Yang Xue nodded continuously, thinking what she'd heard made sense.
How could she have known before that Sun Wukong was so spineless? He had simply been kissed and then cowered like that.
If he were to meet a female demon prettier than her in the future, or if he went to the Heavenly Court for reinforcements and encountered a beautiful goddess, and if his mind wasn't pure, wouldn't it be very dangerous...
No, she had to find a way to see Sun Wukong and tie him down tightly.
Hua'er got drunk and lay on the table, crying and laughing. Yang Xue took quite some effort to drag her to the bed.
Just as she came to the first floor and was about to start making money, the God of Wealth suddenly appeared in front of her.
"God of Wealth, why are you here again?" After being enlightened by Hua'er, Yang Xue was more certain that the God of Wealth didn't come here out of boredom. Suddenly, she didn't feel so at ease about taking those pieces of gold before.
"What, don't you welcome me?" He found an empty seat and sat down. "I'm here to eat. Will you cook for me? Ten taels of gold for a dish."
Looking at his serious expression, Yang Xue felt deeply guilty and shook her head repeatedly. "No way. Sky - high prices for dishes will damage the restaurant's reputation. Who would dare to eat my cooking in the future?"
He smiled slightly, his eyes filled with a bit of indulgence. He propped his hand on his temple. "Then cook me a spicy beef at the normal price. I've been thinking about it ever since I had it last time. I want to try it again."
"My dear God of Wealth, you got choked by the spiciness last time. Are you still brave enough to eat it?" Yang Xue felt like a heartless woman all of a sudden. "Well, maybe you'd better not eat it. Anyway, you have the celestial nectar, which is better than any mortal dish."
"No, your cooking is very special. I've tasted all kinds of delicious food in the world, but I've never had such delicious spicy beef. At first, it's very spicy and exciting, but then you'll get addicted to it. Please cook a bowl for me, okay?" He even tilted his head, closed his fan, and bowed. "Miss Bai, I'd be much obliged."
"..." Yang Xue forced a smile. Looking at his young and tender face making a flattering expression, she didn't know whether she was more shocked or flustered.
"Yang Xue, your real name is Yang Xue, right? Can I call you that?" He put away his smile and asked seriously.
"Sure, of course."
"Are you really in love with Sun Wukong?" He lowered his head and played with his fan, asking softly.
"Yes."
"So, you're keeping your distance from me to avoid suspicion?" There was suddenly a bit of sadness in his voice. He drooped his eyelids, and his long lashes were thin and curved.
"I... I'm not keeping my distance from you." Yang Xue embarrassedly scratched her hair. Few people would ask such a question. Usually, people would just understand tacitly, right!
"Then why won't you even cook a dish for me?" He suddenly looked up and met Yang Xue's gaze. The sadness in his eyes was extremely intense. "Even if that monkey ignores you, you still want to keep your distance from me, your friend, for fear that he'll misunderstand you when he comes back?"
"I..." Oh no, how could she explain this? It seemed that she had really thought so.
"The boss lady said I had feelings for you, and you believed it. Then you straightforwardly chose Sun Wukong and excluded me. You even wanted to drive me away and didn't even want to take my gold?" His eyes were weak and hurt, and his questions were pressing.
"..." Yang Xue didn't dare to meet his gaze. She lowered her head and pinched her skirt, not knowing what to say. Was he scolding her for being self - indulgent and treating him differently?
Oh dear, this God of Wealth was making her feel extremely guilty.
So, he never thought that way at all?
Maybe Hua'er was wrong sometimes.
"Why are my eyes said to show that I'm deeply in love with you, that I'm crazy about you and can't have you?" The God of Wealth's tone became more and more aggrieved. "We've always been friends, haven't we?"
Seeing him standing in front of her, Yang Xue subconsciously looked up and smiled. "Ah, yes, I just..."
"Don't listen to her nonsense. After all, she's never been married and has never truly experienced love. How does she know what real love is? She's just tortured by regret and guilt, hiding here feeling sorry for herself, chewing on those beautiful but painful memories over and over again, only leaving the sweet parts." As he said, the God of Wealth gently tapped her head with his fan.
"You, a little demon of only a few hundred years, it's understandable that you're easy to believe others." Seeing Yang Xue's head getting lower and lower and one foot stepping on the tip of the other, he couldn't help but curl his lips. "Just think of me as an older brother and a good friend, and you won't feel awkward."
"Okay." Yang Xue sniffed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to keep my distance from you. I was just worried about you..."
"Don't worry about me. Don't worry about other people's feelings. If it were really like what the boss lady said, I, such a prideful person, would have left long ago. Why would I come to see you again and again?" He took a light breath and looked up at the ceiling. "I'm still too young. Some human experiences shouldn't be casually learned."
"Got it," Yang Xue said embarrassedly and couldn't help sticking out her tongue. "I'll go cook the spicy beef for you. If you keep talking, I'll cry."
Seeing her embarrassed look as if she wanted to run away, the God of Wealth patted her head. "Go ahead. Put more Chinese prickly ash, and I want more garlic sauce."
As a god, one should abstain from meat during long - term cultivation and meditation.
The so - called five pungent vegetables are garlic, wild garlic, hing, scallions, and Chinese chives. Eating these raw can increase anger and make people irritable; eating them cooked can arouse lust and make people lustful.
Eating too much garlic can hurt the heart and make one irritable. Eating too much garlic can make one's mind easily scatter and listless. But Yang Xue's dishes were very flavorful. After he tasted them, he understood why gods were not allowed to eat meat.
But after tasting them, he didn't want to abstain anymore. At this moment, even if he didn't eat, his heart was already hurt and he was irritable. He might as well indulge himself once.
This trip to the mortal world was a great blessing from heaven. He was lucky enough to meet Yang Xue. In just one short month, he had tasted many flavors that he hadn't had a chance to taste when he was human...
Although it was hard to bear, he just couldn't stop!
He looked at Yang Xue's back. His heart felt extremely sour and there was an indescribable dull pain. After the sourness, there was a bit of long - lasting sweetness, lingering back and forth...
What the boss lady Hua'er said was quite right. Presumably, this was the taste of loving someone but not being able to have them.
Otherwise, he thought he just hadn't seen a woman for a long time and had never seen a beautiful demon like Yang Xue before, and it was just a momentary crush.
He sat by the window on the second floor, looking at the people coming and going on the street, and felt a great emotional upsurge in his heart. This feeling of being moved by mortal emotions was something he hadn't felt for many years.
Yang Xue was concentrating on cooking in the kitchen when suddenly a smiling face appeared outside the kitchen window, scaring her so much that she almost dropped the spoon in her hand!
"Hehe, sister, don't be scared. Can you cook a spicy beef for me too?" A charming girl tilted her head and smiled as she ordered. "I have silver, but can you bring the dish to the second floor? I want to eat with that good - looking man."
"Hmm?" Did she mean the God of Wealth?
If she wasn't mistaken, this girl's real form was a fox demon. Was she interested in the God of Wealth?