OFTLHFRO C55

Chapter 55: Taste It Tonight

Hearing this, Wang Chen lifted his head in a daze, unable to understand why, when he was already so wretched, Luo Mingchen still had to mock him.

Just then, Huo Yan came over carrying the freshly potty-trained Huo Xinyue. Seeing Wang Chen kneeling on the ground, he only gave a faint glance.

Catching sight of Huo Yan, Wang Chen murmured, “No… they knew Ziqi and I truly loved each other, and for the sake of Huo Yan’s bride-price, they wanted me to go to his household and take care of his three children. He runs escort convoys—dangerous enough as it is—and he’s killed people. Yet my parents kept saying it was for my own good. They just wanted the rich bride-price!”

By the end his voice had risen.

Calmly, Luo asked, “Did you tell them you didn’t like Huo Yan?”

Wang Chen paused, then after a long moment said, “Even if they knew, they wouldn’t care. If they truly wanted what was best for me, why not let me be with Ziqi?”

“Aren’t you getting exactly what you wanted now? Why come looking for me?”

Luo’s tone brimmed with scorn. “The man you like likes you so much—he’s ‘doing this for your own good,’ pushing you to earn money so he can marry you, and with great kindness he regularly beats you so you’ll be more driven. How can you be so ungrateful as to try to run here to me? With thoughts like that, you really deserve to die for ingratitude. Why aren’t you content?”

Even Wang Chen, dull as he was, could hear the derision. Realizing there’d be no help here, he stood and said, “People like you wouldn’t understand…”

Luo drew a steadying breath, then stepped forward and punched him square in the face, knocking him to the floor. “People like me? Spell it out—what kind of person am I? And what kind of person are you? For the sake of a man who beats you every day, you broke with the parents who raised you for so many years. You bottleneck everything, pretending you’d sacrifice anything for family, yet you said nothing and ran from your wedding to elope with that man, dragging an outsider like me to take your place. How noble you are!”

Stunned by the blow, Wang Chen lay there staring blankly at the face so like his and yet not at all, and had no words.

“But without your filthy little maneuver, I wouldn’t have met someone as good as Huo Yan. Even if your screwup let me find the one I love, I will never pity you, nor ever thank you. Because dodging reality and dragging the innocent into your mess is a crime. Whatever bitter fruit follows, you can eat it. It was your choice.”

Having landed the punch, most of Luo’s anger ebbed. “I thought that Ziqi had already beaten sense into you. Looks like he hasn’t hit nearly hard enough. Only when you’re almost dead will you remember the family who treated you well. It must have been your older brother who came to repay the money, right? When I took it from him, his hands were all calloused, his hair already white. Now look at yourself. If you’ve got an ounce of decency left, take this packet of seeds and go home to plant with them.”

He flung a bag of seeds at Wang Chen. “I don’t pity you at all, but I do pity your family. How did they end up with such an ungrateful beast? You should be grateful you’re a man. If you were a woman, you’d be working with a belly full of child, and the baby would still end up burdening your family.”

Clutching the seeds, Wang Chen staggered up, looked as if to speak, then saw Huo handing Luo a cup of water—the man he’d thought brutal—eyes so gentle as he passed it over.

Something clutched at Wang Chen’s heart, painful and short of breath. Holding the seeds, he left, dazed.

Draining the water, Luo handed the cup back. “Another.”

Amused, Huo poured again. “No need to be angry.”

After finishing the second cup, Luo huffed, “I just don’t get how he had the nerve to say that about me—‘people like me’… What kind of person am I?”

Huo thought a moment. “A handsome and kind one.”

The deadpan praise made Luo laugh. “Did you eat sugar? That tongue’s awfully sweet.”

“Mm,” Huo said. “Taste it tonight.”

Luo’s face flushed. “Can you not say that in front of the child?”

Yueyue was in the language-sponge phase; what if she learned the wrong lines?

Glancing at her big, curious eyes, Huo said blandly, “Alright. We’ll say it in secret next time.”

“…”

Though Wang Chen had riled him up, the encounter hardened Luo’s resolve to hire help.

Especially after school, when so many came for milk tea. People from other academies were numerous too, and things only went smoother once Yuhui arrived to help.

Once the rush ended, Luo finally had time to visit the privy.

When he returned, he told Huo, “Let’s hire help after all. Wang Chen wasn’t wrong—we can offer room and board. With someone minding the shop, we won’t worry about the lock being pried again.”

“Got a candidate?” Huo asked.

“No.”

He wanted to—but where to find someone decent in character and quick to work?

Probably needed a recommendation.

But recommended hires could sour relationships if they didn’t perform.

And if the person turned out to be skimming… that’d be nasty.

As Luo wondered whom to ask, a familiar voice arrived. “Bosses, I’ve brought the bowl back, and part of the pastry money.”

Snapped back to the present, Luo saw the scholar and stood with a smile. “Just set it there. Keep the money. How’s your mother?”

The scholar placed the clean bowl and copper coins down. At the mention of his mother, he smiled faintly. “After eating the pastries yesterday, she said she felt much better. And the money—I promised, so I must repay it. Four pastries, by my count, is a hundred and ten wen. Here are five—I’ll pay the rest slowly.”

Luo blinked. “You really mean to repay tenfold?”

“A person should not break his word,” the scholar said.

At that, Luo didn’t know what to say. Seeing the scrapes on his hands, he asked, “Been doing hard labor?”

The scholar nodded. “Mm. Moved some cargo at the docks.”

“You have real literary talent. Why not keep accounts? Or look for work at a bookshop?”

“Before… yes,” the scholar said. “I offended someone, so I stopped.”

So—no job now.

Luo considered.

“I still have matters at home—I’ll be going,” the scholar said, turning to leave.

“Wait,” Luo called.

The scholar looked back, puzzled. “Yes?”

“Yes.” Luo’s eyes curved. “There’s a job here—room and board, two hundred wen a month. Will you take it?”