Chapter 85 The Great Australian Dragon's Extraordinary Talent

Ning Jia, with her long legs, was the first to arrive at the battlefield—no, at the dining table.

The rectangular European-style dining table was already neatly arranged with a variety of dishes, which Ning Jia glanced at at a glance—

Golden and emerald green loofah stir-fried with eggs, crisp and vibrant green broccoli and chicken breast, tempting shrimp and corn, refreshing stir-fried seasonal vegetables, and a colorful garden vegetable soup...

Not only is the menu extensive, but all the plates and dishes are exquisite, the ingredients look very fresh, and the presentation is also very meticulous.

Perhaps to accommodate the little people, most of the ingredients were even carefully cut into small pieces; the carrots in the vegetable soup were even cut into tiny flower shapes...

The enormous Australian lobster lying across the center of the table is truly eye-catching!

Ning Jia clicked her tongue in admiration in her heart:

Such a large Australian dragon must cost at least a thousand dollars, right?

They are so wealthy, so incredibly wealthy.

This lunch, from the dishes to the plating to the tableware, every detail exudes two words: meticulous care!

"Wow, Zhou Chi, you've cooked way too much food! You've gone to so much trouble!"

Zhou Chi's face flushed again. "No, no, Chief Canglan and the others aren't outsiders. They were just having a casual meal."

As the little ones climbed onto the tall dining table and sat down in front of exquisite miniature rose-shaped tableware, Bai Zhi and the others were fine, but Cang Lan and the others stared wide-eyed in shock:

Wow—how can there be such a huge shrimp?!

"Everyone, please don't stand on ceremony. Make yourselves at home and eat whatever you like. Eat as much as you like."

Zhou Chi hesitated for a moment, then sat down in the seat next to Ning Jia and greeted her.

"Yay! Yay!" "Thank you for your hard work!" "These dishes are amazing!" "They look so delicious!"

Xuecao and the others started praising him all at once, quite naturally. Seeing that Baizhi and the others thanked Zhou Chi and sat down calmly, making the rest of them seem particularly noisy, they awkwardly shut their mouths, picked up the pretty little plates, and began to choose their favorite dishes.

"Ning Jia, don't be shy, help yourself to whatever you want to eat."

"Yeah, you've been busy all day, you should eat something."

Ning Jia and Zhou Chi exchanged a few polite words, then Ning Jia picked up her chopsticks without hesitation and took out a large shrimp.

Hmm, these shrimp are very springy and chewy, they must have been peeled not long ago, but...

Ning Jia slowly chewed the shrimp in her mouth, her expression gradually becoming somewhat subtle.

The shrimp should be of good quality; the meat is tender and not fishy at all. But for some reason, I feel like the shrimp has a "sinking force" when I eat it...

Under Zhou Chi's expectant gaze, she slowly swallowed the shrimp, and then, defiantly, picked up a piece of chicken breast.

Hmm, this chicken...

The color is not as white as that of factory-farmed chickens, but rather a light yellow. The meat is also very firm, unlike the soft and mushy texture of factory-farmed chickens. It has a good chewy texture and should be the breast of a genuine free-range chicken.

Judging by its appearance alone, there's absolutely nothing wrong with it, but...

Ning Jia slowly chewed the chicken breast, and under the similar "contraction of rice", she glanced subtly at Dong Kui.

Sure enough, Dongkui frowned slightly, clutching her delicate silver fork, and poked at the chicken breast on her plate, moving it around but not putting any in her mouth...

Winter mallow has the most sensitive sense of taste among the little people, so it seems that the taste of this dish is indeed not... very good?

Ning Jia glanced again at Gan Cao, who was sitting next to the winter melon.

The small dish of licorice was piled high with golden-brown, tempting scrambled eggs. He held the spoon blankly, eating with a soulless mouthful, already starting to question his existence.

As for the clan leader Canglan, he remained as composed as ever, but his eating manners suddenly became much more refined.

Xuecao didn't rush to put any food on her plate. Seeing that Dongkui and Gancao were eating silently, she suddenly pointed to the impressively bright red lobster in the center of the table and asked:

"...May I try this giant prawn?"

"Of course you can."

Seeing that Xuecao was still staring straight at him, Zhou Chi realized what was happening, quickly stood up, put on disposable gloves, and began to disassemble the shrimp meat.

"I'm sorry, I forgot that you can't eat this dish."

As Zhou Chi spoke, he placed a large clump of shrimp meat covered in shrimp roe into Xuecao's small dish:

"To preserve the original freshness, I simply steamed it without adding any seasoning. Try it and see."

No seasoning added?

Ning Jia and Dong Kui, who were diligently pretending to be eating rice with their heads down, suddenly raised their heads and looked at the bright red Australian lobster with hopeful eyes!

Seemingly noticing their gazes, Zhou Chi smiled gently:

"This Australian lobster doesn't taste good when it gets cold. Come on, everyone, have some more."

As he spoke, he cut the Australian lobster on the plate into eight pieces and gave each person a portion of the tender white shrimp meat.

Ning Jia was secretly delighted: finally, he could start to get down to business.

She thanked Zhou Chi, then eagerly took a bite of the delicious-looking shrimp with her chopsticks. "Mmm, it must taste amazing..."

Her upturned lips suddenly froze. She chewed the shrimp meat in her mouth in disbelief, chewed it again, and then silently swallowed it.

She's so naive!

I thought it wouldn't taste bad without seasoning, but I never expected that the chef in front of me was a complete genius...

The other little figures were also sighing inwardly.

Why is this shrimp meat tasteless and so hard to chew? She chewed for ages and still couldn't get it to chew; she almost choked to death!

When Xuecao sighed and looked up from the plate, she noticed that Dongkui beside her had a somewhat desperate expression on her face.

The two little figures looked at each other, exchanged glances, and tried to persuade one another:

Forget it, it's good enough to have something to eat, so don't be picky.

On the other side, Ning Jia had already forced herself to finish the shrimp in her bowl and started working on the vegetable soup.

She refused to believe that even a kitchen novice could make boiled vegetables that didn't taste good.

A few seconds later, Ning Jia pinched her nose and gulped down the subtly flavorful vegetable soup. She immediately made a serious decision, put down her chopsticks, and smiled at Zhou Chi:

"Thank you for the treat, I'm full!"

Upon hearing this, Bai Zhi and the others all raised their heads, looking as if they were already "full".

The licorice root, whose plate was piled high with various vegetables, was dumbfounded:

Why does everyone eat so fast? Waaah, he still has so much left to eat, what am I going to do?

Snow Grass and Winter Okra both gave him a sympathetic look, then put down their utensils without hesitation, indicating that they were also full.

Fearing that Zhou Chi would enthusiastically offer them more rice, they quickly said loudly:

"I want to wash the dishes!" "Me too!"

Bai Zhi looked surprised and quietly tugged at Xue Cao, "...We have a dishwasher at home, so we don't have to wash the clothes ourselves."

"……oh."

Although she didn't know what this dishwasher was, Xuecao kept quiet, obediently followed Baizhi in politely greeting Zhou Chi, and then gently jumped off the dining table.

Seeing that the table was soon empty, Ning Jia looked at the mostly uneaten food and Zhou Chi's sullen face, and felt too embarrassed to follow suit.

"How about I help you tidy up?"

"No, no, how can we let the guests clean up?"

Zhou Chi snapped out of his daze and quickly began clearing away the dishes, saying somewhat apologetically to Ning Jia:

"I'm so sorry, you must not have eaten enough for this meal, right?"

A hint of disappointment flashed across his face. "I thought that since I performed so well today, it would taste better than before."

"No, no, I'm really full."

Ning Jia didn't mention how the food tasted, but tried to comfort him by saying, "Besides, your macarons are delicious!"

Zhou Chi sighed softly:

"I don't know why, but the desserts I make seem to taste okay, but when I cook, the taste is always..."

...

In the living room, the little ones, with bellies only half full and no sign of being "food dizzy," stood energetically on the patterned rug in front of the sofa, continuing their little meeting.

Xuecao listened absentmindedly to her tribesmen's speeches, then glanced furtively at their thin faces, and suddenly understood:

Why don't the people of our tribe gain weight even though they live in such big and luxurious houses?

The food at Zhou Chi's house was really lacking in flavor, and couldn't compare to what they usually ate at home.

Ning Jia wisely refrained from "eavesdropping" this time, instead keeping the disheartened chef company in the kitchen while they tidied up and chatted.

"This time, Chief Canglan intends to take Baizhi and the others away, doesn't she?"

Zhou Chi made a startling statement.

Ning Jia looked at him in surprise, "So you knew all along?"

Zhou Chi sighed in frustration as he wiped the stove.

"What good is knowing? No matter how hard I try, I can't keep them in the end."

While the little people were having a small meeting, Zhou Chi briefly told Ning Jia his story with the little people:

Since his parents died in an accident, Zhou Chi, a senior in college, had to take a year off from school because the blow was too great.

He returned to his parents' house from school, dismissed the nanny, and tried his best to maintain the original appearance of the house, not wanting anyone to destroy the traces left by his parents.

But this approach didn't help him accept the fact that his parents had passed away. Instead, it made him increasingly depressed. Alone in the huge house, he would stare blankly in loneliness and scroll through his phone aimlessly...

Until one day, when he had to go out for some reason, he inadvertently saved a group of wandering little people.

He took these little people home, cooked for them, prepared bedrooms for them, and revitalized the long-abandoned garden.

The empty house gradually filled with the feeling of home again.

Zhou Chi felt that this was all because the adorable little humans had healed him, so he resolved to treat them even better.

Ning Jia listened silently, then suddenly couldn't help but say:

"Is this why you spent nearly 20,000 yuan to buy so many dollhouses?"

Zhou Chi was startled. "You, how did you know?!"

He glanced at the living room instinctively.

Wait a minute, those newly bought dollhouses are clearly placed in the little people's own bedrooms!

"Don't be nervous, I didn't follow you."

Ning Jia explained:

“I saw it by chance. I was delivering goods at Delong Plaza when I happened to run into you in the store... buying a dollhouse.”

"I see."

Zhou Chi breathed a sigh of relief, then suddenly remembered something, and his face paled:

"Do you remember when you went to the market the day before yesterday...?"

What is it?

Ning Jia smiled and shook her head, "Don't let my appearance fool you, I actually have terrible face blindness and often can't remember people's faces."

As she spoke, she suddenly narrowed her eyes and looked at the young man who was already sweating:

"...Zhou Chi, were you following me?"

"...I'm sorry, I was wrong!"

Zhou Chi's face turned bright red, so embarrassed he almost wanted to kneel down before Ning Jia on the spot.

"Um, it was all a misunderstanding..."

With Zhou Chi's explanation, Ning Jia recalled the events of the past few days, and many details were strung together like pearls, leading her to suddenly realize the truth:

"So that's why you suddenly came to my door!"

Empty talk harms the country, and illiteracy leads to failure!

She thought to herself, speechless, "It seems that the literacy education for the little people can't be abandoned after all."

If it weren't for these blunders, how could everyone have gone through so much trouble and taken so many detours?

When we get back, we must discuss with Chief Canglan how to quickly raise the literacy rate of the entire population!

In particular, we should pay special attention to those who don't even know their own language... then, hehe...

As Ning Jia pondered this, a somewhat wicked smile suddenly appeared on her face.

The Ning family courtyard at this time.

Tuantuan, who was happily playing on the sofa, suddenly sneezed. Her little face was blank, and she didn't come to her senses for a long time.

He Meng, who was patrolling (or picking up trash?) the courtyard with a spear in hand, suddenly sneezed loudly under the bright sunlight.

Strange, He Meng looked at the bright sun in the sky. It was so hot, but why did she suddenly feel a little cold inside?

...

Meanwhile, in Zhou Chi’s magnificent living room, the children’s discussions were more intense than the sun in the sky!

The discussion was so much and so chaotic that Canglan's head was buzzing, and she was already regretting not bringing her "little secretary" Bai Su along.

She stroked her chin thoughtfully, then gestured for silence from the tribespeople:

"Everyone, don't rush. There are so many things to do, we have to take it one step at a time."

"Regarding the details of the world of giants, we might not be able to get a clear picture just by talking about it ourselves. Why don't we invite those two over and have everyone do the math together?"

Seeing that no one had any objections, Canglan breathed a sigh of relief and said to Gancao beside her:

"Good boy, please make a trip and ask Ning Jia and Zhou Chi to come over. Tell them we have something to discuss."