Chapter 9: Taming the Little Girl and Rolling Up the Fragrant Cigarette Smoke

  Meng Die's heart trembled at Huo Jie's question, if the master found out that a servant had a habit of stealing, then this servant would likely be driven out!

  "Master, I'm sorry! Meng Die was captivated by the beauty of that 'jade' bangle and momentarily had a greedy thought. Meng Die will never do anything to tarnish the reputation of the Huo family again!" Meng Die pleaded softly. In this era, if a maid was kicked out by her master, not only would she have trouble getting married in the future, but even her parents wouldn't want her back home, as they would be ashamed of her bringing shame to their family!

  "Sorry is useless, your performance makes me very dissatisfied, you know? I really want to drive you out of the door!" Huo Hai shouted loudly.

  "Master, don't! Please don't drive Dream Butterfly away. It's no different from killing her! Dream Butterfly will never dare to again, never dare to again!" Dream Butterfly wailed, kneeling on the ground.

  "This time, let it go, but you must reflect on yourself. You were caught stealing, and you're making me lose face in front of Master?" Huo Hai helped Meng Die up, and the soft skin of the little girl made him think of those girls from before***, whose skin had long been dry and rough, rarely as tender as Meng Die's!

  Hearing Huo Qi say this, Meng Die opened her eyes wide: "Young master, what are you saying? You're not saying that I'm stealing things and losing face, but rather that I'm stealing things and getting caught is even more embarrassing?"

  "Of course, what's shameful about stealing? The ancients said: 'Those who steal the country are nobles, and stealing is a kind of talent!' However, stealing is also an art, if you can steal something from someone without them daring to say you stole it, that's the highest level of stealing. Do you understand?" Huo Xiao chuckled and took the tea water handed over by Meng Die, taking a sip. "Hey, isn't this the taste of Bi Luo Chun? Did the Tang Dynasty also have Bi Luo Chun?"

  On the other side, Meng Die was also stunned. A great talent is indeed a great talent. What he said wasn't just unique, but extremely unique!

  "This 'jade' bangle is for you! From now on, if you want to buy anything, just tell Young Master, don't go outside and do those silly things, letting people think that our Huo family is so poor that we can't even afford a 'jade' bangle!" Huo Hai took out one of the three 'jade' bangles from his pocket and put it on Meng Die's hand!

  He also knew that although the Huo family was a well-known merchant in this area, the silver at home was not as abundant as he had imagined.

  Like Meng Die, a maid in the Huo family, she was only able to get enough food and clothing, let alone wages. To say nothing of buying jade bangles, even buying a stone bangle would probably take a month's worth of wages!

  He couldn't help but feel a little ashamed, he would one day be the master of this house, how could he not let his own servants call him Lord?

  "Thank you, young master! This bangle is much more beautiful than the one I stole! You are the kindest person to me in the whole world!" Meng Die couldn't bear to put down the 'jade' bangle, and the tear stains at the corners of her eyes were still clearly visible.

  Huò Jiǎo shook his head, muttering to himself, "Women have always been prone to tears, indeed! But the tear-stained Dream Butterfly is still quite...!"

  Of course! This word was still unknown in this era! So he recklessly used it on Meng Die.

  He played with Meng Die for a while, and Huo Xi was a bit tired! Don't get me wrong, the "play" here isn't playing around with women, it's just innocent play between boys and girls!

  I'm tired, so I'll just go back and lie down for a while! Today Meng Die is in charge of the study, and Lin Shuang'er, this little girl whose voice can make men all over the world infatuated, must be in charge of the bedroom.

  "Is Shuang'er in?" Manbu walked into the bedroom, and suddenly shouted loudly. The familiar scent that rushed to meet him was very similar to the smell of nicotine, although this term did not exist at that time!

  "Master, you're back!" Shuang'er was originally dozing off, but upon seeing Huo Xiao return, she hastily came to greet him!

  Little girl, apart from having a sweet voice, is also very agile in her movements. I reckon it's because she's been doing chores since young due to poverty!

  "Hasn't it been just a few days since you came to the Huo's house and you're already learning how to be lazy?" The Huo family pretended to have a serious expression, thinking that he must first intimidate the little girl by his side, otherwise he wouldn't be able to be like Wei Xiaobao, awe-inspiring and having a harem of women!

  "Lin Shuang'er tidied up the whole house, and even changed the incense, but after waiting for a whole day, Master didn't come in, so... she dozed off!" Lin Shuang'er said shyly, her eyes constantly looking at Huo Xiao.

  It's been a whole day since she saw Huo Xiao, Lin Shuang'er rarely misses him, and she herself feels embarrassed, having never thought about a man like this before!

  The incident of being peeped at while bathing still lingered in Xiaonizi's mind, as was the case with ancient women, whose hearts would follow whoever had seen their bodies.

  So Lin Shuang'er's current mentality is that she will not marry anyone else in this life except for Huo Xiao, although at the time she hated his *** behavior, but deep down she had already accepted the fact that she was already his person.

  "Lazy people will be driven out of the Huo family, do you know that? A servant girl who is driven out by a wealthy family not only has trouble getting married, but her parents will also be looked down upon!" Huo Xi deliberately made things sound very serious to scare the little girl in front of him.

  "Ah, young master, please don't drive me out of the Huo household, I won't be lazy again, I'll definitely serve you comfortably, please, young master, don't drive me away?" Lin Shuang'er's soft voice was like a gentle spring breeze blowing on Huo Xiao's face, making him feel so comfortable that he wanted to go outside and take a deep breath.

  At that time, becoming the first *** man of the Great Tang can also make a name for oneself!

  "I won't throw you out, but I'll have to punish you properly as a warning! Close your eyes quickly!" Huo Hai shouted loudly on purpose.

  Lin Shuang'er, who was extremely nervous, calmed down a bit. She didn't know how the young master would punish her, but she still obediently closed her eyes, thinking that suffering a little physically was better than being kicked out!

  Huò Jià abruptly pulled up Lín Shuāng ér's hand, which made her tremble with fear for a moment. Huò Jià was secretly laughing on the side, "Look at you, little girl, so scared! This young master doesn't want to eat you just yet!"

  He felt that being with Xiao Nizi was like stewing a chicken, the longer he stewed, the more fragrant the aroma became!

  Huò Jiāng took out a 'jade' bangle from his waist pocket and gently put it on Lín Shuāng ér's hand. He gave one to Mèng Dié, so he also had to give her one; otherwise, in the future, she wouldn't be able to hold her head up high in front of Mèng Dié.

  "Is this the punishment that Young Master has given to Shuang'er?" As Lin Shuang'er slowly opened her eyes, she stared at the 'jade' bangle on her hand in shock. The joy that had just been relieved of a false alarm immediately floated onto her small face.

  "As long as you serve me well, young master, there will be many benefits for you in the future!" Huo Lie pinched Lin Shuang'er's little face and smiled as he got up and walked to the table.

  Lin Shuang'er originally wanted to say thank you loudly, but was pinched by Huo Ji and couldn't say anything!

  This was her first time being intimate with a man, so her face naturally turned bright red, and her throat seemed to be blocked by something soft and fluffy, she couldn't speak!

  At this time, Huo Wei knew that the little girl behind him was having an obscene thought, but what he noticed was the sandalwood in front of him emitting a faint smoke.

  It's actually inaccurate to say that the smoke in front of your eyes is sandalwood, as only the palace had the opportunity to use such high-end goods during this era.

  Huo Jie was able to identify that the so-called sandalwood in front of him was actually the precursor to tobacco, which was called fragrant grass here, and it was just different in roasting craftsmanship.

  The taste of nicotine made his smoking addiction relapse, before when he was working at *** he would 'smoke' several packs a day.

  When he first came here, he was indeed very unaccustomed to the days without cigarettes. However, the smoke-free Tang Dynasty didn't evoke any memories of his life shrouded in smoke and haze, so he just muddled through!

  But the scent of grass in front of him suddenly made him have an irresistible craving for nicotine! He felt his throat was very dry, this dryness wasn't like thirst, but rather as if there were small insects crawling inside his throat!

  "Shuang'er, bring Young Master a clean paper!" Huo Xi turned around and instructed.

  "Master, the paper is here!" Shuang'er ran in with a small trot and soon brought in a sheet of writing paper, handing it to Huo Lie.

  Huò Jiǎo opened the incense burner filled with fragrant grass, pushed aside the part that had already burned, and the unburned purple-black fragrant grass appeared in his line of sight.

  He couldn't help but feel delighted, wasn't this tobacco? Excited to the point of trembling, he immediately used his hand to roll a long cigarette without a filter tip!

  He lit it lightly, then tried to take a sip, the thick smoke mixed with the fragrance of herbs slowly entered his mouth, wrapping around from the tip of his tongue all the way to the depths of his throat!

  Huò Jiǎo seemed to have regained his long-lost feeling, slowly exhaling the smoke from his mouth, and occasionally producing some smoke rings. These "absolute skills" were all learned by him when he worked at ***!

  "Young master, what are you doing?" Lin Shuang'er looked at him for a long time and didn't know why Huo Xiao was sucking on the incense stick.

  "Smoking, smoking cigarettes!" Huo exclaimed with a delighted smile, it's been several days since he had this feeling of being superior to the little gods!

  "Fragrant... 'Yan'?" Lin Shuang'er was a bit bewildered. She had heard of fragrances and herbs, but this name she had never heard of!

  "Cigarettes! Come on, tell this young master again, ci...ga...rettes!" Huo Hai said with a tone of annoyance.

  "Perfume... cigarettes!" Lin Shuang'er finally learned this new term from the young master's mouth!

  "Right, be sure to remember this word! And you, go and prepare a batch of fragrant grass for Young Master at once, hurry up, Young Master will use it soon!" Huo Hai ordered.