Stir-frying and Plans

Stir-frying and Plans

At the Lu Family home, in the kitchen.

Lu Qing was tending the fire. A brand-new Iron Pot sat on the stove.

Originally, Lu Qing had planned to carry this Iron Pot home after dark, keeping a lower profile.

But after thinking it over, everyone lived in the same village. How low-key could he really be?

Even if he sneaked the pot home, he still would not be able to hide it when it came time to cook.

After all, the fragrance of stir-fried dishes was worlds apart from the smell of steamed or boiled food. He could not exactly seal up the kitchen and keep the scent from escaping.

So he simply carried the pot home openly and aboveboard.

Naturally, this caused another small stir throughout the village.

This was an Iron Pot. To the villagers, it was absolutely a luxury item.

Even now, some households in the village still could not afford an Iron Pot.

How could Lu Qing carrying home such a large Iron Pot not draw everyone's attention?

Lu Qing simply claimed that Old Doctor Chen had given him the Iron Pot, leaving the villagers green with envy once more.

At the same time, they were tongue-tied at the Old Doctor's generosity.

An Iron Pot was worth several taels of silver, yet the Old Doctor had given one away just like that. He truly treated Lu Qing well.

But this also convinced everyone that the Old Doctor really had taken Lu Qing as his disciple, and one he valued greatly at that.

Otherwise, why would he give such a large Iron Pot to Lu Qing?

They had only ever heard of disciples honoring their masters. When had they ever heard of a master giving such a valuable gift to a disciple?

Unless the master truly doted on that disciple.

Especially after they saw that the Iron Pot had already been seasoned, they became even more certain of their guess.

Thinking back to the villagers gathering around to watch, Lu Qing felt somewhat fortunate.

Luckily, he had the foresight to leave the silver with Old Doctor Chen for the time being, bringing back only two pieces of Broken Silver in his pocket.

Otherwise, such a large bag of silver would definitely not have escaped everyone's notice.

If some busybody got curious and opened the cloth bag while he was not paying attention, that would be troublesome.

The fire flared up, and before long, smoke began to rise from the pot.

Lu Qing took the Oil Jar and scooped a large spoonful of lard into it.

Watching the lard melt in the pot, a sense of pure exhilaration welled up in his heart.

Now that he had money, he no longer had to pinch every drop of oil.

Every time he had cooked before, he had to rack his brains over how to use the least oil possible while still making food that did not taste awful. It had truly been too hard on him.

In a cheerful mood, Lu Qing quickly prepared two dishes and a soup.

Pan-fried fish, Fish Soup, and Stir-fried Greens.

Though the seasonings were limited, the three dishes still looked simple.

But when Lu Qing took his first bite of stir-fried food, he was so moved he almost wanted to cry.

It had not been easy. This taste was the flavor he had dreamed of for so long.

"Brother, food made in the big Iron Pot tastes so good!"

On the other side, Xiao Yan was eating with great delight as well.

Even though she usually did not like greens much, she now found them especially delicious.

"Of course. This big Iron Pot is a weapon for cooking. Otherwise, why do you think Brother has always wanted one?"

"The big Iron Pot is wonderful~"

The siblings enjoyed this meal especially well.

They ate every last bit of food, not even leaving any soup behind.

After filling herself up, Xiao Yan rubbed her slightly round belly, her face full of satisfaction.

"Brother, can we use the big Iron Pot to cook from now on?"

"Alright."

Lu Qing nodded without hesitation.

Was that not exactly why he had insisted on buying an Iron Pot?

Still, they did not need to eat stir-fried dishes every meal. No matter how delicious something was, one would grow tired of it after a while.

It would also be nice to try other dishes now and then.

After dinner, Lu Qing read for a while longer.

Only when the sky had grown somewhat dark did he put the book away.

He carried the old reclining chair out into the courtyard, half-lying in it as he watched the Sunset Glow at the distant horizon.

He appeared to be lost in thought, but in truth, he was thinking.

He was considering what Da'an Ge had said before about Da Ji.

After his lavish use of it that evening, the oil at home was truly almost gone and had to be replenished.

There were also things he did not feel comfortable asking the Old Doctor to buy for him, which he wanted to purchase himself.

On top of that, it was time to return the things he had borrowed from the villagers.

Therefore, he had to go to Da Ji.

"Then I'll go tomorrow. Da'an Ge said there are some rules to follow at Da Ji, so I can ask him about them tomorrow."

Lu Qing quickly made his decision.

"Brother, will the little beast come to our house tonight?"

At that moment, Xiao Yan suddenly asked.

"It probably will." Lu Qing was not certain either.

"Then Xiao Yan will wait for it tonight."

The little girl was extremely curious about the little beast her brother had mentioned and desperately wanted to know what it looked like.

"That's fine, but if it still hasn't come by late tonight, you have to obediently go to sleep." Lu Qing said.

"Okay~"

Xiao Yan immediately decided that tonight, she would keep her spirits up and absolutely wait for the little beast to arrive.

Unfortunately, a child's willpower was still a little lacking.

Xiao Yan had always been used to sleeping early. Once the time came, her eyelids began to grow heavy.

With the Azure Armor Fish Stone there as well, although the little girl held out for a while, she soon fell asleep.

Not long after Xiao Yan had fallen asleep, Lu Qing heard the familiar scratching at the door from outside.

He could not help but freeze.

Could this little thing really have waited specifically until Xiao Yan was asleep before showing up? Carrying the fish he had prepared beforehand, Lu Qing opened the door.

Sure enough, he saw the Black Little Beast.

This time, the little thing had still retreated to the middle of the courtyard, but it was clearly much more relaxed.

It no longer looked as wary as before.

Lu Qing even seemed to see a trace of anticipation in its eyes when it saw him come out, though he did not know whether that was merely his imagination.

Could this fellow really have become a spirit?

Muttering to himself inwardly, Lu Qing placed the fish on the ground and stepped back.

The moment he had retreated to the doorway, the Black Little Beast immediately rushed forward, grabbed a fish in its mouth, and ran off.

Fine, its vigilance had lessened a little, but only a little.

Watching the Black Little Beast once again follow last night's routine of eating one fish, running off, then coming back for another, Lu Qing could not help smiling.

He could not be bothered with it. He shut the door, yawned, and headed toward his room.

He had many things to do tomorrow. He had no time to play with this little thing.

The night passed without incident.

When Lu Qing got up early the next morning, he found the Wooden Basin empty again.

He did not know how that little thing digested its food. It did not look very large, but its appetite was astonishing.

Two or three jin of fish disappeared with ease. It ate more than an adult.

"Brother, did the little beast come last night?"

Xiao Yan had woken up too and immediately ran out of her room to ask.

"It came. Look, all the fish in the basin are gone."

Lu Qing pointed at the Wooden Basin.

"Ah! Brother, why didn't you wake Xiao Yan up?" The little girl was deeply vexed.

"I told you, if you fell asleep, I wouldn't wake you."

"Brother, Xiao Yan has decided! Tonight, I won't sleep. I'll definitely wait until the little beast comes!" The little girl said with a serious expression.

"Alright, good luck." Lu Qing said without the slightest concern.

He was certain now that the Azure Armor Fish Stone was indeed miraculous.

With it around, even if Xiao Yan wanted to stay up late, she could not.

Once the time came, she would definitely become sleepy and obediently go to bed.

It truly saved him a great deal of trouble.

"Xiao Yan, why don't you go play at Grandpa Zhang's house today? Brother needs to go out for a while."

"Where is Brother going?"

"You'll know when Brother comes back."

After going next door to ask Grandpa Zhang to look after Xiao Yan for him, Lu Qing tucked a piece of Broken Silver into his pocket and headed for Wang Da'an's home.