Chapter 17 Do you know how to wash vegetables?
The old ancestor was determined to die.
"Isn't it a divine artifact? It's the star chart in the hands of the Jade Star Lord! After landing, he gave himself a name called Qi Xinghe. The name sounds like he's been to school, but he's actually a complete scoundrel! Relying on his indestructible body, he's become a local bully in Qing Le Street."
This answer wasn't ideal, as someone at the next table remarked.
"He burned down a school the other day!"
"I heard that he didn't want to stay here in the first place, but our city lord wouldn't let him go. He was unhappy and found fault with everything, often doing despicable things like smashing stalls and burning shops."
"It is said that if Qi Xinghe stays by the side of the Star Chart Official for another year, he will be promoted to the Star Analyst. If I were him, I would not want to come to this poor and remote place."
"But you can't just act recklessly!"
Duan Jiuyou intended to trace the origins of the artifact and inquire about the whereabouts of the Heavenly Timing Pestle. However, once the conversation started, it drifted into a series of idle chatter. Duan Jiuyou opened his mouth several times but couldn't get a word in edgewise. His straight back straightened and bent again, and his face lost interest. His chubby little hands moved haphazardly, tapping a few "drumbeats" on the armrest in frustration.
Di Jiang leaned back in his chair, in the same posture he usually adopted when lounging in his armchair, looking lost in thought. Duan Jiuyou kicked the corner of the table in annoyance, when suddenly his hand felt a cool sensation as Di Jiang grabbed it.
Duan Jiuyou looked at him with some surprise. She didn't expect him to be so considerate today. She mistakenly thought he was comforting her. Unexpectedly, he gathered his slender fingers together and held her in his palm as if he were stroking her hand. His knuckles pressed close to the warm back of her fingers, clearly warming her hand!
Duan Jiuyou was startled by his coldness, and feeling stifled, he reached out with his other hand to count his clothes layer by layer.
"Why is it so cold? You're wearing quite a lot today."
Her concern for him seemed to have become a habit; she would check him whenever she noticed anything unusual.
Zhao Zhao City wasn't cold. Unlike the Ten Realms, which were in the dead of winter, the trees had tender leaves waiting to sprout new buds, and the frozen river water was quietly undulating, resembling early spring weather.
Di Jiang didn't speak. His old ailment was about to flare up, even a few days earlier than usual, but he didn't want to bring it up. He only said, "It's too cold."
"Where do you feel cold? Are you...?" Duan Jiuyou sensed something was wrong and was about to ask more questions when he was suddenly "blown away" by a loud voice behind him.
Why doesn't Lord Zhang care about him?
The discussion about Qi Xinghe continues.
There is a government office in Zhaozhao City, and a young county magistrate surnamed Zhang is in charge of all the trivial matters in the city.
Another person said, "Originally, we were going to intervene, but his god-sister has taken a liking to Qi Xinghe, so whenever trouble arises, it's this god-sister who pleads for him. Lord Zhang doesn't want his god-sister to be hurt, so even though he hates Qi Xinghe, he has no choice but to turn a blind eye."
"Could you speak a little quieter..." Duan Jiuyou wanted to argue with the other party.
"Sister-in-law? You mean that Heavenly Timing Pestle? What—what did you just say?"
The speaker belatedly looked at Duan Jiuyou.
"It's nothing, it's nothing." Duan Jiuyou waved his hands vigorously, afraid of missing the opportunity, and said with a humble look of seeking advice, "You just mentioned the Heavenly Timing Pestle?"
"Who else could it be but her?"
The man said, "These two have quite a history. Lord Zhang's original form was a battle axe. The immortal he followed used it to split mountains too many times, causing the axe blade to become dull. He was about to discard it, but luckily he met a great immortal surnamed Zhao who repaired spiritual artifacts. Immortal Zhao repaired the battle axe with the Heavenly Time Pestle, but also wore down a piece of the pestle, which resulted in a scar on the face of the Heavenly Time Pestle after it transformed into human form. Lord Zhang remembers this kindness. Even if this 'Heavenly Sister' didn't plead for him, she would have agreed with just a glance."
"Where does this 'Sister Tian' live now?" Duan Jiuyou asked again, unexpectedly drawing the attention of the stall owner to the wontons on her table that had only been touched once.
He said, "Why are you, a little kid, asking so many questions about adult matters instead of eating properly? Are the wontons not tasty? I saw you only scooped one spoonful and didn't eat a second bite."
These wontons are a famous delicacy on Qingle Street, and everyone looked at Duan Jiuyou in confusion after the stall owner said this.
Duan Jiuyou steeled his heart, and without saying a word, picked up the wontons and shoveled them into his mouth. As he swallowed with difficulty, he said, "I've loved looking at pretty ladies since I was little. Just now, I heard some uncles say that Lord Zhang dotes on Sister Tian. I suppose this lady must be incredibly beautiful. Ugh... It's okay, it's okay. I'm not nauseous, I just ate too fast. I'm not good-looking, so I often like to look at beautiful women. Sigh... I'm thinking that maybe one day, fate will grant my wish and make me more beautiful too."
She spoke sincerely, her childlike face upturned, her small, narrow eyes brimming with tears.
Others assumed she genuinely believed that seeing a beautiful woman would make her beautiful too, unaware that Old Master Duan choked on that bowl of wontons.
"I've never seen her as beautiful or not, but I know she has a scar on her face and always covers it with a black veil. Once, half of her veil was blown off by the wind, which frightened a child to tears. This woman is also cruel; she actually slapped that three-year-old child several meters away with her sleeve, breaking his nose."
—I never imagined that Tian Shi Chu would still have such a temperament.
Duan Jiuyou, suppressing the nauseating taste of wontons in his stomach, continued, "But divine artifacts are inherently exquisite. Even a rough bronze mirror in the hands of a deity, when transformed into a human, would surely be dazzling. Even if the deity has a bad temper and scars on their face, their features would still be remarkable."
Duan Jiuyou refused to eat the wontons for free. He mingled with the crowd and interacted with them. With his clever tongue and the argument that he absolutely refused to believe in evil and that the other party must have some extraordinary ability, he managed to get Tian Shi to settle down in Zhao Zhao City.
The wonton stall owner was also well-meaning, and kept telling Xiao You: "If you really run into her, don't stare at her for too long. Her temper isn't much better than Qi Xinghe's. You'll get a lecture from her."
Duan Jiuyou noted everything down, thanked the stall owner, and then dragged Di Jiang along, running to an inconspicuous alley where they vomited.
That bowl of wontons had quite a kick; not only was the taste indescribable, but it was also very difficult to digest. Duan Jiuyou pounded his chest and said to Di Jiang, "Back when I was in the mortal world, undergoing tribulations and advancing in rank, I also ate wild vegetables and chaff during years of war, but nothing made me feel as uncomfortable as this strange food."
Seeing the two puffs of tears in her eyes, making her look almost pitiful, Di Jiang casually took out a handkerchief from his sleeve and wiped them away for her. He was clumsy at this, and his movements weren't exactly gentle; he pressed the handkerchief on both sides before handing it to Duan Jiuyou.
"Is it that bad?" Di Jiang asked.
"It has a weird smell!"
After saying that, Jiuyou felt nauseous for a while, then retorted, "Don't you often take care of people?"
Di Jiang looked at him with a puzzled expression: Why do you ask that?
Duan Jiuyou said, "You almost made me go blind just now."
"..."
Emperor Jiang has never shed a tear in his life, not even one he has ever wiped away, let alone one he would wipe away for others.
Duan Jiuyou's words sounded utterly rebellious and ungrateful to him. If it weren't for his status and demeanor, he would have even wanted to take back the handkerchief that had been handed to him.
"Have you never had someone you liked?"
Duan Jiuyou's second sentence was even more offensive, but Di Jiang ignored her this time and took the lead in leaving.
He muttered to himself, "reciting" a string of complaints in his heart.
—What is a sweetheart? What would someone with grand ambitions need this broken "thing" for? Does she think everyone is her? She leaves her lover everywhere, and finds her a perfect match all over the place.
The two arrived close to noon, and after resting briefly in Zhaozhao City, the sun began to set in the west. Duan Jiuyou jogged after Di Jiang, finally catching up, but too exhausted to keep up, he tugged at his sleeve and said, "When are we going to the Liu residence in Rongshan Long Alley?"
Tian Shi Chu's surname is not Tian. Because he was born in the blessed land of Liu Qingling, he took the surname Liu for himself. His full name is now Liu Tian Shi. He runs a wine shop in Liu Zhai in Changxiang.
Duan Jiuyou planned to use the pretext of buying wine for his "father" to go and see the Heavenly Timing Pestle.
Di Jiang's temper flared up and subsided quickly. He slowed his pace slightly, but said he wasn't in a hurry, and headed straight for the vegetable market.
Duan Jiuyou looked puzzled: "Are you planning to bring Liu Tianshi some kind of gift?"
After entering the market, Di Jiang did not respond to Duan Jiuyou's words and began to carefully select vegetables.
Duan Jiuyou saw that he ordered a fish, bought a piece of meat, weighed some sugar powder, picked out some vegetables, and then went to buy some oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar.
Duan Jiuyou followed behind to pay and discovered that Di Jiang didn't pick and choose when buying things; he just went for the most expensive items. Even if he didn't know which ones were good, they weren't too bad.
Do you know how to wash vegetables?
On his way back, he asked Duan Jiuyou.
Since Di Jiang suffered a severe loss of his primordial spirit, he had to eat like a human. Even in Zhao Zhao City, where spiritual energy was relatively abundant, it was difficult for him to replenish himself by absorbing spiritual energy. Duan Jiuyou went to the wonton stall to gather information and didn't find it difficult to go without eating for several meals. Di Jiang was different from her. Since they had reached the tenth realm, neither of them had eaten anything proper. He was hungry and needed to eat.
You can't count on Duan Jiuyou for this. I already saw that she couldn't cook when we were in the desolate imperial territory, otherwise she wouldn't have ordered the officials and others to go to the kitchen.
Duan Jiuyou watched as Di Jiang set up his "battle array" in front of the stove and couldn't help but feel worried.
Can you do it?
He threw the fish into the tank, placed the meat on the cutting board, and quickly trimmed the leafy greens before throwing them into the basin.
The house Lu Cha assigned them was frequently occupied, so they didn't lack these common items. The kitchen wasn't big; if the two stood too close together, their clothes would brush against each other. Di Jiang turned and glanced at Duan Jiuyou, saying, "You go first, wash the fish. After you've cleaned everything, I'll cook it."
Duan Jiuyou looked distrustful. She was used to being waited on, and Di Jiang was probably even less capable of doing chores than her. However, she was quite good at things like washing vegetables.
The celestial officials must go to the mortal realm for training every ten thousand years, and each time they must undergo certain trials and tribulations. Duan Jiuyou lived a long life and went there many times. He worked as a maid and did hard labor. Apart from being completely clueless about cooking, he was skilled in embroidery, blacksmithing, and sugar blowing.
"Will it work?"
As Duan Jiuyou tidied up, he muttered to himself, expressing great distrust of the cooking skills of the Lord of the Wasteland who wouldn't utter a sound even if he froze to death.
Meanwhile, Di Jiang was silently flipping through a book called "The Diet of Following Fate" in his room.
Duan Jiuyou's doubts were not unfounded; he indeed couldn't cook, but he firmly believed that he could cook no worse than the tasteless "Zhaozhao people."
The sight of Duan Jiuyou vomiting while leaning against the wall already indicated that there was nothing edible on that street, and if he didn't find a way to save himself, he would starve to death sooner or later.
The Lord of the Wilderness, who did not want to starve to death, looked at several menus very carefully, but found that he could not remember them, so he asked Duan Jiuyou to help him hold them up while cooking.
Duan Jiuyou couldn't see what was inside the pot and didn't know how it was going. He could only hear the sizzling sound of the stir-frying and Di Jiang's occasional words, "Raise the recipe a little higher."
Duan Jiuyou believed that whether a dish was edible or not had nothing to do with the quality of the recipe. She felt that Di Jiang lacked comprehension; just the fact that he had to consult a book to crack an egg and what shape of bowl to use showed that he was not cut out for cooking.
As it turns out, today's meal was actually better than the one from the wonton stall. Although the eggs were slightly burnt, the saltiness was just right. Although the vegetables were stir-fried until they produced a dish of water, you could almost drink it with a spoon like soup.
The fish and meat were not very good, but the sauce was well-prepared.
So, Duan Jiuyou, who had been grumbling for half an hour since Di Jiang said he was going to cook, shamelessly took a bowl, filled it with two spoonfuls of rice, and sat down at the table.
There were four dishes and a soup on the table. Her favorite dishes were a bit far away, so she knelt on the chair and stretched out her arms to pick them up, all the while muttering about the important matter: "Are we going to the Liu residence tomorrow morning?"
She actually preferred to go as soon as she woke up, but it wouldn't make sense to buy alcohol in the morning, especially since she and Di Jiang were still children. Even if she made up a story about an alcoholic father, there was no reason to go buy alcohol so early in the morning.
Di Jiang said, "There's no need for tomorrow; we'll go tonight."
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