Starlet Taotie Chapter 18 (Part 2)
Chapter 18.2 Fighting Over Food
Shen Zhiyan swallowed the cherry tomato in his mouth and cast Zhou Zhilan a sympathetic glance. “You’re still too naive.”
Zhou Zhilan: TAT
“Wait.” He suddenly reacted. “You’re eating?!”
Because of Shen Zhiyan’s eating disorder, they always tried to place as much food as possible in front of him, hoping he would manage to eat a little more.
Of course, most of the time, Shen Zhiyan wouldn’t touch it at all.
But today, not only had he touched it—
He had actually eaten several pieces!!
Zhou Zhilan slapped his thigh. “I’m going to ask Ole Fang later where he bought these cherry tomatoes!”
“No need,” Shen Zhiyan shook his head.
“Of course there is!” Zhou Zhilan was beaming. As long as Shen Zhiyan ate, it made them all happier than anything else.
But when the dishes were served, he became even more shocked.
Jiang Tao’s chopsticks moved so fast they blurred.
Shen Zhiyan was equally unwilling to back down.
The two sets of chopsticks moved like they were engaged in a battlefield confrontation.
Zhou Zhilan stared in stunned silence.
Honestly, in his entire life, he had never seen Shen Zhiyan fight so hard over food.
The meal ended far sooner than he had expected.
Zhou Zhilan had been too busy watching Shen Zhiyan eat to notice anything else. By the time he came back to his senses, the entire table was left with nothing but empty dishes, just like the plate of cherry tomatoes.
But he wasn’t concerned about himself. He quickly asked in surprise, “So… you’re cured?”
Shen Zhiyan shook his head.
“Then you—”
Shen Zhiyan hesitated, unsure how to explain.
Zhou Zhilan stroked his chin and kindly supplied an answer for him. “Maybe… food just tastes better when you’re fighting for it?”
Shen Zhiyan: “……”
The pirate kitchen’s owner and his wife walked out with warm smiles. “How was the food today, everyone?”
Zhou Zhilan: “……”
He hadn’t even managed to take a single bite.
Shen Zhiyan nodded slightly. “Very good. Thank you.”
Jiang Tao licked her lips. “There are emotions of happiness in your dishes.”
The couple froze for a moment, then broke into delighted smiles. “Thank you. That’s the best compliment we could hear.”
Jiang Tao had truly tasted emotions in the food.
This was something even Chef Shi Wenqing had never been able to achieve.
At that moment, a small figure stumbled out from inside, vaguely calling out, “Papa… Mama…”
A nanny hurried after her. “Tang Tang, don’t run around.”
The child was about five or six years old, delicate and cute like a porcelain doll, but her eyes were dull and unfocused, her speech unclear.
The owner’s wife quickly picked her up, carefully wiping the drool from the child’s lips before gently kissing her cheek.
“Tang Tang, my baby, Mommy’s here.”
Zhou Zhilan explained, “This is Ole Fang’s daughter, Tang Tang. They originally ran a restaurant, but after Tang Tang fell ill, they gave up their business and opened this private kitchen instead.”
Boss Fang looked at his wife and daughter, a gentle smile appearing on his face.
It was because of the love they held for their daughter that every dish they made carried emotion within it.
Just then, Tang Tang suddenly stumbled and fell without warning.
Everyone was startled.
Only the Fang couple seemed accustomed to it. They quickly picked her up and comforted her with practiced familiarity.
Shen Zhiyan hesitated before asking, “What’s wrong with Tang Tang?”
Boss Fang sighed softly. “When Tang Tang was one year old, she was diagnosed with an intellectual disability. As she grew older, she would constantly fall for no reason, get sick, and run into one misfortune after another.”
“To be honest, when we were truly desperate, we even went searching for spiritual masters. We spent a great deal of money, but it didn’t help at all.”
Jiang Tao looked at Tang Tang.
Above the little girl’s head floated something like a tiny dark cloud.
No ordinary person could see it.
This ‘dark cloud’ was misfortune.
Although Jiang Tao claimed she could eat anything, that didn’t mean she liked eating everything.
For example, misfortune was one of the things she disliked the most.
It was bitter, astringent, and hard to swallow.
And after eating it, she would become weak for a period of time.
After eating so many delicious things over the years, she was no longer as desperate and indiscriminate as before. She had started becoming picky.
At that moment, Tang Tang wobbled out of her mother’s arms and toddled over to Jiang Tao.
Tilting her head, she revealed a bright smile and held out a toy flower toward her. “Flowar… fur you…”
Jiang Tao froze.
Back when she had still been a young cub, she had wanted to play with the other children too.
But the other species never allowed their cubs near her, afraid that she might suddenly swallow them whole while they were playing.
Back then, Jiang Tao had felt deeply wronged. She had never once eaten a cub. She genuinely had only wanted to play with them.
But every time she appeared, the other cub would scream and scatter in fear.
As time passed, she stopped going out to look for playmates altogether.
This was the very first time a cub had ever approached her willingly.
Tang Tang still stubbornly held the flowar out toward her.
Jiang Tao could only carefully accept the toy flower from her hands.
Then Tang Tang opened her arms wide. “Huggie~”
Jiang Tao was dumbfounded.
At a loss, she looked toward the others for help.
But the Fang couple looked delighted. “Tang Tang has always been very shy. This is the first time she’s ever approached someone on her own. It seems she really likes you!”
Zhou Zhilan also encouraged, “Just give her a hug! What are you scared of?”
No one was worried that she might eat the little cub.
That strange feeling in Jiang Tao’s chest suddenly appeared again.
Soft. Warm. Swollen with something unfamiliar.
She crouched down and, using the gentlest strength possible, carefully picked Tang Tang up.
The little cub smelled sweet like milk, tiny and soft in her arms.
Jiang Tao became so stiff she barely dared to move.
It was Shen Zhiyan’s first time seeing Jiang Tao like this.
In his memories, she had always been like a reckless little cannonball, charging headfirst into everything as though nothing in the world could stop her.
But it turned out she also had such a gentle side.
Tang Tang leaned obediently against Jiang Tao’s shoulder.
Jiang Tao lowered her head and quietly bit off the tiny dark cloud above Tang Tang’s head.
The bitter taste instantly flooded her mouth, yet she couldn’t swallow it down at all.
Jiang Tao frowned uncomfortably.
But the eyes of the little Tang Tang resting on her shoulder suddenly seemed to gain a faint spark of life.
It was only the slightest change, almost imperceptible, but without that misfortune hanging over her, she would at least be able to grow up healthy.
After holding her for a while, Jiang Tao gently put Tang Tang back down.
Missus Fang went inside to bring out some freshly baked pastries while Boss Fang stayed outside chatting with the others.
Tang Tang squatted in the sandbox near the outer wall, quietly playing with sand.
No one noticed when she climbed out of the sandbox and wandered unsteadily toward the road outside.
On the street beyond, a fashionably dressed young woman was walking a dog, a fierce-looking large breed.
But she hadn’t put it on a leash. She simply let it roam freely while she followed behind, talking on the phone.
The dog suddenly barked and lunged straight toward Tang Tang.
Tang Tang didn’t understand fear. She only stood there blankly.
When Boss Fang noticed this, his face turned deathly pale as he rushed out in panic.
But someone moved even faster than him.
Jiang Tao stepped directly in front of Tang Tang.
The originally fierce dog, upon seeing her, immediately let out a terrified whimper, and actually urinated in fear before turning tail and fleeing.
The young woman only then realized her dog had run off. No matter how she shouted, she couldn’t call it back.
Furious, she pointed at Jiang Tao and yelled, “Are you crazy?! Why did you scare my dog?!”
At that moment, Boss Fang finally managed to catch up.
He hurriedly pulled Tang Tang into his arms, still trembling all over.
The woman continued to make a scene. “What, are all of you teaming up to bully me?!”
Zhou Zhilan had never expected there to be someone like this in the world. Despite having been the one at fault, she did not apologize; instead, she turned and laid the blame at others' feet.
Unable to hold back his anger, he snapped, “You’re the one who’s crazy! If it weren’t for Xiao Jiang, what if your dog had bitten the child?!”
The woman glanced at Tang Tang with disgust. “A retarded kid like this should be locked up at home. Who let you bring her out?!”
“You—!” Boss Fang’s eyes turned red with rage, and he was about to rush forward and hit her.
Shen Zhiyan held him back and said calmly, “Under the revised Animal Epidemic Prevention Law, walking a dog without a leash is illegal. I’ve already recorded what just happened. I can file a lawsuit at any time.”
The woman, who had initially looked excited upon recognizing Shen Zhiyan, immediately went pale after hearing his words. “W-what nonsense are you talking about… I’m not dealing with you people anymore…”
She turned to run.
But Jiang Tao grabbed her.
She leaned in and gently blew a breath toward the top of her head.
“What… what are you doing?!” the woman snapped angrily, shaking off Jiang Tao’s hand and hurriedly fleeing.
Jiang Tao looked satisfied as she watched the faint dark cloud forming above her head.
Even something as disgusting as misfortune wasn’t completely useless.
…
Shi Jiajia, the name of the woman who had been walking her dog without a leash.
After fleeing, she kept cursing as she went to find her dog. After finally locating it, she stepped on a banana peel and fell heavily to the ground.
Pain shot through her head as stars spun in her vision. She groped around trying to get up, only to grab onto something soft and squishy.
Looking down, she nearly vomited, it was her dog’s feces.
She usually walked her dog without a leash, so naturally she never brought bags or tissues to clean up after it. Now she was reaping what she had sown.
Disgusted and furious, she burst into tears and ran all the way home.
“Hubby! You have to help me get revenge!” Shi Jiajia called out in a spoiled, aggrieved tone toward the room.
A bald, heavily tattooed man walked out. “Who bullied you…bleugh!”
Shi Jiajia became even angrier. “Can you stop being so dramatic?!”
The man pinched his nose and said in a muffled voice, “Go wash your hands first. We’ll talk after you’re done.”
Fuming, Shi Jiajia turned and went into the bathroom.
But no matter how many times she washed her hands, she still felt like there was a lingering smell.
So she went back to the bedroom, planning to use some perfume.
Passing by her man’s study, she noticed a uniquely shaped bottle on the desk. It was covered in English text she couldn’t read.
Curious, she opened it and sniffed it, it smelled quite pleasant. She tested it and found it had a lotion-like texture.
Assuming it was hand cream, possibly a gift from her husband, she let out a coquettish “that rascal.”
Then she took the bottle back to the bedroom.
After spraying perfume, she applied the “hand cream” she had taken from her husband onto her hands as well.
Satisfied, she swayed her hips as she walked back into the living room.
The man had already ordered takeout and even brought two bottles of alcohol.
Shi Jiajia asked, “What’s got you so happy today?”
The man said proudly, “Young Master Han came to me today. As long as I handle one thing for him, I’ll get this amount!”
Shi Jiajia looked at the gesture he made and exclaimed in excitement, her voice trembling, “That much?! But he’s a rich young master, what could he possibly need you for?”
“You don’t get it,” the man said. “This Young Master Han apparently has his eye on some minor female celebrity. He’s done quite a lot for her already, but anything dirty or troublesome, those rich kids don’t want to get their hands on it. So of course he has to find someone like me…”
As he kept talking proudly about his so-called achievements, Shi Jiajia suddenly felt an itch in her hand and scratched it absentmindedly.
Just as the man was about to continue boasting, she quickly cut him off. “Alright, enough. What exactly is the job that’s worth that much money?”
“He said someone in the industry has been bullying that girl. Young Master Han wants to teach her a lesson, he plans to ruin her face. That woman’s currently filming a reality show in some rural place. I’ll find a way to sneak in later.” With a proud expression, the man continued, “For this, I even had someone bring a bottle of medicine from overseas. Oh right, I left it on the desk, don’t touch it.”
Shi Jiajia froze. “…What did you say?!”
She raised her hand and saw it already covered in pustules, several of them scratched open.
“!!”
“AAAHAHHH—”
TL Note: Why are these chapters soo longggg
