Chapter 58 Chicken Soup

Chapter 58: Chicken Soup

Cheng Ge thought it was over; he’d nearly, accidentally, stolen his brother’s girl.

Can anyone tell me what to do? Online, urgent.

If he knelt before his brother right now and slapped himself thirty times in the face, he wondered if he could save this friendship.

Cheng Ge sat alone in the courtyard, his head still spinning.

He’d heard back in ancient times, there were strict rules about men and women.

It wasn’t like women couldn’t leave the house, but married women were absolutely not allowed to get too close to other guys.

Cheng Ge grabbed a piece of pastry, took a couple bites, and started to reassure himself.

“I didn’t really do anything, just chatted with them a bit. That’s no big deal, right?”

He glanced toward Cui Ji’s tightly shut door, and a knot formed in his stomach.

…

Cui Ji was looking at the military reports in his hands, his mind wandering, his eyes drifting to the door every now and then.

Suddenly hearing the sound of a door opening, like some weird impulse, he quickly rose from his seat and strode over to the door in a couple steps.

Since he was far off, he only caught a few scattered words.

Steward: “@%& Young Master ^*&%# where you going?”

Cheng Ge: “&#*^ Saddle the horse &@*&^ I’m outta here!”

Cui Ji: “!!!”

This little punk was actually leaving? Cui Ji felt awful, so pissed he went back to his seat, grabbed the tea off the table and chugged it.

He snatched up the report, his eyes glued to the words, his lips a tight line.

Suddenly, Cui Ji hurled the report in his hand toward the door, muttering under his breath, “Useless, can’t even catch a barbarian!”

The secret guards exchanged looks, swallowed hard, feeling the tense vibe, and talked with their eyes.

Secret Guard A: What’s up with the prince? Why’s he so pissed?

Secret Guard B: No clue. Maybe he OD’d on ginseng.

Secret Guard C: Didn’t you hear? Those useless border guards let the barbarians get away.

Secret Guard Chief: Idiots, can’t you see? The prince is obviously sulking ’cause Young Master Cheng dumped him.

The other secret guards: !!!, When did they hook up?

Cui Ji flipped through the “Wei Liaozi,” feeling restless.

His eyes kept drifting to the door, but besides the crickets, there wasn’t a sound.

He lowered his eyes, pursed his lips, and stayed still, the pages in his hand getting wrinkled.

He thought bitterly: It’s all the same, everyone leaves eventually.

At that thought, his heart burned.

Slowly, he pulled a jade pendant from his sleeve and held it in his palm, his thumb tracing the tiger pattern.

Carefully, he turned it over, his fingertip rubbing back and forth over the characters “Cui Chen,” almost wearing them smooth.

Just then, a soft knock came. “Ahem… can I come in?”

It was Cheng Ge’s voice…

Hearing that, Cui Ji immediately sat up straight and put the jade pendant away.

He didn’t answer right away, but cleared his throat twice, trying to steady his voice: “Come in.”

Cheng Ge pressed his ear to the door, and only after hearing Cui Ji’s reply did he carefully push it open.

Seeing the mess inside, with the report Cui Ji had thrown on the floor, his heart skipped a beat.

He snuck a glance at Cui Ji’s face, holding a tray, and shuffled over to him step by step.

“Uh… I just went to the kitchen and made this. Try it.”

Cheng Ge set the tray on the table, his voice getting softer, his eyes darting away, unable to look at Cui Ji.

Cui Ji looked at the soup pot in front of him, then glanced at Cheng Ge, his fingers curling slightly, but he didn’t move to take it.

Cheng Ge felt a little awkward, scratching the back of his head.

He’d never really tried to please anyone before, so he was clumsy at it. He pushed the soup pot a bit closer to Cui Ji.

“Uh… hurry up and drink it. It’ll taste bad cold.”

Cui Ji stared at the soup pot, the frustration in his heart easing a bit.

But his face stayed cold and indifferent. He casually opened the pot, picked up the porcelain spoon, and got ready to eat.

The soup was piled with chunks of black-boned chicken, cut unevenly—some big, some small.

Seeing this, Cheng Ge urged him quietly, “Eat up, eat up.”

Drink my chicken soup, and we’ll call it even, okay~

Under Cheng Ge’s hopeful gaze, Cui Ji scooped up a spoonful of soup and put it in his mouth.

The taste was weird—three parts salty, seven parts bitter, with a faint burnt taste.

Cui Ji frowned a little, while Cheng Ge watched him nervously, his eyes full of hope.

“How is it? Not bad, huh?” Cheng Ge asked carefully.

Cui Ji looked at Cheng Ge’s tense, hopeful expression, swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue, and nodded. “Mm…”

Hearing this, Cheng Ge’s eyes lit up instantly. “I knew it! The chef’s debut is bound to be extraordinary.”

With that, he dragged a chair over and sat down next to Cui Ji, staring unblinkingly as he drank the soup.

Under Cheng Ge’s intense gaze, Cui Ji lowered his head and took a few more sips.

Each mouthful sat in his mouth for a long time before he could barely swallow it.

Cheng Ge saw his reaction and figured his good buddy was touched by his lovingly made soup and couldn't stand to finish it too fast.

Thinking that, he reached over and patted Cui Ji on the shoulder. "I'll make it for you again next time. Come on, eat up."

Cui Ji: "..."

Cui Ji met his sincere eyes and couldn't say no, so he resigned himself and ate.

Cheng Ge thought for a moment, then cleared his throat and tentatively said, "My bad about earlier. Don't sweat it."

Cui Ji stopped mid-motion and shot Cheng Ge a sideways glance.

His eyes finally landed on that slender neck, still faintly red. Cui Ji knew he'd been too rough.

A twinge of guilt hit him. He looked away and muttered, "It's nothing."

Cheng Ge grinned and scratched his neck without thinking. "Mosquitoes are brutal tonight—got me twice, and it's so itchy."

"I didn't know those girls were yours. I thought they were just maids, so I got carried away."

The room went quiet for a second, just the clink of the bowl.

After a long pause, Cui Ji finally said, "I... I'm not involved with them."

Cheng Ge: "???"

"You impotent or something?" Cheng Ge asked with genuine curiosity.

The hidden guards exchanged glances: !!! Should we cover our ears now?

Cui Ji felt a throbbing pain at his temples. He swallowed the last bitter piece of chicken and was about to retort.

But then he noticed something hard at the bottom of the soup pot. He instinctively poked at it with his chopsticks.

And so, three large ginseng roots, perfectly intact, slowly floated to the surface of the soup.

Cui Ji: "..."

He looked at the three ginseng roots, then turned to Cheng Ge, hoping for a reasonable explanation.