The Dandy's Duchess

Chapter 83: Off to Roast Fish (5)

Yun Qianyue's lips twitched. What did he mean by saying she was as foolish as before?

"Did you hear me? Especially now that you're at an unstable stage with your inner energy. If someone discovers your situation and decides to harm you, the consequences could be unimaginable," Ye Qingran said seriously.

"Alright, I'll listen to you!" Yun Qianyue smiled and nodded sincerely. Anyway, with Mo Li by her side, she could count on him to handle things, so she figured she wouldn't have to act too often. In the meantime, she could shut herself in her room and practice Tai Chi. If she reached the point where others couldn't see through her abilities at a glance, she'd consider herself successful—just like Rongjing, as Xian Ge had mentioned, and like Ye Qingran standing before her.

Ye Qingran smiled as well.

"Go catch the fish already! I skipped breakfast and am starving," Yun Qianyue finally felt the emptiness in her stomach.

"Alright!" Ye Qingran tossed a lotus leaf into the river, then lightly tapped his toes on it, landing gracefully. Using a broken tree branch, he speared the water, and in an instant, a two-pound fish was skewered on the branch. Balancing on the lotus leaf, he hadn't even gotten his shoes wet.

"Amazing!" Yun Qianyue watched, wide-eyed and stunned.

"Here, catch!" Ye Qingran tossed the fish over to her.

With her military training and inner strength, Yun Qianyue easily caught the fish. Holding the fat fish in her hand, she could smell the fresh scent of water plants, and her appetite increased even before they started grilling it.

"Catch this one too!" As she examined it, Ye Qingran threw over another fish.

Yun Qianyue quickly caught it and marveled at Ye Qingran's skilled, graceful movements. She couldn't help but ask, "Do you do nothing but fish all the time?"

"Hmm, whenever I had free time, I'd come here to fish and grill them. So, the fish are happy to welcome me now and come up willingly," Ye Qingran said with a proud grin.

Yun Qianyue smiled as she watched him; the scene was simply delightful. The green hills, waterfalls, clear river, and the graceful figure dancing on the lotus leaves were captivating. She wished there was a camera to capture the moment, but since there wasn't, she'd paint this beautiful view herself later.

"What are you thinking about? Catch this!" Ye Qingran threw another fish over.

Yun Qianyue quickly tossed the two fish in her hand to catch the new one, which was heavy enough to make her exclaim. This fish seemed to weigh around seven or eight pounds, and seeing Ye Qingran about to spear another one, she quickly stopped him, "Hey, that's enough! Any more, and we won't be able to finish it."

"But there are only three fish! We need four," Ye Qingran replied.

"No need, this is enough. We'll share this one," Yun Qianyue thought they'd struggle to eat even ten pounds of fish and didn't want to waste any.

"Share it?" Ye Qingran was momentarily stunned.

"Yes, the first two are over two pounds each, and this one is around seven or eight pounds. If we each eat one of the smaller ones and share this big one, it'll be more than enough," Yun Qianyue said, admiring the fish. No wonder Ye Qingran had a thing for grilled fish!

"Alright, let's share it," Ye Qingran felt an odd, soft sensation pass through him. He leapt back to the shore and approached Yun Qianyue, reaching out to take the fish. "I'll handle cleaning the fish. You gather lotus leaves and dry twigs. By the way, can you start a fire?"

Yun Qianyue was about to say yes but quickly remembered that this wasn't the modern world. She'd trained in survival skills in the wild, but she'd always had tools. Rubbing sticks to make fire? She shook her head, "Nope!"

"I knew you wouldn't know how. Just watch and learn." Ye Qingran began rolling up his sleeves.

"Alright!" Yun Qianyue turned to gather lotus leaves and dry wood.

Ye Qingran glanced up at her, seeing her graceful figure illuminated by the sunlight in her light purple gauze dress. Even her shadow on the ground seemed captivating. He suppressed the strange feeling in his heart, forcing his gaze away, and drew his dagger to begin cleaning the fish.

Yun Qianyue glanced back at him. Even while cleaning fish, the beautiful man was elegant—unbelievable!

After picking a few lotus leaves and gathering a bundle of twigs, Yun Qianyue returned to find that Ye Qingran had already cleaned the fish. She marveled at his skill and held a moment of silence for the fish of Xiangquan Mountain—one look at his technique and you could tell he'd eaten a lot of fish here.

Ye Qingran wiped the blood off his dagger with a lotus leaf, then tucked it back into his belt. Noticing Yun Qianyue's admiring gaze, he became smug, "Watch me work my magic."

"Alright." Yun Qianyue noticed a large rock nearby and went over to sit on it.

Ye Qingran rinsed the blood from the fish, wrapped it in lotus leaves, and pulled out a small pouch from his belt. Under Yun Qianyue's curious gaze, he opened it, revealing a collection of sachets.

Yun Qianyue raised an eyebrow, "You've got quite a few admirers, huh?"

Ye Qingran froze, frowning, "What are you talking about? These are for grilling fish!"

"Oh, so it's grilling spices," Yun Qianyue nodded. "But why use sachets? Couldn't you just use a regular bag? Aren't sachets usually tokens of affection given to men by women?"

Ye Qingran's face stiffened, and he muttered through gritted teeth, "I wouldn't use some plain old bag, so I had these sachets made. They're quite handy."

"They're beautiful indeed! Look, this one even has mandarin ducks and this one has dragons and phoenixes. Oh, and there's one with the tree of unity! Who made these for you? They're quite the skilled hand!" Yun Qianyue exclaimed, her eyes fixed on the intricate designs. Anyone would get the wrong idea seeing these sachets!

Ye Qingran looked down and, sure enough, saw what she was talking about. His expression darkened, and he muttered, "Damn it!"

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