Chapter 6 A handsome moocher
Mo Li wasn't really hurt that badly, but his wound was still in his abdomen. Not to mention that this was ancient times, with pretty terrible healthcare conditions.
Tao Linger didn't understand much about medical stuff, although Mo Li hadn't really brought up any of that to her either.
If he really asked her to find him medicine, that would be quite a challenge. Tao Linger had no money on her person. She couldn't even buy food, let alone medicine.
Tao Linger had heard that last time she'd almost been beaten to death by Grandma Li. To be accurate, the original Tao Linger was already dead. If that woman wasn't even going to spend money on life or death situations, she definitely wasn't going to spend it on any kind of small wound.
Of course, it all depended on the person. If Li Daniu was sick and needed medicine, no doubt even someone as miserly as Grandma Li would be able to produce some kind of money.
Mo Li, on the other hand, Tao Linger had already done all she could for him. Not only had she asked Lin to make more food, doing her best to hide it from the Lis, she had taken food out of her own portions to feed him.
Seemed like Mo Li really did think of himself as some kind of saint. Other than thanking her for the first two steamed rolls, he never thanked her for any other food she provided. Did he really think that he was a Buddha for her to tribute? Tao Linger didn't even have enough to eat for herself.
Watching him eat even the most normal cold steamed roll with elegance, Tao Linger began to realize more and more that Mo Li was more definitely not an ordinary person.
Was it like the novels she'd read in her previous life? A prince or noble son who'd escaped from a strict palace upbringing?
The more Tao Linger looked at him, the more she was convinced that she was right. It wasn't just his aura, but also his handsome, delicate features that pointed her to the conclusion that this wasn't just an average man.
Thinking this to herself, Tao Linger nodded solemnly, her brows furrowed, expression serious. Her seriousness seemed to Mo Li like nothing more than adorable, slightly uncomfortable expressions.
"Why are you looking at me like that? What kind of girl stares at a man, sizing him up? Tell me! What kind of base thoughts are you thinking?"
So it seemed like Mo Li had seen some…perversion in Tao Linger's eyes. Mo Li was exasperated, but couldn't really find other words to describe the whole thing.
The way that Tao Linger looked at him was no different from some hooligan leering at women on the street!
Tao Linger was called back to her senses by Mo Li's words. She shook her head and hugged herself, her face red. Somehow she had gotten lost looking at him…well, it was his fault for being so good-looking! Hmph! And he wouldn't let her look?
Deep inside she fumed, comparing him to movie stars and models from her previous life. But the more she compared the more she realized that handsome men like Mo Li were difficult to find.
Good skin, a good disposition: good inside and out! A hottie without any artificial parts-even though his personality was a bit flawed, it didn't subtract from his attractiveness.
Tao Linger couldn't help but give Mo Li a high score. Because she kept delivering food to him, she felt like they were chumming it up and no longer treated him like an outsider, telling him all about everything in her life.
Except for the fact that she was from a different time. Of course, Tao Linger had her own considerations about that. Even if she brought it up others might not believe her. They might even assume that she was some kind of monster. What if they decided to burn her for a sacrifice or something? That would suck.
Once Tao Linger's mouth started moving it wouldn't stop. Mo Li had never seen such a talkative woman. All the woman he knew were ladies famed for their manners, each more reserved and polite than the next.
None of them were like Tao Linger. Words came out of her mouth like cannonballs from a cannon. Not only did she speak quickly, but she said so much. Sometimes she even waved her hands around and danced when she got excited enough. The first time Mo Li saw it, he felt like he was seeing something supernatural.
Eventually, though, he got used to it. Sometimes he even thought that girls should be like this, always with the energy to keep talking.
Perhaps it was exactly as the old sayings went, that he had the same flaw as most men. After eating delicious, expensive meals, even dishes like radishes and potatoes weren't so bad for changing things up.
Because he needed to rest and let his wound heal, he needed a temporary place to stay.
Tao Linger dropped food off for Mo Li everyday, but she couldn't keep running to the nearest cave in the area. He needed his own place. It didn't have to be big, just clean and enough to shield him from the elements.
Quickly enough he found a place. A hunter without a family had set up a small cottage in the woods. Tao Linger went to look at it too. It was quite small. Could Mo Li really get used to living somewhere like that?
She doubted it. He should come from a good family, so how could he bear living somewhere like this? She shook her head. Then again, how could she know what he was thinking? He even ate cold steamed rolls from her hands.
That day, Tao Linger carried food to Mo Li's place in the middle of the night and spread all the simple dishes out in front of him. She stared at him with wide eyes, a smile on the corner of her lips. This made Mo Li uncomfortable. "What kind of expression is that?" he demanded, brows furrowed, "You look so ugly."
Tao Linger was already used to Mo Li's way of speaking. In other words, she was used to being insulted by him all day long. He always spoke in sharp tones, but he was actually quite kind of a character.
Seeing him, she giggled and said suggestively, "So does this count as me stashing a belle in a golden house?" (Common Chinese expression, will be explained in the rest of the text.)
"What?"
Mo Li frowned at her proud expression. What did that even mean?
Seeing his look of confusion, Tao Linger felt a sense of superiority as someone from the future. She hadn't even heard of this country. No matter how talented Mo Li was, he couldn't know of the origins of this expression. "Well, we can look at the phrase from just a literal sense."
Mo Li seemed interested, so she continued. "Well, obviously a golden house is a house made of gold. Stash, simple, just the meaning of the word. As for belle…"
Tao Linger stopped, her round eyes glancing around before landing on Mo Li. She suddenly laughed out loud and pointed at him.
"Belle, meaning beautiful man*. The expression means hiding away a pretty boy in a golden house."
Watching her giggle until her face was red, Mo Li felt his heart beat faster. She must be dumb if she thought he had never heard the phrase before. But she was pretty cute when she gloated like that, so he'd lay off on her for a bit.
"You're sure you're not lying to me?"
He said with a more serious expression. Tao Linger stifled her laughter for a moment and nodded, thinking to herself.
Well, it's true. Aren't you my handsome moocher? Haha!
*I know that belle doesn't mean beautiful man, but the Chinese word was also generally a word for a beautiful woman. Tao Linger substitutes it for comedy.