Chapter 60: Apology

Goodness gracious! Is it really that serious?

Li Qi hurriedly stood up to block Bai Qiannuo, saying, "Lady Bai, please calm your anger first. It's true that I was in the wrong on this matter, and I offer you my sincere apologies right now." With that, he actually made a formal bow of apology to Bai Qiannuo.

Seeing Li Qi lower his pride and apologize to her so submissively, Bai Qiannuo couldn't help being slightly stunned, and the expression on her face softened a fraction. However, she had no intention of letting Li Qi off the hook just like that. With a cold snort, she turned her head away, though she did stop walking.

Li Qi knew very well in his heart that Bai Qiannuo would not simply walk away like this. If she truly had no desire to do business with him, she could have simply handed the silver directly to Wu Xiaoliu instead of making a special trip here. By acting this way, she was merely trying to save a bit of face.

If Li Qi had anything in abundance, it was face—he practically had it delivered in wholesale batches.

"Lady Bai, I really had no choice but to miss our appointment today. Come, come, please take a seat first, and I will explain everything to you slowly," Li Qi said with a thoroughly sincere expression.

*Fine! I'd like to see what kind of story you're going to make up to fool me this time.*

Finding an excuse for herself, Bai Qiannuo let out a huff and sat back down.

Seeing this, Li Qi breathed a massive sigh of relief. He quickly sat down opposite her, let out a long sigh, and with a face full of grievance and a pitiful tone, said, "You wouldn't understand. I didn't sleep a wink last night, terrified that I might delay Lady Bai in doing her good deeds..."

"Lord Li certainly seems to be in fantastic physical shape! Despite not sleeping a wink last night, you're still full of such vibrant energy right now," Bai Qiannuo sneered. How could she possibly be hoodwinked by Li Qi so easily?

*Oops! I overdid it!* Inspiration struck Li Qi, and he put on a look of total confusion, saying, "I haven't the faintest idea why, but just a moment ago I was nodding off continuously. Yet the moment I laid eyes on Lady Bai, I suddenly felt my whole body surge with strength! My back no longer aches, my legs no longer hurt, and my mind is sharp again. Could it be that Lady Bai is the Goddess of Mercy reincarnated?"

The corners of Bai Qiannuo's mouth twitched as she fought back a laugh. She shot Li Qi a sideways glare and said, "Cut the nonsense. If you offend the Bodhisattva, I won't bail you out. Besides, if you keep rambling like this, I might as well just leave."

"Don't! I'll talk, I'll talk."

Li Qi let out a dry laugh and said, "Here is how it happened. This morning, just as I was getting ready to step out, Madam's maid Xiaotao suddenly arrived. She said Madam wanted me to pay a visit to the estate. When I heard that, I immediately gave a stern refusal. Could any matter in the world possibly be more important than joining Lady Bai in doing good deeds? But then Uncle Wu arrived as well, and he told me this matter concerned the very survival of the Drunken Immortal House, pleading with me to go over. Ah, you know how it is—I've always held Uncle Wu in the highest respect. Since he personally begged me, and given his advanced age, how could I possibly find the heart to refuse him? Oh, it put me in such a terribly difficult position!"

*What a silver tongue! He clearly wanted to shift all the blame onto Sister Wang and Uncle Wu, yet he manages to sound so aggrieved.*

Bai Qiannuo shook her head helplessly, though she knew that what Li Qi said wasn't entirely false. Given her relationship with Madam Qin, she could easily verify the truth by simply asking. Li Qi wouldn't be foolish enough to use Madam Qin as a cover story. She said indifferently, "Since Sister Wang asked for you, it must have been an urgent matter, and you ought to have prioritized the bigger picture. Still, you should have had someone send word to me in advance."

"Indeed! That was my original thought as well. But then I reflected on what a tremendous honor it is to accompany Lady Bai in doing good deeds—something countless people would beg for in vain. How could I let such a chance slip through my fingers so easily? Furthermore, it was still quite early, so I figured I'd quickly head to the Qin estate to sort things out and then rush over to meet you. Who would have expected—sigh!" At this point, Li Qi let out a heavy sigh.

Bai Qiannuo's expression tightened, and she hurriedly asked, "What on earth happened? Spit it out! Did something happen to Sister Wang?"

A flash of imperceptible amusement crossed Li Qi's eyes, though his face remained solemn as he sighed, "I originally thought Madam was just making a fuss over nothing. But the moment I arrived at the estate, I realized the matter was truly of monumental importance. To be frank with you, my mind went completely blank when I heard about it."

Anxiously, Bai Qiannuo asked, "Well, what on earth was it?"

"Ugh—well—these are just mundane business matters; Lady Bai certainly wouldn't have any interest in knowing," Li Qi said with a sheepish smile, thinking to himself, *Are you kidding? These are top-tier trade secrets! I can't possibly tell you. I'll have to remind Madam later to make sure not a word leaks out.*

How could Bai Qiannuo not know what he was implying? She curled her lips and let out a disdainful huff.

Li Qi chuckled inwardly and continued, "As a result, Uncle Wu and I were tied up dealing with this the entire day. Alas, I suppose it's all my fault. Once I get busy, I tend to forget everything else."

That much was entirely the truth. In the past, Li Qi had often been so consumed by work that he even forgot his own wife's birthday—he was a workaholic through and through.

"Of course it's your fault! Don't think you can get away with just saying a few smooth words and expect me to forgive you," Bai Qiannuo huffed. In truth, she had already forgiven Li Qi in her heart; she was simply too proud to admit it.

[...]

"Naturally, of course. You certainly shouldn't forgive me so easily, or else I wouldn't even be able to forgive myself," Li Qi declared with an air of absolute righteousness.

"Huh?"

Bai Qiannuo was taken aback, staring at Li Qi with suspicion.

Li Qi chuckled a few times and said, "To make amends for my grave mistake, I have specially prepared a dish for you. While it can hardly be called a rare delicacy, you have definitely never tasted it before. Furthermore, anyone who eats this dish will find their mood lifting and turning cheerful."

*A dish that can make someone happy?* This successfully piqued Bai Qiannuo's curiosity, and she asked skeptically, "There's such a dish? How come I've never heard of it?"

Li Qi smiled. "I developed this recipe recently, so naturally you haven't heard of it."

"Really?"

"Of course it's real. I've already sent Liuzi and the others out to buy the ingredients. They should be back soon, so if you could just wait a moment—"

Nodding half-believingly, Bai Qiannuo waited.

After the span of about a stick of incense, Wu Xiaoliu and the others finally arrived.

Li Qi smiled at Bai Qiannuo and said, "Lady Bai, please take a seat here. I'll be right back, it won't take long."

Nodding with considerable anticipation, Bai Qiannuo complied.

Entering the kitchen, Li Qi stared at the large bamboo basket before him, feeling like crying without tears. He flared up at Wu Xiaoliu, "Liuzi, brilliant! I told you to just buy a few, but you—you went and bought the vendor's entire basket!"

Wu Xiaoliu grievance-ladenly replied, "You didn't specify the exact amount, so how was I supposed to know how many to buy? What if I bought too few and ruined your plans? Then you'd yell at me again."

The Zhu brothers and Chen Anan all nodded in succession, signaling their support for Wu Xiaoliu's reasoning.

Looking at these apprentices of his, Li Qi let out a sigh and said, "Very well. Don't you lot always complain that I never teach you how to cook? Fine then, I can't possibly use up all these ingredients by myself anyway. You'll just follow my lead and cook along with me today."

This truly was a blessing in disguise!

Delighted, Wu Xiaoliu said, "Brother Li, what are you planning to teach us to make?"

The corners of Li Qi's mouth curled up as he said, "I'm going to teach you an essential dish for wooing maidens."

"Wooing maidens?"

Aside from Wu Xiaoliu, the other three wore expressions of utter bewilderment.

Wu Xiaoliu proudly chimed in, "Haha! You guys don't know anything, do you? 'Wooing maidens' means pursuing the woman you love, understand?"

*Swish, swish, swish!*

Upon hearing this, the three innocent young faces of the Zhu brothers and Chen Anan flushed a brilliant crimson. Although they were roughly the same age as Wu Xiaoliu, they certainly weren't as precocious as him.

Without denying it, Li Qi smiled and said, "You don't need to be embarrassed; you'll all have to go through this eventually."

"Right, Brother Li, are you planning to woo that Lady Bai?" Wu Xiaoliu sidled up close to Li Qi and chuckled with a leer.

[...]

"Woo your head!"

With a majestic quiver of his frame, Li Qi delivered a powerful 'Reclining Dragon Strikes' palm right onto the crown of Wu Xiaoliu's head.

"Ow!"

Wu Xiaoliu cried out, clutching his head.

Reprimanding him, Li Qi said, "Let's see if you dare run your mouth like that again." Privately, however, he thought to himself that it was actually a rather decent suggestion.

With a tearful expression, Wu Xiaoliu vigorously shook his head.

Ignoring him, Li Qi swiftly picked out some of the finest produce from the basket and arranged them on the table one by one.

Wu Xiaoliu and the others followed suit, selecting their own ingredients. Even Chen Anan, who usually showed little interest in culinary arts, joined in—it seemed the temptation of 'wooing maidens' was too powerful to resist!

First, Li Qi meticulously washed the fruits in clean water, scooped a spoonful of honey into a small bowl, squeezed in some fresh orange juice, poured the orange juice and honey together into the bowl, added a splash of warm water, and stirred the mixture until uniform.

Next, he selected a small, sharp knife and began peeling and coring the fruits.

In Li Qi's hands, the little blade seemed to possess a life of its own, moving with such speed and precision that it left Wu Xiaoliu and the others dizzy just watching.

Before long, all the fruits had revealed their tender, mouth-watering flesh.

Following that, Li Qi demonstrated direct-cutting, pull-cutting, and roll-cutting for Wu Xiaoliu, slicing the plums, snow pears, and oranges into small pieces of various shapes—diamonds, squares, circles, and more.

The entire sequence of movements flowed like drifting clouds and flowing water in one unbroken stream. Without seven or eight years of hard practice, it was utterly impossible to achieve such proficiency.

Watching open-mouthed from the side, Wu Xiaoliu and the others finally understood why Li Qi was always nagging them to practice their knife skills.

Once the cutting was done, Li Qi tumbled all the fruit pieces together onto a plate, then drizzled his freshly prepared orange-honey dressing over the top, tossing them gently to coat evenly.

Finally, with meticulous care, Li Qi arranged the fruit pieces into a smiling face: plums made up the face, longans formed the eyes, a snow pear wedge served as the nose, and orange segments formed the mouth.

"Whew! Mission accomplished!"

Li Qi let out a long breath. This dish was none other than the fruit salad that women universally adored.

Wu Xiaoliu and the others craned their necks forward, their eyes filled with a mixture of envy and excitement.

"So, what's the name of this dish?" Chen Dachun asked with an honest, good-natured smile.

With a mysterious smile, Li Qi replied, "Go figure that out yourselves."

(End of this chapter)