The Young Master's Flatbread Was So Delicious

Yangcheng Dian.

In the early morning, mist spread boundlessly across the lake.

A houseboat sailed slowly over the quiet, mist-shrouded water, leaving ripples spreading in its wake.

Xiao Ya sat at the bow, her two smooth little feet dangling in the air.

She held a food box tightly in her arms. Inside was breakfast for that handsome young master.

The breakfast was neither delicate nor abundant: a bowl of millet porridge, a steamed bun, an egg, and a dish of pickled vegetables.

Her father had made a special trip to a nearby town to buy it before daybreak.

He had even heated it up again before they set out.

Perhaps the young master would turn his nose up at the breakfast, but to her, it was already the most delicious food in the whole world.

She had never eaten anything like it in her life.

Just thinking about the tempting food inside the box made Xiao Ya's stomach rumble, and no matter how often she swallowed, her mouth kept watering.

But she knew she couldn't eat it. The breakfast belonged to the young master.

The young master had already spent a day and a night on that mudflat. His belly had to be sticking to his backbone by now.

She had gone hungry before and knew what that felt like.

The young master was her family's benefactor. Her father had fetched a physician the previous evening, and after her mother drank the medicine he brewed, she was already much better.

She was deeply grateful to the young master. Though she still didn't know his name, that didn't matter. She had already etched his face deep in her heart.

So no matter how badly she wanted to eat it, she wouldn't lay a finger on the food box.

They might have been poor, but they knew how to show gratitude.

As Xiao Ya sat at the bow, the piercingly cool wind, laden with damp mist, seeped through her thin, worn clothes, but she didn't feel cold at all.

Her eyes remained fixed on the mudflat drawing ever closer. It was as though a fire burned in her heart, filling it with warmth and heat.

She saw him,

the handsome young master.

He was still sitting on that large rock, in the very same posture he had held when they left yesterday.

Amid green mountains and clear waters, mudflats and white cranes, the young master in white looked like an immortal descended from heaven.

Ripples seemed to spread through Xiao Ya's eyes. It was as though the whole world before her held nothing but that figure in white, and she couldn't help staring, entranced.

She was still young and perhaps didn't understand what love was. She only knew that she wanted to look at him a little longer, say a few more words to him, and be a little closer to him.

"Young master..."

At last, Xiao Ya couldn't resist standing up and waving to the figure in white as she called out.

Her clear, ringing voice startled the flock of cranes playing and resting on the mudflat. Some spread their wings and took flight, while others let out long, clear cries.

The quiet, tranquil atmosphere was shattered in an instant.

Xiao Ya realized she seemed to have done something wrong. She stood rooted to the spot, at a loss for what to do.

The courage and impulse that had suddenly welled up in her heart receded like the tide, replaced by regret, self-reproach, panic, and fear.

Gao Yunyi, however, didn't blame her.

His target was the crane king; he paid no attention to the ordinary white cranes around it.

He had kept watch all night, yet there was still no sign of the crane king. It seemed he would have to keep waiting.

Gao Yunyi had at least that much patience. Time was the one thing he had in abundance now.

"Young master... my daughter was too rash just now and disturbed you while you were watching the cranes. Please be magnanimous and forgive her this once."

After mooring the boat, Xiao Ya's father hurried over to apologize.

He bowed very low, his face tense.

Those ten taels of silver were far too important to his family. If the young master before him got angry and demanded them back, it would be no less than the sky falling on them.

"Hurry up and apologize to the young master."

Beside him, Xiao Ya hung her head, both hands clutching the hem of her clothes. Like a frightened little deer, her eyes were slightly red, and tears welled in them.

"Young master... I'm... I'm sorry."

Bead-sized tears fell onto the deck, like the heart of a girl experiencing her first stirrings of love, falling to the ground and shattering to pieces.

"It's all right."

Gao Yunyi's gaze had never been on the father and daughter from the start. His eyes were only for the crane king that had yet to appear.

Hearing his calm forgiveness, Xiao Ya's father immediately let out a deep breath of relief.

He slowly raised his head and saw that the young master hadn't looked at them once from beginning to end.

The tension on Xiao Ya's father's face finally vanished completely.

But soon,

a flicker of shock passed through his eyes.

The young master in white had clearly spent the whole night sitting on this rock out in the open, yet there wasn't a single drop of dew on his clothes or hair.

They were surrounded by a great lake, where the damp was especially heavy, particularly in the middle of the night and early morning. Yet there wasn't even a trace of moisture on the young master. He was as clean and dry as when he had first come ashore yesterday.

Xiao Ya's father's heart skipped a beat, but he didn't show it. Instead, he spoke respectfully:

"Thank you for your magnanimity, young master. This humble one prepared breakfast for you. It's only plain fare, and I don't know whether it will suit your taste. Xiao Ya, bring the food box here. Xiao Ya..."

Xiao Ya's father called several times without an answer, so he turned around and saw his daughter staring blankly at the young master.

"Xiao Ya, are you deaf?"

Xiao Ya's father raised his voice, speaking irritably.

"Huh... what..."

Xiao Ya came to her senses as if waking from a dream, the tips of her ears already bright red.

"Give the food box to the young master," Xiao Ya's father said helplessly, sighing deeply to himself.

"Oh."

Xiao Ya stepped forward, holding the food box in both hands like a devout believer offering tribute to the deity she worshipped.

"Here, young master. Careful, it's hot."

But Gao Yunyi replied without looking back, "No need. You can have it."

Xiao Ya's hands froze around the food box. Puzzled, she looked back at her father.

"Father, the young master says he won't eat it."

Xiao Ya's father's heart pounded when he heard that. If it weren't broad daylight, I would have thought I'd seen a ghost.

It had been nearly a full day and night since noon yesterday.

The young master hadn't touched a drop of water or eaten a grain of rice. He had simply sat motionless on the rock watching the white cranes, without even changing his posture.

He was like a statue of a god in a temple.

"Hahaha... perhaps the young master isn't used to this coarse country fare. At noon, I'll catch a big fish from the lake and make fish soup, so the young master can have a good taste of Yangcheng Dian's freshwater fish."

Xiao Ya's father forced down the shock in his heart and spoke to his daughter with a smile.

"There's no need to come at noon. From now on, just come once in the morning and once in the evening. There's no need to prepare food either."

Gao Yunyi spoke with casual composure.

"Gulp..."

Xiao Ya's father swallowed, a cold sweat breaking out on his back. He hurriedly cupped his hands and agreed.

"Yes, this humble one understands. This humble one understands."

With that, he immediately poled the boat away.

Xiao Ya glanced at Gao Yunyi, then at her father, looking utterly bewildered.

The houseboat quickly left the mudflat behind. After it passed around the great bend, Gao Yunyi disappeared from sight.

But Xiao Ya kept looking in that direction, never turning her gaze away.

She sat at the bow, her feet swinging happily. The food box was no longer in her arms, but now she held a large flatbread with a piece missing in her left hand.

Xiao Ya rested her chin on her right hand, her innocent eyes and the shimmering surface of the water reflecting each other.

Her cheeks bulged round like those of a hamster with its mouth stuffed full of chestnuts.

"Mmm... the flatbread the young master gave me is so delicious."