Chapter 104：Ice Cream

It looked like Zhao Qixuan really had warned all those people. The gentlemen who suffered under Liu Li's cruel hands did not show up at the restaurant tonight. However, Heavenly Residence was still full so Ye Jiayao stayed busy all through the night.

When she finally stepped outside, she saw Song Qi waiting for her.

"Brother Yao, please get on the cart," Song Qi called.

Ye Jiayao sighed, knowing that Chunyu would be inside the cart.

"I told you not to come here," Ye Jiayao chided, trying to hide the thrill she was feeling. It was just like a modern love story of guys picking up their girlfriends after work.

Unluckily, there were no flowers.

Xia Chunyu simply responded, "I don't want people to take you cruising again."

Ye Jiayao rolled her eyes.

"It's better that I just take you away," Xia Chunyu continued and pulled her against his chest.

"Chunyu, you better not move those hands," she threatened him.

Xia Chunyu's eyes gleamed as bright as his smile. "Okay. I'll just move my mouth."

He lowered his head and kissed her lips.

Ye Jiayao struggled for a few beats before giving up and sinking into him. His tongue slipped past her lips and roamed her mouth, tasting her greedily.

The heat rose inside the cart, stifling and carnal. Both of them were lost in each other, lost in the passion of their embrace.

"Yaoyao…"

"What?"

Xia Chunyu grabbed her hand and pressed it on top of his groin, letting her feel how hard he was for her. The lust and longing in his eyes were unmistakable as he stared down at her, his breathing ragged.

Ye Jiayao blushed, feeling embarrassed. She might've come from the modern age where girls were not as conservative but this was still new to her. She knew that if girls were too open and liberated, guys would just treat them casually.

"If you keep looking at me like that, I will get off the cart." Ye Jiayao took her hand back, fixed her clothing, and adjusted her seating position.

Xia Chunyu almost groaned in frustration. He knew that what he did was improper, but he couldn't help it. Whenever she was close, his desire for her just overtakes his rational brain.

"What did you make tonight?" Xia Chunyu asked to distract himself.

"You will know when we get there," Ye Jiayao answered coyly. This was her first time to make ice cream and she didn't know if she would succeed. It was best not to hype it up.

When they returned home, Jiang Yue had already prepared all the materials Ye Jiayao would need. There was even a large ice room which had cost Ye Jiayao a fortune because it was custom-made.

"Where is your brother?" Ye Jiayao asked because she didn't see him last night nor this morning.

"My brother is doing carpentry work in the house. I told him to come out, but he didn't want to leave."

Ye Jiayao and Xia Chunyu exchanged glances. How long was this kid planning to hide himself? 

Paying no more mind to it, Ye Jiayao started on the process of making ice cream. First, she cracked two eggs, separating the yolks, and mixed it with sugar. She then used the beater Ah Li made to whisk the egg whites until it developed stiff peaks.

A pot of milk was heating on the stove and Ye Jiayao waited until it was just shy of boiling before taking it off the fire. She let it cool a little bit before she made Jiang Yue pour it slowly into the eggs as she whisked them all together.

"Slow. No, slower."

The temperature of the milk and the speed of whisking were the keys during this process. Higher temperature or faster pouring could either scramble the eggs or dilute it, so everything should be controlled.

"What are you doing?" Xia Chunyu asked, confused. He has never seen a process like this before. "That's so strange."

Ye Jiayao put the egg and milk mixture back to the pot to boil before replying, "Something you've never eaten before."

A thought then suddenly occurred to her. She smacked her forehead and exclaimed, "I forgot! This will only be edible after three hours! Do you want to just come back tomorrow?"

Xia Chunyu shook his head. "Just three hours? I can wait."

It would be great to spend more time with her.

Ye Jiayao nodded, secretly happy that he wouldn't leave just yet. 

After the egg and milk mixture has boiled, she set it aside to cool for about 20 minutes or so.

During that wait, Jiang Yue was smart enough to find an excuse to leave so that the small kitchen would just belong to the two lovebirds.

Ye Jiayao kept her distance from him for security.

Xia Chunyu saw her wary look and smiled.

"Are there books here?"

"None."

"You don't play doubles anymore?" Xia Chunyu asked. She invented this gambling game and Song Qi made it popular. Now, it wasn't just the Jing An Mansion that was playing it, but also people outside.

She muttered, "I'm tired when I come back every day, and sometimes, I still have to study the dishes. When will I have the time to play? Besides, I don't think I have enough money to play." She was still poor, she couldn't afford to gamble away her savings.

"Rock, Paper, Scissors? Are you not playing either?" Xia Chunyu thought about that terrible rock. He was actually still smarting from that loss and he wanted revenge.

Ye Jiayao joked, "I don't want to give you any chance to win it back. You've lost to me now. That's going to my achievement belt."

He laughed at how easy she figured him out. "Alright, alright. I admit I lost to you."

"Well, you don't have to sound so miserable about it!"

"I don't sound miserable." Xia Chunyu frowned. "Do I?"

Ye Jiayao nodded, smiling mischievously.

He made a show of clearing his throat before saying, "Yaoyao, I lost to you. There. Does that sound better?"

Ye Jiayao giggled, liking this playful side of Chunyu. "So, if you lose, the money you earn later would belong to me. Can you handle that?"

"I already belong to you, why can't I handle that?" Xia Chunyu smiled at her.

Ye Jiayao flushed red. Was he just teasing or was he actually serious? What? No! What are you thinking, Ye Jiayao? Of course, it was a joke!

"Or we can play pick up stones?" she suggested. She saw Jiang Yue play it before and Ye Jiayao had also been an excellent player when she was young.

Xia Chunyu shrugged. He was willing to do whatever makes her happy.

Ye Jiayao ran in and borrowed a handful of peach stones from Jiang Yue for their game.

"How do you play this?" he asked. He actually knew the rules but he wanted her to tell him.

"It is very simple." Ye Jiayao then proceeded to demonstrate the game to him.

"Do you get it now?" she asked him.

Xia Chunyu nodded. "Almost. You go first. I'll learn from your moves."

Ye Jiayao hadn't played this for a while, but going through a round wasn't a problem. What she didn't expect was for him to be good at this, too. Every time she would progress to one level, he'd follow at her heels. He just wouldn't lose!

When it was the turn to cut the vegetables, Ye Jiayao played smartly. She put a few peach stones enough to only span the width of her palm. If she dropped her palms and touch the peach stones, she would lose. Her palms were slender and his were thick so there was no way he'd pass this round. 

Xia Chunyu saw right through her attempt to thwart him and smiled faintly. He picked up the peach stones agilely, quickly and accurately cutting in the gap.

Ye Jiayao looked at him closely. "Have you played this before?"

Xia Chunyu shook his head. "No, but this is such an easy game."

Easy? Ha! Bring it on, Dumb Donkey.

The final round was one dragon which consisted of putting the peach stones in a line or a circle. The difficulty depended on the distance or the circumference of the circle.

Ye Jiayao intentionally made a huge circle. Xia Chunyu shook his head and said, "That's is too easy."

You're too arrogant. Ye Jiayao huffed, "You do the placement then."

Xia Chunyu placed a peach stone at each corner of the table and put two in the middle before gesturing for her to start.

Ye Jiayao's brow furrowed. How would she catch that?

"What? Do you want to give up?" Xia Chunyu mocked.

Ye Jiayao glared at him. "Who said anything about giving up? This time, you go first."

Xia Chunyu smiled calmly and stood up. He threw the peach stones in the air, and with his long arm painting a circle, he leisurely caught each stone.

Ye Jiayao was speechless. This guy was amazing.

"Do you want to see something more powerful?" Xia Chunyu smiled.

Ye Jiayao nodded blankly.

Xia Chunyu casually threw his arm, flipping his palm, and the peach stones shot out.

Dong! 

Yes, just one sound.

Xia Chunyu pointed to the pole inside the room. "Go and check it out."

Ye Jiayao complied and was stunned by what she saw. There were six peach stones mounted on the pole. There were five in a circle and one was perfectly placed in the middle.

How on earth?

"Chunyu, you are awesome! How many years did you study Kung Fu?" Ye Jiayao also wanted to learn this!

"That was just children's Kung Fu," Xia Chunyu answered coolly, breaking Ye Jiayao's newfound dream.

Accepting her loss, Ye Jiayao then went to gather some refined cream from the cold room. She stirred it in with her cooled egg and milk mix before transferring it into a porcelain bottle to freeze in the ice room.

"Is this the tasty stuff you are talking about?" Xia Chunyu asked doubtfully.

Ye Jiayao grinned. "Playing pick up stone might be your strong suit, but making food is mine. Please don't doubt me just like I'm not doubting your Kung Fu."

Xia Chunyu coughed twice on his fist. He shouldn't have questioned her.