A Sensible Widow

After Chu Yue finished with yoga, she was drenched in sweat, but she felt much more comfortable. She also found that her body was a little unique as well. When she sweated, she did not smell. Instead, she gave off a faint floral scent. 

She was truly born under a lucky star. 

But the original person should not have known about this. In fact, forget about the original person, even Hupo would not have known about this. After all, the original had never sweated before. 

Once Chu Yue was done with all the strange motions, Hupo quickly poured some hot water for her to wipe her body. "Milady, you must take care not to catch a cold."

"The house is warm. I won't catch a cold," Chu Yue said, unbothered. 

Since she had a job and money, she was not worried. She could have charcoal burning in the house all day long, and it was warm. It was not cold at all. 

Noon soon arrived, and Chu Yue calculated the time to arrive at Longan Temple on time. 

Since she was the chef, she no longer had any difficulties in entering and leaving the other mountain. 

In truth, the place where she went to should be the back of the mountain. The proper trails could only be found on the other side, but she was a woman cooking for a monk, so she naturally had to enter the place through the back. 

In the afternoon, Chu Yue made red bean paste and red bean steamed buns. She added a little sugar to the red bean paste so that it was a little sweet, but not too rich in flavor. 

After she finished steaming the food and brought it out of the bamboo steamer, she split the steamed bun in half so that all those who saw it could see the red bean filling. Just by smelling it, they would know that it tasted good. 

Of course, she also added some millet porridge on the side to be eaten together with the steamed buns. 

She had already shown her face in the morning, so Chu Yue naturally wanted to personally deliver the food at noon. But before she could do it, Yingda tested it for poison. Then, she was given permission to bring the food into the room. 

When Chu Yue entered, the monk was puzzled. He thought that the widow would not show herself in front of him again.

"Master, it's cold today, so I made you steamed buns with red bean paste. You can eat them with millet porridge. It's a simple dish, but very filling. I wonder if you will like it." 

Chu Yue opened the steam rack to reveal four hot steamed buns along with a bowl of millet porridge. 

The sight looked incredibly appetizing, and the monk cast her a glance. When he saw how expectant she looked, he picked up his chopsticks and picked one bun to taste it. 

"It's pretty good," he said with a nod. 

The widow's cooking skills were really good. The steamed buns with red bean paste contained the fragrance of red beans. They were fragrant, delicious, and slightly sweet, but not too rich in flavor.

Just as he expected, the widow was delighted when he praised her. Then, in a very sensible manner, she said, "Thank you for enjoying the food, Master. I will not bother you while you eat. I shall take my leave now."

The monk nodded. She was a sensible widow and it was hard for others to dislike her. 

Chu Yue returned to the kitchen and collected the remaining steamed buns with red bean paste. Then, she spoke to the air. "Yingda, there are still three steamed buns left in the kitchen. They're for you."

After that, she left with the steamed buns with red bean paste and two bowls of millet porridge. 

Soon after she left, Yingda showed up as well. He picked up the three steamed buns before he hid himself again. 

He tested the steamed buns for poison in the shadows before he ate them. 

The widow was really satisfied with her job, so she would not do something that would have nine generations of her family punished, but since the food was for his master, he had to test it. 

Yet wasn't the widow aiming for his master? Why did she leave so easily? If she did not stay longer with his master, how was his master supposed to truly look at her?

Yingda found himself a little conflicted. It was cold, and his master needed someone to warm his bed, or else, he would suffer a lot.

*****

Chu Yue brought the steamed buns with red bean paste back home. She split the millet porridge with Hupo and ate it along with the steamed buns. 

Hupo could not eat anything aside from a bowl of millet porridge and a steamed bun. Her appetite was very small. 

When Chu Yue first came here, she was about the same. Her appetite was pathetically small, so it was no wonder why she fell sick by being exposed to just a small breeze. 

"Eat more. Once you recover, I'm going to teach you yoga," Chu Yue said as she continued eating. 

Since they were the only ones around, Hupo did not tell her mistress that she was not supposed to speak while eating. "Milady, where did you learn this yuca?"

"I learned it from a book. It's a gentle art meant to refine the body," Chu Yue said casually.

Ever since she came to this place, she had been training her body nonstop. Hence, her appetite had become much larger. She was full only after eating a bowl of millet porridge and two steamed buns with red bean paste.

There were two steamed buns left. She put them to the side, so she could eat them after she got up from her nap. 

If she wanted her body to recover, she had to have a good appetite. 

When evening arrived, Chu Yue started preparing dinner. 

She made stir-fried mushroom with potato strips, braised chestnuts, and a fortune monkey head mushroom.

They were very normal vegetarian dishes. However, when Chu Yue delivered the dishes to the monk, she saw him finish all the food, along with four white steamed buns. 

She had to say that he had a huge appetite. 

But that was not strange. The monk was built, and he could not have gained his size by pumping air into himself. Besides, since he was a man, a large appetite made him more attractive. 

When the monk saw how satisfied the widow was when he finished the steamed buns along with everything else, for some reason, he felt pleased as well. 

"Is the charcoal enough?" he asked. 

Chu Yue put on a grateful expression and said, "Thank you for your concern, Master. Ever since I obtained the charcoal that you asked your subordinate to send over, my house has been warm."

The monk nodded, and Chu Yue packed up. "Please rest early, Master. I will return now."

"Alright," the monk answered her. 

From that day onwards, Chu Yue delivered all three meals of the day. In the beginning, the monk was still not very used to it, but after a few days, he was used to her presence. 

The widow was a sensible woman and never came to bother him. Once she delivered the food, she waited for him to finish before she cleaned the table and left. 

While he ate, she spoke about some events, and it gave him quite a lot of thoughts. But the widow always left halfway through her story. 

She said that the time was up and she did not wish to bother his spiritual practice. 

After a few days, the monk started to wait for her to come and talk about some of the interesting events that happened among the people. The spiritual practice was rather boring, so it was naturally good to talk to someone. 

But even after he waited for a long time, she did not come. 

Yingda brought his meal, which was the vegetarian food made by the temple next to theirs. The monk ate a few bites before he lost interest in it and looked over with displeasure. "She didn't make this?"

"Master, the widow fell sick today. She's worried that she would pass her illness to you, so she had her maid come over to excuse her from work today. She will not be able to come over today," Yingda explained. 

Speaking of which, even he, a subordinate, found himself turning his nose up at the food delivered by those at the front of Longan Temple. Of course, this only happened after he ate the vegetarian food made by the widow. 

Before her, while the food in Longan Temple was normal, it was not unbearable. 

The monk nodded in understanding. He had been wondering why the widow had not come. 

"Did we send a doctor to examine her?" the monk asked. 

Yingda was stunned. 'Why is the master so attentive to the widow?' 

But he was not Eunuch Feng, so he did not think too much into it. He just said, "I do not know."

The monk seemed to have remembered that it was not suitable for someone of his identity to ask after a widow, so he said nothing else. However, he simply could not eat the food anymore. 

"Take it away."