Thinking of this, he said with complete composure, “I’ve lived here since I was a child and have never been anywhere farther. I’ve never even heard that I had a fiancée, so this so-called engagement, Miss, you need not mention it again.”

If Ethan Bolton had an unpleasant appearance, then after he said this, ever since those bad tidings arrived and her family’s situation changed drastically, the heavily pressured Emily Brooks might have felt a sense of relief. However, Ethan Bolton’s simple and direct statement instead made her feel as if she was being rejected.

But just at that moment, as she was feeling a bit down, she suddenly heard a loud grumble!

Ethan Bolton was just thinking that he had already “laid his heart bare,” so why was there no reaction? But then he immediately heard that rather loud sound. He was stunned at first, but when he saw the young lady in front of him suddenly look embarrassed, he instantly understood what was going on.

“We’ve been talking so much, I forgot it’s lunchtime! What, are you hungry?”

Oh no, she’d been so upset by her second brother these past few days that she hadn’t eaten properly, and now she was hungry at this moment!

Just as Emily Brooks was racking her brains to change the subject, she heard her own stomach betray her again with another loud rumble.

She wished she could find a hole to crawl into, but Ethan Bolton just smiled even more warmly. “Looks like you really are hungry. If you don’t want to go back and see that annoying scholar husband of yours, why don’t we go somewhere else to pay tribute to the Temple of the Five Viscera and have a good chat?”

Chapter Four: Good Food Eases Worries

The result of her stomach growling was that she felt flustered, dizzy, and weak in the legs. However, when she heard Ethan Bolton actually invite her, Emily Brooks didn’t care about her hunger at all and nodded vigorously without hesitation. “Alright!”

Not to mention, if she kept forcing herself, she’d start sweating from weakness. And besides, to get to the bottom of the engagement, she couldn’t go back! Hmph, it was definitely not because she wanted to spend some time alone with this elegant and handsome young man who looked like an immortal...

She agreed with such firmness, but after following Ethan Bolton across who knows how many field ridges and finally stopping at the edge of a clearly harvested rice paddy, she was already exhausted and starving, feeling like she was about to collapse.

Glancing at this young lady who was surely used to a life of luxury, Ethan Bolton carried over a pile of dry thatch and found a clean spot to lay down a thick layer.

Meanwhile, Emily Brooks stared unblinkingly at him as he did these chores that should have been done by household servants, only to find that his every movement was so pleasing to the eye... so pleasing that she even forgot her hunger. No wonder people say, “A feast for the eyes”...

After spreading the thatch, Ethan Bolton turned around and saw this beautiful young lady staring at him as if she wanted to see a flower bloom on his face. He couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s the countryside, don’t mind it—come and sit!”

The next moment, he saw this young lady, dressed in clothes so splendid they wouldn’t be out of place even in the palace, walk over without hesitation and sit right down on the thick thatch, then even take a contented breath.

Whether it was because she was too hungry and tired to care, or because she simply felt a sense of trust from his face, Ethan Bolton thought to himself that this young lady was not just any spoiled daughter of a wealthy family.

Seeing Emily Brooks looking pale, Ethan Bolton withdrew his gaze and fished out a paper packet from a tree hollow nearby, then smiled at her.

“There’s still a piece of mung bean cake and a piece of crystal cake here, both made by Aunt Liu this morning. I can’t sit still at home, so I often go out and always bring a few snacks. If I can’t finish them, I leave them here. Some clever kids often sneak over to steal a bite. If we’d come any later, they might have been taken already.”

Normally, Miss Brooks would be picky even about the special treats made in the kitchen, let alone leftovers. But now, she didn’t hesitate at all—she opened the oiled paper packet and devoured the last piece of crystal cake and mung bean cake in no time.

Once she finally regained a bit of strength, she secretly thought, Oh no.

Wasn’t she always able to maintain her flawless, elegant young lady demeanor whenever she wanted?

Before Emily Brooks could think of any way to salvage the situation, Ethan Bolton turned and walked over to another tree, quickly producing a fire striker and flint. Then, as if pulling treasures from a magic box, he kept producing all sorts of things.

An iron pot, a clay jar of spring water, a small bag of salt and pepper, ginger and scallions, a specially made wooden rack, a packet of bamboo skewers... Ethan Bolton rummaged here and there, gathering a full set of tools for an outdoor cookout, then collected a pile of dry branches and firewood and soon had a fire going. When he pulled up a bamboo basket from a fairly large pond by the wheat field, he let out a soft sigh of relief.

“I actually managed to catch a few eels—what luck.”

Emily Brooks felt her mind was spinning. This young man who looked like an immortal from the heavens could actually do such down-to-earth things?

The next moment, she realized—smoke and fire were nothing... there was even killing intent!

Ethan Bolton squatted by a tree stump, deftly grabbed an eel from the basket, flipped his right hand to reveal a sharp nail, and with practiced ease, pinned and killed it, then removed the head, slit the tail, and cleaned out the innards.