Culinary Skills Attract Attention
"Wife, this looks beautiful on you!" Lucky picked up an unusually shaped orchid hairpin and held it against Lily Evans's hair, his eyes burning with admiration. "You look good in anything!"
Lily blushed and playfully scolded him, "You and your sweet talk! Insisting on coming to the Silver Pavilion to buy jewelry—what a waste of money!"
Even though Lily said that, she was secretly over the moon. What woman doesn’t love looking pretty? Now she had some silver—and would have even more soon. But the sweetest thing was how Lucky always put her first.
Earlier, when buying fabric for clothes, Lucky only thought of Lily. Whenever he saw tasty food on the street, he thought of Lily. Now, seeing the Silver Pavilion, he insisted Lily needed new jewelry.
The Silver Pavilion’s shop assistant saw two country folk walk in, with the husband looking rather simple-minded, and thought to himself these two must be easy to fool. He brought out several outdated styles that hadn’t sold, showing them to Lucky: "Take a look, sir, these are the latest designs from the capital! Just look at the craftsmanship—so beautiful! Your wife will look stunning in them."
But Lily wasn’t someone easily fooled. In her previous life, she’d been a top chef with plenty of money, and had seen all kinds of limited-edition, custom jewelry. She could tell at a glance these were the unsellable leftovers.
Still, Lily worried that Lucky might get hoodwinked by the assistant and end up blowing their hard-earned money.
But to her surprise, Lucky shook his head at those hairpins. "These aren’t pretty. Not buying!" Instead, he picked out a few simple, elegant ones and kept holding them up to Lily’s hair, grinning, "My wife wears what I choose."
The assistant eyed Lucky—he might look simple, but he sure knew how to pick the best styles. Secretly, he thought, 'Who would’ve guessed a fool could have such sharp taste?' He couldn’t help but say sourly, "You’ve got a good eye, sir. Bet you’ve picked out jewelry for your wife more than once, huh?"
He said it without much thought, but the words made Lily’s heart skip a beat.
Lucky’s just a regular guy, so how come he’s so good at picking out women’s jewelry? Did he have a wife before—was he always buying her jewelry? Is that why he’s so good at this?
Lucky was absorbed in looking at the hairpins, completely missing Lily’s change in expression.
He picked out two hairpins—one for Lily, one for Margaret Evans. Lily wasn’t in the mood to shop anymore, so she paid and left the Silver Pavilion, feeling a bit down.
"Wife..." Lucky clumsily tucked the orchid hairpin into Lily’s bun, his voice tinged with guilt. "We’re using your money for now, but one day I’ll earn big and buy you even prettier ones."
Lily looked at Lucky’s earnest face and poked his chest. "So you know it’s my silver we’re spending."
Lucky bent down, rubbing his cheek gently against Lily’s, his clear eyes full of sincerity. "I remember every kindness you’ve shown me. I’ll make sure you live a good life."
Looking at her silly, dog-like husband, Lily reached out and stroked his face. "Alright, I’m holding you to that."
Lucky perked up again, slinging the sack of purchases over his shoulder and stubbornly holding Lily’s hand as they strolled through the city.
===
"Lord Wei, tsk tsk, that Spicy Rabbit Head is truly something. Better than the palace chefs! Who’d have thought this backwater Greenfield City had a chef like that? But the Savory House manager is so stingy. What’s wrong with me buying his chef? He keeps hiding the person and even lied, saying the chef isn’t from Savory House!" Leonard Li shook his gold-rimmed fan, looking every bit the arrogant young noble.
Wei Hai, the dignified middle-aged man beside him, just smiled, "It’s just a rustic dish, Your Lordship. You can have any delicacy you want—why are you so hung up on that Spicy Rabbit Head?"
Leonard Li smacked his lips, still savoring the memory. "Hung up is right! Once I head back to the capital, I won’t get to eat it again. I’ve got to figure out a way to buy that chef!"