Chapter One Hundred Countless Failures

Lin Miaomiao had carved out a small corner of her own, where she began to experiment with making mousse cakes. The art of dessert-making, she realized, was paved with countless failures before perfection could be achieved.

Thus, Li Yanhe soon discovered that every time Lin Miaomiao emerged from the kitchen, it was billowing with smoke. He felt as though she might blow up the entire kitchen, and whenever she came out, her face was smeared black with soot.

“What are you doing in there? Why has the kitchen ended up like this?” Li Yanhe asked, eyeing her.

Lin Miaomiao, hearing his words, licked her lips and replied, “I’m making desserts. Of course I’ll fail many times before I succeed.”

Li Yanhe twitched at her earnest response, a little speechless at her seriousness.

They stared at each other, wide eyes meeting narrow ones, and Lin Miaomiao felt her mind growing sluggish. She simply sat down on the floor, and as she began to collapse, Li Yanhe caught her in his arms.

Alarmed by Lin Miaomiao’s state, Li Yanhe called out to Lin Qi behind him, “Go, fetch a physician!”

He shouted loudly, carrying Lin Miaomiao into the house. Lin Qi, seeing her faint, hurriedly ran out. On his way, he happened to run into Jiang Luohan, who had been missing for some time. Lin Qi dragged Jiang Luohan back to the little courtyard.

Jiang Luohan was rushed into Lin Miaomiao’s room, thinking something terrible had happened. Without even catching his breath, he placed his hand on Lin Miaomiao’s pulse.

“Are you feeling unwell? Do you feel dizzy and sluggish? Is your stomach churning?”

Lin Miaomiao nodded at his questions. Jiang Luohan glanced at Lin Qi and said, “Luckily I arrived in time.”

“If I’d been a bit later, letting her cool off for a while would have solved it.”

Li Yanhe, hearing this, was confused and demanded, “What do you mean?”

Jiang Luohan looked at him and replied, “Heatstroke. Understand?”

Li Yanhe said nothing. Lin Miaomiao looked up at him, noticing the white of his clothes now smudged with black from holding her.

Lin Qi was sweating profusely from his run, and Lin Miaomiao noticed that Jiang Luohan’s clothes, gripped tightly by Lin Qi, were also stained with soot.

Seeing the two of them in such disarray, Lin Miaomiao suddenly felt her spirits lift and was tempted to laugh.

The anxiety that had gripped Li Yanhe’s heart eased as he saw Lin Miaomiao like this. He sighed, and looking at her soot-streaked face, likened her to a mischievous kitten. He shook his head, silently chiding himself for his worry.

He turned to Jiang Luohan and said, “If it’s heatstroke, prescribe some medicine. Let’s hope for a swift recovery.”

Jiang Luohan nodded, and Lin Miaomiao, who had been secretly amused, stopped smiling. She was made to drink a large bowl of medicine, and seeing Jiang Luohan, she began to curse him silently.

After Lin Miaomiao’s bout of heatstroke, Li Yanhe forbade her from making any more desserts. Having failed so many times herself, she’d lost confidence.

Jiang Luohan’s return was silent and unnoticed. Lin Miaomiao glared at him and said, “You came back without so much as a word?”

Jiang Luohan, sensing her resentment, shifted the blame and said, “Li Yanhe should know.”

“If I’m back, he ought to be aware. So why wouldn’t you know?”

Lin Miaomiao looked up at Li Yanhe and asked, “Did you know he was back?”

Li Yanhe replied, “How would I know when he’s coming back? Besides, you and I are together every day—have you seen any of his letters?”

Jiang Luohan thought to himself that Li Yanhe was cunning, but said aloud, “You didn’t know? I thought you’d received word.”

Li Yanhe responded, “Did you send me any messages?”

Lin Miaomiao, listening to the exchange, asked Jiang Luohan, “Did you write to Li Yanhe?”

Jiang Luohan’s lips twitched, thinking, “Li Yanhe’s people are clearly here, yet he pretends ignorance.”

He kept his thoughts to himself, but Li Yanhe said to Lin Miaomiao, “I didn’t.”

Lin Miaomiao rolled her eyes and said, “Then how would Li Yanhe know? Is it telepathy? Or mind-reading?”

She shot Jiang Luohan a look, and he said nothing.

For a moment, Jiang Luohan and Li Yanhe locked eyes, mutual contempt flashing between them.

Lin Miaomiao, unaware of the tension, saw the two staring at each other. Li Yanhe raised his eyebrows and said coldly, “If I hadn’t intervened, you’d be dead in the Valley of Hundred Flowers.”

Jiang Luohan answered icily, “You only repaid a debt for saving your life. What gives you the right to speak so?”

“As expected, those in the imperial court are all thankless, treacherous men.”

Li Yanhe gave him a mocking smile. “I don’t know if I’m thankless or treacherous, but I know you people of the martial world don’t keep your word. Agreements are made, but when you stir things up, nothing remains.”

As the two seemed poised for conflict, Lin Miaomiao glanced at them and, exasperated, said, “What are you doing? Flirting with your eyes?”

After her remark, Li Yanhe looked at Jiang Luohan and said, “Someone is reflecting on their actions.”

Jiang Luohan, a breath caught in his chest, retorted, “Yes, I am reflecting on my actions.”

Lin Miaomiao sighed, “Honestly, you two are so peculiar—what a handful!”

Li Yanhe and Jiang Luohan snorted, “What’s so difficult? Clearly, one of us is unnecessary!”

Lin Miaomiao ignored them and had Lin Qi fetch a watermelon from the well. Taking a spoon, she sat eating it.

Li Yanhe asked, “Where’s mine?”

Lin Miaomiao replied, “In the kitchen!”