Mu Zibai arrived at the kitchen. The kitchen at Tianling Temple was full of vegetables, with no meat to speak of, and there weren't many ingredients. At least they had plenty of rice.
The monks at Tianling Temple were still chanting sutras, and only a young novice was busy in the kitchen. It was the same novice Mu Zibai had met the day he arrived on the island, named Qingran.
Usually, Qingran helped out in the kitchen. Despite his young age, he was quite skilled at cooking vegetarian meals. Mu Zibai hadn't gotten to know the novice very well.
After giving the young novice Qingran twenty copper coins, Mu Zibai was free to use whatever ingredients were in the kitchen.
"Qingran, I've got some eggs here. Go to the market this afternoon and trade them for silver. We're almost out of rice, so buy plenty more."
A monk came in carrying a basket of eggs. Mu Zibai recognized him as the monk who had been watching over the chicken coop a while back.
His name was Qingshu.
"Benefactor Mu, I didn't expect to run into you here." Monk Qingshu greeted Mu Zibai with a cheerful smile.
Mu Zibai stared at the eggs in his hands, remembered what had happened with the rooster, and asked with a grin, "How well did that medicine I gave you work?"
Monk Qingshu smiled. "I have to thank you for the prescription, Benefactor Mu. Now the ducks and geese next door are laying eggs too."
Mu Zibai: "???"
What kind of logic was that? What did the ducks and geese next door have to do with it?
Monk Qingshu explained, "Not long after you left, Benefactor Mu, that rooster climbed over the fence again. It went into the duck pen and the goose pen, and this morning, they were all laying eggs."
Mu Zibai was utterly stunned. His mouth nearly gaped wide enough to fit an egg, and he even picked at his ears, seriously doubting he'd heard right.
"That potent, huh?"
His mouth twitched.
Wasn't that a bit much? In just one day, it had taken care of every chicken in the coop, then visited the duck and goose pens next door and gotten them laying eggs too.
This wasn't just virile. The damn thing was an absolute beast.
Looking at the two kinds of medicine in his inventory, Mu Zibai suddenly had an ill-formed idea.
"I was going to ask if you had any more of that medicine, Benefactor Mu," Monk Qingshu said with a smile.
"I'm out. Completely out. I used it all." Mu Zibai refused without hesitation. Naturally, he'd keep such a good thing for himself. Who gave something like that away for no reason?
"What a shame."
Qingshu looked regretful. He thought that if there were any more of that medicine, he could get some, and the egg-laying problem would be solved.
"How much are those eggs? Or maybe I'll buy one of your chickens?"
"If Benefactor would like to buy one, that can be arranged. As for the price..."
"Don't worry about the money. I won't shortchange you," Mu Zibai said. If Monk Qingshu hadn't come by, he would've forgotten that Tianling Temple had chickens too.
Mu Zibai paid Monk Qingshu, then took a few eggs. He'd make eggs for breakfast; there wasn't time to slaughter a chicken, so he'd save that for the evening.
"By the way, is this all right?" Mu Zibai asked tentatively. After all, this was a temple, and the monks didn't eat meat. Would it be a problem for him to cook meat in their kitchen?
"You've already eaten here, and you're still fussing over all these rules? Don't worry. We don't eat it anyway," Monk Qingshu said with a smile.
Mu Zibai nodded slightly.
After working for a while, he packed several plates of stir-fried dishes into a food box.
"Little Qingran, you seem awfully happy today," Monk Qingshu said, seeing the novice Qingran beaming.
"Benefactor Mu gave me twenty copper coins," young Qingran said with a grin.
Monk Qingshu smiled and shook his head. "Don't get too excited yet. I heard that people from the Qi King's Residence are coming soon."
"Huh?" Young Qingran's brow furrowed, and his happy face fell at once.
"What did you make?" Wenren Lingmeng asked expectantly when Mu Zibai returned.
"Mostly vegetables. I bought a couple of eggs from the monks, and we can have chicken tonight."
"Wonderful."
Wenren Lingmeng said happily. At last, she could have something different.
Mu Zibai laid the dishes out on the table, which was soon covered from end to end. Wenren Lingmeng ate ravenously, no longer caring about her ladylike image. It was clear she'd been starved of good food.
She had to give her stomach a proper treat. She'd suffered too much lately.
She looked up and caught Mu Zibai watching her. With an innocent smile, she straightened her posture and wiped her mouth, thinking, He didn't see that just now, did he?
Mu Zibai wiped the grease from the corner of Wenren Lingmeng's mouth. "Take your time. If it's not enough, I'll make more."
"Did you study cooking before? You're so good at it," Wenren Lingmeng said with satisfaction.
Mu Zibai could only cook a few simple home-style dishes, but not long ago, he'd bought a cookbook from the system shop. With that cookbook, cooking was a piece of cake for him.
His skills had risen to the point of perfection. He just hadn't had a chance to show them off until today, when he'd finally tried his hand at it.
"I'm all right. I got used to living alone, so I naturally had to learn to cook," Mu Zibai said with a smile. "Looks like it's come in handy."
Wenren Lingmeng looked at Mu Zibai. She knew about his past and how hard his life had been. She had to take good care of him from now on. After all, she was a virtuous wife and loving mother, hehe.
"Brother-in-law, I heard you made breakfast?" Wenren Qingyi's voice came from outside. Then, with a creak, Wenren Qingyi burst through the door.
She still hadn't learned to knock first.
"Qingyi! You came in without knocking again!" Wenren Lingmeng said angrily. This girl still hadn't changed her habits, even after all this time.
When she'd been alone, it hadn't mattered. But now that she was married and Mu Zibai was right there, what if her sister barged in while she and her husband were cuddling? How embarrassing would that be?
"Sister, you—you're awake?" Wenren Qingyi stared at Wenren Lingmeng in surprise. The next moment, she joyfully rushed over and threw herself into Wenren Lingmeng's arms.
She cried with emotion, her nose running and her face streaked with tears.
"Sister, you're finally awake. Do you know how much I missed you?" Wenren Qingyi clung to Wenren Lingmeng and refused to let go. Wenren Lingmeng gave Mu Zibai a helpless look.
"All right, don't cry. Be good." Wenren Lingmeng wiped Wenren Qingyi's tears away. "Your face is all blotchy. You won't look pretty enough to get married."
"I don't want to get married. I want to stay with you forever." Wenren Qingyi hugged Wenren Lingmeng and clung to her.
Mu Zibai cried out inwardly, Please, no!
"You'll have to get married someday. Let your sister see if you've grown any taller."
Wenren Qingyi stood up and spun around in front of Wenren Lingmeng, grinning foolishly. "I've grown quite a bit!"
Wenren Lingmeng looked her up and down. She really had grown taller. At last, her gaze settled on Wenren Qingyi's bottom, and a puzzled expression crossed her face.
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