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墨書 Inktalez
"Come on! It's time to eat!" I coughed a couple of times, wiping the soot off the noodles with my hand, calling out in the softest voice I could muster.
Outside, two ducks quacked in response, and a black dog barked loudly, creating a true cacophony of sounds.
Here, we cooked using a wood stove and a clay bellows. Every time we made a meal, the smoke would choke me, leaving me sniffling and teary-eyed, and stoking the fire left my arms and legs aching.
"Sigh, when will Meilan get better? Liuying's cooking skills are still a notch below Meilan's!" Luo Dachun said while eating his fill, making such outrageous comments in front of Nie Qiuyuan.
"Don't eat if you don't like it!" I cursed silently in my heart but replied aloud, "Meilan's skills are indeed unmatched by Liuying. However, at least there has been some improvement; Brother Luo can bear with it for now..."
"Alright, you should eat too," Luo Dachun said impatiently. "I'm not used to hearing you talk like this."
"I'm going to take some porridge and dishes to Meilan." I muttered curses under my breath as I carried the food tray into the inner room.
Here's how it happened.
After the Mid-Autumn Festival on Wanzi Mountain, we packed our things and prepared to follow Nie Qiuyuan to Yichuan County for our report. Nie Qiuyuan was quiet, so none of us knew what he really thought about this matter. Overall, it seemed that he didn't mind going to Yichuan as the county magistrate.
Ah, I secretly referred to him as "Qiu" in my heart. It shouldn't matter if it's just in my thoughts!
This word made the increasingly strong autumn atmosphere seem so beautiful.
It was deep autumn now, and the air had turned chilly. We were still quite a distance from Luoyang and had arrived at a place called Jiangshuiquan Village. Han Meilan had started running a high fever since yesterday, quite uncharacteristically.
In this era, there were no modern medications like aspirin or antibiotics. When someone had a fever, we could only ask a doctor for traditional Chinese medicine and simmer it on the stove; the effects were incredibly slow. Thus, we had no choice but to stop and stay in Jiangshuiquan Village.
Fortunately, we have money. The business at Wanzi Mountain is thriving, and this time we brought enough silver with us. With the Consortium backing us, as we enter politics, we will never engage in corruption.
Having money makes things easier. We rented a farmhouse in the Village to stay temporarily while Han Meilan recovers from her illness. Previously, when we needed to cook on the road, it was always Han Meilan who took care of it. Now, all those responsibilities have fallen on me. I used to be quite confident in my cooking skills, but compared to Han Meilan, my situation looks dire.
When I learned to cook in modern times, I completely forgot that ancient times didn't have gas stoves. Now, using firewood to heat the Cauldron for cooking, I struggle to control the heat. Moreover, Han Meilan is indeed a skilled cook; even if I could manage the heat well, I still wouldn't be able to match her.
So, I need to come up with a plan to turn things around. I must overshadow her in front of Qiu!
“Melan, it's time to eat.” Since she is just a year younger than me, I call her by her name directly.
I piled up some pillows at the Bedside and helped her sit up against it. Her face was flushed from fever, and she looked extremely unwell with messy hair, appearing pitiful.
I patiently began to feed her porridge.
“Liuying, you’re so kind…” Tears almost fell from her eyes as she spoke. “I always thought you hated me… but I will never forget how you protected me before!”
“Stop talking and eat!” I held back my irritation while thinking that of course I hated her—was that even a question? However, what did she mean by me protecting her? From my understanding of this original character's social reputation, such actions seemed unlikely.
After she finished the porridge and took her medicine, I carried a stack of bowls out of the room. The medicine was personally brewed by Nie Qiuyuan, which added to my annoyance.
I forced myself to eat a little, got dressed, grabbed a basket, and prepared to head out for my turnaround plan.
As for that plan, here’s how it goes.
While buying vegetables at the market in Jiangshuiquan Village yesterday, I accidentally discovered that the village raises a lot of cattle and produces milk. Moreover, the villagers make a type of cheese for consumption. I picked it up and smelled it; surprisingly, it had a flavor quite similar to Mozzarella Cheese.
This certainly wouldn’t be recorded in historical texts—there was no Mozzarella Cheese during the Tang Dynasty. However, who can say what happens in the folk realm? After all, true masters often reside among the common people!
Suddenly, inspiration struck me. With Mozzarella, I could possibly create something high-end—Pizza!
Although there were no ovens in ancient times, foreigners used Firewood Stoves for baking back then. The large stove I had on hand also burned firewood, so it should work perfectly. In modern times, Pizza baked in a Firewood Stove has even become a selling point; any pizzeria that offers Firewood Stove-baked pizza is definitely considered upscale and expensive.
I took out some paper and a pen and carefully wrote down the word "Pizza." Then I meticulously recalled the necessary ingredients and listed them one by one.
Now, I planned to go into the mountains to gather some mushrooms. Everything else was easy to find, but mushrooms seemed to be unpopular in the village. However, without mushrooms, the flavor of the Pizza would be greatly diminished.
Mushroom picking was my forte. I had studied modern wilderness survival techniques and could easily identify which mushrooms were poisonous and which were edible. The mountain was generous, with plenty of mushrooms growing everywhere, and I eagerly began to gather them.
Then, with a sudden "thud!"
I fell into a deep pit with smooth walls, twisting my ankle as expected.
I looked up to observe my surroundings; this was a standard deep well often seen in martial arts stories, over ten meters deep with nothing around to climb on. Fortunately, the bottom was covered with piles of dry grass that acted like a springboard; otherwise, I would have been seriously injured.
In short, there was no way to get back up.
I sighed, feeling oddly unafraid. In situations like this, one usually ends up being rescued. Moreover… I began rummaging through the dry grass at the bottom of the well. Places like this often have Martial Arts Manuals!
As the light gradually faded and dusk began to fall, I felt a surge of anxiety. Before I left, I hadn’t said goodbye to anyone; they couldn’t possibly know I had come to the mountains. They would look for me, but would they be able to find me? By the time they realized I was missing, I would probably have starved to death!
In my hands, I only had a knife from Night Delivery and half a basket of mushrooms.
I shouted for help several times before sitting down against the well wall, trying to conserve my strength. I decided to call out every now and then and then think carefully about how to save myself.
The only response was the distant sound of wolves howling.
Was this scene somewhat familiar? I pondered, slowly drifting off into thought. It reminded me of a survival training session when I had fallen into a deep pit with no way out, surrounded by desolation.
Just as despair began to overwhelm me and tears started to flow, someone lowered a rope into the well and pulled me out.
It was Zhang Yang; he had found me through his uncanny reasoning skills.
***Author's Note***
The author has been taken away for closed training, so updates will have to be entrusted to Submission Box Bacteria, who will surely complete the task excellently!
Thus, the author's slender figure will temporarily go into hiding. Wishing everyone a pleasant new week filled with good fortune, and remember not to miss the author!
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