At Lucy's house,
Li Xing and Lucy sat across from each other in the dining room.
After taking a sip of the tea Lucy had brought him, Li Xing spoke.
"Just now, I attended a meeting of the town's hunter representatives. It was at Uncle Turner's smithy."
"Oh! Is that so? Then congratulations. Most of this town's affairs are decided by the hunters' council. You could say you've earned yourself a place in Hunter Town."
Li Xing merely smiled at Lucy's compliment.
"You flatter me! But that's not why I came. Uncle Turner has a meeting of representatives from every household later, and I'm not going. I want to head back and rest early, so I'll take Little Jerry to my cabin first. Just let Old Turner know when you see him."
Li Xing's explanation set Lucy thinking. Then she made a suggestion.
"How about this? Rest here for a while and help me watch the children. After the meeting, I'll bring Old Turner back to take Little Jerry home. Once I've given you a rough idea of what was discussed, you can head back and rest. How does that sound? Please do me this favor!"
Hearing Lucy's suggestion, Li Xing naturally wouldn't refuse his new friend.
"All right! I'll help."
Before Lucy left, she settled the children in bed, then brought Little Jerry to Li Xing.
"Big Brother Li Xing, how about I come play with you again tomorrow?"
Inside the house, Li Xing and Little Jerry sat across from each other at the dining table.
"Why?"
Li Xing asked in confusion, "Did you have that much fun with me?"
"No."
Little Jerry shook his head. "It's because your cooking is delicious, Big Brother Li Xing!"
Li Xing: "...Does that mean other people's cooking isn't good?"
Little Jerry nodded without the slightest hesitation, saying nothing.
This kid really is something. He doesn't say a word, just hints at it. Well done, well done!
"It's not just me. All the kids who ate with us today thought the dinner you made was much tastier than what we had at noon! They all want you to come to Sister Lucy's house and cook for everyone again tomorrow."
Hearing this, Li Xing seemed to think of something and asked mischievously, "So whose cooking tastes better, mine or Sister Lucy's?"
He had expected the child to wrestle with the question, as people had before he transmigrated.
To his surprise, Little Jerry answered firmly, "Yours, of course, Big Brother Li Xing! Everyone else said the same thing."
Well now! That's really something. Lucy, just how bad is your cooking? These kids you've looked after for so long abandoned their loyalties and backed me without a moment's hesitation. You really need to take a good look at your cooking!
That was what Li Xing thought, and he agreed to Little Jerry's request. As long as the children behaved, he would come back tomorrow and make them another delicious meal.
Hearing that, Little Jerry immediately declared that they would behave themselves as long as Li Xing fed them delicious food.
Good grief! You only care about good food, not where your loyalties lie! No, you still need an education. Li Xing couldn't help worrying about the children.
Many years later, whenever the next generation in Hunter Town wondered why something as bizarre as "homework" existed in the world, they would never have guessed it was because their parents had been gluttonous as children.
Time passed, and the residents' meeting eventually ended.
Just as Little Jerry was asking Li Xing what other delicious dishes he knew how to make,
Knock, knock, bang! The knocking interrupted Li Xing's description of the dishes' flavors and Little Jerry's fantasies about the food.
Li Xing went to the door.
"Who is it?"
"It's me! Old Turner. Jerry, Daddy's here to take you home."
"It's Daddy!" Jerry called out joyfully.
Seeing this, Li Xing opened Lucy's front door.
He saw Lucy and the Turner brothers, along with other men and women watching from farther back.
"What's going on, Lucy?"
Li Xing asked about the situation before him.
Lucy covered her forehead and shook her head. "Li Xing, you explain it! I can't make myself clear now, anyway."
"Huh?"
Li Xing's mind was in a tangle. "Wait! What do you want me to explain?"
Faced with Li Xing's question, even the outgoing Lucy couldn't help feeling shy.
The straightforward Old Turner stepped forward.
"Brother Turner! Can you two explain what's going on? I'm really confused."
The two exchanged a glance, and Old Turner asked,
"Li Xing, what do you think of Lucy?"
"What do you mean, what do I think? Isn't she a good person?"
"Then do you like Lucy?"
"Of course I like her! She helped me register as a resident and introduced me to everyone in town. If I didn't like her, was I supposed to hate her? What kind of person would that make me?"
Old Turner grinned in triumph and patted Li Xing on the shoulder.
"Good! Good! Good! You all heard that, right? He likes Lucy a lot!"
The people watching from a distance burst into cheers, as though celebrating a festival.
Faced with this, Lucy was speechless, while Li Xing was utterly bewildered.
Angie Turner, who was standing nearby, kicked his younger brother aside. "What are you making a fuss for? You're just making a mess of things."
He then stepped forward and said to Li Xing,
"The main reason we came is that word has spread around town about you and Lucy being close.
Everyone is very interested, but at the residents' meeting, Lucy kept denying that you and she were only friends, not lovers.
Now everyone wants to check the situation with you!"
Seeing the expression that had come over Li Xing's face, Angie Turner offered some advice.
"Don't be afraid, Li Xing! If you two really are lovers, everyone will give you their blessings. After all, that would be cause for celebration, with a wish of the townspeople fulfilled.
If you're not, you also need to clear up your relationship so everyone knows the truth. That way, you can cast aside some unnecessary burdens in your dealings with each other."
With everyone watching him, Li Xing, now aware of the situation around him, hurried to explain.
"Uncle Turner, Lucy and I only became friends today. I helped her out, and she helped me look after Little Jerry while I worked at the smithy.
There's really nothing between us!"
Seeing Li Xing's sincere expression, Angie Turner turned to Little Jerry, who stood beside him, and asked,
"Little Jerry, tell your uncle, is everything Big Brother Li Xing said true?"
Faced with everyone's expectant gazes, Little Jerry spoke up.
"Today, Big Brother Li Xing just told me to come play at Sister Lucy's house while he worked. Then he promised that as long as I behaved, he'd make us delicious food every day from now on, so we wouldn't have to eat Sister Lucy's food anymore.
"Just now, Big Brother Li Xing also said he'd make me a pork tenderloin dish with sugar and vinegar. He said it was sweet and sour and really delicious~~~~"
After hearing this, everyone had a rough idea of what had happened. They left the area looking disappointed and headed for their respective homes.
Seeing that Little Jerry had helped clear up the misunderstanding, Li Xing breathed a sigh of relief.
"Little Jerry, what else did Big Brother Li Xing say he'd make you?" Lucy stepped forward and asked Little Jerry, who stood in the doorway.
Hearing Lucy's question, Li Xing seemed to realize something and hurriedly turned to look at Jerry.
"Big Brother Li Xing, he..."
Just as Little Jerry was explaining, he saw Big Brother Li Xing signaling him to be quiet. He immediately stopped speaking.
"Oh! Looks like your Big Brother Li Xing had quite a lot to say."
Lucy turned and glared at Li Xing. After leaving him with those words, she went straight into the house.
Bang! The door slammed shut.
Come on! She said she'd tell me what happened at the meeting. Why did she suddenly stop talking?
Li Xing was speechless.