Hu Liena: This Smell Is Way Too Overpowering, Isn't It? I Can't Put It in My Mouth!

Has his attitude toward me finally stopped being so hostile?

Hearing that familiar inner voice beside her ear,

Bibi Dong could not help feeling delighted.

For some reason,

when Li Mubai's attitude toward her changed,

the shift from hostility to acceptance always made joy well up in her heart without her realizing it.

It was as if she were playing some kind ofstrategy game.

The feeling of clearing a level perfectly captured how Bibi Dong felt at that moment.

Just then,

another thought rang out beside Bibi Dong's ear.

This Bibi Dong isn't bad. Looks like I don't need to consider leaving Spirit Hall for now. Where else could I find a job that pays a huge salary for working one day a month?

"Hmph... At least you have a bit of a conscience. Raising your pay wasn't for nothing."

The corners of Bibi Dong's lips curled up slightly.

But Hu Liena, sitting beside her, keenly noticed the change in her expression once again.

What's wrong with Teacher? She's making that face again!

Hu Liena was deeply shocked.

In the space of a single morning,

Bibi Dong seemed to have become a different person. She was no longer the frosty teacher Hu Liena knew.

What's going on?

Why is Teacher making that face?

Is it because of this Good Person Elder?

As for Hu Liena,

after Xiao Qian had explained Li Mubai's background to her,

her opinion of him had improved dramatically.

Her initial disdain had given way to the way she viewed an ordinary person.

Though she could no longer say she disliked him,

it would have been a stretch to say she liked him. At most, she was no longer so hostile toward him.

And the changes in Bibi Dong's expression today had truly shocked and surprised her.

If she had not seen it with her own eyes again,

she would not have dared believe that Bibi Dong had such a side to her.

In her memory, Bibi Dong had always worn a stern face.

She had not been easy to talk to, either.

But today's Bibi Dong had overturned her understanding.

"Boss, your zongzi."

Smiling, Li Mubai placed two zongzi in front of Bibi Dong.

Then he gave Hu Liena a pair.

Next, he gave Xiao Qian a pair.

But when it came to him, only one was left.

There were seven zongzi in total, with none to spare.

Li Mubai did not mind, though.

He had only wanted a taste of nostalgia, not to fill himself up on zongzi.

Xiao Qian, who was beside him,

saw that Li Mubai had only gotten one zongzi.

Without a word, she reached out to move one of the zongzi in front of her over to him.

But Li Mubai shook his head and stopped her.

He did not have to eat two zongzi.

For Li Mubai, who had eaten zongzi every year in his previous life,

they were more of a formality.

He could eat them or leave them.

The table was still packed with dishes. Weren't they much tastier than zongzi?

Just as Li Mubai picked up his chopsticks and prepared to take a piece of braised pork rib,

he noticed something odd.

Bibi Dong and Hu Liena were staring straight at him.

Neither spoke nor picked up her chopsticks.

What are they doing?

Suddenly,

Li Mubai remembered.

This was the first time Bibi Dong and Hu Liena had eaten something like this. They probably did not know the proper way to open a zongzi.

They were staring at him because they were waiting for him to demonstrate.

At that thought,

Li Mubai could not help laughing inwardly.

He was not mocking them.

Li Mubai did not like to laugh at others without cause.

He had his own principles.

All the more so over something as trivial as eating zongzi.

Bibi Dong and Hu Liena had simply never seen one before, which was why they did not know.

If something new were placed in front of him, there would be times when he would not know what to do either.

So there was nothing funny about it.

The reason he had chuckled inwardly

was not to laugh at others, but at himself.

He was laughing at himself for not having thought of it.

Otherwise, he would not have left the two of them staring at him expectantly, waiting for him.

With that thought,

Li Mubai set down his chopsticks.

He picked up the zongzi in front of him and unwound the hemp cord wrapped around it.

Then he peeled back its layers like a cocoon.

He stripped away the long bamboo leaves, finally revealing its bright white form within.

It was translucent and glistening, with a firm texture.

It gave off wafts of delicate fragrance.

Seeing this,

Bibi Dong suddenly understood.

She stretched out a slender, jade-like hand and copied Li Mubai's movements.

Soon,

a waxy yellow zongzi appeared before her.

Bibi Dong raised an eyebrow at the sight of it.

Then she looked at the translucent, glistening zongzi in Li Mubai's bowl, confusion on her face.

The colors of the two zongzi were simply too different.

She also caught a faint whiff of meat.

It came from the waxy yellow zongzi in the bowl before her.

Why is this food so strange?

Seeing Bibi Dong raise her eyebrow, Li Mubai smiled and said,

"Boss, there are two flavors of zongzi."

"One is cured pork zongzi, savory and salty. The other is plain and has no flavor, so you need to add white sugar to give it some. The one in your bowl is the savory kind."

Bibi Dong understood as soon as she heard that.

Hu Liena, however, frowned.

The savory aroma of the cured pork zongzi in Bibi Dong's bowl had drifted into her nostrils.

The smell made her feel a little nauseated.

It smells awful!

The smell made her stomach churn.

Still,

she was somewhat interested in the plain kind Li Mubai had mentioned.

The plain zongzi carried only a faint fragrance mingled with the scent of bamboo leaves, which was not hard to accept.

Xiao Qian, meanwhile, had already started eating.

The first one she had unwrapped was plain too.

So she took a spoonful of sparkling white sugar from a dish on the table, poured it into her bowl, and began eating in small bites.

This was not her first time eating it.

She had been with Li Mubai for quite some time and was already well acquainted with it.

Bibi Dong, beside her,

also tried eating after hearing Li Mubai's explanation.

She took a tiny bite.

She did not chew.

She was still a little wary of this food she had never seen before.

She was afraid that once she started chewing,

the strange flavor would burst across her mouth.

If it tasted good, that would be fine, but if it did not, that would be rather unpleasant.

But

a moment later,

the flavor reached Bibi Dong's taste buds.

The savory taste mingled with the distinctive aroma of glutinous rice and a hint of bamboo leaves.

Bibi Dong's slightly furrowed brows smoothed out.

This flavor

was something she could accept.

Moreover,

she thought it was fairly good.

The flavor was quite novel.

It seemed much tastier than the food in the Pope's Hall.

Of course,

she felt that way because it was her first time eating this kind of food.

Hu Liena, meanwhile, had also opened her plain zongzi.

Then she copied Xiao Qian and added white sugar.

Only then did she cautiously take a bite.

The natural sweetness of the glutinous rice, mingled with the delicate scent of bamboo leaves, instantly burst across her mouth, stimulating her taste buds.