Chapter 82
After giving instructions to the group of tourists, Li Miao carried a full bamboo basket of mushrooms down the mountain with Pei Huai.
The humidity was high in the mountains in the morning, and both of their trouser legs were covered in mud.
Passing by a clear spring flowing down from the mountain, Li Miao pulled Pei Huai to stand beside it and wash up.
Li Miao forgot she was carrying something, and as soon as she bent down, several mushrooms fell to the ground. Luckily, they only landed near her feet and did not fall into the water and drift away with the spring.
"You stand here, I'll wash you." Pei Huai bent down, picked up the mushrooms on the grass, and threw them back into Li Miao's bamboo basket. He cupped the water in his hands, picked up a leaf, and used it to wipe their shoes clean.
"And your pants are dirty too, covered in mud." Li Miao rested one hand on Pei Huai's shoulder as he squatted down and lifted her foot.
"Hmm, let me see," Pei Huai said unhurriedly. He happened to have some wet wipes with him, which could be reused after being opened.
Pei Huai cleaned up Li Miao first before it was his turn.
"Hehe, it's clean now." Li Miao smiled foolishly with her eyes crinkled, and deliberately walked to a sunny spot so that the sun could dry her trouser legs.
Pei Huai squatted by the mountain spring, his eyes downcast as he intently washed his trouser legs, unaware of the subtle rustling sounds approaching him.
Li Miao's ears twitched; the sound couldn't escape his hearing.
“There’s a snake.” Li Miao casually picked up a straight, withered branch, swung it, and with a precise and powerful sweep, the snake that was trying to approach Pei Huai was sent flying by Li Miao.
When Pei Huai heard Li Miao mention a snake, he was startled and turned his head with a slightly frightened expression. A blurry shadow flew away in the direction away from him.
"A snake... Was that a snake that just flew away?" Pei Huai licked his lips, trying to remain calm. Having grown up in the city, he had never seen a snake except when visiting the zoo, and he was still shaken.
"Mmm!" Li Miao acknowledged in a clear voice, walked over and patted Pei Huai's head. "But you don't need to be afraid, no snake can get close to you."
He proudly waved the withered branch in his hand and said, "Anything can be used as a weapon. If one comes, I'll kill it; if a group comes, I'll kill it."
The boy stood in the forest, the sunlight dappled through the layers of leaves, making his clear and beautiful eyes appear even more radiant.
Pei Huai felt very safe because he was well protected.
He washed the mud off his hands with spring water, then walked over to Li Miao and bent down to kiss the boy's fair face.
"If our Miaomiao is so powerful, she must stay by my side for the rest of her life and protect me, this fragile human." Pei Huai stared at Li Miao's face, which was slowly turning red, and couldn't help but chuckle.
"Hmph, I know, you're such a spoiled brat." Li Miao grumbled. So what if he's her boyfriend who's always protecting her? It's a piece of cake.
After the little incident by the spring, Li Miao and Pei Huai didn't stay in the mountains for too long, and continued walking down the mountain path.
Soon, they saw the village near the foot of the mountain.
They went up the mountain very early and came down before 10 a.m. Grandma Li looked at the slowly growing basket of mushrooms and praised Li Miao for being capable.
"Then let's make chicken soup for lunch today. We'll have enough time. We can also make some other dishes."
Grandma Li: "Then the task of catching the chickens is up to you two. I'll go prepare hot water to kill the chickens."
After Grandma Li left.
Pei Huaicai slowly recovered from his astonishment and asked hesitantly, "Catch a live chicken and kill it on the spot?"
"What else? There are so many chickens in the yard. To make soup, we need to catch the hens. Let's start catching them." Li Miao rolled up her sleeves, eager to try.
Pei Huai admired Li Miao's boundless energy and quickly accepted the fact that he had to catch a live chicken.
Together with Li Miao, they went to the courtyard to choose the "lucky one".
In the next few minutes, Li Miao and Pei Huai engaged in a battle of wits, running around the yard trying to catch the fleeing chickens. Sensing danger, the chickens also raced for their lives.
It caused quite a bit of chaos.
Chickens raised in the countryside, feeding on grains and insects, are also very energetic. They constantly walk and run, developing a muscular physique, which proved useful to the assassins as they used them to escape.
After several minutes of effort, Pei Huai and Li Miao failed to catch a single chicken.
Li Miao looked at Li Miao and Pei Huai: "..."
Li Miao couldn't help but laugh as she watched the chicken feathers fall on Pei Jia's head.
“Actually, catching chickens is quite difficult.” Pei Huai’s chest rose and fell as he breathed softly.
"You wretched chickens, can't you just stay put and let me catch you?!" Li Miao bared her teeth, glaring fiercely at the disobedient chickens.
Pei Huai coughed lightly, choked by Li Miao's words.
Is it too much to ask of a chicken to obediently wait to be caught, killed, and eaten?
"Let me see if there's any good way to catch chickens." Pei Huai was about to take out his phone to search.
A flash of white light appeared before her eyes, and Li Miao, a perfectly healthy person, transformed back into a cute little kitten.
Don't be fooled by the kitten's cute and innocent appearance.
Under the sunlight, Li Miao stretched out her mangosteen claws, revealing her sharp nails, and charged straight into the flock of chickens.
The chickens clucked and clucked as they frantically scattered.
In the blink of an eye, Li Miao, with her innate advantage of maxed-out agility, opened her mouth and bit a hen's neck.
And so, just before Grandma Li's water boiled dry, they managed to catch a hen that was about to be put into the pot for stewing.
Pei Huai silently mourned for the helpless hen for two minutes, and comforted it in his heart, saying that being able to stew it with matsutake mushrooms made its life worthwhile.
Grandma Li did all the plucking, killing, and cooking of the chicken.
Grandma Li has been cooking for so many years, using her hands to pinch and pound the ingredients.
Soon, a whole, cleaned old hen was stewed on the stove, and Grandma Li continued to prepare other delicious dishes.
Pei Huai and Li Miao were also busy, helping out in the courtyard.
At one o'clock in the afternoon, the family ate a hot meal.
The first dish Pei Huai tasted was a chicken soup with precious matsutake mushrooms freshly picked by Li Miao as an ingredient.
The chicken soup is clear and bright, with an extremely sweet and delicious taste. It doesn't have many seasonings added; the pure, natural ingredients retain their original flavor, and the soup is delicious enough when simmered over a wood fire.
Pei Huai drank three bowls of chicken soup in a row and tasted several mouthfuls of matsutake mushrooms and chicken soup, feeling very satisfied.
"That's great. I missed the matsutake mushrooms that Li Miao picked herself last time. Today I can finally taste them again." Pei Huai's dark eyes held a satisfied smile.
Li Miao: (≧≦)
Li Miao: "I'm glad you like it."
"Yes, if it suits your taste, eat more. Don't be shy here with Grandma." Grandma Li hospitably put food into Pei Huai's bowl.
"Thank you, Grandma. You're so kind, Grandma." Pei Huai said sweetly.
Li Miao glanced at the fawning smile on her boyfriend's face and couldn't help but chuckle. Pei Huai was no longer the aloof and distant person she had been when they first met.
The other dishes are also various mushroom-related dishes.
Pei Huai enjoyed his meal and shared pictures of the food with his roommates and family in their group chat.
Liang Yixuan and Li Hang were so tempted by the pictures that their mouths watered.
[Liang Yixuan: All wild mushrooms? They look so delicious! I regret it, I should have gone to the countryside with you guys.]
So what if I'm a third wheel? So what if I get bombarded with displays of affection from couples?
So many delicious-looking dishes, yet they can only look at them and cannot escape the cruelty of being killed!
[Li Hang: It's really nice, and this chicken soup looks delicious. It's completely different from the factory-farmed chickens you buy in the supermarket.]
Pei Huai and Li Miao chatted with their two roommates while eating.
Pei Huai's parents asked a few questions, and when they heard that Pei Huai and Li Miao had picked the mushrooms together, they praised the two children highly.
“My parents praised you a lot.” Pei Huai showed the chat history to Li Miao.
"Let me see." Li Miao put down her chopsticks and took the phone Pei Huai handed her to check.
Grandma Li asked, "So your parents know about you and Miaomiao being together? Don't they object?"
As far as Grandma Li knows, most people are heterosexual, and elders especially value the family of their younger generation, such as marriage and having children.
"I know, my parents don't object to me and Miaomiao."
"As for not having children, I'm happy to be with Miaomiao. My parents might feel a little regretful, but they support my decision."
Grandma Li nodded in satisfaction. Looking at the two children who were standing very close together, she suddenly said quietly, "Children, it's not that you can't have them."
Grandma Li's voice was very low and her words were unclear.
Pei Huai and Li Miao didn't hear what she said at all.
"What? Grandma, I didn't hear you clearly just now." Pei Huai looked up and asked seriously.
Grandma Li smiled and said, "It's nothing."
"I wanted to ask, do your parents know that Miaomiao is a cat?"
Pei Huai shook his head: "I think it's a bit early to talk about it now. Miao Miao and I are still students. We can talk about it when we graduate and get married."
"What graduation and marriage? Pei Huai, are you dreaming?" Li Miao immediately interrupted upon hearing the key words.
Pei Huai smiled but didn't say anything.
"Besides, Grandma Li, you remember how much my mom loves cats. If she knew the real-life inspiration for Li Miao, I'd really worry that she'd take Miao Miao away and pet the cat all by herself, instead of giving Miao Miao back to me."
Grandma Li couldn't help but laugh: "That's true."
"I'm done reading, here's your phone back." Li Miao handed the phone back, picked up her chopsticks, and put another piece of meat in her mouth. She chewed and chewed, her cheeks puffed out, looking incredibly cute, making Pei Huai want to reach out and poke her boyfriend's cheeks.
There were still many mushrooms left from the morning's picking. In the past, Li Miao would take them to the market to sell for money, but now that the family is not short of money, Li Miao and her grandmother decided to keep the mushrooms for themselves.
Pei Huai spent the rest of the holiday with Li Miao in the village.
I get up early and go to bed early; I've never had such a regular life before.
Pei Huai hadn't "hug" Miao Miao in a long time, and every night when he slept close to Miao Miao, he couldn't help but have a reaction.
Holding it in all the time isn't good for your health.
So, on the last day of the holiday, Pei Huai and Li Miao discussed it and said goodbye to Grandma Li, saying they were going back to school.
Grandma Li welcomes Pei Huai to come again next time.
"Grandma, I'll come back during the Chinese New Year holiday. Remember to miss Miaomiao." Limiao hugged her grandma and gave her a big hug.
"Yes, I'll miss Miaomiao. I hope Miaomiao lives a good life with her brother at school," Grandma Li instructed.
"Okay, Grandma, don't worry." Li Miao talked to her grandma for a long time, and finally left the village with her packed suitcase.
The car ride took quite a long time, and by the time Pei Huai and Li Miao returned to their rented apartment at school, it was already the afternoon of the last day of their holiday.
"So tired." After a long flight and a long car ride, as soon as she got home, Li Miao stretched and lay down on the sofa.
Pei Huai looked at Li Miao's slender back as she lay there, his eyes filled with tenderness.
He quickly packed his suitcase, then cuddled up on the sofa and fell asleep, his body as limp as a boneless lizard, before going back to his room to sleep.
In her sleep, Li Miao, her consciousness hazy, hugged Pei Huai tightly, rubbing her cheek against the boy's collarbone and neck.
Her tone was soft, almost like she was pleading: "Pei Huai, let's sleep together and catch up on some sleep~"
"Okay, Miaomiao, go to sleep if you're tired. I'm here." Pei Huai gently patted Li Miao's back with his large hand.
The two were lying in bed, the atmosphere warm and sweet.
"Ugh...so sleepy." After yawning, Li Miao quickly fell asleep in Pei Huai's arms.
Pei Huai looked at Li Miao with eyes full of affection.
He kissed Li Miao's cheek.
One kiss wasn't enough, so they kissed again.
Give me another kiss.
In the end, Pei Huai didn't even know how many times he had kissed Li Miao.
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