Chapter 989 Qi Heng's Petty Mind

Lin Yuesha stood up, and her actions spoke volumes. In the blink of an eye, Lin Yuesha appeared ahead of Luo Wang on the path leading to the dock.

Zhao is definitely a treasure of a cook. Even a master chef like Lin Yuesha has to admit that she can't make Zhao's secret-recipe braised pork, nor does she have that level of skill.

When it was time to eat, the hardworking craftsmen moved slowly. Everyone sniffed, patted their stomachs, and then looked on with anticipation.

The dock has a dedicated dining area that can accommodate about a hundred people, similar to a modern canteen, with a shed, tables and chairs, and a trash can on the floor for each table.

In the past, craftsmen would sit on the ground and eat their meals while holding their bowls. Now that they have such good conditions, clean and bright, everyone's meals taste even better.

Long queues formed at the food service windows.

Lin Yuesha counted several windows, each with a person loudly announcing the dishes.

From afar, the Prince of Luo smelled the fragrance wafting towards him.

"The braised pork is ready!"

Luo Wang quickened her pace, and she and Lin Yuesha entered the only private room.

Each person gets a bowl of the artisan's braised pork, which consists of three layers of pork belly with alternating layers of fat and lean meat. It's served with a spoonful of broth mixed with rice, along with spicy stir-fried cabbage, fried salted fish, and an egg for each person. Even a big eater can have a full meal.

Aside from a bowl of meat per person, everyone can eat as much of the other dishes as they want, and you can ask for more if you're still hungry.

Today I made Zhao's specialty, sauerkraut soup. It looked like a clear, watery soup, but after taking a bite, Lin Yuesha's eyes widened. She never expected that such a simple sauerkraut soup could be so delicious!

Getting Zhao to work here is like finding a treasure!

While Lin Yuesha was drinking her soup, Luo Wang mixed the braised pork with rice and ate it with great relish. Lin Yuesha had just finished a bowl of soup when Luo Wang had already finished a bowl of rice.

The Prince of Luo patted his belly, still feeling unsatisfied.

He held a high position and ate delicacies from land and sea. The chefs in the royal palace served dishes every day that were so unrecognizable that the ingredients were barely discernible, and he was proud of this.

The food was bland, the meat had been processed to the point of losing its flavor, and the cook kept trying to persuade people that pork was a cheap commodity among the common people.

Upon arriving in the north, the King of Luo discovered that he had an extreme fondness for strong-flavored food, especially the exhilarating feeling of eating large chunks of meat and drinking large gulps of wine, which pleased him greatly.

Lin Yuesha ate a piece of braised pork and praised it highly.

The soul of braised pork is the braising liquid. If you keep the old braising liquid and braise it a few more times, the flavor will be even more amazing.

With the jar of meat nearly empty, the Prince of Luo, feeling embarrassed to compete with the craftsmen for food, set his sights on the jar of meat in Lin Yuesha's bowl.

"Lin girl, drink more soup."

The king's subtext was: drink more soup, and you won't need to eat meat if you're full.

"Uncle, this pickled cabbage soup is really delicious."

This is different from the famous northern dish of pickled cabbage and pork belly. The pickled cabbage soup has a light flavor, but it is a perfect match with the braised pork belly to cut through the greasiness!

"Oh, by the way, I have two letters here."

While Lin Yuesha wasn't paying attention, Luo Wang quickly flicked his chopsticks and put a piece of pork belly into his own bowl.

Lin Yuesha's face darkened. Pretending not to see it, she asked, "Is it a letter from home?"

"Yes, Qi's letter and Xu Da's letter."

However, Qi Heng's letter was only a single sheet of paper, as thin as a cicada's wing, while Xu Da's letter didn't even fit in an envelope.

Being verbose is in line with Xu Da's style.

"Let me see it."

Lin Yuesha put down her chopsticks, opened Qi Heng's letter, and read only four large characters written in a flamboyant style: "Be well and don't worry."

With few words but high quality, Lin Yuesha prepared to reply with an even shorter letter.

What should I write in reply? Simply replying with "received" is only two words, but it can be even more concise, expressing that she is also doing well.

Having considered this, Lin Yuesha had already confirmed the content of the reply, and she wrote just one word: "Same".

Qi Heng's mind is easy to understand.

After making her decision, Lin Yuesha picked up her chopsticks and discovered that there was no meat left in the bowl, only some broth.

Luo Wang had already finished his second bowl of rice and was leisurely drinking tea, as if he wasn't the one who had just tricked and stolen meat.

Alas, the image of Luo Wang in Lin Yuesha's heart has long since vanished like dust.

"Lin girl, aren't you going to read Xu Da's letter?"

The Prince of Luo was curious about what Xu Da had written, but Xu Da hadn't written a single word for him, still angry about what had happened last time.

With no meat left, Lin Yuesha ate a bowl of rice soaked in sauerkraut soup before slowly opening the letter.

The first thing you see is, "Cousin, I miss you so much!"

After writing "I miss you," Xu Da seemed unsteady on his brush, and the following characters appeared as if they weren't written by him at all, crooked and twisted like a spider crawling.

"Cousin, don't worry, it's genuine, absolutely a letter written by Xu Da himself."

Luo Wang held the letter close to his eyes to examine it carefully, then pointed to the following words and laughed, "Do you know why his skill level suddenly dropped?"

"have no idea."

The greeting at the beginning was written in regular script, while the rest was written in running script, which was extremely ugly.

"Look closely at the first sentence, don't you think there's something wrong with it?"

They're not even blood relatives, yet Xu Da greeted her with "I miss you." What an incredibly sly person!

Lin Yuesha lives in modern times and is more accepting of things. She didn't notice anything unusual. Anyway, every time she and Xu Da tricked each other, they were like siblings.

"This is a letter Qi Heng wrote to you, just to let you know he's safe."

Luo Wang carefully examined Qi Heng's four large characters, then pointed to Xu Da's letter and affirmed, "It's already quite an achievement that Xu Da was able to finish writing this letter for you."

Why? Because Xu Da got beaten up!

Qi Heng only told his wife that he was safe, but Xu Da said he missed her, which was outrageous.

Qi Heng was petty and narrow-minded, so it was inevitable that Xu Da would get beaten up in comparison.

Lin Yuesha touched her forehead with a handkerchief, and it seemed to make some sense.

As expected, what Xu Da wrote next was full of negative energy. He regretted that he hadn't learned his lesson and had gone to the prefectural city to be controlled by Qi Heng, becoming nothing more than a tool.

Not only was he unable to eat or sleep properly, but he was also abandoned by Wuya and bullied by Qi Heng. Xu Da felt utterly hopeless about life.

“Uya has not married anyone. Shouldn’t you tell my cousin?”

Lin Yuesha couldn't bear it, and Xu Da, though he didn't say anything, was too proud to admit it, but he must have been very upset inside.

"You agreed when we said we'd teach him a lesson."

Xu Da is the kind of person who forgets the pain once the wound heals. The Prince of Luo wrote a letter to Wuya and received her approval.

Not only did the Prince of Luo want to educate Xu Da, but Madam Xu and Wu Ya also strongly agreed. They only asked the Prince of Luo to keep an eye on Xu Da and make sure he wasn't seduced by other women.

Lin Yuesha fell silent. Xu Da was deserted by everyone and, as the letter had described, was in a very miserable state.

Fortunately, the sob story only lasted for three pages, and the style gradually returned to normal afterward.

Xu Da now lives in a small wooden cabin in the mountains, the same place where Lin Yuesha once lived and where she and Qi Heng fell in love.

Xu Da went upstairs to read some books when he had nothing to do. He found that they were all books like the Analects of Confucius, and there were no storybooks. He felt that Qi Heng was boring.

Lin Yuesha felt awkward; it seemed the books had already been replaced.