Chapter 34 Awkwardly Praising People, Never Knowing How
Cui Ying was filled with disbelief. First, she looked down in shock at her fist, then looked up at Xiao Qiyu on the bed, who was clutching her chest, panting heavily, and looking exceptionally "delicate".
"So I am this brave?" Cui Ying muttered to herself, her eyes showing no doubt that Xiao Qiyu might be acting, but rather pure admiration and worship for herself.
After finishing her worship, she strode to the bedside, cursing as she helped Xiao Qiyu up: "Why did you provoke me? Even if you're a little bit better than me, you're injured now. If I punch you and seriously hurt you, how am I supposed to explain it to Grandmother?"
Xiao Qiyu frowned: "Who knew you would actually do it?"
He secretly observed Cui Ying's expression and saw that she had regained her previous lively spirit, the fear in her eyes had completely disappeared, and he imperceptibly relaxed.
Although Xiao Qiyu was happy to see Cui Ying show fear in her eyes, it was only when the two of them were playing around. She could be both defiant and afraid, both provocative and afraid, but she could never be both trembling and afraid.
The way she looked at him just now was clearly as if she were looking at a stranger who posed a threat to her life.
He didn't like that.
He would rather Cui Ying continue to act aggressively.
"Does it hurt that badly?"
Seeing Xiao Qiyu's pained expression, Cui Ying's expression gradually turned serious: "Should we call the imperial physician to take a look?"
Xiao Qiyu shook his head, frowned, and pursed his lips, looking as if he was enduring great pain.
Thinking that all his injuries were caused by her, Cui Ying felt even more guilty. She held Xiao Qiyu's arm and carefully helped him lie down again. Then she bent down and carefully examined the wounds on his back and left arm. Her expression was focused, her eyebrows were slightly furrowed, and her eyes meticulously swept over every wound.
Xiao Qiyu turned his head to the side, using his peripheral vision to catch the undisguised worry and concern on Cui Ying's face.
He had seen this expression on Cui Ying's face many times, and each time it was because she cared about others.
But this was the first time she had looked at him like that.
Xiao Qiyu was unwilling to admit that he actually felt a secret pleasure because of Cui Ying's concern.
So much so that he himself might not have realized that when Cui Ying approached, his tense breathing unconsciously relaxed, and even the burning pain in his back seemed to lessen a bit.
After carefully examining all the wounds and confirming that there were no signs of them reopening, Cui Ying breathed a sigh of relief and then asked, "Are you hungry? Is there anything you want to eat?"
Xiao Qiyu's voice was a little muffled: "I'm not hungry."
I've been asleep for too long, my head is still throbbing, and I really don't have much of an appetite.
Cui Ying raised an eyebrow, her tone leaving no room for argument: "You have to eat, even if you're not hungry! You've slept for a whole day and night. If you don't eat, how can your body take it?"
After he finished speaking, a brief silence fell over the room.
The begonias outside the window swayed gently in the breeze. Xiao Qiyu lowered his long eyelashes and looked at her quietly with deep eyes.
Cui Ying glared back at him without backing down.
The two have been rivals since childhood, and the number of times they have been able to speak calmly and peacefully can be counted on one hand.
As soon as the words left his mouth, Cui Ying was already prepared to be met with his sarcastic retort.
However, after waiting for a while, the expected counterattack did not come.
The boy's pale face was as white as snow and frost, which made his eyes look particularly deep and dark. He looked down at her quietly, his expression carrying a rare calmness, as cold and aloof as a winter pine.
"I'll eat then," he said softly.
Cui Ying was taken aback, thinking she had misheard: "What did you say?"
Xiao Qiyu shifted his gaze away from her and looked elsewhere, repeating calmly, "I said, if you want to eat, then eat."
Cui Ying's eyes lit up instantly, curving into crescent shapes, and even her voice softened considerably: "Then what do you want to eat? I'll have the kitchen prepare it... Sigh, it's pointless to ask you. You need to nourish yourself now, so I'll just have them make a complete tonic soup."
Xiao Qiyu suddenly said, "I don't want to drink soup."
Cui Ying countered, "Then what would you like to eat?"
For some reason, Xiao Qiyu remembered the belt noodles she had prepared for Xiao Shu that day. Even though he had no appetite at the moment, he still said meaningfully, "Noodles."
Cui Ying readily agreed: "Okay, okay, I'll have someone make it right away. Yellow croaker noodles or chicken soup noodles? You choose one."
Xiao Qiyu paused for a moment before continuing, "I don't want to eat what's made in the manor; I want to eat what's bought outside."
"Bought from outside?" Cui Ying was a little confused.
Xiao Qiyu turned his head slightly to the side, his back to her, his voice carrying a hint of awkwardness: "For example, belt noodles or something like that."
Cui Ying exclaimed in surprise, "You actually want to eat belt noodles? Didn't you say before that food outside is very dirty and will give you an upset stomach?"
Xiao Qiyu did not respond, still turning his back to her, his back view inexplicably revealing a hint of resentment, as if he was suppressing his displeasure.
Cui Ying didn't care what he was thinking at that moment. Without waiting for a reply, she muttered to herself, "Want to eat belt noodles? That's easy. I'll just have someone go out and buy some."
But then she frowned: "No, we can't buy it."
Xiao Qiyu finally turned his head, his dark eyes looking at her. Although he didn't speak, the disappointment of his unfulfilled expectations was clearly evident.
Cui Ying explained to him, "Noodles bought from outside will inevitably clump together no matter how quickly they are delivered, and they certainly won't taste as good as freshly cooked ones."
She frowned and pondered for a moment, then her eyes suddenly lit up: "I've got it! No need to buy it, I'll make it for you myself. It'll be ready to eat right out of the pot, and I guarantee it won't clump together!"
The gloom between Xiao Qiyu's brows dissipated, and he asked calmly, "You can?"
Cui Ying was full of confidence: "As the saying goes, even if you haven't eaten pork, you've seen pigs run. I've eaten belt noodles countless times, and no one knows the taste better than me. The ingredients are nothing more than flour and hot oil. I can make it with my eyes closed."
With that, he turned around and walked briskly towards the door.
As she reached the door, Cui Ying turned back and smiled at Xiao Qiyu. The paulownia blossoms in the courtyard fell, and her bright skirt fluttered in the breeze: "Just wait, it won't even take three incense sticks to burn before you're guaranteed to have some!"
Xiao Qiyu simply gave a curt "Oh," his face expressionless.
Only after the door closed gently did he slowly shift his gaze to the spot where Cui Ying had just stood, as if he could see the embroidered floral patterns on Cui Ying's skirt.
"The feeling of being taken care of by Cui Ying," the boy murmured to himself, his eyes narrowing slightly. "So that's what it feels like."
...
Just as the last rays of the setting sun touched the tips of the sycamore trees, the belt noodles were ready to be served.
Cui Ying was thrilled to try cooking for the first time. She carried the bowl of noodles back to Xiao Qiyu's bedside, eager to let him taste it.
As Xiao Qiyu reached out to take Cui Ying's face, his gaze inadvertently swept over the tiger's mouth on Cui Ying's hand, and he saw a fresh crack. The blood-red color contrasted sharply with the pale skin.
Forgetting about eating his noodles, Xiao Qiyu's relaxed mood immediately tightened, and he asked in a deep voice, "What happened to your hand?"
Cui Ying glanced at the tiger's mouth, completely unconcerned, and said in a relaxed tone, "It was an accidental injury from fighting that barbarian. It's much worse than the one on your body. It's already scabbed over in the last two days."
However, she used a bit too much force when kneading the dough, which caused the scabbed wound to reopen.
"Oh, never mind that, hurry up and try my noodles!" Cui Ying couldn't help but urge him.
Xiao Qiyu picked up a mouthful of noodles with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth, but his eyes kept glancing at Cui Ying's hands, and his brows furrowed involuntarily. He ate the noodles with a bitter and resentful expression.
Cui Ying watched him chew and swallow the noodles, then raised her eyebrows and asked with a smile, "How is it? Is it good? I know you can't handle spicy food, so I deliberately didn't add chili peppers."
Xiao Qiyu commented, "It's alright."
Cui Ying's joyful eyebrows instantly fell: "So it doesn't taste good?"
She touched the web between her thumb and forefinger, her eyes glistening with tears, and sniffled as she said, "I worked so hard kneading the dough and cooking the meal, and it turned out to be so awful. How can this be fair to all my hard work? The wounds on my hands have reopened, and it hurts so much."
Xiao Qiyu was made uncomfortable by her whiny tone. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore, looked up at her directly, and said slowly and deliberately, with a hint of exasperated anger, "Delicious! Delicious! Is that enough?"
Xiao Qiyu had never said such flattering words before. He practically squeezed out each word through gritted teeth, and a faint blush crept up behind his ears.
Cui Ying snorted contentedly: "You're so awkward, you can't even praise someone properly. From now on, good is good, and bad is bad. Don't talk to me about 'okay' anymore."
At this moment, the maid entered and curtsied, saying to the two who were staring at each other, "Young master and young mistress, the third young master has arrived and is waiting outside."
"Third Brother is here?" Cui Ying and Xiao Qiyu exchanged a glance, tacitly choosing to temporarily cease hostilities, and then ordered, "Quickly let him in."
The maidservant acknowledged the order and withdrew.
Xiao Qiyu ignored Cui Ying and focused on finishing the bowl of noodles. He ate the noodles in a few bites and drank every last drop of the soup.
Watching from the side, Cui Ying felt a strange sense of satisfaction welling up inside her. She suddenly understood why her mother always loved to cook soup and watch her finish it. It turned out that the feeling of being cherished and eaten by someone you made yourself was such a wonderful and satisfying experience.
Give me the bowl.
Cui Ying was in a good mood, her voice filled with laughter. Without needing the maid to help her, she reached out to take the empty bowl.
Xiao Qiyu paused for a moment, then handed the bowl to her.
It was supposed to be a routine passing, but Xiao Qiyu seemed to have a common trait among martial artists: he was always quicker to withdraw his hand than the average person. Almost the instant the bowl left his hand, he had already pulled it back. However, Cui Ying's hand had not yet been firmly grasped, so he caught nothing, and the bowl fell straight to the ground.
The two of them bent down at the same time to reach for it, and with a "thud!" their heads collided heavily together unexpectedly.
Cui Ying cried out in pain, suddenly straightened up, and her steps uncontrollably lurched backward.
Seeing that Cui Ying was about to fall, Xiao Qiyu reacted quickly, his long arm suddenly reaching out to grab Cui Ying's wrist and pulling him back forcefully.
Cui Ying felt a powerful force strike him, and his body was abruptly changed direction, from leaning back to lunging forward.
"Bang!"
Another dull thud followed as her forehead slammed solidly into Xiao Qiyu's bare chest, and both of them groaned in pain.
Xiao Qiyu's chest muscles were as hard as iron, and the impact made Cui Ying see stars and feel dizzy. For a moment, he was so dizzy that he couldn't open his eyes.
She was completely unaware that her cheek was pressed against Xiao Qiyu's strong, unprotected chest, and her soft upper body was almost completely buried in his broad and firm embrace.
Xiao Qiyu was unaware that his fingers, which were tightly gripping Cui Ying's wrist, had not loosened. In the chaos just now, his other arm had instinctively wrapped tightly around her slender waist, holding her firmly in front of him.
At the doorway, Xiao Heng paused at the threshold.
He glanced at the young couple entwined inside the house, then turned away and coughed lightly, saying, "It seems today isn't convenient. I'll come back another day."
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