Leading the Way

He suddenly remembered hearing about some dog food that some people made, which the dogs would rather starve and howl than eat.

It seems like we're seeing a real-life version now.

Chapter 71 Lead the way

Jian Mo took a closer look, and the skinny Flying-Winged Beast's sub-beastman master's face was indeed filled with longing.

He sniffed hard, then looked at the skinny Flying-Winged Beast, then at Jian Mo, practically asking if there was any food left in the Flying-Winged Beast's bowl, and if he could have a taste.

Jian Mo's expression became somewhat subtle after she guessed his thought process.

The sub-beastman was named Pengxi. The Flying-Winged Beast in his family belonged to his two fathers. Because he had been dealing with Flying-Winged Beast he was a child, he was very familiar with their temperament. So this time, he brought the Flying-Winged Beast out with his friend Duan'an.

Looking at the Flying-Winged Beast's food bowl, and seeing that Jian Mo didn't seem inclined to speak, Pengxi said, "It smells delicious! Hahaha, I've heard you're a great cook, now I believe you."

Jian Mo replied modestly, "It wasn't very good, just average home-style cooking."

Pengxi: "I can smell it, how could it be bad? If it weren't bad, Dala wouldn't have been eating it so heartily."

Dala is the name of that skinny Flying-Winged Beast.

Jian Mo looked at Dala and thought to herself that as long as it was a normal meal, the Flying-Winged Beast would probably eat it with relish.

Since Pengxi kept bringing up food, Jian Mo simply invited them to stay for dinner.

The two were overjoyed and immediately agreed, even offering to assist Jian Mo.

Although the kitchen at Jian Mo's house was finished, the two large iron pots hadn't been made yet, so they had to make do with earthenware pots for cooking in the meantime.

It was getting late, Jian Mo want to make anything too complicated, so she stewed a pot of meat, grilled a bunch of sausages, and made a cold salad of wild vegetables.

Three dishes and a soup; the number of dishes is relatively small, but the quantity is large.

With tears welling up in her eyes, Pengxi exclaimed, "This is so delicious! It smells so good! You're such a great cook!"

Jian Mo replied reservedly, "It's alright. Maybe it's because it's your first time eating my cooking, so it's quite novel for you."

Pengxi shook his head repeatedly. "I've been to so many places and eaten at so many families, but your cooking is the best. It's so delicious, I could eat the whole plate."

Looking at the thin, frail orc, Jian Mo could only say, "Then you should eat more."

Pengxi: "I definitely won't hold back!"

After enjoying a delicious meal, Pengxi leaned back in her recliner, clutching her stomach. "It was so good! I was so envious when I saw your house earlier, but after eating, I realized that having a nice house isn't such a big deal. It's the food that's truly amazing."

Seeing his relaxed demeanor, Jian Mo smiled and said, "I'm glad you like it."

Pengxi: "I really like it! I heard I can trade for some food here. Can I do that too? I brought some cloth with me. If the cloth isn't enough, I also have a metal dagger that I can use to trade."

Jian Mo declined, saying, "We did make some delicious food a few times in the winter, but we don't have any more now. Maybe next time."

Pengxi: "Where's the sausage we ate today? It seems like that was one of the foods you used to barter for?"

Jian Mo wasn't surprised by his excellent information network, simply saying, "This is also food made in winter, and there's not much left."

Pengxi's eyes were full of expectation. "How much is left? Can you give me all of it?"

Jian Mo reminded him, "The sausages were made in winter and have been sitting for a while."

Pengxi didn't care at all. "Who cares when it was made, as long as it tastes good."

Seeing that he really liked it, Jian Mo said, "Then let's change the fabric."

Pengxi immediately took the fabric out of his basket. "Here's the biggest roll for you!"

Jian Mo's family only had half a basket of sausages left, and he hadn't had time to make any in the past two days.

Seeing that Pengxi insisted on replacing the sausage with that large piece of cloth, Jian Mo felt a little guilty. "Actually, cooking is very simple. If you're interested, I can teach you."

Pengxi, eager to learn, replied, "Okay, thank you for your hard work."

Jian Mo taught them how to cook overnight. "There are two main things to pay attention to when cooking—heat control and seasoning. Heat control is relatively difficult for beginners to master, so you can learn seasoning first. If you're worried about not getting it right, marinating the food in advance is also a good option."

Both sub-beastmen studied very diligently, but the result was quite Jian Mo.

Jian Mo now believes that some people truly lack culinary talent—more accurately, they have unique perspectives and will consistently apply them to any dish they make, no matter what they do.

In short, they just don't listen to advice.

Jian Mo couldn't teach her this either, so she could only say to Pengxi, "Forget it, from now on, when you cook, try to blanch the vegetables first, then add seasonings and stew them."

Pengxi looked at Jian Mo expectantly. "The food I made with the seasonings I added didn't taste good either. It's completely different from the seasonings here. Could you give us some different seasonings?"

Jian Mo enjoys cooking and has her own special seasoning powders, including but not limited to shellfish powder, meat powder, pepper powder, sugar powder, salt powder, and mixed spice powder, which are indeed much richer in spices than the average person.

He looked at the expectant Pengxi and said, "Forget about exchanging them, I can give you some."

Pengxi: "Could you help us mix them together? If you don't mix them, we won't know how much to put in."

Duan'an nodded repeatedly in agreement.

Jian Mo took out two small jars, mixed the seasoning powder together, and gave one jar to each of them.

Pengxi pinched a little seasoning powder with her fingers and popped it into her mouth. "I think this seasoning powder is pretty good too."

Jian Mo joked, "Then if you ever think the food isn't good, you can just boil the meat in water and dip it in seasoning powder."

Pengxi's eyes lit up. "That makes sense! Doctor Jian Mo, you're amazing. Shall we come back to you next time to exchange our seasoning powder?"

Jian Mo casually replied, "I doubt it will work. The other seasoning powders are manageable, but we don't have much of this pepper powder. I wonder if we can get some recently? If not, then there's nothing we can do."