Chapter 76: Kill A Chicken
Just that one soft and sweet "Xiao" put out all the anger in her belly. Xiao Moyan looked at Xia Lingying with a bit of helplessness, looking at her half-smiling eyes and the slightly upturned corners of her lips. The fire in her heart that had just died out surged up again.
Xia Lingying, are you dead sure I won't do anything to you or what?!!!
Her right arm wrapped around Xia Lingying’s shoulders, and with her left hand, she yanked the car door open. Amid Xia Lingying’s startled cry, she dropped onto the leather seat. Not giving her a moment to catch her breath, Xiao Moyan stepped forward with her long legs, straddled the space between Xia Lingying’s knees, reached out, and pulled her into an intense kiss.
Cool, hurried breaths brushed against her face, and Xia Lingying's breathing quickened all at once. Her face flushed red as she reached out to push Xiao Moyan off her lap, but hesitated, afraid of what might follow if she did. That brief moment of pause was all it took for her lips and teeth to be completely seized by Xiao Moyan. Her body tingled, turning soft and weak, with no strength left in her hands.
Feeling the trembling body beneath her, Xiao Moyan raised the corners of her mouth in triumph, she tightened her arms around Xia Lingying's neck, held her soft lips, and sucked hard. The soft lips with a faint strawberry fragrance hooked Xiao Moyan's desire, and she stuck out her tongue to ambiguously trace the seductive outline. The sweet feeling was very much like vanilla ice cream, and she ate and licked again and again, holding the little tongue that was still struggling and gently stirring it.
"Mm…"
The tingly feeling on her lips made Xia Lingying tilt her head without realizing it. The moment she let out a soft moan, her fair face turned bright red. But because of that tiny bit of resistance, she ended up getting even more intense teasing from Xiao Moyan.
Xiao Moyan's restless right hand slowly slid down her neck, finding the soft spot and kneading it gently. Xia Lingying's body trembled violently, her face flushed, she grabbed Xiao Moyan's evil right hand, bit her lower lip and looked at her.
Xiao Moyan let her hold her hand and didn’t pull it back. She squinted her eyes and looked at Xia Lingying with a smile that wasn’t really a smile. Xia Lingying looked down awkwardly. She didn’t dare look at Xiao Moyan. She kind of regretted that her joke went too far. With Xiao Moyan’s kind of temper, how could she let her go after being fooled? And the trick she always used was just...
Xiao Moyan looked at Xia Lingying acting all feminine and gave a light smile. She reached out and pinched her chin, forcing her to lift her head and look at her. Xia Lingying raised her head. Her lips, after being messed with, looked even redder and softer, pulling at people’s hearts. Her eyelids blinked lightly as she looked at Xiao Moyan shyly.
In the small car, feelings and desire started to spread. Xia Lingying looked nervously at Xiao Moyan, who stayed silent for a long time. Her hands by her legs tightened, and she took a deep breath.
After waiting in silence for a while, the queen on her finally spoke. But when she spoke, she really made it count.
“Xiaxia, how much does cabbage cost per pound?”
“…”
The whole way, Xiao Moyan drove with a dark face and didn’t say a word. Xia Lingying hugged her big cabbage without even looking at her, but deep down, she was a little annoyed.
So what if I kicked you off me? Who told you to ask such a mood-killing question? Play dumb!
Just as Xiao Moyan parked the car, Mrs. Xu rushed out of the house, smiling and waiting for the two of them to get out. Her eyes were wide open. But when she saw Xia Lingying getting out holding only a big cabbage, her face turned dark and she said grumpily,
“You two really took the easy way, huh? Didn’t even look around, just bought one cabbage and called it a day.”
Xia Lingying didn’t say anything. She smiled cheerfully at Mrs. Xu and walked into the house hugging her cabbage. Beside her, Xiao Moyan gave Mrs. Xu a cold glance and said in a muffled voice,
“This cabbage cost me all my dignity, Mrs. Xu. You better be satisfied.”
After she finished speaking, Xiao Moyan turned and walked lightly into the house. Mrs. Xu paused for a second. Then she remembered that meaningful smile Xia Lingying had just now. She clenched her fist and let out a laugh.
Serves her right, getting handled like that!
Xia Lingying hugged the cabbage and walked toward the kitchen. Just as she reached the door, she heard Fang Ruolin’s piercing scream.
“Ahhh! Take it away, Lianxue, take it away for me!”
Then came a few weird sounds, kind of like an old hen. Xia Lingying couldn’t help but laugh in her heart. Mrs. Xu was really something. Just to mess with Xiao, she actually brought a live chicken home?
Carefully pushing open the kitchen door, Xia Lingying hunched her neck and peeked inside. What she saw left her stunned.
Su Lianxue was holding a flapping old hen with both hands, her face completely blank. She looked coldly at Fang Ruolin, who was holding a kitchen knife and already scared out of her wits. In a chilly voice, she said,
“Kill it!”
As she spoke, she pushed the chicken’s head toward Fang Ruolin. Fang Ruolin kept backing away in fear, her face full of panic as she stared at Su Lianxue. Su Lianxue ignored her and pressed down hard on the hen’s wings, repeating,
“Kill it!”
“You take it! Take it away!”
Fang Ruolin screamed, slapped the knife down to the side, and kept retreating. Xia Lingying widened her eyes at the two of them. Without meaning to, she noticed a tiny, barely visible smile on Su Lianxue’s usually deadpan face. The surprise in her eyes faded, replaced by a deep smile.
“What are you guys doing?”
Xia Lingying was still watching when Xiao Moyan pushed open the door and stuck her curious little head in. The moment she saw the feathery thing in Su Lianxue’s hands, her face turned dark. Without saying a word, she grabbed Xia Lingying’s hand and yanked her out.
Mrs. Xu came over cheerfully, and when she saw Xiao Moyan’s clearly furious face, she gave a satisfied smile. Lifting her old face, she looked at the two of them.
“So, how about that? Look at what those two are doing, then look at the task I gave you two. Isn’t Mrs. Xu super kind?”
“…”
Xiao Moyan gave Mrs. Xu a cold look. Xia Lingying looked at the poor cabbage in Mrs. Xu’s arms, then at Xiao Moyan who was clearly mad but holding it in. She started laughing so hard she shook all over, nodding again and again.
Mrs. Xu blinked at Xiao Moyan. Just from her face, she could tell that Xia Lingying had really bullied her. Feeling rare pity, she decided not to make things harder for her. Hugging the cabbage, she smiled and walked into the kitchen.
Out of nowhere, a hard pinch came at her waist. Xiao Moyan turned her head and stared wide-eyed at Xia Lingying.
“What now?!”
“Go help them out—”
“I’m not going!”
Without even thinking, Xiao Moyan said no right away. She looked at Xia Lingying with a fierce face. What are you trying to do now? First, you tricked me into playing dumb and buying vegetables. Now you want me to go cook in the kitchen? You’re just plain bad!
Xia Lingying looked at her and put on a serious face.
“You’re abusing the elderly?”
“I—”
“What do you mean ‘I’? You don’t want to eat other people’s cooking, but you don’t know how to cook yourself. So what, you expect me to be the one cooking forever?”
“…”
Dragged back into the kitchen once again, Xiao Moyan walked in with her head down. She carefully avoided Su Lianxue and Fang Ruolin, who were still locked in a bloody battle, then tiptoed over to Xia Lingying’s side, staring unhappily at the big cabbage in her hands.
Xia Lingying glanced at her with a big smile, put the cabbage in a basin, rinsed it with water, and placed it on the cutting board. Then she pulled a kitchen knife from the drawer, turned around with a grin, and asked Xiao Moyan,
“Xiao, what do you think about first love?”
“No thoughts!”
Xiao Moyan answered fast. Xia Lingying gave a soft smile, raised her hand, and with a loud clang, the round cabbage split clean in half.
“I think first love should be cut off nice and clean. Just like this cabbage!”
Xiao Moyan looked at the poor cabbage on the cutting board, took a breath, and didn’t say a word.
Xia Lingying still had the knife raised. Her face was full of smiles as she squinted at Xiao Moyan and said,
“If you don’t cut it clean—”
Before she even finished talking, Xiao Moyan saw the knife in Xia Lingying’s hand rise and fall super fast. Bang bang bang! The cutting board shook with each hit. Even Su Lianxue and Fang Ruolin, who were still arguing, froze and stared blankly at Xia Lingying.
Mrs. Xu stood to the side of the kitchen, holding a handful of sunflower seeds. On tiptoe, she leaned against the wall, watching Xia Lingying with a big happy smile and said,
“Oh, look at Xiaxia’s knife skills—probably not far off from an executioner!”
“…”
Xiao Moyan felt a chill run down her spine. She swallowed hard and stared at Xia Lingying. After letting off steam, Xia Lingying looked at the cabbage pieces scattered all over the board, chuckled, put down the knife, raised her head, and kissed Xiao Moyan’s cheek.
“Go cook it—”
“…”
In the middle of all the chaos, with chickens flying and dogs jumping, and Mrs. Xu grinning like she was up to no good, a rich dinner was finally born. Xiao Moyan sat right in the middle of the table. She looked at the table full of food and gasped.
Braised cabbage, vinegar cabbage, chicken stewed with cabbage, stir-fried chicken gizzards, braised chicken legs, steamed cabbage…
Fang Ruolin also stared at the food on the table with a toothache look, thinking about that old hen that was still flapping beside her not long ago. Then she looked at the dishes on the table, slapped her chopsticks down, stretched her neck to glare at Su Lianxue. Before she could say anything, Su Lianxue picked up the chicken head from the plate and dropped it into Fang Ruolin’s bowl. She still only said one word.
“Eat.”
With chopsticks smacking the table, Xiao Moyan’s eyes swept across everyone’s faces one by one, then finally landed on Mrs. Xu. She gave her a fake smile that didn’t reach her eyes. Slowly, Xiao Moyan opened her mouth and said,
“Mrs. Xu, did you three gang up to bully me and Ruolin?”
Mrs. Xu, happily munching on cabbage, looked up at Xiao Moyan and shook her head.
“Miss, don’t judge a noble heart with a petty mind. How would I dare bully you—”
She paused, then turned her head and glanced at Su Lianxue.
“As for someone else doing the bullying, I heard it’s ‘cause their Valentine’s date got turned down.”
Even after hearing Mrs. Xu’s words, Su Lianxue stayed the same—blank face as usual. But next to her, Fang Ruolin froze for a second, then looked up at her with a complicated expression.
Xiao Moyan stared coldly at Mrs. Xu without saying anything. Mrs. Xu didn’t care at all. While eating, she also picked up food for Xia Lingying, looking super happy. Every now and then, she’d lift up a piece of cabbage on purpose, wave it in front of Xiao Moyan like a show-off, then pop it into her mouth and chew with extra pride.
Xiao Moyan watched her, her face getting darker and darker. After a while, she reached out, grabbed her phone, gave Mrs. Xu a look, and dialed.
“A’Sen.”
“...”
“Mm, that old man you mentioned last time—the one who took a liking to Mrs. Xu and chatted with her all day at the park—can you still find him?”
“…”
“Yes, bring him to the house. Mm, no problem with his background, right?”
“…”
*Cough, cough, cough—*
Mrs. Xu choked on a mouthful of rice before she could swallow it. She grabbed her throat and coughed like crazy. Xia Lingying and Fang Ruolin quickly rushed over to pat her back and pour her some water.
Xiao Moyan didn’t move at all. She just sat there watching them scramble. Looking at Mrs. Xu’s red old face, she gently shook her head.
“Ai, you bring it on yourself, you can’t blame anyone~”
Author’s Note:
Hehe, it’s almost New Year, so here’s something to match the vibe. Yezi’s new New Year story just started—no angst.
Yezi finished exams and also experienced what it’s like to fail a class. Up next, it’s time to write with all my strength!