question.
She had only subconsciously repeated her master's words to deal with the situation; she had never thought deeply about the profound meaning of love and affection contained within them.
Looking into Tang Xiaoning's bright eyes, so close he could almost see his own reflection, and feeling her warm breath brush against his cheek, Li Minghua's heart skipped a beat for no apparent reason.
An indescribable sense of unease instantly gripped her.
Almost instinctively, she quickly took a small step back, creating the overly intimate distance, and at the same time hastily looked away, gazing at the swaying bamboo shadows outside the hall.
Her voice lowered slightly, trying to maintain her usual cool tone: "I... was just fulfilling my duties as a bodyguard."
However, a faint blush quietly spread across the edge of her fair earlobe, revealing the subtle ripples in her heart.
Tang Xiaoning keenly noticed the other person's subtle backward movement and that suspicious blush.
Seeing Li Minghua's adorable, albeit forced, composure, expression, which subtly revealed her embarrassment, she found it even more amusing!
This female warrior, who is highly skilled in martial arts, straightforward and a bit dull, and occasionally shy, is simply... exactly to Tang Xiaoning's liking!
"Okay, okay, I understand, I understand, duty, duty!" Tang Xiaoning nodded readily, like a little mouse that had just stolen some oil, in a great mood.
She reached out again and took Li Minghua's arm with remarkable ease, the movement much more practiced than the previous two times.
"Let's go, let's go, Miss Li! It's such a waste to squander such a precious time on that fool!"
She excitedly pulled Li Minghua outside: "To celebrate our first victory today, I'll personally show you around our garden! I guarantee it's a hundred times more beautiful than the mountain scenery of your Qingfeng Sect!"
After taking a couple of steps, she remembered something, turned back to give Li Minghua a sly smile, and added, "Oh, by the way, I've arranged your accommodation too. It's in the yard next to mine, so you can 'protect' me anytime! What do you think?"
Li Minghua looked down at her arm, which was being held again.
The warm touch and the close presence still made her feel a little uncomfortable, but the subconscious stiffness in her body seemed to have lessened somewhat.
She remained silent for a moment, feeling the vibrant warmth of her employer emanating from her arm, and finally just nodded silently.
"Um."
Protect the employer's safety, meet the employer's reasonable leisure needs (such as strolling in the garden), and perform special tasks temporarily assigned by the employer (such as pretending to be a sweetheart and living in the neighboring yard)...
Probably, it all falls within the scope of the "bodyguard professional ethics" covered by that contract of "ten taels of silver, food and lodging included"?
Li Minghua silently affirmed her decision to accept the job.
The tempting image of the glistening braised pork hock on the table just now popped into my mind.
After all, the treatment here, especially the food, is truly irresistible.
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