Chapter 866: Chapter 865: The Road to the Lantern Festival (Part 1)
Taking on a disciple is a big deal.
A disciple isn’t just a student. In the East Asian culture circle, whether it’s Chinese or Neon, disciples are like children, inheriting the master’s legacy. They’re deserving of the master’s full attention and resources for cultivation. As for students, like at Far Moon, Xia Yu just fulfills his duty. It’s up to the students whether they listen or learn, unless they belong to the few at Polar Star Dormitory; otherwise, he never goes out of his way to tutor them individually.
Liu Ying is excellent, but in such a big matter, Xia Yu didn’t make her kneel down and offer tea on the spot.
Considering Xia Yu’s perspective, taking her on as the first disciple or senior disciple right away, he feared his reputation might actually bring trouble for Liu Ying.
Moreover, although he has been back in the country for just a month and has already made quite a name, Xia Yu has not been inflated by the praises of the Demon King, nor has he been duped by fame and fortune.
He knows this reputation comes from exploiting ingredients, and a bunch of old monsters hasn’t yet appeared!
Since the old man once had to flee overseas with his grandson to escape the limelight, it surely has its reasons. The enemy definitely exists, just hasn’t shown up yet.
Returning from Juxia Building.
"Treasure cover mushroom..."
On the way back, Xia Yu asked Zhu Qing to drive to the ingredient market and specifically bought a full sack of "treasure cover mushroom."
Despite being dried, the wild mushrooms are completely white.
The treasure cover mushroom is also known as "long-skirt bamboo mushroom," so as the name suggests, you can imagine what it looks like.
From the tree canopy at the top, a silky netlike outer membrane drapes down like a skirt along the umbrella-shaped main structure. Hence, the "Treasure Cover Mushroom Noodles" recipe was developed around this "treasure" of a main ingredient.
Of course, if you delve into the origins of the recipe, Si Lang is ostensibly the creator, but Liu Maoxing is his master. The mastery and usage of "treasure cover mushroom," such as soaking and boiling, and simmering in broth, all bear Liu Maoxing’s influence. It’s undoubtedly a recipe from the Liu clan.
Xia Yu is quite interested in studying Liu Ying’s recipes; he even bought an ancient recipe from the system for reference.
The original recipe is of Purple Quality, while after Xia Yu organized and compiled Liu Ying’s recipe, the system’s assessment of its quality was Blue.
"Not bad, really not bad!"
"So young, not even at the specialty level, yet she has an original Blue recipe, and with some modifications, her recipe might not be inferior to a Purple Recipe!" Xia Yu rested his chin.
"Tsk!"
Zhu Qing said with a playful tone, "You think so much of her, why didn’t you make her offer tea and formally accept her as a disciple?"
Xia Yu waved his hand, "Aunt Qing, you don’t get it!"
"I’m laying a long-term plan—"
He spoke earnestly, "Push too hard, too suddenly, and the young girl might become suspicious. Besides, I need to observe her further. She has talent, but to progress further, she also needs temperament."
Zhu Qing was surprised, "Yu, are you really serious?"
"Could it be fake?"
Xia Yu rolled his eyes.
Meanwhile...
In a corner of Jingguan City, the Liu clan from Shu resides, with all the nearby houses belonging to Liu families.
A slightly rundown yard that hasn’t been maintained well.
In the yard, there’s a stone mold like a stove, with a black and heavy Chinese Iron Pot atop it, Liu Ying dressed casually, her belt cinched tightly around her waist, her sleeves tied with ribbons; despite her young age, she exudes a spirited and capable aura.
Swish. Swish.
Liu Ying, with a serious expression and covered in sweat, grips the handle of the Chinese Stir-fry Pan tightly.
She is practicing the pan-flipping technique.
Pan-flipping is a fundamental skill in Chinese cooking. If you want the heat to be evenly distributed and the ingredients cooked uniformly, you must have expert pan-flipping techniques. However, it’s known that Chinese Iron Pots are larger and heavier than Western pans, and female chefs have always been questioned in Chinese kitchens about whether they can lift and flip the pan for a long time.
As time progresses, the quality of Chinese Iron Pots has improved, with weight reduction, and even the development of light Chinese pans suitable for female chefs.
Nevertheless, Liu Ying currently uses a very traditional iron pot, which even adult males find strenuous to lift, let alone a young girl of her size.
After flipping for just a while, Liu Ying’s breathing rhythm became chaotic.
"Huff, ha, huff, ha..."
Her breathing followed a rhythmic cycle.
Standing on a stool, her small body slightly wobbled, but from Liu Ying’s front view, even though her face was sweaty, her delicate features, due to her biting persistence, twisted slightly, evoking feelings of sympathy.
Clang!
Finally, the iron pot slipped from her hand and fell heavily back onto the stove; Liu Ying’s legs wobbled but she didn’t fall off the stool, she maneuvered herself down and lay flat on the ground, her chest heaving intensely.
"Woosh—"
The ingredients fell back into the iron pot from mid-air.
They were diced tofu pieces, a whole block, unchanged from how they were before, neat and intact.
Seeing this, Lei Aoxue, who was observing in secret, almost couldn’t resist applauding.
Amazing!
Lei Aoxue snuck home with Liu Ying from Juxia Building secretly at noon. She was very curious about Liu Ying, of course, this curiosity stemmed from Xia Yu. She wanted to observe this young girl closely to see what made her catch the attention of the prominent Demon King Xia.
"The essence of pan-flipping is just that; how the ingredients appear in the pan should remain unchanged after flipping, exactly as they originally were!" Lei Aoxue thought to herself, "If not for her young age and lack of strength, her pan-flipping skill is already very close to specialty level..."
Thinking of this, Lei Aoxue vaguely understood why Demon King Xia paid attention to her.
Knock, knock!
At this moment, there was a knock on the door, prompting Lei Aoxue to retreat into the shadows where the sunlight couldn’t reach.
The courtyard door, Liu Feng with a tray of lunch on it, knocked and called: "Little Ying, little Ying, time for lunch!"
The young girl lying on the ground gasping like a salted fish, didn’t react at all.
"Little Ying, are you there?"
The knocking became more urgent.
"So annoying!"
A rather impatient voice interrupted the knocking, "Leave it at the door, hurry up and go away, don’t bother me!"
Liu Feng outside the door showed a slight bitter smile.
His problematic little sister is always like this, unless she’s going to Juxia Building to challenge the head chef there, otherwise she’d lock herself in the yard for a whole month without going out, truly a higher level of recluse.
"Then I’ll leave it at the door..."
As he crouched to place the tray at the stone steps of the courtyard door, Liu Feng suddenly had a thought and looked up to say, "Oh, right, Chef Xia just sent me a text message..."
Before the words were finished, thud!
The whole courtyard door slammed open, Liu Ying grabbed the door ring with wide-open eyes, "Where’s the message?"
"Quick, let me see it!"
Liu Feng just took out his phone, and Liu Ying snatched it; she wasn’t used to carrying a phone, but she knew how to use electronic devices. Unlocking the screen, she opened the latest text message, and the content appeared:
"I might walk over to your residence tomorrow, is that okay?"
After reading, Liu Ying raised her head, "Did you reply?"
"Uh..." Liu Feng scratched his head, knowing that Demon King Xia had come for his sister, "I was going to ask you."
Liu Ying hurriedly typed a reply, speaking coldly at the same time, "Next time, for similar messages, reply with—Mr. Xia always welcome. Got it?"
Liu Feng’s mouth twitched, almost crying out with a smile, "Got it, got it!"
As her brother, seeing his sister’s eyes shines, even adding cute and adorable emojis in her reply, Liu Feng felt horrible.
His sister’s differential treatment made him want to kneel and cover his face.
How is there such a big gap between people?
"Those people obsessed with little sisters must be crazy, right? A sister can’t possibly be a cute creature; actual sisters are tormenting little demons, I absolutely won’t become a sister-obsessor! No way!"
Watching the courtyard door close again, a few desolate leaves floated past behind Liu Feng.