Awoo! So Delicious!
In an instant, intense sweetness, just the right touch of sourness, a rich meaty aroma, and the complex flavors of various spices exploded in Dumbledore's mouth. The meat was tender enough to fall off the bone yet still had a slight chew; the sweetness was rich but not cloying, the sourness sharp but not overpowering...
The old wizard's eyes narrowed happily, as if stars were twinkling in them.
Dumbledore's inner monologue: Oh, Merlin's fattest trousers! This taste... This tastes more enchanting than the sweetest sweets at Honeydukes! More soothing to the soul than Fawkes's song! It's over... I might never be able to go back to eating only Cauldron Cake and Liquorice Wands...
At the thought that he would likely never taste such delicious food again after leaving the East, Dumbledore couldn't help feeling a faint trace of a gourmet's melancholy.
But right now, Chu Yao couldn't spare a thought for international friendship or the headmaster's sorrow!
Her entire attention had been thoroughly captured by the sumptuous feast before her.
She sat down, picked up her chopsticks, and took a deep breath, trying to maintain the last shred of elegance befitting an "Innate Sword Physique" and a "former supreme ruler of the demonic path."
Then...
Her movements were as fast as lightning, yet they had a strange, well-practiced rhythm to them.
The chopsticks became a blur in her hand as they darted precisely across the plates, each strike returning with spoils for the bowl already piled high before her.
"Awoo~"
She stuffed a sauce-coated rib into her mouth. With a gentle bite, the meat obediently slipped off the bone, and its rich, sweet-and-sour flavor instantly filled her mouth. She narrowed her eyes in satisfaction, her cheeks bulging as she chewed rapidly, like a little hamster hoarding food—but much faster than a hamster!
She was so completely absorbed in the food that it was as if everything around her had ceased to exist.
Chu Yao's inner monologue: Delicious! So delicious! This is the taste! Boo-hoo-hoo... The meat is tender, the sauce is sweet and sour, and there's crunchy cartilage too! My life is complete! Ah! Guobaorou! Crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, sweet, sour, and appetizing! Ah! This glutinous rice-stuffed lotus root! Soft, sweet, fragrant, and it even pulls into strings! Martial uncle! You're my true martial uncle!
Watching their junior sister eat like a "starving tiger pouncing on its prey," yet somehow looking a little cute(?) doing it, her senior brothers and sisters showed no distaste. Instead, their eyes brimmed with affection.
First Senior Sister Chu Wushuang's inner monologue: Look how badly the child craved good food... She must have been exposed to wind and weather down the mountain, without a single decent meal! She's gotten thinner, she must have!
Third Senior Brother Chu Yunfei's inner monologue: Junior Sister still makes eating look so delicious... Watching her has made me hungry again. But she's going so far away, and I heard they only have potatoes and fried fish over there... Sigh, poor thing.
At the thought that the little one, Chu Yao, would soon have to cross the ocean alone to study in a country where the food was said to be unbearably monotonous and bland, everyone in the Ten Thousand Swords Sect looked at her with the worry and reluctance of doting parents. The affectionate light in their eyes was almost tangible.
And so, the bowl already heaped high in front of Chu Yao was subjected to an even fiercer "bombardment of love."
"Yao'er, eat more of these ribs. They're good for your calcium!" Her master, Chu Kuangren, picked up a large piece for her.
"Junior Sister, try this sixi meatball, for a happy reunion!" First Senior Sister pushed a meatball nearly as big as Chu Yao's fist toward her.
"Junior Sister, the meat from the fish's belly is the most tender, and it has no bones!" Third Senior Brother deftly separated a large piece of fish for her.
Author's note: Thank you, dear readers, for the bookmarks, likes, check-ins, comments, flowers, gold coins, and memberships. Love you all, heart hands ♥