Running a Food Stall to Support My Deceptive Omega - Chapter 36.1

Shi Songmu really couldn’t understand these two.

One kept calling the other “Wife, Wife,” while the other insisted they were merely relatives.

Truly, each had their own story.

She had wanted to chat with Mu Jinyu a bit longer, but seeing how busy Mu Jinyu was and how little leisure she had to talk, Shi Songmu had no choice but to drop it. After greeting Mu Jinyu, she left with her childhood sweetheart.

Mu Jinyu and Rong Heng worked together until late into the night. Only after all the customers had left did they huddle by the stove again, beginning the arduous task of digging out the stone and earth blocks that had been sealed inside for two days.

Based on what the other stall owners said, it was unlikely that Stall Owner Zhang and his two associates would step out for the next few days.

Therefore, her stove should be safe for a while.

As for whether those three would try to seal her stove again once they recovered their strength…

Mu Jinyu snorted inwardly. In any case, she had prepared another batch of fish offal in the corner of her yard. In a couple of days, she would toss them back into the courtyards of Stall Owner Zhang and the others.

She would keep them constantly on edge, never giving them a chance to recover!

It took Mu Jinyu and Rong Heng about fifteen minutes to completely clear the stone and earth from the stove.

Since the stove had sat for two days, the internal moisture had already dissipated and dried out.

Tomorrow, they could just stuff in some firewood and use it immediately.

By the time they finished, all four of their hands were pitch black, and even their faces were stained with ash, looking like calico cats.

Seeing a streak of ash on Rong Heng’s cheek, Mu Jinyu instinctively wanted to reach out and wipe it away, but seeing her own blackened hand, her fingers curled back.

She used the back of her hand to brush away the ash on Rong Heng’s cheek.

When spending time with Mu Jinyu, Rong Heng was in an excellent mood. Her naturally upturned, slightly narrow eyes were widened into large, watery “puppy” eyes.

Seeing Mu Jinyu use the back of her hand to stroke her cheek, she blinked and lowered her gaze.

She seemed to be thinking about something.

When she looked up at Mu Jinyu again, her eyes were even brighter. Thinking Mu Jinyu wanted to rub her cheek just as she often rubbed her head, she cooperated fully, rubbing her cheek against the back of Mu Jinyu’s hand.

She used quite a bit of force, pressing her lean cheek until a tiny bit of flesh puffed up.

A tingling, electric sensation surged up Mu Jinyu’s spine. She jerked her head to the side, almost afraid to look at the adorable Rong Heng.

Yet, she didn’t withdraw her hand, secretly enjoying being nuzzled by the other.

Her mouth, however, was stubborn: “Stop rubbing. Let’s go back.”

Hearing this, Rong Heng looked at her again and noticed that under the light of the two lanterns on the small cart, Mu Jinyu’s cheeks were slightly flushed.

Her gaze also seemed flighty, darting back and forth.

It seemed she didn’t like this.

Was she unhappy?

Rong Heng felt that as long as she “patted her head,” Mu Jinyu should be happy.

But her expression now was clearly not a smile, so she must be unhappy.

How could she be unhappy?

Rong Heng stood up and, without a second thought, squeezed into Mu Jinyu’s embrace, tilting her head to face her directly, carefully scrutinizing the expression on her face.

She wanted to catch her attention.

Suddenly being approached so closely, Mu Jinyu stared at the enlarged face before her.

Alarm bells rang in her heart.

Too close…

Her lips seemed to brush past her cheek, their noses were almost touching, and even those eyelashes were fluttering as if grazing her skin.

Too close!

Locking eyes with Rong Heng, Mu Jinyu was momentarily dazed by the “stars” in the other’s eyes. It took a long moment before she leaned back sharply to create distance, her hands propped on the bench, not daring to touch the person in front of her.

“Wha—what’s wrong?” Her voice stammered.

Rong Heng extended two index fingers, pressing them against the corners of Mu Jinyu’s mouth and pulling upward into the arc of a smile.

“Be happy,” she said.

Mu Jinyu’s gaze shifted to the side again. Her embrace was filled with Rong Heng’s scent. Clearly, they both wore sachets, and after so much time, the marking should have completely faded.

Why was Rong Heng’s scent still so distinct? Why was it still so fragrant?

Mu Jinyu felt dizzy and lightheaded. Being forced to smile like this, she couldn’t actually manage it.

She moved her head, trying to rescue her face from Rong Heng’s hands.

Seeing this, Rong Heng let go, but then took Mu Jinyu’s hand and placed it on her own head, moving her head under the palm.

She looked at her expectantly.

This was clearly her way of trying to make Mu Jinyu smile.

Mu Jinyu felt a rush of panic. She quickly pulled her hand back, placed it on Rong Heng’s arm, and pushed her slightly further away.

She stood up from the stool, quickly forced a smile, and urged: “Let’s go, we’re going back.”

Rong Heng huffed, then reached out and placed her hand on Mu Jinyu’s head, rubbing it heavily a few times.

She said: “Perfunctory!”

It was a sophisticated word. Mu Jinyu was surprised by Rong Heng’s cleverness and gave her a look before lowering her head to hurriedly pack their things.

After they finished packing and extinguished the lanterns, they walked home together, arms brushing arms and shoulders touching shoulders.

Their shadows were stretched long by the moonlight, almost merging into one.

Back at home, as Mu Jinyu prepared to make a midnight snack for Rong Heng, she saw her dirty palms and remembered she had just rubbed Rong Heng’s head with them.

She immediately looked at the top of Rong Heng’s head. Sure enough, there were dusty patches where she had touched her.

Was her own head also dirty?

Thinking about this, Mu Jinyu felt a bit self-loathing for losing her bearings just because Rong Heng looked at or touched her.

She finished making the food for Rong Heng, boiled a large pot of water, and poured it into the bath bucket in the storage room.

After Rong Heng finished her snack, Mu Jinyu led her into the storage room and said: “While bathing today, I’ll wash your hair first.”

Washing Rong Heng’s hair was relatively simple; she just had to sit on a small stool and lean her head back against the edge of the bucket.

Rong Heng naturally had no objection. After watching Mu Jinyu close the storage room door, she sat on the stool and waited.

The sound of splashing water rose, and the storage room gradually filled with misty steam. Both of them felt warm.

Outside the storage room, Hidden Guard One, crouching on the roof of Mu Jinyu’s house, couldn’t take it anymore.

She stood up straight, veins popping on her forehead, and gritted her teeth: “I’m going to kill that person!!! How dare she enter the bathhouse with the Master!?”

They had been on the roof since the moment Mu Jinyu and Rong Heng returned home.

They had seen with their own eyes as Mu Jinyu boiled a large pot of water, entered the bathhouse, and poured it into the bucket.

They had also seen Mu Jinyu bring Rong Heng inside and close the door!

That damn person who sold the Delicious Fish Noodles actually dared to bathe with their Master!

“Don’t stop me! I’m going to kill her!!!”

“Don’t kill, don’t kill.” Hidden Guard Two held back Hidden Guard One, her hand pinning her shoulder down firmly as she analyzed: “If she needed to be killed, wouldn’t the Master do it herself? Why do you need to do something extra? Don’t do something that will make the Master angry.”

Was it their place to worry about who the Master chose to bathe with?

They only needed to follow orders and stop imagining nonsense.

“Forget it, okay? The Master has her own plans.”

Even though Hidden Guard Two had pinned Hidden Guard One down, her arm remained draped over the other’s shoulder, fearing she might rush off again.

However, Hidden Guard One’s anger didn’t fade. She couldn’t understand—it had only been such a short time, why was the Master being so good to a mere merchant?!

“You say the Master has plans, but when will she give us orders?” she asked gloomily.

Since finding the Master, they had often changed disguises to linger in front of the stall, even queuing up multiple times to buy the fish noodles and fish cakes.

They just wanted to establish contact and receive instructions.

Yet the Master had no reaction at all, acting as if she didn’t recognize them. What were they supposed to do?

Hidden Guard Two: “Sigh, don’t panic. It’s fine to let the Master relax for a while. She’s been too busy.”

Hidden Guards One and Two sat on the roof, listening to the splashing water from the storage room, sighing repeatedly.

Inside the storage room, Mu Jinyu first used her fingers to remove some fine bits of dirt from Rong Heng’s hair.

Then she scooped up a ladle of water with a wooden gourd-shaped dipper and gently poured it over the strands of hair.

In her palm, the soap bean pods were rubbed into a foam, which she applied to Rong Heng’s hair, gently massaging it in circles.

The hair was silky smooth. As she rubbed it in her hands, it felt so delicate that Mu Jinyu was afraid of damaging it.

She even thought to herself that she should buy better hair-washing products for Rong Heng.

During these movements, Rong Heng tilted her head back, her gaze fixed intently on Mu Jinyu.

She thought Mu Jinyu’s amber eyes looked quite beautiful amidst the hazy steam, like gems hidden in water.

It grew warmer in the storage room, causing both their faces to redden.

Unable to withstand Rong Heng’s gaze, Mu Jinyu was the first to look away, choosing a serious topic to speak: “Tomorrow morning, Shi Songmu invited us to Yulou for breakfast.”

“I heard Yulou is the number one restaurant in Louxu County. Their new dishes should be quite good.”

Hearing about new food, Rong Heng’s eyes lit up, and she nodded her tilted head, indicating she wanted to go.

Early the next morning, Mu Jinyu woke Rong Heng and prepared a set of relatively brightly colored clothes for her.

Only after the other had changed did she help her put up her hair and insert the hairpin bought a few days ago.

The light yellow clothing and the red-and-yellow flower hairpin made Rong Heng look much more lively and spirited.

Mu Jinyu also wore a set of yellow clothes, which could be considered a matching set with Rong Heng’s, so anyone looking would know they were together.

Once ready, the two headed out and met Shi Songmu and her childhood sweetheart at the entrance of the night market street.

The four of them walked toward Yulou, the largest restaurant in Louxu County.

Only then did Shi Songmu have the chance to say: “There will definitely be many people coming specifically to try the new ‘One Tea, One Dim Sum’ today. However, I’ve already had someone wait in line for us; we should be able to get in as soon as we arrive.”

As she spoke, Shi Songmu even took out the paper and brush she had brought, waving them at Mu Jinyu.

“After I taste the new food at Yulou, I’ll immediately have to write a critique. You and your distant relative don’t need to mind me, just keep eating.”

She was quite famous within Louxu County and even in the capital of Bianjing.

The food critiques she wrote were widely circulated among young people who wanted to follow her lead in eating all the fresh delicacies under heaven.