Chapter 179

Cui Zheng was pushed forward as he continued walking.

As soon as he entered the camp, he saw Chu Yuan holding a bowl, squatting by a fire and slurping noodles.

Seeing him eat so unrefined, Cui Zheng pursed his lips, rolled his eyes, and muttered under his breath.

"Really crude."

"It's just a bowl of noodles—what's the fuss?"

"He acts like he's never eaten before."

Chu Yuan, who was sipping noodle soup, twitched his ears, stood up with his bowl, and walked over to him.

He stirred the noodles with his chopsticks—yellow noodles still slightly curved.

Cui Zheng found it somewhat strange.

He had never seen such noodles before.

Cui Zheng flared his nostrils slightly and glanced at it.

Inside were mixed in a white poached egg and five or six pale pink pieces of something unknown.

It smelled quite good.

In the military camp, no matter who, everyone eats from the big pot.

Even under the name of Cheng Chengxuan, Chu Yuan could at most add a whole poached egg; other soldiers' noodles had the egg scrambled and mixed into the soup.

Chu Yuan stirred twice, then took a big gulp of noodle soup and sighed contentedly.

"After a busy night, eating a steaming bowl of noodles—truly satisfying!"

The instant noodles, loaded with seasoning, gave off a domineering aroma; as he stirred, the scent drifted into Cui Zheng's nose.

It smelled like chicken soup?

This aroma was like a tiny hook, hooking his stomach into gurgling loudly.

Cui Zheng felt embarrassed, his face slightly red; he closed his eyes, turned his head away, and forced himself not to smell or look.

But how could Chu Yuan so easily grant him his wish?

He directly shoved the bowl in front of him and even fanned the air toward him with his hand.

"Wow! Instant noodles are truly delicious—look at this golden broth, Mother Hen Soup flavor!"

"Inside there's also a poached egg and ham sausage."

Saying that, he took another big slurp, eyes closed in enjoyment.

"This is too delicious!"

"But hey, someone like Cui Zheng, born with a golden spoon in his mouth, has tasted delicacies from south to north—he must have eaten countless fine foods; he'd surely look down on our 'crude' and 'unsophisticated' fare!"

Cui Zheng swallowed: "..."

If he said he had never eaten such noodles before, would he be showing weakness in front of this guy?

But he was really hungry.

If he now said he wanted to eat a bowl of the noodles he had just looked down on, wouldn't that be slapping himself in the face?

Absolutely not!

What he represents is not just himself—it's his grandfather, the Cui Family, and the honor of the entire Dingyuan Marquis Manor!

"Slurp... slurp..."

Chu Yuan seemed to be doing it on purpose—every time he picked up a chopstickful of noodles, he displayed it in front of Cui Zheng before slowly sucking it into his mouth.

"Tsk, truly fragrant!"

"Gurgle-gurgle-gurgle—"

Even if Cui Zheng's mouth was stubborn, his stomach honestly expressed its true thoughts.

Hungry, wanting to eat.

He secretly resented himself.

This disobedient stomach!

His tone was somewhat stiff and awkward as he said:

"Hey! This Young Master is hungry!"

"Yo, the little Young Master is hungry?"

Chu Yuan swaggered over, putting on a pretended difficult expression.

"But our conditions here are simple—we don't have the mountain delicacies and sea flavors the Young Master usually eats."

Are you deliberately being cold toward me?!

Cui Zheng took a deep breath.

Well, when a person is under another's roof, they must bow their head!

A true man can bend and stretch!

I endure!

"Stop looking down on people! This Young Master isn't that pretentious! Just give me whatever you're eating!"

Chu Yuan pushed his own bowl of noodles forward again.

"You mean instant noodles? But it's already past mealtime—the last pot was finished by us."

"You're teasing me!"

Cui Zheng gritted his teeth, face red and neck thick with anger, struggled twice, then lifted his foot and kicked hard.

Chu Yuan sidestepped, and during the dodge, he leisurely took another sip of noodle soup.

This calm, unbothered demeanor—as if he hadn't even noticed Cui Zheng's petty tricks—made Cui Zheng even angrier.

"If you have the ability, release the Little Master—let's duel one-on-one!"

Chu Yuan picked up the remaining noodles with his chopsticks and finished them, wiping his mouth.

"Alright, I won't tease you anymore, just wait."

As he spoke, he walked toward the tent where Cheng Chengxuan was, and had his subordinates bring the person to his own tent.

On this side, Cheng Chengxuan had just finished his meal and was about to go find Zhou Old General to discuss the next steps, when he saw Chu Yuan running over.

"Do you still have any instant noodles? Give me two ham sausages too."

Cheng Chengxuan glanced at him.

"You didn't eat enough?"

"It's not me, it's urging the young heir, although he's a prisoner, we can't mistreat him."

Hearing this, Cheng Chengxuan let out a light snort and turned to walk inside.

"Just don't keep teasing people."

"Hey! I'm not that bored, am I? It's rare to meet someone so interesting."

Cheng Chengxuan handed him two packs of instant noodles.

"That's all we have; if it's not enough, go ask the firewood soldiers for mixed grain steamed buns."

"Enough, enough."

Cheng Chengxuan slightly raised his arm, dodging his hand.

"Wait a moment."

"The Emperor of Xiyue is gravely ill, the Crown Prince of Xiyue is from the peace faction, so he'll likely send envoys for negotiations soon; you should be courteous to the Dingyuan Marquis Heir, don't go too far."

"Alright, alright, I know."

Chu Yuan took it and ran outside.

On the other side, Cui Zheng was strolling around inside the tent, looking around.

From afar, I saw him holding two empty bowls and a water kettle walking over.

He tore open an oil paper wrapper, revealing the yellow noodle cake inside, along with a few small oil papers.

One by one, he tore them open and placed the contents onto the noodle cake.

Cui Zheng leaned over, looking puzzled at his actions.

"What is this way of eating?"

Chu Yuan poured hot water into the bowl, then covered it with the empty bowl, turned his head and gave him a mysterious smile.

"You'll know in a moment."

When the time came, he lifted the bowl, and a familiar aroma wafted over.

Cui Zheng stared in disbelief, eyes wide open.

"This... soak it a bit, and the noodle cake turns into noodles?"

Really that miraculous?!

"Is this something your Da Yin people came up with?"

Truly, talents emerge in abundance.

Even a bowl of noodles can be made fancy—key is saving cooking time, convenient!

Looks like Grandfather was right; even without the Cheng Family, in the short term, it's not suitable to be enemies with Da Yin.

Chu Yuan untied the rope on his hands.

"You don't need to worry about this, just eat your noodles properly."

Lowering his head to look at his freed hands, Cui Zheng's eyes flickered, and he slowly moved his wrists a few times.

Chu Yuan pointed with his chin at the noodles on the small table.

"Hurry up and eat; if it's too soft, it really affects the texture."

Cui Zheng slightly raised his chin.

"I want to wash my hands first!"

"Hah!"

Hearing this, Chu Yuan laughed.

"First I helped you cook, now I have to serve you washing hands—am I really your Dingyuan Marquis Manor's little servant?"

"Alright, alright, washing hands, right?"

He picked up the water kettle from earlier and walked to the washbasin.

Cui Zheng lightened his steps and followed behind him, eyes slightly narrowed as he watched his back, fingers clenched together, about to bring down a knife-hand strike.

Chu Yuan curled the corner of his mouth, tilted his head aside, and dodged.

"Don't say I didn't warn you—first, you can't possibly beat me anyway; here I'm just a nobody, you think you can hold me hostage and escape? It's simply impossible."

"So, just eat your noodles peacefully, Young Master Cui."

While saying this, he gritted his teeth and lifted the washbasin.

Cui Zheng angrily washed his hands, and deliberately splashed water on him.

But Chu Yuan just looked at him, saying nothing.

How to describe that gaze?

It was like looking at a mischievous, clueless child.

Cui Zheng felt the futility of punching cotton.

【118> He sullenly picked up a chopstickful of food and put it in his mouth, suddenly his eyes lit up.

He picked up a chopstickful of food with a sullen expression and put it in his mouth, when suddenly his eyes lit up.

Delicious!

Seeing him eat with relish, Chu Yuan shook his head and smiled silently.

His gaze fell to the wound on his neck, and he clicked his tongue impatiently.

He soaked the cloth in clean water, preparing to clean the wound for him.

Cui Zheng raised his hand to block his hand, watching him warily.

"What are you trying to do?!"

Chu Yuan pried his hand open.

"I'm applying medicine for you, little lord."

Hearing this, Cui Zheng froze.

He actually had such good intentions?

Seeing him take out a small white porcelain bottle with a pained expression, pour out a tiny amount of powder the size of rice grains, and handle it so carefully.

This made Cui Zheng roll his eyes again, silently complaining.

So stingy!

Chu Yuan bandaged him while muttering softly.

"This is genuine, effective medicine—I'm doing you a favor!"

Hearing this, Cui Zheng curled his lip in disdain.

"What's the big deal? I'll repay you with a bottle of imperial-grade Jinchuang Medicine later!"

But soon, he was slapped in the face again.

After finishing his meal, he felt his neck wound itching, thought the medicine might be problematic, and unwrapped the bandage to check it against the water basin.

The wound had already healed!!!