In Chapter 27, he earnestly pinched her cheek, fulfilling his promise.
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty, greetings."
Jinlan's gaze followed Guoba to the ground. Heaven knows how much he was imagining the Emperor and Qiao Xi last night, and today he saw the two of them together?
Is he dreaming? Is this karma or just wishful thinking coming true?
If it really works that well, then he should be promoted to a combat squad and become its captain.
Morax was still carrying the Liyue Geography Book in his hand. He simply put it aside, frowned at Jinlan, then looked at Qiaoxi and said in a flat tone, "Qiaoxi, come here."
“No,” Qiao Xi said, her face flushed from squatting in a horse stance. “I only have ten minutes left to finish squatting. I’m afraid if I get up now, you’ll punish me even more.”
Jinlan overheard Qiao Xi's words.
Ah, is this a punishment?
Is Qiao Xi really that obedient?
Why does she seem both timid and arrogant when talking to the Emperor?
Is this a new way of getting along?
Jinlan desperately wanted to keep watching; he wished he could disappear and become a silent observer.
But now the Emperor clearly has something to ask of Qiao Xi, so he probably won't let him stay, right?
After hearing Qiao Xi's words, Morax replied, "I won't punish you. Consider this as the task completed today."
As soon as she finished speaking, Qiao Xi sprang to her feet like a spring. She tossed her hair, her braids swaying as she turned around and smiled at Morax: "You're so nice."
Morax coughed lightly.
Jinlan screamed wildly in her heart.
Qiao Xi walked over: "The porridge should be ready."
Morax grunted in response.
Just as Jinlan was still pondering how to stay, Qiaoxi suddenly said to him naturally and generously, "Jinlan, let's eat something together. Morax's plum blossom porridge is so strange, I don't dare to eat it alone."
Jinlan: What! The Emperor made this in the kitchen? The Emperor can cook? And he even cooks for Qiao Xi? Are they far from getting married?
Jinlan was so moved by these words that she almost cried. Qiaoxi is such a good friend.
He asked Morax in a feigned manner, "Your Majesty, is this alright?"
Morax said expressionlessly, "Whatever."
Jinlan smiled: "Thank you, Your Majesty."
"Hey, what are you hesitating about? Hurry up." Qiao Xi grabbed Jin Lan's arm and led her into the kitchen.
Morax looked at Qiao Xi's hand on Jin Lan's arm, remained silent for a moment, and then followed slowly.
*
The rice porridge cooked in a large pot over a wood-fired stove was clear and glossy, with the unique aroma of burning fruitwood. The moment the lid was lifted, a burst of steam filled the air, making Qiao Xi shiver from the fragrance on the cold day.
She looked at Jinlan, then back at Morax. She hadn't known Morax could cook before, but now, just from this rice porridge, Morax's image in her mind instantly grew several meters taller.
but.....
"Morac, why aren't there any plum blossoms?"
"Didn't you say you were going to make plum blossom porridge after picking so many plum blossoms?"
Qiao Xi looked at Morax and blinked.
Morax walked over, picked up some fresh plum blossoms that had been washed and placed in the corner of the stove, and handed them to Qiao Xi: "Pour them in and stir."
Qiao Xi: "Me...me?"
Morax nodded, looked at her, and said nothing.
Jinlan stood to the side, looking back and forth.
He was inwardly pounding his chest in frustration, but outwardly he maintained a serious demeanor, and no one could tell what was really going on in his mind.
Qiao Xi accepted the plum blossom that Morax handed her.
She can't cook. She's lived for eighteen years and has never been in the kitchen once. She doesn't know how to light a gas stove, or how to tell if the food is cooked. If the kettle doesn't scream, she can't even tell if the water is boiled.
She's the kind of person who would starve to death if thrown into ancient times, but she can recite the entire "Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng" from memory, knows how to analyze the author's main idea at the end of the article, and can analyze how to express feelings through objects and scenery when appreciating ancient poems by connecting them with the poet's historical background.
As the saying goes, everyone has their own expertise. Qiao Xi, a recent high school graduate, frowned and, with even more seriousness than when establishing derivative equations to analyze the direction of friction, poured all the plum blossoms into the pot. Then, following Morax's instructions, she picked up a wooden spoon and stirred them.
Previously, as a high school student, she only had thirty minutes to eat. She had to run to the cafeteria, and once she got her food, she had to quickly blow it to cool it down before eating. In order to save time, Qiao Xi never dared to eat noodles for dinner, and only ate steamed buns, pancakes and rice.
So when she was stirring the porridge, she unconsciously and habitually moved her wrist very fast.
It's so fast, it's like it has a grudge against porridge.
Morax watched, frowning, thinking that if she continued like this, the whole pot of flowers would be ruined. He couldn't bear to watch any longer, so he suddenly reached out and grabbed Qiao Xi's wrist to stop her. He looked down at her and said helplessly, "Be gentle."
As he spoke, he demonstrated by grasping Qiao Xi's wrist and stirring it with her.
In front of Jinlan.
Jinlan was going crazy: "Gently? You said gently? What did you say gently? What's with that helpless tone?!"
Even the most seasoned shippers, who can remain calm and collected while shipping couples, are starting to feel the urge to jump around and set off fireworks.
Morax quickly removed his hand and said to Qiao Xi, "Okay, you can eat now."
Qiao Xi still didn't understand, so she turned to Morax and asked, "Can this be cooked?"
Morax looked at her, puzzled.
Qiao Xi continued, "It's fine that it wasn't cooked with the rice, but I've only stirred it a few times. I'm afraid it's not cooked through."
Morax looked at the girl with a complicated expression: "They can cook. Non-toxic and thin foods like flower petals cook quickly, and they need to be added at the last stage to preserve their value and flavor."
Qiao Xi nodded: "Morax, you know a lot."
Morax said helplessly, "That's common sense."
Qiao Xi smiled sheepishly and went to get a bowl to serve the porridge.
Jinlan's remaining rationality told him he couldn't stay here any longer, or he would be exposed. If he exposed himself in front of Qiaoxi, he would at most get a few beatings and a few days of cold war. He could then persuade the two of them to make up by offering them some good food.
But the Emperor is here now.
He still wanted to stay on Tianheng Mountain until he was eighty years old, but he couldn't let the Emperor find out.
"Jinlan, this is for you." Qiao Xi's words interrupted Jinlan's thoughts.
Jinlan snapped out of his daze, paused for a few seconds, and saw Qiao Xi serving him plum blossom porridge.
Jinlan glanced at Morax first, and only after confirming that the Emperor already had a bowl did she dare to take it from Qiao Xi.
There were exactly three bowls in the pot, no more, no less. After Qiao Xi served herself the last bowl, she ran to Morax, but instead of drinking, she just stared at him and grinned foolishly.
Morax held the bowl, frowned as he looked at her, took a slow sip, and after a moment, looked into her eyes and said in a flat voice, "You can drink it."
Qiao Xi nodded and began to drink her porridge with a spoon.
The scene was so heartwarming that Jinlan almost melted. If the freshly cooked porridge hadn't been so hot, he would have loved to gulp it down in one go to calm his emotions.
It wasn't appropriate for the three of them to stand and drink porridge. Since there were no tables or chairs in Qiao Xi's kitchen, Morax used his elemental power to conjure a round table and three stools out of thin air.
Jinlan drank the porridge that the Emperor had personally cooked, sat on the stool that the Emperor had conjured up, and her CP was right in front of her. It was truly as beautiful as a dream.
The plum blossom porridge was better than Qiao Xi expected. The porridge was thick and sticky, the rice grains were chewy, and it had the fragrance of plum blossoms. The flavors blended together and spread in her mouth.
She took out the cake that Jinlan had given her, tore off a piece, and shared it with Morax.
Morax shook his head when he saw the greasy pancake in her hand.
Qiao Xi stuffed it into her mouth without hesitation.
Jinlan frantically winked at Qiaoxi: Give me some!
Qiao Xi glared at him, as if to say: Haven't you already eaten?
Jinlan glared at her back: Then you should share some with me too!
The two maintained eye contact throughout, and Qiao Xi reluctantly tore off a piece of cake for Jin Lan at the end.
Morax witnessed the entire process.
After finishing their meal, Jinlan bid farewell to the two.
Firstly, having finished his meal, he had no reason to stay any longer.
Secondly, even if he could stay, he wouldn't, because he was afraid of being exposed.
It wasn't until he ran down the mountain and returned to the camp that he couldn't help but let out a couple of excited shouts, startling the newly returned squad members: Has the captain gone mad?
*
She had eaten breakfast and done her basic physical training. If things had gone according to Master Liuyun and Master Yixiao's previous plan, she would have already gone to work on element reaction math problems.
Qiao Xi felt dizzy, had chest pain, and wanted to crawl on the ground whenever she thought about math.
She eagerly awaited Morax's orders.
After a moment's thought, Morax gave her her first task: to wash the pot.
Qiao Xi was genuinely happy that she wasn't doing math problems. She nodded repeatedly, ready to spend the whole day scrubbing her beloved iron pot.
At that moment, Morax suddenly remembered the faint scar on Qiao Xi's wrist and thought that she should get as little water on her as possible, so he called her down.
"You go do your practice questions, I'll do the practice."
Qiao Xi blinked, her heart breaking. She looked into Morax's eyes, innocent and pitiful, and shook her head in disbelief: "No, you don't understand, I want to swipe."
Morax frowned as he looked at her, his lips slightly pursed, the sensation of touching her face not long ago gradually resurfacing between his two fingers.
It has a slightly cool, slightly soft, overall pleasant feel.
Qiao Xi was still looking at him, but Morax looked away and sighed softly.
He said, "No."
Qiao Xi immediately wilted.
Isn't it said that Morax's porridge can make people happy?
Compared to the pain of doing math problems, she needs a ton of porridge.
*
After quickly cleaning up the pot, Morax went to see Qiao Xi. He entered Qiao Xi's room and saw the girl hunched over her desk, writing furiously and very seriously.
He felt somewhat relieved and went over to see how Qiao Xi was doing.
As the contents of the desk gradually came into focus, Morax saw that Qiao Xi had drawn five or six turtles on the paper.
The turtles—no, the turtles—were of all sizes, lifelike and incredibly vivid.
When it came to the elemental reaction problems that needed to be solved, Morax only saw a straightforward "solution".
"Qiao Xi." Morax approached, his voice somewhat serious.
Qiao Xi jolted awake and sat up straight, crumpling the paper with turtles drawn on it on the table into a ball, just like when Morax first came back. She blinked, slightly embarrassed, and said, "Hello, Morax."
Morax pulled over a high stool, sat down next to her, and without blaming her, calmly extended his hand to her.
Qiao Xi obediently handed over the crumpled paper, placing it in Morax's palm.
Morax unfolded the crumpled paper, picked up a pen, ignored the pile of turtle-like objects, and began to explain the underlying logic of elemental reactions to Qiao Xi.
He was tall with broad shoulders, and as you got closer, a faint fragrance emanated from him, mingling with his body heat.
His demeanor was gentle and his voice was low.
Qiao Xi thought Morax would scold her, but Morax didn't. It seemed that from the beginning, Morax had always been very gentle with her.
The only time she experienced a change in mood was when she accidentally sat on his tail.
At that moment, she could tell that Morax was really angry.
"Qiao Xi, listen carefully."
“Morax…” Qiao Xi looked up and gazed into his amber eyes.
Morax looked at her calmly. Since they were so close, he didn't need to speak loudly; a soft, low voice was enough.
“Hmm?” Morax said.
"You seem to have a very stable emotional state," Qiao Xi said.
Morax nodded, acknowledging this. Having lived for thousands of years and encountered countless monsters, he had killed any that truly angered him.
Even now, he can be described as emotionally stable.
Qiao Xi: "But that time, when I sat on your tail, you seemed angry."
Qiao Xi had been wondering about what happened that day and had always wanted to ask.
She continued, "I've thought about a lot of things, like whether I'm too fat and hurt you, or whether your tail is too fragile. Anyway, you really yelled at me that day. Although you said you weren't angry, you didn't give a reason, so I'm still a little worried..."
"Qiao Xi, come here." Morax suddenly interrupted her.
"Huh?" Qiao Xi was stunned for a moment. She was quite close to him right now, how could she get over?
So Qiao Xi thought about it and moved closer to him, as if she was gradually embedding herself in him. She tilted her head back and presented her chubby face directly to Morax.
Morax raised his hand and pinched Qiao Xi's cheek very seriously: "Don't mention this matter again."
He lowered his hand and looked at Qiao Xi.
"I promised you before, so there's one more thing I need to tell you."
-----------------------
Author's Note: See you tomorrow! This chapter contains 8 little surprises.
Mini-theater:
Female protagonist: Morax, what's your secret to maintaining emotional stability? Can you teach me?
Morax pondered for a moment: Hmm...
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