Rip... rip... RIIIP~
Aroused, Fu Yiren wantonly tore the shirt off Xiao Luo, lewdly ogling his body as she did so. Xiao Luo didn't have a well-build frame, but his body was lean and well-conditioned with a beautifully defined muscle tone.
"Lady Poison, please, you don't want to continue doing this..."
"We are a match made in heaven—if you are the Adam of God's creation, then I'll be the Eve that he created from one of your ribs. Mie, our fate is destined by the Heavens... do not resist it."
Huh? Xiao Luo cringed at her words, unsure exactly what kind of drivel was she prattling about!
Xiao Luo calmed his mind as he kept his focus on his acupoint and made an effort to release them from Fu Yiren's pressure point technique.
Fu Yiren intertwined herself with Xiao Luo's body, slithering intimately like a copulating serpent, then gently pushed him down on the sofa and her lustful hands began to unfasten his belt. Incredibly, she was reversing rapist and victim roles, as the situation here was that it was the girl who was attempting to rape the overlord!
BOOM!
Suddenly, Xiao Luo managed to unlock the acupoints that were sealed by Fu Yiren. A burst of internal force surged out from Xiao Luo like a raging storm. Fu Yiren, who was entirely unprepared for this, was knocked back, painfully crashing onto the living room floor. She tried to pick herself up, but she coughed a mouthful of blood.
As she focused her vision, she could see that Xiao Luo had already freed himself and stood up, looking at her with his hands casually behind his back.
"You... you released your acupoint yourself...?"
Fu Yiren stared at Xiao Luo in disbelief, for she had great confidence in her abilities, and she knew that her acupressure skills were formidable. She had once experimented with her technique, where she attacked the acupoints of her opponent, a martial artist, and raised his body temperature to an extreme. His body literally lit up, and the end, the martial artist, succumbed without even moving. This was enough to show the level of her prowess in carrying out acupoint attacks, which was even more effective than binding someone up using a rope. But here, Xiao Luo managed to release his acupoint himself, and Fu Yiren was just unable to understand how he could have achieved the feat this quickly.
Before Fu Yiren could react, Xiao Luo appeared before her like a phantom and kicked her in the abdomen. In his mocking eyes, she could see that he recognized her confusion.
BOOM!
A muffled grunt followed the sickening sound of a heavy thud as Fu Yiren was blown back some two to three meters along the floor, and only stopped after colliding with the living room wall. The pain she felt in her abdomen was unimaginable, feeling like an electric drill was wreaking havoc within it. The striking beauty left her face, distorted and replaced by the agony of pain.
Xiao Luo stalked up to her once again, and as he stared at her with no sympathy, he said, "This is a just a little punishment for sneaking up at me. If this happens again, I will kill you!"
A murderous aura emanated from Xiao Luo as he spoke, and it caused Fu Yiren to shudder uncontrollably in fear.
Fu Yiren struggled as she picked herself up from the floor. Despite the traces of blood at the corner of her mouth, Fu Yiren's beauty was still undiminished, though she looked somewhat pitiful. "Mie, if I sneak up on you again, could you really bear to kill me?" she said.
"Try it, and you'll find out!" Xiao Luo retorted.
A great sadness filled Fu Yiren's broken heart, for when she saw Xiao Luo at the NSA's headquarters, she fell in love with him at first sight. But Xiao Luo did not respond and showed no sympathy to her plight—even if she was the fearsome Lady Poison of the NSA, she had feelings. Her heart was like any woman's, and she was deeply hurt.
"I'm not going to try."
Fu Yiren responded, as she dejectedly put on her clothes and made to leave.
"I'm warning you, do not do anything to harm Su Li; otherwise, I won't let you go!"
Xiao Luo's threat came just when Fu Yiren reached the door, and she paused for a moment as her heart was once again mauled callously. Her situation was no different from a young girl trying to show her love to the boy she liked, but instead, what she got was the boy's rejection and warning.
Bitterly, she turned around and said, "Mie, we are both members of the NSA. Do you think I will actually kill the innocent?"
Xiao Luo was taken aback as he met her gaze. Suddenly, he felt inexplicably guilty, his eyes softened, and his gaze dropped to the floor. When he looked up at the door again, he only saw it slightly ajar, and Fu Yiren had disappeared, leaving a faint, lingering fragrance in the air.
"This is just crazy!"
Looking at the mess on the ground, Xiao Luo shook his head and sighed. He walked over and closed the door.
The episode cast a pall of gloom over Xiao Luo, and he chose not to regulate his breath anymore. He decided to just allow the internal injury to recover gradually. He walked into the bathroom, turned on the faucet, and rinsed his whole body. He frowned when he saw a few hickeys on his neck and lipstick marks on his face through the mirror.
He felt very dispirited, and having almost being raped by a girl just made him feel tainted.
Suddenly, the phone he had placed on the sink rang. He took a glance and saw that it was from Zhang Dashan. He turned off the faucet and answered the call.
"Oi, what happened today? You fired a store manager by the name of Lee Yueze and then hired him again. What the hell were you doing?" Zhang Dashan's booming voice came through the phone speaker.
Xiao Luo was not in the mood for banter just then, and when he heard that, his immediate riposte was to say, "With your IQ, it's kinda difficult for me to explain it to you."
"What the p***k? We haven't chatted for so long, and you have to flame me on such a rare occasion. What happened? Got raped by a woman?" Zhang Dashan shot back.
Zhang Dashan had inadvertently struck on a raw nerve, for he had no idea what had just happened to Xiao Luo; but the latter, having almost been such a victim, was not in the best of moods and did not take kindly to the jest.
"F**k off!"
Reacting poorly, Xiao Luo hung up the call without a further word. Had Zhang Dashan been at the front door that moment, there was no doubt that he would've greeted him with a kick.
When the line was cut, Zhang Dashan, calling from Jiangcheng, looked at his phone and was dumbfounded. He scratched the back of his head and muttered to himself, "What the heck, has Lao Xiao eaten a bomb or something?"
...
...
The next morning, Su Xiaobei called Xiao Luo for breakfast, and he cheerfully carried her as they left for Su Li's apartment.
Su Li didn't have a bite and waited for Xiao Luo to arrive before digging in.
Xiao Luo placed Su Xiaobei in her high chair then walked over to Su Li's side. He coughed drily before saying, "Didn't you say that you wanted to learn how to make vegetable taro paste?"
Su Li raised her head, and there was a look of surprise in her beautiful eyes. "It's morning now," she said.
Su Li had assumed that the dish was something eaten at noon or in the evening, and it was now the time for breakfast.
Xiao Luo shook his head and replied, "Vegetable taro paste is usually eaten in the morning and goes perfectly with steamed eggs and chili with soy sauce."
"Then eaten with milk and bread?" Su Li asked, giving Xiao Luo a dubious look.
"No, with rice, it's a side dish," Xiao Luo said.
Su Li looked at him incredulously and said, "Huh, can rice be eaten at breakfast?"
This was the first time in her life that she had heard someone suggesting having rice for breakfast.
"In my hometown, it's common to have rice for breakfast."
Xiao Luo replied with a nod as the breakfast he had back home regularly consisted of rice and some side dishes; it was rarely bread, noodles, or anything else. This was especially so during his childhood when there weren't many shops offering breakfast in rural areas. Every morning, his grandfather and grandmother would get up early to cook, and the dish they ate the most were vegetable taro paste and steamed eggs.
...
Su Li did not continue to eat what Aunt Lee had prepared for breakfast. Instead, she followed Xiao Luo to the kitchen area. This time, she intended to carefully observe the way Xiao Luo prepared vegetable taro paste.
Aunt Lee was also watching from the side, keen to learn more about Xiao Luo's recipe and how he cooked it.
"Daddy, what are you making?"
Su Xiaobei ran over and went on tiptoes. Her tiny hands were just high enough to grab the edge of the marble kitchen top as she looked at Xiao Luo excitedly with her enormous jewel-like eyes.
Xiao Luo smiled and patted her on the head, and he said, "You'll know later. Be a good girl, go and stay over there with your mum."
"Okay."
Su Xiaobei was very obedient. She turned around and ran behind Su Li.
First, Xiao Luo placed some taro in a pot of water and left it to boil. Then, he started preparing the steamed eggs—he chopped a generous helping of cabbage, beat two eggs in a large bowl, added a little water and salt to taste, whisked them together with chopsticks, poured the lot into a casserole, and placed the dish in a steamer.
After the taro was cooked, he turned off the heat, drained out the boiling water, refilled the pot with cold water, and peeled the boiled taros with his hands.
"These taros are of fine quality. See, they soften up immediately after cooking, and their skin is easy to peel off as well. If you buy taros that are as hard as a stone, they will never become soft no matter how long you cook them, and it'll affect the taste of this dish considerably," Xiao Luo explained as he continued peeling away.
"Do you mean that we must use this kind of 'easy-to-boil' taro to make vegetable taro paste?" Su Li asked, her desire to learn evident in her body language.
Xiao Luo nodded, "Yeah. Only this kind of 'easy-to-boil' taro can be mashed into a paste and cooked with vegetables."
"Got it."
Su Li took a mental note of it.
Aunt Lee was the person responsible for purchasing ingredients, and she said, "Mr. Xiao, 'easy-to-boil' taros, and the 'not-easy-to-boil' taros are all mixed together when they are sold in the market. We have to pick them ourselves. Sometimes, it is challenging to pick taro that is easy to boil."
"Those that are flatter in shape and the smaller ones are generally easier to cook, while the larger and full ones are usually harder to cook. They'll remain hard no matter how you cook them. If you peel off the skin and eat it, you'll feel as if something is stuck in your throat, which gives the dish a bad texture," Xiao Luo said, pointing at his throat to stress his point.
"I see, so there's even such knowledge as this. You're really amazing, Mr. Xiao!" Aunt Lee responded, giving Xiao Luo a thumbs up and not at all stingy with her praise.
Xiao Luo was humble and said, "It's just the experience I gathered through years of making this dish."
"Way to go, Daddy!"
Su Xiaobei didn't understand a word of it, but when she heard Aunt Lee complimenting Xiao Luo, she followed suit and cheered for him.
Xiao Luo smiled back at her and then continued preparing the vegetable taro paste.
This guy looks more and more pleasing!
Inwardly, Su Li was beginning to appreciate Xiao Luo. While she was paying full attention to how he was making of vegetable taro paste, at the same time, she was also having a good look at him. And, the more she looked, the more positive things she saw in him. She started noticing how handsome he actually was, neatly dressed and giving off a good impression of himself. For the first time, she didn't feel disgusted about giving her body to such a man.
Out of the blue, she asked, "So, I heard that you did very well in your interview yesterday?"
"I guess."
Xiao Luo glossed over it.
Su Li made a dry cough and said, "Qingyan said that you know several foreign languages. Is that true?"
Xiao Luo was taken aback; he nodded and replied, "Yup."
Although she was mentally prepared for it, when Xiao Luo confirmed that he did, Su Li still felt astonished. It took her a lot of money, time, and effort to be proficient in two foreign languages; English and French. But Xiao Luo actually mastered three, and as he most probably spoke English as well, making it a total of four languages. A single person being able to master four foreign languages all at the same time was simply unimaginable, or at least, she had never encountered such a talent, aside from the man in front of her.
"How did you master so many foreign languages?"
Su Li was very curious as learning a language was not something that could be achieved overnight. It was true that diligence makes up for one's dullness, but the talent was still a prerequisite. Otherwise, one would already be in his 50s or 60s by the time he mastered four foreign languages. Xiao Luo was only two years older than her. She really wanted to know how Xiao Luo had learned his languages this quickly.
"It's simple. Listen more, speak more, read more, and write more," Xiao Luo replied.
Su Li knitted her highlighted eyebrows, thinking it'd be great if learning a foreign language was as simple as that.
"Xiao Luo raised his head to look at Su Li and asked, "Since you've asked me so many questions, I'll also ask you a question. Are you Sumir's boss?"
Hmm?
Su Li was stumped for a moment; how did the conversation topic suddenly jump to her pastry shop chain? Besides, she felt that she had hidden it really well, and no one knew that, behind the scenes, she was Sumir's boss. So, where did Xiao Luo get his information from?
She answered truthfully, "Yes, so what about it?"
"Nothing, just asking."
Xiao Luo smiled gently but couldn't help thinking that with Luo Workshop's entry into Xiahai, the first opponent they'd encounter would actually be his nominal wife. If that was the case, he couldn't possibly deal with Sumir like how he did with Taste Buds in Jiangcheng.
Su Li was skilled in observing facial expressions and detected the signs; she said, "Your eyes tell me that you seem to be hiding something."
Surprised, Xiao Luo decided to play along. "Wow, you got me there," he responded, "Yeah, I don't understand. Since you are Sumir's boss, why didn't you let me go to Sumir, instead of asking me to go to Huayao?"
"Do you enjoy being a kept man?!" Su Li retorted.
Huh?
A little sweat broke on Xiao Luo's forehead as he didn't expect Su Li to react to his jest in such a snide way.
...
...
Finally, breakfast was ready and laid on the table were a large bowl of steaming vegetable taro paste, a bowl of orange-colored steamed eggs, and a small dish of chili with soy sauce. Su Li couldn't resist digging in, and she asked Aunt Lee to taste it as well with the intention that she'd prepare them in the future.
As for Su Xiaobei, she had been eagerly waiting since a long time ago. She put on her neckerchief and spooned dollops into her mouth.
This was the first time they had white rice for breakfast, complemented by the two dishes of vegetable taro paste and steamed egg. Su Xiaobei's appetite was surprisingly good, and she quickly finished a large bowl of rice.
"This is so delicious, really, really delicious. I never thought that vegetable and taro could be made into such a fresh-tasting and delicious soup."
Aunt Lee was giving her utmost praise, and from her body language and excited expression, one could tell that she wasn't trying to please Xiao Luo, but that the food was genuinely delicious. It was a praise that came from the bottom of her heart.
Su Li's, as usual, ate elegantly, and whenever the corner of her mouth was stained a little, she would immediately wipe it clean with a napkin, then continue to eat in small bites. But she seemed to have also eaten a bowl of rice.
"It's pretty good for people in the city to occasionally taste food from the countryside."
Xiao Luo offered his opinion as he sat there, quietly nibbling on his toast.
"Are you not going to eat these?" Su Li asked.
"Don't mind me, I can eat anything," Xiao Luo replied.
With that, Su Li ignored him and continued to eat her fill.
Xiao Luo looked at Su Li, who was eating nonstop, and he couldn't help but smile. "What a foodie!"
...