Chapter 43: National Competition Opens: Delicious Autumn Dumplings

The golden autumn in the capital was particularly sunny. Occasionally, Ye Wan would take a stroll in the park early in the morning and see the sun rise. The sky was a clear honey color, as if soaked in maple syrup, and the sun cast beautiful light and shadows through the cotton-like clouds.

The flower beds of Golden Goose Park are covered with glowing downy grass, much like the dandelions in Ye Wan's world, which transform into thousands of flying threads of light when blown by the wind.

Ye Wan loved this atmosphere, as if she had stepped into a Hayao Miyazaki movie. Songbing was also very happy, jumping off her shoulders and running into the flowers to play.

Only Youan looked a little sleep-deprived, with some faint dark circles under his beautiful smoky crystal eyes.

"Were you a thief last night?" Ye Wan was walking in front of the park path, turned around and looked at him while walking backwards.

He was processing a lot of documents in the attic, and because he was sleep-deprived, his face was paler than usual.

Soon they sat on a bench by the lake. Ye Wan took out a thermos from the basket, which contained hot lavender tea. The lavender petals stretched out in the tea soup, and the slightly astringent aroma of lavender filled the air.

Ye Wan said, "Look, the weather is so nice, and the morning is so beautiful. Don't be so serious. Come with me for a walk."

Youan looked up at her. The sunlight bathed her in a furry halo, her smile was brighter than the sun, the tips of her hair were stained with glittering petals, and the wind blowing past her from behind was filled with a strange tenderness.

Youan stopped talking and just raised his hand to help her take off the flower filaments hanging on her hair.

"Yes, the morning is beautiful." He said gently.

After eating two crispy chocolate croissants and drinking a cup of lavender tea in the park, Ye Wan turned to the winery to find Madame Perroy to order wine. There were already several carts parked at the door, and several workers were loading heavy wooden barrels onto the carts.

Madame Perrois was standing at the door with a rosy face, holding a copy of the "Flower Girl" magazine. When she saw Ye Wan, she greeted her warmly.

Ye Wan glanced at the magazine in her hand and saw the handsome centaur with muscular body on the cover. He looked away silently: "It seems that the ban on driving a flying broom while drunk has not affected your business, Mrs. Pellowa."

The ban on driving a flying broom after drinking was carried out in full swing with half support and half opposition. However, the ban was milder than expected. It only banned flying brooms, and did not prohibit magic carpets and other vehicles.

Many people, hoping for a lucky break, tried to sneak away on their brooms after drinking in pubs at night, but were caught by the Night Watch Association guarding the checkpoints.

Ye Wan even noticed that there were two night watchmen squatting outside Honey Lane. Emma was very happy about this and said, "That's great! It shows that the Old Oak Tavern is famous."

Ye Wan was skeptical about this, but there were a bunch of night watchmen squatting near the largest restaurant in the city, Ya Ge Restaurant, just waiting to catch these drunk drivers and report back.

Most likely he was given a task by the officials of the House of Commons.

Mrs. Pellowa smiled happily. "Oh, the national competition will start soon. This time of year is the best time for my winery business."

She patted Ye Wan's shoulder and said, "Don't miss this opportunity to make a lot of money. I heard from Penny that your tavern is still in debt."

Ye Wan was not affected by the topic of debt, she fell into deep thought.

Finally, she shamelessly asked, "What national competition? What national competition?"

"You don't even know about the highly anticipated national competition?" Mrs. Perroy was very surprised and immediately lowered her head to flip through the book "Flower Girl" in her hand.

Ye Wan watched her flip through the pages of various naked handsome male species, finally stopping at a report, and then stuffed the magazine into Ye Wan's hands:

"Look at this."

Ye Wan took the magazine and looked at it carefully. In the huge photo, a tall, handsome man in a jersey was holding a broom and giving the camera a smile that he thought was very charming.

Ye Wan felt like he was about to see his teeth gleam.

The magazine read in bold black letters:

The flying broom once again cuts through the skies of the capital! The 88th National Flyball Championship is about to begin.

The 88th National Flyball Championship is about to begin. The venue has been chosen to be the Royal Capital Arena. As one of the most influential events in the country, this tournament has a total of teams from ten city-states participating. A pinnacle event that interweaves speed and competition is about to take place.

Flyball, a century-old classic sport of the Osenna Kingdom, requires players to combine exquisite broomstick handling with ball skills. Players must ride their brooms a hundred meters in the air, avoiding interference from opponents and throwing the ball into the opponent's goal. The thrilling rhythm and unpredictable outcome add to the sport's allure, making it a popular sport.

The participating lineups of this tournament include the Flying Shadow Team of the Wizarding Academy, which has won two consecutive games and is aiming for a third consecutive championship; there is also the Thunder Team from Thunder Canyon, which is known for its speed faster than lightning. This competition even has the Blue Owl Team from the Dungeon. As we all know, there is no sky in the Dungeon. When this team was first launched, everyone doubted it. However, this team defeated the favorite to win the championship, the Thunder Team, at the fastest speed in history, trying to change history with their own style of play.

This magazine conducted an interview with the mayor of the royal capital, during which he revealed that the government has allocated funds to carry out a major upgrade of the ancient arena.

"As everyone knows, this arena was once the Colosseum a hundred years ago, where the great hero Saint I defeated the Minotaur and other ferocious S-rank monsters... We've now installed magical holographic projection technology and surround sound in the venue. The live broadcast of the match will also be broadcast to every household via messaging technology. Furthermore, a large food festival will be held outside the venue during the event, where guests from all over the country can enjoy a variety of delicious food."

The countdown to the competition has begun, and the entire Osenna Kingdom is immersed in the enthusiastic atmosphere. Will the veteran team win the championship again, or will the new generation of power be favored by the goddess of victory? Let us wait and see together, and witness the birth of the champion of the 88th Flyball Championship!

Ye Wan was about to doze off after reading for a long time. She actually had no interest in exercise at all, until she saw the news about the food festival. "Oh, that's great! I want to try setting up a stall at the entrance or something."

She handed the magazine back to Madame Pellois, and the man on the cover was grinning at her and showing off his arm muscles.

"I'll order some bars. Oh, and the winter-only butterbeer and mulled wine should be coming soon."

"We'll have to wait until the first snow falls for that," said Mrs. Pellois.

In the end, Ye Wan ordered a few barrels of ordinary beer, which would not go wrong, and politely declined the snake blood tonic wine that his wife enthusiastically promoted.

When they returned to the tavern, it was almost noon. Ye Wan bought a lot of mackerel at the market this morning and prepared to make mackerel dumplings. Youan had already scraped off the silver scales and removed the bones of the mackerel.

Youan seemed to be very busy recently, so Ye Wan didn't disturb him. He just used the back of a knife to repeatedly beat the fish into fish paste, chopped the mustard greens into small pieces and added them to the fish, stirring repeatedly, and then added salt, pepper, etc. until the fish became delicate and sticky.

The flour on the chopping board has piled up like a mountain. The dough is kneaded into dough balls and rolled into round skins that are thick in the middle and thin around the edges. Ye Wan picked up a spoon to make dumplings. Her fingers are very flexible and she can pile up the folds layer by layer.

The water in the iron pot was already bubbling. Ye Wan gently slid the wrapped Spanish mackerel dumplings into the pot and then slowly stirred it with a wooden spoon.

Muffin sat at a distance from the fire and stared at it.

Ye Wan smiled and said, "This will be delicious when cooked. Please wait a little longer."

Pancake raised his paw to wipe his saliva and nodded vigorously: "Squeak!"

As the dumplings were cooked through, the emerald green and snow-white fillings inside were faintly visible.

"Look at the pancakes, they look really good!" Ye Wan was very happy. She rarely made dumplings, but she did not fail and achieved great success.

The first person to enter the tavern for lunch at noon was Emma. She was completely exhausted, with dull eyes and sunken cheeks, a bit like the corpse bride in the cartoon.

She leaned over the counter and said, "Excuse me, anything is fine. Just give me something to eat."

Ye Wan brought her a bowl of Spanish mackerel dumplings and said, "You look like you haven't had enough sleep."

Emma dragged the bowl over and said half dead: "Ah yes, for this and that reason..."

Take a bite of the chewy dumpling skin, and the rich and delicious juice of the Spanish mackerel will overflow on your tongue. The delicate Spanish mackerel meat and the different sweet and fresh flavors of mustard greens are entangled together. Some minced ginger is added to the fish meat to remove the fishy smell, and a little black pepper is added to enhance the flavor.

Ye Wan brought a small dish of aged vinegar at the right time, and the aroma of vinegar made the Spanish mackerel even more delicious.

"Oh, this is so delicious!" Emma kept praising it. She quickly finished the whole bowl and said, "I feel like I'm eating the fresh taste of the sea."

She seemed to have regained her strength and began to complain about her father. "He bought a whole warehouse full of toy brooms to sell at the tournament. My god, so many people came to order them. I didn't even have time to eat. Luckily I hired a waiter today. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't have had time to see you during the entire tournament."

Ye Wan couldn't understand the power of this event, but she soon felt it because a group of diners wearing colorful and fancy jerseys entered the small stadium and shouted loudly to support their team.

Ye Wan went to deliver wine to Justin and the others. He pulled Ye Wan aside and asked, "You must be supporting the Feiying team. Their tactics are simply perfect, and they've already won twice in the tournament. This time, they're sure to win three times in a row."

Ye Wan wanted to assure him that she really supported the Feiying Team, even though she had no idea what the Feiying Team was.

Justin let her go satisfied.

Emma sat at the counter, stroking Pancake's head while looking at Ye Wan with a gloating expression: "Now you know the power of the tournament."

Muffin felt comfortable being tickled and tried to rub his head against her fingers.

"Oh yes, I roughly understand that a little bit." Ye Wan said.

Emma said, "It's not that time yet. Soon you'll see the sky of the capital filled with flying brooms, and the ground filled with colorful fans wearing jerseys of various teams."

Ye Wan found it difficult to imagine a sky filled with flying brooms.

Until a little girl rode a broom, holding the crooked broom handle tightly, and danced wildly outside the tavern window. She seemed to want to perform a fancy dive, but she bumped into the clothesline that Dorothy had hung outside, and then a pile of colorful socks and sheets were entangled in her body, like a huge Christmas tree.

Finally, she screamed and fell into the chimney of the Old Oak Tavern with her broom, and climbed out of the chimney covered with soot.

Ye Wan was stunned:

"Oh, I can kind of feel it, people's passion for the game..."