"Xander, why aren't you eating?" Lude was still actively persuading him, pointing at the remaining half of the lotus root in his hand, saying, "Look, I'm almost done eating."
"Don't eat it, Lude."
Xander snatched the remaining lotus root from his hand, and alertly asked the thatched cottage Master who had been keeping his head down, "Are you really the Master of this lotus pond?"
"I've been here for five or six years now, what do you think?"
The thatched cottage Master, still with a rough voice, had a feeling of being wronged and said indignantly, "I think my kind heart is being taken for a fool. All the lotus roots were freshly picked from the lotus pond this morning. In the market, they sell for five or six bucks a pound. I gave them to you for free, yet you're not eating and you're preventing others from eating. What are you trying to say?"
"...Forgive me for saying this, but you resemble someone I know—"
