The Feast, the Faint, and the Furious Mother

“Excuse me, please move aside.”

Little Qiao Qiao, having just finished preparing another plate of tofu fish, hurried over with it.

“Sister, please enjoy your meal slowly. I will speed up my preparations!”

“Aiya~” Yue Ye Si saw through the women’s schemes.

She realized they were exploiting her husband’s gluttonous weakness, showering Tou with food to curry favor.

How despicable!

To dare to act in such a manner!

In that case, she…

Then she would do the same!

“Hmph~ You little girl, you’re so slow! Get out of the way, quickly! Don’t you dare interfere with me and my husband preparing our food!”

Yue Ye Si snatched the knife from little Qiao Qiao’s hand, her eyes immediately falling upon the largest piece of tofu fish.

With her strength, controlling the knife to slice the tofu fish was as effortless as cutting through actual tofu.

In short order, she had chopped the fish into several pieces, preparing them in batches.

“Husband, I want to feed you too!”

She minced the entire fish into a heap of small pieces, piling them onto a stone table.

Then, filling two plates, she approached Tou, picking up two or three pieces of fish with her chopsticks, dipping them in sauce, and holding them to his lips.

“Ah, mm~”

Tou paid no mind to who was feeding him, simply opening his mouth and swallowing the morsels.

“Aiya~ Husband, eat more. Don’t worry, we have plenty!” Yue Ye Si chuckled, picking up a few more pieces of fish.

Once a plate was empty, she would set it aside.

Little Qiao Qiao would then promptly bring another plate brimming with fish, remove the empty one, and meticulously arrange the scattered fish pieces onto a new plate.

After Tou finished one plate, another would immediately replace it.

“Husband, there’s still so much, so much more! Aiya, aiya, aiya! You’ll only have energy if you eat your fill!”

After feeding Tou two or three plates in quick succession, Yue Ye Si shifted her position, settling beside him.

She then subtly kicked Ji Jie, who was still embracing Tou, silently signaling her to leave.

Ji Jie was seething with a myriad of frustrations.

First, her right to feed Tou had been usurped, and now she wasn’t even allowed to be his “seat”!

This woman was utterly detestable!

Yet, there was nothing she could do; she couldn’t defeat Yue Ye Si.

She grudgingly relinquished Tou, slinking away.

With Yue Ye Si present, Ji Jie could only watch Tou from a distance, fearing he might choke.

Even the simple act of bringing him a cup of tea or offering him a sip of water would earn her a fierce glare and warning from Yue Ye Si.

Ultimately, with nothing else to do, a dejected Ji Jie could only hang her head and assist little Qiao Qiao in arranging the fish slices.

Indeed, Tou was eating quite quickly, and a considerable amount at that.

Yue Ye Si, noticing the two women helping to arrange the fish, accelerated her feeding pace.

Before long, the entire colossal tofu fish was nearly gone!

She truly wondered how Tou’s stomach managed to hold it all.

“Maid Sister, this is terrible! The fish~~ the fish is almost gone! At Master Sister’s current speed, we’ll run out very soon!”

Little Qiao Qiao frantically rummaged through the basket for the knife they had used earlier.

Picking up a fish, she declared, ready to prepare it:

“Maid Sister, allow me to cut the fish. Please deliver the prepared fish to the table.”

Having said this, she wiped the sweat from her brow and, knife in hand, chopped off the fish’s head.

However, her hand was swiftly caught by a large one.

Ji Jie lifted her hand, taking the knife away. “Let me handle this,” she stated.

Indeed! Ji Jie was a martial artist.

A weapon suddenly appeared in her hand as she tossed the fish into the air.

*Swish, swish, swish!*

Her sword strokes were so rapid that the blade itself became a blur.

In moments, the perfectly prepared fish slices landed neatly on a plate.

“Wow! Maid Sister, you’re amazing!” little Qiao Qiao exclaimed, gazing at Ji Jie with adoration.

“Ara~ Who is it that’s making my adorable daughter exclaim such praise?”

From the entrance of the bathhouse, a middle-aged woman, bearing a striking resemblance to little Qiao Qiao, walked in, speaking as she shed her clothes.

Upon hearing that voice, little Qiao Qiao’s heart swelled with joy.

Abandoning her task, she bounded over, leaping into the woman’s arms.

“Mommy!”

“Oh, my little Qiao Qiao. My, my? Why are you all sweaty? I told you to come and bathe; this simply won’t do!”

Qiao Qiao’s mother playfully feigned disgust, pressing against her daughter’s sweat-drenched body.

“Hehe! Mommy, are you here because dinner’s ready? Let’s quickly rinse ourselves in the water and go back to eat!”

Little Qiao Qiao wasn’t concerned about her own body; her only thought was to hurry back, bring her ‘sisters’ to dinner, and then go to sleep together.

“It’s ready, but not quite finished.” Qiao Qiao’s mother, having stripped off her clothes, walked into the pool.

Embraced by her mother, little Qiao Qiao’s face flushed.

“What do you mean ‘ready, but not quite finished’?” she asked shyly.

“Ready is ready, not ready is not ready. Mommy, don’t you think putting them together like that makes it a grammatical error?”

“Ara, my adorable little Qiao Qiao. Some dishes, even when ‘ready’, need a little more time in the pot to become truly delicious!

In short, if you want to go back and eat now, you certainly can, but the flavor won’t be as exquisite!

I’ve timed it perfectly; by the time I finish my bath and go back to open the pot, the food will be absolutely perfect!”

Qiao Qiao’s mother meticulously explained, all the while scrubbing her daughter’s back.

Her eyes swept across the shore, noticing the abundance of tofu fish and Tou’s voracious eating.

A sly smile played on her lips as her eyebrows arched subtly.

“What do you mean, it’s gone?! Useless maid, why are you so slow?!”

Without little Qiao Qiao’s assistance, Ji Jie alone was utterly incapable of supplying Tou’s bottomless pit with all the tofu fish.

In less than two rounds, she was utterly defeated.

With nothing left to eat, it was only natural that Tou would be furious and blame her!

“Ara~ Is this the tofu fish you all caught? How impressive!”

Perhaps drawn by Tou’s voice, Qiao Qiao’s mother stepped ashore, resting her arm on the table in front of him as she praised.

These were all caught by Tou alone!

Having just savored so many delicious bites, his heart was already brimming with delight.

Now, with this additional praise, he became even more elated!

“Hmph hmph~ Don’t you know who I am… who… you… who are you?! You… you scoundrel! Naked… naked… you, you, you…”

Tou lifted his head, only to be met with a vast expanse of pale, bare skin.

A sudden flush spread across his face, his nose felt hot, and nosebleeds streamed out like two small snakes.

Then, his head snapped back abruptly, almost causing him to faint.

“Husband~” Yue Ye Si, previously engrossed in the adorable sight of her Tou, had not noticed the unfolding events around them.

Upon seeing what had happened to her Tou in her arms, she quickly looked up to investigate.

Noticing Qiao Qiao’s mother and daughter, completely undressed, watching them with curious, chin-propped expressions, her face instantly darkened with exasperation.

Now that Tou was her husband, how could she permit other women to stand naked before her Tou, tempting him so?

With a mere wave of her hand, a powerful gust of wind struck the two, sending them back into the pool.

“Husband, don’t be afraid. I’ve chased those two away.”

She quickly redirected her attention to her Tou, gently wiping his nosebleed and softly comforting him.

“Hey! I saw that!” Qiao Qiao’s mother suddenly leaped out of the water, boldly and unreservedly pointing at Tou as she spoke, her voice laced with dissatisfaction:

“The dipping sauce is practically all gone! You lot, how could you eat so much tofu fish *before* dinner?

I prepared such a huge table of dishes; am I supposed to wait until tomorrow for them to spoil before we eat them?”

“Mommy, it wasn’t that~~” Little Qiao Qiao, intimidated by her mother’s fierce demeanor, weakly tried to explain that Tou had eaten it all by himself.

Before she could finish, however, Qiao Qiao’s mother glared at her furiously, sternly asserting:

“And you! Haven’t I warned you? No matter how much tofu fish you catch, you are only allowed two pieces before dinner.

Have you completely disregarded my words, child? Honestly, who do you think all that food at home is for?!”

“Of course! Of course! It’s all for me!”

Upon hearing about the huge table of delicious food, Tou instantly sprang back to life, leaping out of Four-Master’s embrace and raising his hand as he declared.

However, catching sight once more of Qiao Qiao’s mother’s mature, adult physique, his nosebleeds uncontrollably gushed forth again.

Then, as if his body had turned to jelly, he collapsed back into Four-Master’s arms.