Tomato and Egg Stir-fry's smashing success!

Things turned out much as Zhang Xiao had expected. After several incidents, he had learned to anticipate the young wizards' peculiar priorities.

Rather than the priceless tableware, the young wizards cared more about how the tomato and egg stir-fry tasted.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione, the three little ones, had been enthusiastically promoting it in Gryffindor:

"Seriously, that cabbage and meat was the best food I've ever eaten."

"I never imagined there could be anything so delicious in the world."

"Hey, mate, listen to me. It was absolutely brilliant!"

"For once, a dish actually made me forget about my books."

These slightly exaggerated endorsements made the young wizards intensely curious about the tomato and egg stir-fry. In their conversations, they were already comparing it to the royal banquet King Arthur had served Merlin.

That was hardly surprising, though. It was difficult to make a bunch of sheltered, innocent eleven- and twelve-year-olds understand what tens of millions of pounds actually meant.

Money was something whose importance became more apparent as you grew older.

The only ones truly sensitive to that figure were the wealthier, older pure-blood students. But as mentioned before, showing off was the norm here.

"I can't live like this anymore!" Zhang Xiao stared, on the verge of tears, at a plate so clean it looked freshly washed. Everything seemed bleak.

He had only wanted a few special meals for himself, something he was used to eating. Why did all these British people have to get in on it?

Malfoy was one thing. He was his dining companion, after all, and sat right beside him. Sharing a little was only natural.

But then Ron and Harry had succumbed to temptation, mustered their courage, and charged over to the Slytherin table with their plates, taking half of Zhang Xiao's tomato and egg stir-fry and sweet and sour pork (note 1).

It was as if they had flipped a switch. First, Hermione shyly joined the two boys in coming over to cadge a meal, taking more than half under Malfoy's deeply disgusted and disgruntled gaze.

That left what had originally been generous portions insufficient for even two people.

Zhang Xiao had no choice but to ask the house-elves to increase the portions.

He had felt a little embarrassed at first, only for the house-elves to react with wild delight, as though they had received the highest possible praise.

And hadn't they? Larger portions meant their cooking had been recognized! What could possibly make them happier?

But once the portions increased, Zhang Xiao realized he had made a terrible mistake. He was digging his own grave!

First came Cedric, who had helped him before, sidling over rather sheepishly. He quietly told Zhang Xiao how much he liked the bikini-clad Bulma he had received last time, then asked where he had bought it.

Then he made a request:

"The Hufflepuff students all love good food, and they're really keen to try something from another country. Could you share a little with them so they can have a taste?

Please!"

What else could Zhang Xiao say? He already liked Hufflepuff, and with a request like that, wouldn't refusing disgrace the hospitable people of China?

Share it, then!

When Ravenclaw saw that the other three houses were all eating it and they alone were left out, they started by invoking Professor Flitwick to establish a connection.

They explained that although he wasn't a Ravenclaw student, Professor Flitwick had always believed his intelligence should have landed him in Ravenclaw.

Therefore, his head had always belonged to Ravenclaw. Since they were all Ravenclaws, surely asking for a little tomato and egg stir-fry wasn't unreasonable?

Share it, then!

Before long, a peculiar sight appeared in the Great Hall: a gleaming silver basin filled with tomato and egg stir-fry on every long table.

The young wizards even pioneered several ways of eating it.

Dipping bread into it, drinking it straight, stuffing it into pies...

Just as Zhang Xiao had wondered how they never tired of eating potatoes every day, he now wondered how they never tired of eating tomato and egg stir-fry every day.

Nearly a week had passed, and they were still enjoying it as much as they had the first time.

He couldn't stand it himself after just three days in a row!

More surprises followed. The professors finally couldn't resist joining in either. In fact, they had noticed the unusual food in front of Zhang Xiao on the very first day.

But out of professorial reserve, they had held back for several days. Only when the young wizards from every house were happily eating it did the professors abandon their restraint.

After tasting it, Professor McGonagall merely pursed her lips and nodded without saying a word. That evening, however, the dish appeared at the professors' dinner.

Dumbledore enjoyed it most of all, even getting plenty of sauce on his beard.

Older people did tend to like those sweet-and-sour flavors.

In the end, Headmaster Dumbledore decided to revise the menu, officially adding tomato and egg stir-fry to the Hogwarts menu.

That brought the whole affair to a satisfactory conclusion.

As a result, Hagrid's vegetable patch expanded considerably, and the house-elves began helping tend the vegetables.

Having heard that domestic pork tasted much better than wild boar meat when cooked, Hagrid even started raising some Yorkshire pigs.

To Hagrid, these pigs were like puppies. He even worried that the adorable little creatures were malnourished and failing to grow.

Lately, he had been trying everything he could to make them bigger. In his opinion, they needed to grow at least a meter tall to count as properly developed.

Remembering Fang's decidedly abnormal size, Zhang Xiao swallowed the advice on the tip of his tongue and decided that Hagrid's Christmas present this year would be "Postpartum Care for Sows"...

All in all, the expansion of the vegetable patch and livestock farming was an unexpected bonus for him.

Once November arrived, the weather gradually grew colder. The students put on their winter robes and wrapped themselves in scarves patterned in their house colors.

As the date of their detention approached, Malfoy grew increasingly anxious. Every day, he complained nonstop about his father's failure to persuade Dumbledore.

He also complained about what a stubborn old man Dumbledore was. It was clear that he was exceptionally frightened of the Forbidden Forest.

That weekend brought a rare fine day. The sky was as blue as forget-me-nots, and the third-year students and above happily took advantage of the good weather to visit Hogsmeade.

The castle became much emptier. Zhang Xiao declined Harry and Ron's suggestion of spending the entire day playing wizard's chess and went to the Room of Requirement as usual.

He took the silk testing cloth from his small bag. A few days earlier, he had finally broken through the last character and passed the test.

He had also discovered what those eight characters meant in a book of miscellaneous writings.

The eight characters represented the eight sufferings of life. These were originally Buddhist terms, but according to Zhang Chengdao, the two religions had clashed and mingled so much over the long years that it was impossible to tell which tradition many things belonged to anymore.

If something seemed useful, they simply used it.

No wonder all sorts of strange emotions kept surfacing when he sat on it to meditate.

After spreading the silk cloth flat on the floor, Zhang Xiao solemnly took a peculiar book from his Heaven and Earth Bag.

The book was large, but it contained not a single sheet of paper. The entire thing was made of gold and white jade.

Its name was very fitting, too: the Golden Book and Jade Register.

Tsk. How tacky!

Shaking his head, he placed it in the center of the silk cloth. The eight characters on the cloth suddenly lit up in sequence, then went out one after another. A small clasp on the cover came loose with a click.

The book's cover suddenly began giving off a soft, shimmering glow.

"Ding!"

A clear note rang out, its resonance lingering. He had no idea what had been struck to produce it, but it sounded lovely.

Zhang Xiao felt as cool and refreshed from head to toe as if he had eaten chilled watermelon on a sweltering summer day. His spirits instantly lifted.