Chapter 15 Chapter 15 Night Talk

Finally, Gong Zhili tied the previously dismantled fence with twine to the entrance and exit, serving as wooden gates. He buried a few old clay pots behind the house, their mouths facing the slope where the chickens roamed. He then stuffed the pots with rotten leaves and manure swept from the duck house. After the rain, they would be crawling with earthworms. In the mornings, when he opened the trapdoor, the chickens would wander off to forage in the wildflower meadow, while the ducks would seek food in the water. Gong Zhili planned to hang a bamboo wind chime on the low fence as an "alarm clock" to call the chickens and ducks home. The jingle would signal their return.

Part of the fence connecting the two areas is made of pyracantha, whose berries can be picked and mixed into feed in autumn. Another section is made of bamboo poles and dismantled fencing. This purely manual labor is accomplished quickly. On the duck side of the water, a few bamboo racks with empty gourds tied to them float, serving as both a dividing net and an escape raft. On the sloped land near the chicken coop, a few shale slabs are inserted diagonally, automatically washing into clean feeding troughs when rain falls. The materials are readily available—reeds from the lake, bamboo from the forest, pebbles from the mudflats. At most, a pot of glutinous rice paste is boiled to serve as a natural glue. Come spring, ducks will emerge from the reeds through the morning mist, and hens with their fluffy chicks will search the grassy slopes for beetles.

Standing in front of the house and looking diagonally downward, this farm transformed from terraced fields has taken shape, with only two things left to do: laying the roof of the chicken coop and the cobblestones on the land in front of the duck shed.

"It's not a big deal. We can just take our time. Now it's time to prepare dinner." Gong Zhili took off his straw hat, sweating all over.

The sun had already set. Gojo Satoru sat on the long corridor under the eaves by the west door, one leg dangling. He drank a bowl of water and said, "Where's dinner coming from? Where's the fish you mentioned?"

Nanako happily pulled out the fishing rod.

There is only one left.

Gojo Satoru: "?"

Gong Zhili picked up the fishing rod, handed it to him, and said, "Keep fishing, I still have taro to dig."

Gojo Satoru: "Why don't I go dig the taro?"

Gong Zhili: "Because I'm the one who cooks, I have the final say."

Gojo Satoru: "I can do that too!"

He was looked at with suspicion by two children, but he was very confident: "The fried eggs I made today are super perfect!"

Nanako turned her head away from him. After a day, Mimiko felt that although he was strange, he had helped Lord Gong a lot, so she was willing to provide him with some emotional value: "You must be good at fishing too, keep it up!"

Gojo Satoru looked at the child's pure eyes, suddenly reached out and ruffled her hair, took the fishing rod and bucket and walked towards the lake.

Gong Zhili put on the backpack again and said, "It's getting dark. Go wash the rice and cook. Clean the ashes from the furnace. I can use them."

The twins took the order and left.

Gong Zhili walked along the dim lakeside, thinking: In the future, we should install some street lights by the lake. If it is difficult to connect the wires, we can also install windproof kerosene hanging lamps. There will always be situations like now where we have to travel at night.

As I thought of this, tiny dots of light twinkled and floated out from the lakeside.

It's a firefly.

These golden-green light particles floated in whirlpools, sometimes gathering into a swimming Milky Way, and sometimes being crushed into stardust by the night wind, as if the entire lake was breathing in and out a tiny moon.

Gong Zhili dug taro under the light. She almost finished digging all the taro and filled her backpack. She returned in the fluorescent light. She was a little worried about Gojo Satoru's fishing skills.

Having said that, after returning home, she didn't have time to check on Wu Tiao's fishing situation. She carried the taro to the warehouse to process it. She used the mother taro for seeds and kept the other part for food - by the time she had free time to dig other foods, she would have almost gotten tired of using taro in cooking.

Gong Zhili selected mature taro with intact skin and no damage, and spread them on the second floor of the warehouse to prevent moisture from underground. These taro had to be dried in a cool and ventilated place for a few days before being buried with wood ash.

As she laid out the taro and carried downstairs the ones with broken skins and unsuitable for storage, she heard Gojo Satoru's voice outside the warehouse: "Come and see the big fish I caught! I definitely caught the Lord of the Lake!"

Miya Chiri turned off the wall lamp in the warehouse, walked out, and saw the "trophy" in Gojo Satoru's hand with the light coming from the house.

It's indeed a big fish.

Maybe it was night time, and the usually cautious big fish were out and about, but he was really lucky. Gong Zhili looked at its length and said, "Do you know how to handle big fish?"

Gojo Satoru boasted, "That's not difficult at all."

It was not until he was sitting on a small stool, holding a kitchen knife and working hard to cut the fish, that I realized: If he said he didn't know, could he have avoided the fishy smell on his body?

He quickly finished the big fish and went to Gong Zhili with a basin of fish pieces: "I smell like fish all over my body. I need to take a shower."

In fact, he consciously mobilized the Unlimited Power to block the flying fish scales, but unfortunately it had little effect. Using the Unlimited Power in this barrier consumes much more energy than using the Six Eyes.

Gong Zhili was checking the collection of wood ash when he heard this and said, "There's hand soap in the bathroom. Go wash with that. Dinner will be coming soon."

Gojo Satoru turned and went to the bathroom. Before leaving the kitchen, he saw Gong Zhili dividing the fish into several portions.

He went to wash his hands, took out his ringing cell phone, walked to the balcony and answered it: "Hello, hello, Mr. Ye Moth, what's going on?"

He heard the person on the other end of the phone say this, with a smile on his face: "I see, I see. I get it."

The smile on his face remained unchanged: "Don't worry, teacher, I will take care of it."

Gong Zhili didn't care what he was doing on the balcony. Although the plants and insects on the open space outside the balcony were her eyes and ears, it was obviously the big fish at night that was more important!

She washed the fish pieces, sprinkled some salt and cooking wine on them, threw in a few slices of ginger and marinated them for about ten minutes to remove the fishy smell. Then she spread them on a plate, added scallion segments, boiled the water and steamed them for eight minutes. After turning off the heat, she poured out the fishy water at the bottom of the plate, added two spoonfuls of steamed fish soy sauce to enhance the flavor, and finally poured a spoonful of hot oil on it. The aroma of scallions and oil instantly filled the room.

Mimiko's eyes widened, and after taking a deep breath, she asked, "Master Gong, is that magic?"

Gong Zhili: "It's the Maillard reaction—essentially, the hot oil brings out the aroma of the fish."

She swiftly prepared the next dish. The children at home couldn't handle spicy food, so making two servings took a bit of time, but she relished it. She dried the fish and pan-fried it until both sides were golden brown. She removed it and set it aside. In the remaining oil, she sautéed the garlic slices and chili peppers. She scooped in half a spoonful of broad bean paste and stir-fried it until the oil turned red. She returned the fish to the pan, tossing it twice to coat it in the sauce. She then added light soy sauce and sugar, half a bowl of water, and covered the dish with a lid. Simmer for five minutes. When the broth was almost dry, she threw in a handful of green pepper rings, tossed it evenly, and served it on a plate. The salty and spicy flavor was tinged with a hint of sweetness, partly from the firm fish itself.

There was such a big dish in the evening. Gong Zhili also stir-fried the last bit of wild vegetables that were no longer fresh, added hairy straw mushroom miso soup, squeezed wild pear juice for the children, and as usual, she made a pot of chrysanthemum tea.

Gojo Satoru protested, "I want pear juice, or apple juice—sweet!"

Gong Zhili was surprised: "You are actually a sweet person."

Having said that, she didn't indulge him: "Take the apples and squeeze them yourself. Remember to wash them after use."

The three of them started to eat, and Gong Zhili taught the two children how to pick out fish bones. The bones of the small fish they had eaten before were very soft, so she could help them pick them out. But now the fish was too big and she couldn't take care of it, so she told the two children to be extra careful.

Anyway, the two kids look much more reliable than the high school student tinkering with the juicer in the kitchen.

Thinking of this, Gong Zhili stopped holding the bowl: She is in the condition she is in now, will she also be sent to school?

The population of the base was small to begin with, compulsory education was universal and comprehensive, and the welfare policies regarding education were comprehensive, so children like her would be sent to high school...

But she is not a pure high school student!

Gong Zhili suddenly lost her appetite. At this time, Gojo Satoru came over with a full glass of apple juice and sat down. She glanced at the bottom of the glass and almost choked.

"You—are you going to use up all the white sugar in my house?" Gong Zhili felt his teeth begin to ache. "You must have cavities in your gums, right?"

Gojo Satoru was proud: "Things like tooth decay are only handled by people like you—"

etc.

He doesn't have unlimited protection now, which means his teeth are likely to get cavities after being washed by this whole glass of apple juice!

Gong Zhili sneered: "Go on, why don't you continue."

She probably guessed that he might want to say that he had some special ability that prevented him from getting cavities, but that was a different time.

Wasting white sugar is a felony!

"Don't waste it." After saying this, Gong Zhili continued eating in a very good mood.

With this sentence as a reminder, the two children drank up the wild pear juice and stared at Gojo Satoru drinking his super sweet apple juice.

In fact, without the Six Eyes and No Bottom Limits consuming his brain power, his body didn't crave sugar that much. He added so much sugar just out of habit.

Gojo Satoru bravely finished the overly sweet apple juice and drank a large cup of tea.

Because he drank too much water, by the time Gong Zhili settled the two children and went to the balcony with a teapot to signal him to "talk", he could not even drink a glass of water.

Gong Zhili laughed: "You are so naive - but you are young anyway."

Gojo Satoru sat against the wall, stretching his legs - Miya Chiri noticed that he always liked to sit like this, and she could understand because she also liked to do this when her legs were longer!

Gojo Satoru smiled and said, "You are younger than me, right?"

Gong Zhili raised a finger and shook it. "Perhaps I retain the memories of my past life and am actually in my eighties or nineties?"

Gojo Satoru's eyes narrowed slightly, and then he smiled: "Wow, then it's a monster."

Gong Zhili didn't continue and asked him, "What is the deal you want to negotiate with me?"

"Since it's a deal, you have to give me something that satisfies me."

The moonlight was as cool as frost, and Gojo Satoru really had the illusion that he was making a deal with some kind of wild goblin.

"Can I borrow your yard occasionally to train children? Your village is a great place for us sorcerers." He stretched his legs over the bamboo stool, picked up the teacup on it, and took a small sip of chrysanthemum tea. He still couldn't understand why anyone would like to drink such a bitter tea. "In exchange... I can teach those two children everything about the world of sorcery."

Gong Zhili held down her chestnut curly hair that was messed up by the night wind: "Just knowledge?"

Gojo Satoru suddenly leaned forward, his six eyes casting a weary ice-blue light in the night: "Then state your conditions." He raised his hand and broke off a branch of gardenia. "You also need cursed power, I can still afford this deal." As long as what he got could satisfy him, he would be the most generous buyer in the world.

Gong Zhili pondered. If the strongest person in the world of curses was the person in front of him, "Are there many strong people like you in the world of curses?"

Gojo Satoru shook his head. "Not in this era, huh?"

Maybe there was in the past, but after being reborn and inheriting all the cursed power and spells from his previous life, he has no rivals in the world of spells.

The night breeze brought the scent of distant mountains. Gong Zhili looked at the gardenia vine that had wrapped around his wrist at some point, the thin vine slowly moving along his blood vessels. "Before I teach them, let me learn a little too."

Gojo Satoru: “Ah——”

Gong Zhili: "Why? No?"

Gojo Satoru scratched his face: "Actually, I was planning to get another person to be my teacher. I'm quite busy."

Gong Zhili curled his lips and said, "It turned out to be a blank check?"

Gojo Satori said confidently, "If you agree, everything else won't be a problem."

Gong Zhili listened to the pulse of the earth, with the earth as her support. Her intuition had only given her a warning when she met Gojo Satoru.

"You can come, but bring your own toiletries and eat the same meals as us. You have to pay for accommodation or exchange it with the supplies I've listed. There's no other training activities here, just farm work, housework, and childcare." Gong Zhili said, "You can't tell the villagers that you're sorcerers. As for the reason, think of it and tell me. Everything in the village must be kept secret from the outside world. No more than two people can come this month. I don't have room for more than two people, and you'll have to make beds for me if you come again."

Gojo Satoru agreed immediately: "It's all right."

Gojo Satoru stood up and walked to the edge of the balcony. He sat back on the railing, swinging his long legs. Behind him was a blooming gardenia tree, and his white hair was matted with night dew that had stuck to it at some point.

Gojo Satoru tilted his neck upward, a branch of blooming gardenia brushing against his sharp jawline. Night dew clung to his snow-white eyelashes, reflecting the icy blue light of his six eyes as his long legs swayed. His white hair cascaded like an inverted galaxy, and the hollow of his collarbone, exposed by his loose shirt, held a half-fallen petal.

He took off his blindfold again, and before leaving, he waved his fingers together at Gong Zhili: "See you next time, Miss Fairy~" He seemed to be unaffected by the barrier and disappeared into the air just like when he came.

The author has something to say:

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Now I really feel that a comfortable chair is so important! I am a coder who has been looking for a comfortable chair all my life...