Chapter 018 Li Xiao's Independent Side Story - Obsession (Part 3)
The firewood crackled and popped.
Li Xiao stared at the leaping flames in the furnace, and couldn't help but wonder how he had ended up in this situation.
"that--"
A familiar voice came from behind him, and Li Xiao subconsciously pressed his forehead.
The boy stood up and looked back with some impatience.
"What is it now?" he asked.
The Taoist priest before me was still the same Taoist priest, still wrapped up neatly like a rice dumpling and thrown into the corner.
Seeing Li Xiao emerge from behind the stove, the Taoist's clear eyes flickered slightly before he slowly spoke.
"For dinner, I prefer to eat porridge, either plain white porridge or multigrain porridge. I don't need too many side dishes. Oh, by the way, there are pickled mustard greens in the jar over there. Remember to add vegetable oil when stir-frying them; I personally think they taste better that way."
At this point, Yu Qingzhou smiled slightly.
Such composure and calmness showed no sign of her previous weakness.
—And just as completely lacking in self-awareness as a prisoner.
Faced with such a self-aware guy, Li Xiao decided to respond with a cold laugh.
"You're overthinking it, Master Yu. Why do you think you've survived until now? Because of my benevolence?"
The boy snorted and was about to bend down when he seemed to suddenly remember something, so he quickly moved away and stopped at a distance that was neither too close nor too far.
"Just you wait and see, I'll show you what it means to wish you were dead."
While Li Xiao was making threats, he observed the Taoist's expression, hoping to find some emotions that would fit the current situation, but found that the other party did not react at all.
—Did you not understand?
Li Xiao frowned. Could it be that he had been scared out of his wits?
"But."
The Taoist priest finally made a move. He raised his head, looked at the boy with slight hesitation, and spoke with utmost sincerity.
“A person will die if they don’t eat. And judging from what you just said, you want to keep me alive to torture me slowly, right? What if I just die like this? Wouldn’t that be completely unpleasant? So…”
So what do you mean?
“You should take good care of me and treat me kindly, so that I can lower my guard. When I truly consider you a friend, rely on you, trust you, and even feel that I can’t live without you… it’s not too late to make your move.”
At this point, the Taoist paused slightly before saying, "Because betrayal always doubles the pain."
He explained slowly and deliberately, speaking in the gentlest and kindest tone, using words that were extremely encouraging, while still wearing the same faint smile as before.
The smile in his eyes made Li Xiao feel inexplicably uncomfortable, and even stirred up a sense of anxiety in his heart.
Li Xiao couldn't help but look away from the other person's face, and paced back and forth a couple of times with his arms crossed in frustration.
Then, as if suddenly realizing something, he narrowed his eyes and stared at the other person, saying coldly, "What a joke! Why should I go to such lengths for a mere stinking Taoist priest?"
Unexpectedly, the Taoist not only nodded in agreement upon hearing this, but even showed a relieved smile: "It seems we have reached an agreement."
Upon hearing this, Li Xiao was completely bewildered: "When did we—"
"You just said that you don't want to go to great lengths for someone as insignificant as me, and I'm not one to trouble others either. So, if you release me now, you'll save yourself trouble and give me my freedom again. Wouldn't that be killing two birds with one stone?"
Yu Qingzhou took over the conversation with a smile.
This statement made sense at first glance, but it sounded too familiar, as if I had heard it somewhere not long ago... Li Xiao thought for a moment, but couldn't remember where.
Just as I was wondering what was going on, I suddenly heard that troublesome person who was spouting nonsense speak up again.
"I think we should eat something else tonight."
Hearing this, Li Xiao wanted to curse. This constant stream of thoughts was more annoying than the June weather.
However, just as the boy was thinking this, he suddenly smelled a strange odor in the air, like something was burning...
--not good!
Li Xiao immediately rushed to the stove, and as soon as he lifted the pot lid, he was choked by the smoke inside and coughed repeatedly.
"As the saying goes, too much is as bad as too little, and too much is as bad as too little. It can be seen that everything still needs to be done in moderation."
The Taoist's unhurried voice came from behind. Li Xiao turned around and glared coldly at the Taoist who was standing straight by the door. The latter had already freed himself from his restraints at some point.
"You're not going to pretend anymore?"
Facing the gloomy-faced boy, Yu Qingzhou simply smiled and replied in a calm tone, "Helping others is helping yourself, and vice versa."
After saying that, she lightly stepped into the kitchen, walked a few steps to the boy's side, bent down and peered into the gradually cooling iron pot.
Before he could take a closer look, the boy slammed the heavy pot lid down with a bang and turned to walk outside.
"etc."
That annoying voice lingered from behind.
Li Xiao patiently stopped and turned around to look at the Taoist priest by the stove with an unfriendly expression.
He didn't speak, but the gloom in his eyes was obvious.
"Won't you eat something before you leave?" Yu Qingzhou asked politely, ignoring the murderous glare in the other person's eyes.
Li Xiao had a dead fish expression on his face, as if to say, "Are you kidding me?"
"Actually, there was a small bag of flour next to the jar of pickled mustard greens."
Yu Qingzhou lifted a small bag in her hand and showed the boy her latest discovery: "Just enough noodles for two people."
Li Xiao glanced at the bag in the Taoist's hand, then at the smile on the other's face. He hesitated for a moment, opened his mouth, and finally just coldly uttered, "Didn't you just say you were used to drinking porridge at night?"
"Well, it's not a bad thing to change things up once in a while."
This was Yu Qingzhou's answer.
So, around midnight that day, Li Xiao still managed to eat the vegetarian noodles cooked by Yu Qingzhou, along with the oily stir-fried pickled mustard greens, which were surprisingly not bad at all.
"I'm so glad to see you here."
Yu Qingzhou suddenly spoke, looking at the young man who was engrossed in eating his noodles, and said softly, "Speaking of which, this seems to be the first time you've taken the initiative to contact me."
Under the moonlight, the Taoist priest seemed to be coated with a faint glow. Although he was smiling, he gave people a strange sense of loneliness.
He's clearly just a stinking Taoist priest spouting nonsense.
Li Xiao silently emphasized this in his heart, but still couldn't help but steal a few more glances.
"Perfect timing, I have something here for you."
The Taoist suddenly spoke, then took out a piece of paper from his inner pocket and gently handed it to Li Xiao.
The boy took the paper with a puzzled look, unfolded it, and glanced at it. His expression immediately became unsettled.
The receipt handed to me was clearly the one from the restaurant at noon, with all the details laid out clearly.
"Given that—"
Yu Qingzhou paused slightly to make sure Li Xiao was listening before continuing, "Since I used gold to pay off your debt, from this moment on, I am your creditor."
Li Xiao stared fiercely at the receipt, almost as if he wanted to burn a hole through it.
Suddenly, as if he had just discovered something, he pointed to one of the items and asked in a cold voice, "I don't think I've ever ordered any wonton noodles at this shop, have I?"
"That's true."
The Taoist smiled and affirmed, then added, "It's just collecting debts, so we always have to charge some interest."
He paused for a moment and then added, "But don't worry, this bowl of noodles I just ate is on me, you don't need to pay extra."
"..."
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