The Emperor’s Beloved Ugly Girl - Chapter 32

“Are there any interesting old stories?” Ah Chou asked cautiously. She couldn’t stand it when Zhong Mingwei sighed. It made her feel uncomfortable. “Why don’t you share one with me?”

“Well, there is one,” Zhong Mingwei looked into Ah Chou’s eyes, and a playful glint sparkled in his peach blossom eyes. “When I was a child, I had a sweet tooth. I ate too many bowls of ice cream once, and later that night, I had a terrible stomachache. It even alarmed the Empress Dowager. She spent the whole night massaging my stomach, just like you’re doing now.”

“Really? You used to be mischievous like that? I always thought you were born as composed and mature as you are now,” Ah Chou chuckled along with him. She tilted her head, reminiscing about her own childhood. After a while, she remembered something amusing and, with a giggle, said, “Hehe, hehe!”

Zhong Mingwei was curious, “What’s so funny that it makes you laugh like this?”

“In the Laundry Bureau, there were many stray cats. I don’t know why, but it seemed like all the palace’s stray cats ended up at the Laundry Bureau. When I was a child, I used to wonder why. If there were stray cats, shouldn’t they go to the Imperial Kitchen instead? Why did they come to our Laundry Bureau?” Ah Chou rubbed Zhong Mingwei’s belly as she squinted at him, “Do you know the reason?”

Zhong Mingwei truly didn’t know, so he shook his head.

“Later, I noticed that Granny Xiang would always set aside half of our meals to feed those stray cats. That’s when I finally understood the reason,” thinking of Granny Xiang, Ah Chou’s smile turned gentle, and her voice softened with nostalgia, “I laughed because Granny Xiang was the one who attracted the stray cats. But later, I also started feeding them with Granny Xiang. At first, those cats didn’t recognize me. I would offer them bread, but they wouldn’t come near. But gradually, they got used to me. As soon as they saw me, they’d meow and cling to me. Granny Xiang said I was even better at attracting cats and dogs than she was.”

“What happened next?” Zhong Mingwei couldn’t help but ask.

“Later, Granny Xiang passed away,” Ah Chou’s voice became very soft, “and I left the Laundry Bureau.”

Zhong Mingwei didn’t ask further questions. He watched as Ah Chou lowered her eyes, and the scar on her chin, which was a shade of dark red, came into view. After a pause, he spoke again, “When I was a child, I also had a good nanny…”

His eyelids started to itch, and Zhong Mingwei couldn’t continue. His eyelids twitched a few times, and Ah Chou’s hand moved from his belly to gently cover his eyes. She plucked out a fine eyelash and placed it by her lips, making a “poof” sound as she blew it away.

“She wasn’t exactly a good nanny,” his eyelids stopped itching, and Zhong Mingwei continued, “because she was only kind to me and treated everyone else poorly. She was the personal maidservant of the Empress Dowager, and she raised me. She had seniority and a big ego, so no one dared to provoke her. She became even more arrogant. But she was really good to me. Whatever I liked to eat or play with, she would make sure I got it. When I grew up and was about to become an adult, her mind started to deteriorate. But she still remembered that I loved to drink milk tea when I was a child. So, from time to time, she would bring me a cup of milk tea…”

“Was it delicious?” Ah Chou asked softly.

“It was delicious. Although, later on, she became a bit confused. Sometimes she added too much milk or too much honey, and it became sickeningly sweet,” Zhong Mingwei smiled faintly, “But if it was made by her, it tasted good.”