The pheasant was stuffed with wild ginger, wild peppercorns and other spices to remove any fishy smell. The pheasant's skin was then coated with honey and roasted to a golden brown by Zhou Qiongniang's superb cooking skills. The aroma carried by the mountain breeze filled the entire valley.
Many villagers swallowed hard, their mouths watering.
Zhou Qiongniang roasted three chickens in total. She kept two for the Lu family to eat and sent the other one to Liu Chengfeng, Li Shi, and others. They had helped the Lu family a lot these past two days, and Liu Chengfeng had led a group to find the wild peppercorns and other spices needed for the honey-roasted chicken.
So Jiang Tangtang took it upon herself to have Zhou Qiongniang send one over.
Upon receiving the honey-roasted chicken, Liu Chengfeng was so happy he almost fainted. It smelled fucking delicious.
It tasted even better than what he used to eat at fancy restaurants.
Liu Chengfeng and the others all praised Zhou Qiongniang's cooking skills, but Zhou Qiongniang secretly felt grateful to Jiang Tangtang.
If Jiang Tangtang hadn't taught her how to make it, she wouldn't have been able to cook such delicious food.
Putting everything else aside, the idea of taking out the chicken's internal organs, cleaning them, stuffing them with spices, and then sealing the chicken's belly is something she could never have come up with, no matter how hard she tried.
The sauce used to coat the chicken skin was also taught to her by her third sister-in-law.
Zhou Qiongniang felt that she was able to cook chicken so well thanks to her third brother's wife. She felt that her third brother's wife was helping her.
She wanted to properly thank Jiang Tangtang and couldn't steal her credit.
Therefore, when Liu Chengfeng and others praised her, she waved her hands repeatedly, saying, "I don't know anything. My third sister-in-law taught me all of this. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't be able to make this honey-roasted chicken."
"Your sister-in-law is the most intelligent woman we have ever met."
Liu Chengfeng and the others spoke highly of Jiang Tangtang. Initially, their impression of her wasn't particularly good.
It's all because of Lu Shiyan.
But gradually, they discovered that Jiang Tangtang was not as she appeared.
Besides being knowledgeable, she also often gave them a mysterious and unpredictable feeling.
For example, like today's search for wild Sichuan peppercorns. She didn't go there herself, but she knew exactly where the wild Sichuan peppercorns were and roughly how far away they were.
Considering the Lu family's trust in her, Liu Chengfeng figured Jiang Tangtang probably possessed some supernatural abilities. Her usual arrogant and willful demeanor was likely just a ploy to mislead others.
She was a frail woman with such extraordinary talent; if she didn't keep some of it to herself, how could she protect herself?
Therefore, Liu Chengfeng and the others regarded Jiang Tangtang's usual arrogance and mischief as a disguise to protect themselves, and they admired her even more.
Jiang Tangtang was unaware that a second misunderstanding had occurred after the Su family's. She was currently happily enjoying her honey-roasted chicken.
Besides the honey-roasted chicken, the Lu family also cooked a meal today. However, although there was some grain that Li Shi and the others had managed to salvage, as well as some grain that Lu Shiyan had traded for with herbs, it wasn't much.
Now that Liu Chengfeng and others have joined them, so much grain is clearly not enough to feed them.
So, I ate congee again tonight.
Cooking roasted chicken with congee is a rare and delicious dish. The congee perfectly balances the greasiness of the honey-roasted chicken, making the two a perfect match.
The Lu family members all ate to their hearts' content.
After the meal, everyone found a spot and settled in.
Jiang Tangtang had been sleeping in a hammock too much lately and was getting tired of it, so she wanted to sleep somewhere else. There happened to be a large, flat rock not far from where the Lu family was resting, so Jiang Tangtang asked Lu Shiyan to take her to sleep on it.
Once they reached the rock, Jiang Tangtang started pestering Lu Shiyan again, wanting him to take her to take a bath.
She could tolerate the lack of water before, but now that she has water, she doesn't want to deprive herself of it and wants to take a nice bath before going to sleep.
Lu Shiyan seemed to have thought of something, and stiffened up, saying, "The river water is too cold; it's not good for girls to bathe in it too much."
"Then bring water up and boil it in a big pot for me to wash with," Jiang Tangtang requested.
“There’s no bath tub at home,” Lu Shiyan said. “Once we’re settled in, we’ll make a bath tub and boil water for you to bathe in.”
"How much longer do we have to wait?" Jiang Tangtang pouted and leaned closer, dissatisfied. "Smell me, I'm almost stinking from being covered up."
Lu Shiyan didn't smell any foul odor; instead, he smelled a faint fragrance.
It smells a bit like the fragrance of some flower.
"Does it stink?" Jiang Tangtang squeezed against him. "I don't care, take me to take a bath, or I'll make you stink."
Lu Shiyan said honestly, "It doesn't smell bad, I think it smells quite nice."
"Uh..." Jiang Tangtang curled her lips and said with disgust, "You're so mean. You'd even lie like this just to avoid taking me to take a bath."
Lu Shiyan was amused by her. He reached out and tapped her forehead, gently pushing her up little by little. "You're not sitting properly."
Jiang Tangtang sat up straight for a moment, then, like a boneless limp person, leaned into his arms, whining and whining, asking Lu Shiyan to take her to take a bath.
Lu Shiyan was so aroused by her that he had no choice but to agree to her request.
Before going, I made a pact with Jiang Tangtang, setting countless conditions. For example, we couldn't go into the water; we could only wash ourselves with a cloth on the side! And we couldn't wash for too long, etc.
Jiang Tangtang was afraid that he would get angry and not take her along, so she could only obediently agree to everything.
Because the villagers were all settled near the river, Lu Shiyan carried Jiang Tangtang downstream for a very long time. Only after he was absolutely certain it was safe did he put her down.
We arrived at the riverbank, but there was no one around.
Jiang Tangtang immediately pressed her advantage, pestering him, "Husband, let's wash together!"
She found a good reason for her beastly behavior: "With you in the river, I won't drown. You can protect me."
"If you don't want to wash, we'll go back now." Lu Shiyan lowered his eyes, looked at him, and threatened him directly.
Jiang Tangtang snorted "boring," raised her hand to take off her clothes, and started washing them with a cloth dampened with water.
Lu Shiyan suddenly turned around, took a few quick steps, and stopped to meditate at a distance that would allow him to rush to Jiang Tangtang's aid immediately if she asked for help, but not too close or too ambiguous.
Seeing that Lu Shiyan had his back to her, Jiang Tangtang secretly went into the water and took a long, refreshing bath.
After putting on clean clothes, Jiang Tangtang sighed with satisfaction, "So comfortable!"
Noticing the commotion, Lu Shiyan slowly got up and walked towards Jiang Tangtang.
Looking at the little immortal's figure, as graceful as a pine tree, Jiang Tangtang said unwillingly, "Husband, are you really not going to bathe? I can wait for you."
Lu Shiyan didn't reply to her, but simply said, "Let's go."
Jiang Tangtang didn't care about his coldness. She picked up the clothes she had changed out of and said, "Husband, did you wash my clothes the other day? You washed them so clean. Can you tell me how you did it? I want to learn so I can wash them for you."
Lu Shiyan stared at the clothes in her hands, lost in thought.
He can't do laundry, he only knows magic.
"Can't you teach me?" Jiang Tangtang frowned, looking troubled. "But I don't know how to do laundry, what should I do?"
Lu Shiyan paused for a moment, then finally said, "I'll help you wash."
Jiang Tangtang smiled broadly, "Then thank you, husband."
With someone washing clothes and another preparing mosquito repellent sachets, Jiang Tangtang had nothing more to complain about. She returned to the big rock and fell into a good sleep.
Lu Shiyan, however, looked at the pile of clothes with a bitter and resentful expression.
For the first time, a complex expression, including regret and frustration, appeared on the usually calm and composed immortal lord's face.
Finally, with a flushed face, he took his clothes and went to the riverbank.
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