“First wash your hands, then eat.”
Seeing Chen Qing’s serious expression, Su Mu could only helplessly retract her hand.
“Fine, I’ll wash. You’re just like an old nanny.”
Su Mu muttered softly under her breath, but she still had no choice except to set down her chopsticks.
Just as she was about to stand up and leave the room to find some water to wash her hands, a knock came at the door.
“Sovereign, the warm water you asked for is here.”
Outside the door, one of the Tomb Raiders was holding a basin of warm water.
Chen Qing opened the door and took the basin from his hands, saying somewhat coldly,
“Thanks for the trouble.”
With that, Chen Qing shut the door.
From start to finish, she didn’t give him even a single chance to peek inside the room.
After all, that silly Traitorous Shizun inside was still casually exposing her bare little feet.
An inexplicable possessiveness welled up in her heart, making her not want to share the beautiful sight inside with anyone else.
Chen Qing’s cold attitude was within the Tomb Raider’s expectations. Her demeanor right now was already pretty good, all things considered.
After all, the night before last, they had nearly been sent to meet King Yama by her hand.
Still, he couldn’t help feeling a bit curious. What was the relationship between her and that person inside, who had such clear eyes and looked as ethereal as a descended immortal?
But curiosity was just curiosity—he certainly wouldn’t risk his own life just to satisfy it. He gave the door a gossipy glance before slowly walking away.
Back in the room, Chen Qing set down the basin of warm water.
Su Mu, whose stomach was rumbling from hunger, had long since lost her patience. While Chen Qing had been out fetching the basin, she had secretly snuck a piece of fried meat.
The rich aroma filled her mouth, making her saliva flow even faster.
Seeing the bit of grease on Su Mu’s lips, Chen Qing ‘smiled’ and asked,
“You didn’t sneak a bite, did you?”
“No, absolutely not. I’m hungry, sure, but not hungry enough to steal food. You really don’t trust me.”
Su Mu declared righteously, though her guilty little eyes darted away, avoiding Chen Qing’s gaze.
The lingering taste of the fried meat in her mouth filled Su Mu with nostalgia.
But she didn’t dare show it in front of Chen Qing right now.
After all, if Chen Qing found out she’d snuck a bite, she definitely wouldn’t let her off easily.
Watching Su Mu lie so smoothly—and even blaming her for not trusting her—Chen Qing felt an urge to pin Su Mu to the bed and give her a good spanking on the butt.
This Traitorous Shizun’s lying skills were getting more and more proficient. Now she even knew how to accuse others to cover up her own guilt.
“Come over and wash your hands.”
“Okay!”
Seeing Chen Qing call her over to wash her hands, Su Mu thought she’d successfully fooled her. Her bare jade feet padded across the floor as she trotted happily over to the basin of warm water.
She dipped her little hands into the warm water and gave them a perfunctory scrub. Just as she was about to pull them out and go taste the food,
The reflection in the water made her freeze. Though it wasn’t very obvious, there was a bit of grease on her lips.
It must have gotten there earlier when she’d snuck the bite, too hastily because she was afraid of being caught by Chen Qing.
No matter how it had happened, her act of sneaking food had definitely been discovered.
No wonder she’d suddenly asked if she’d snuck a bite.
“Aiya, how did this grease get on my face? Maybe when I flipped the food earlier because I was afraid it’d get cold, some splashed onto me.”
In a flash of wit, Su Mu explained to herself.
Seeing this Traitorous Shizun’s clumsy acting, Chen Qing didn’t indulge her. She directly yanked her into her arms.
“I was going to let you wash your hands and then eat, but since you’re being so stubborn, no food for you. We’ll do the main thing first.”
“No, don’t! I won’t sneak anymore. I was just possessed by a ghost earlier. I was afraid the food wouldn’t taste good, so I wanted to try it first.”
Of course Su Mu knew what Chen Qing meant by “the main thing.” She hurriedly begged for mercy.
“I’ll let you off if you want, but…”
Chen Qing looked at her with a beaming smile, sending a bad premonition rising in Su Mu’s heart.
“Fried meat.”
Chen Qing pointed at the plate of steaming, fragrant fried meat, a beautiful curve rising at the corner of her lips.
“Here.”
Su Mu picked up a piece with her chopsticks. Seeing the glistening oil on it, her throat bobbed as her mouth watered furiously.
But under Chen Qing’s threatening gaze, Su Mu could only reluctantly feed the fried meat into her mouth.
Watching Su Mu’s greedy expression, Chen Qing mercilessly swallowed the fried meat.
“Continue.”
In the time that followed, Su Mu transformed into a ruthless automatic feeding machine.
Though her stomach growled madly, the food right in front of her could only pass through her hands straight into someone else’s mouth.
“More… more to eat?”
Seeing the food dwindle away, Su Mu was on the verge of tears.
She hadn’t eaten anything substantial since leaving Cloud City—a whole day now.
Her empty stomach was starting to hurt from the hunger.
And this damn Villain wasn’t leaving even a single bite for her. She wanted to starve her to death.
But this punishment was her own fault. She just couldn’t resist her greed and had snuck a bite.
Not only that, she’d been careless and gotten caught.
“Will you sneak food again next time?”
Chen Qing didn’t answer Su Mu’s question. Instead, she countered.
“I absolutely won’t sneak food again.”
Su Mu hurriedly shook her little head firmly. Her stomach was already flat from hunger; whatever Chen Qing said, she would obey.
“And will you lie to me again in the future?”
Chen Qing’s scarlet eyes stared straight at Su Mu, adding a sense of pressure.
“No, I won’t!”
Though Su Mu said she wouldn’t on the surface, a flash of guilt in her eyes was keenly caught by Chen Qing.
It seemed this Traitorous Shizun truly learned nothing from her lessons. She still planned to lie to her in the future.
Though with this Traitorous Shizun’s clumsy acting skills, Chen Qing could spot any lie at a glance.
But the very thought of her lying made an inexplicable irritation rise in Chen Qing’s heart.
Chen Qing stood up with a cold face.
“W-What’s wrong?”
Seeing Chen Qing’s icy expression, Su Mu’s heart began to panic.
She knew this damn Villain was extremely moody.
But when her face suddenly turned cold like this, it definitely wasn’t good news for her.
Chen Qing left the room. Before long, she returned carrying some piping hot food.
“Eat.”
She set the food on the table. Chen Qing’s face was expressionless, revealing no emotions.
Though her heart was pounding a little, Su Mu’s stomach had long since flattened from hunger.
She gave Chen Qing a tentative glance and saw no further reaction, so she picked up her chopsticks with relief and began stuffing the delicious food into her mouth.
The flavors in her mouth and the slowly filling sensation in her stomach brought a blissful expression to Su Mu’s face.
In no time, she’d shoved all the food into her belly.
Su Mu patted her slightly bulging little tummy, her face full of satisfaction.
Chen Qing, standing to the side, silently cleared the bowls and chopsticks.
Seeing Chen Qing’s unusual behavior, Su Mu’s heart grew more and more uneasy.
If Chen Qing had been smilingly threatening her, Su Mu wouldn’t have been this panicked.
Her sudden change like this made Su Mu’s heart drum with anxiety.
But soon enough, Su Mu would learn what it truly meant by the calm before the storm.
