HMIME Chapter 6: I want to eat hotpot

Chu Ya carefully and gently wiped Bai Lu’s body clean, covered him with a quilt, and tucked the corners well before getting up
and taking a bath.

After a quarter of an hour, he returned. Thinking that Bai Lu was already asleep, he didn’t expect that when he lifted the golden canopy, Chu Ya saw Bailu still with his eyes open, staring disapprovingly at the bed curtain above his head.

Chu Ya tied the bed curtain to the bedpost with a ribbon, sat on the edge of the bed, and spoke softly, “What’s wrong? There’s still some time before dawn, go back to sleep for a while.”

Bai Lu turned his head and stared at him blankly, “Do you think you forgot something?”

“What?” Chu Ya thought carefully, and after a few seconds, he suddenly realized, “Oh, the goodnight kiss, sorry.”

He lowered his head and wanted to kiss the side of Bai Lu’s face.

Bailu pushed him away with indifference on his face, saying sarcastically, “Goodnight kiss? Forget it! Now that you’re done with me, are you not even going to feed me? If you want me dead, you might as well stab me twice directly, instead of wasting time starving me slowly.”

“…” Chu Ya was stunned for a moment, and then he remembered that the guard had told him that Bai Lu had been sleeping since the morning and hadn’t even eaten breakfast. It was already past four in the morning, and Bai Lu hadn’t had any water or rice for almost a day, and was poked on an empty stomach.

This is really pitiful. He must be the scumbagest scumbag in the world…

Chu Ya suddenly felt guilty. Even though Bai Lu was his ex-boyfriend, and even though he had been used and deceived by him, he couldn’t just let him go hungry. Despite harboring resentment towards him, he couldn’t be so cruel.

Chu Ya decided to make amends. “What do you want to eat? I’ll have someone prepare it for you.”

Bai Lu replied, “Hotpot. Oh, right, there’s no hotpot in this era.”

“Yes, there is.”

“?”

Chu Ya patiently explained, “This era doesn’t belong to any period of history I know of, but the variety of plants and mineral resources is extensive. Basically, they have all the ingredients modern times have. During a leisurely period last year, I compiled a cookbook. So, you can have whatever you want.”

“A cookbook?” Bai Lu looked at him skeptically. “I remember you can’t cook, right?”

“But I memorized the recipe because I wanted to cook for you.”

Chu Ya, born and raised in a wealthy family, had received strict elite education since childhood. He was efficient in his work, even ruthless at times, but when it came to relationships, he had a romantic streak, especially when it came to cooking for his loved one – despite not being good at it.

Bai Lu felt overwhelmed. He impatiently waved his hand, “Then let’s have hotpot, with a spicy base.”

Chu Ya: “No.”

Bai Lu became extremely irritated. “Are you insane? Just now you said we could have anything!”

“Your body can’t handle it. Let’s have something lighter.”

Bai Lu frowned, grabbed Chu Ya’s collar, and said through gritted teeth:
“If my opinions are useless in the future, don’t freaking ask me!”

Seeing that he was angry, Chu Ya quickly coaxed: “Okay, I understand, don’t be angry, I won’t ask you again.”

Bai Lu muttered, “…Are you doing this on purpose?”

He must have been at odds with Chu Ya all his life, otherwise how could he be so angry after just saying a few words that he wanted to draw a
knife and hack this bastard to death.

Chu Ya didn’t seem to see…or deliberately ignored Bai Lu’s murderous eyes. He turned around and ordered his servants to make some light
porridge and side dishes to bring in.

At this hour, the palace kitchen was already open. Soon, two maids dressed in narrow-sleeved red dresses entered gracefully, each carrying a mahogany tray. The trays held three delicate vegetarian dishes and a steaming bowl of rice porridge.

The two maids were both very good-looking. Bai Lu couldn’t help but look at them a few more times. Chu Ya immediately reached out and grabbed his chin, forcing him to look at him.

At the same time, he reprimanded, “Stop looking around, just eat properly.”

Bai Lu was indeed hungry. He scooped a spoonful of rice porridge and some side dishes, then stuffed them into his mouth.

He couldn’t stop talking while eating, “The two girls were wearing red dresses just now.”

Chu Ya frowned slightly. “Why are you asking about this?”

“When I first entered the palace, I seemed to see palace maids wearing white skirts and yellow skirts?”

Chu Ya relaxed his brows. “So that’s what you’re thinking about. The palace maids are divided into different ranks, and their attire varies. The two just now are first-class maids, the goose yellow is the second class, and the white is the third class.”

Bai Lu felt inexplicably uncomfortable, “Even the palace maids have to be divided into three, six or nine grades. It’s really annoying.”

Chu Ya smiled helplessly. “Hierarchy exists everywhere, even in the 21st century, isn’t it the same? Hurry up and eat, then rest for a while.”

Bai Lu ate his meal gloomily. He knew that Chu Ya was right. No matter what era he was in, people were always divided into three or six
categories by various factors. Wealth, power, talent, appearance, and occupation were all factors. Intentionally or unintentionally, it
divides human beings into different classes, as if putting invisible labels on people.

If they were really categorized like palace maids, Bai Lu was sure his family would belong to the lowest class because he was a stubborn person, and his mother… was a prostitute.

Bai Lu threw the spoon into the bowl irritably, pulled up the quilt and covered his head.

Seeing he was upset, Chu Ya didn’t say much.

As long as there was no conflict between them and Bai Lu didn’t say those stupid words like ‘I’ve never loved’ or ‘I want to leave’, Chu Ya
would be extremely gentle and patient with him.

He quietly collected the tableware, patted Bai Lu’s back through the blanket, and softly reminded, “Go to sleep. Remember to take your medicine again at noon.”

He extinguished the candle on the table, lowered the soft canopy, and the room fell into quiet darkness.

….

“Hey, hey, did you guys know? His mom is a prostitute.”

“A prostitute? What’s that?”

“It’s like the ladies in nightclubs. Haven’t you seen it on TV? It’s the kind of woman you can have sex with if you pay her.” 

“Ew… that’s disgusting. Bai Lu, is your mom really such a person?”

“Hahaha, will you become that kind of person when you grow up? Are there male prostitutes? My mom says I shouldn’t play with you; you’ll be a bad influence… Ah! That hurts! Why are you hitting me?”

“Stop! It’s bleeding!”

“Teacher, teacher, Bai Lu is fighting again!”

“Quick, separate them!”

…

The chirping of birds in the early morning came in, awakening Bai Lu from his nightmare. He raised his hand blankly, opening and closing his fingers, and the bones seemed to still have the same sensation as in the
dream.

Speaking of which, when he was a child, it seemed that every time he got into a fight, he was defending his mother.

No matter what other people say about her, no matter how disdainful her profession is, to Bai Lu, she is the best woman in the world, the mother who gave birth and raised him.

Children naturally love their mothers, so Bai Lu wouldn’t allow anyone to speak ill of her or harm her. Because since birth, he had only had his mother’s love, but Chu Shen had taken away that only source of love, leaving him, a teenager, in a lonely and desperate situation.
Bai Lu hated Chu Shen. Chu Ya said that he was innocent. Yes, indeed, his mother’s death had nothing to do with him. But for Bai Lu, Chu Ya
was Chu Shen’s son. This was the original sin. He had a grudge and couldn’t let go.

T/N: I swear kids are truly evil