Chapter 746: Looking Good Is Enough

That counted as an agreement.

He Lingchuan went all out, quickly tying up two bamboo bones and sticking white paper on them. The room was warm, and the white paper pasted on the front dried quickly, ready for painting.

Sun Fuling waited, wanting to see what ability he had besides writing a few words to make children cry.

Painting was a layman's job, but in front of Master Sun, he had to show off, so he took out red and black pigments and used the big splash-ink method to color the white paper.

That was just scribbling; at best, filling in color blocks. Sun Fuling couldn't bear it: "What are you doing?"

"Painting a fish!" He Lingchuan pointed to the fish-shaped bamboo bone. "Aren't koi this color?"

Which colorful koi looked like a doodle?

"Should I paint a big black fish?" Saving trouble was saving trouble. "It's too careless."

Sun Fuling tried hard to keep a straight face: "Does your Commander also cut corners like this when training troops?"

He waved his hand: "My soldiers all know the principle of sweating more in training and bleeding less in battle; I don't need to whip people with bamboo strips at all!"

Sun Fuling finally couldn't hold back and laughed out loud.

He certainly wouldn't whip people with bamboo strips; the Yuheng Army and the Panlong Army were of the same lineage, both treating lazy bums who cut corners with whips and sticks.

Seeing her smile, He Lingchuan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing him go to ruin another kite, and first drawing two big circles on the back of the paper, looking like two turtle shells, Sun Fuling was convinced: "What are you drawing now?"

"Poisonous snake eyes—I mean eyes," He Lingchuan said seriously. "I plan to paint a gold-ringed snake."

"Fine, fine." Unable to watch him make a mess, Sun Fuling snatched the brush from his hand. "I'll do it, you go paste the paper!"

He Lingchuan naturally didn't compete with her. His three tricks were already exhausted, and he couldn't paint anything else.

But seeing the corners of her mouth lift while she was painting, he knew Master Sun was in a good mood again.

Watching her paint, he subconsciously said: "You're really not a preschool teacher?"

"Preschool teacher?" Was she being compared to a little lion? "Nothing, nothing!" He looked at Master Sun's painting, the lines were concise, the colors bold, cough, full of childlike interest. "Good looking!"

Looking good was enough.

The two worked together and finished the manual work in about an hour and a half, even making two more kites than originally planned.

"Let's keep these two for ourselves." Laughing and joking, the previous unpleasantness had vanished.

He Lingchuan noticed she said "we".

And Master Sun heard his stomach growling.

"Haven't had dinner yet?"

"Oh, not yet." He touched his stomach belatedly; he had been doing free labor for Master Sun as soon as he returned and hadn't had time to forage.

It wasn't exactly free labor; didn't he get a kiss?

Sun Fuling didn't know what he was thinking, and while scooping water to wash her hands, she said:

"Thank you for your help tonight; how about I treat you to roast meat? The academy just issued charcoal wages today, and there are two large pieces of pork, and pork intestines from the restaurant at the foot of the mountain."

She turned back into the capable Master Sun.

Meat to eat? He Lingchuan's spirit lifted: "Then what are we waiting for?"

He flipped over the wall back to his own kitchen, picked up the charcoal stove with one hand, and walked out.

This outdoor charcoal stove was modified from a broken jar in the room; the hole in the jar was polished smooth, just right for a charcoal inlet. After shrinking the top, it became a stove top.

As for the grill, it was very simple: a thin stone slab washed clean.

Sun Fuling grabbed ice cubes from the mountain spring, placed them in an iron pot, and set them on the heated stone slab.

On the other side of the slab, she placed sweet potatoes and autumn chestnuts.

He Lingchuan took a knife and sliced the washed pork into thin slices.

These were all Master Sun's wages; she specifically picked plum meat, fat and lean mixed, then smeared a layer of sweet pear sauce, a specialty of Yuheng City, and put it on the stone slab with a sizzle.

Yuheng City was once called Pear City, producing large and sweet pears; the locals used them to make various snacks, the most famous being sweet pear sauce. This half-sweet, half-salty sauce went best with meat; wrapping the plum meat and roasting it until slightly charred, then putting it into the mouth with carrot strips.

Crunch, crispy and flavorful; the pear juice washed away the greasiness of the meat, leaving only the mellow fragrance.

He Lingchuan also roasted a few naan breads; when the crust was slightly yellow, he stuffed the roast meat inside and added some pickles given by the landlord.

Sun Fuling ate a meat-stuffed bread and took a sip of wine, sighing with satisfaction.

"Your craftsmanship is truly getting better and better."

He Lingchuan bowed to her: "Thank you for the compliment. It's a pity, though; in terms of this craft, I'm still not as good as Mr. Shao Jian."

Sun Fuling agreed: "His roast meat is indeed a masterpiece."

"You've tasted it?"

"Yes." She took a bite and paused. "In the past, Mr. Shao also took the academy children out for picnics. Once his meat skewers came out of the oven, no one would eat the ones we roasted. I wonder where he has gone now?"

He Lingchuan subconsciously looked up at the sky.

"By the way, last time you asked the Dean about the calculation method of the Heavenly Net," Sun Fuling added. "Later, I noticed it lit up for two more nights."

He Lingchuan was startled: "When?"

"A month ago, and seven days ago."

That was the Punishment Dragon Pillar spread by Shao Jian, being used by the Heavenly God's believers.

He had been firmly and unswervingly carrying out his mission.

Sitting here, He Lingchuan felt a storm was coming.

He thought of Fang Canran.

After more than a hundred years, the stubbornness and decisiveness of these two people seemed to be carved from the same mold.

The things they accomplished were all stirring up the wind and clouds, and would all bring far-reaching impacts to this world, and even the divine realm, in the future.

But tonight, the stars were twinkling, and the quiet night was like a painting.

Sun Fuling looked at the twinkling lights at the foot of the mountain and suddenly said: "The lights in the city are better looking than the stars in the sky."

He Lingchuan lowered his head; Yuheng City couldn't be called ten thousand lights yet, and it was far from the brilliance of the Milky Way in the sky, but behind every light was a household, and every one had a story.

Now, his mission was to guard every household.

The two sipped wine slowly, silent for a long time.

The snow had stopped very early. Sitting by the warm charcoal stove, he didn't feel cold. This feeling of boundless heaven and earth and lights at his feet was something he couldn't experience in Panlong City.

"No one fighting in the academy recently?"

"None," Sun Fuling smiled. "Yuheng Academy is also going to open night classes, specifically for your soldiers."

"Thank you for your hard work," He Lingchuan said sincerely. "The Xiluo people near Yuheng City are enthusiastic about joining the army, but too few are literate; they have to be able to read orders and battle reports, and understand gestures and secret codes."

The Xiji Nation originally discriminated against the Xiluo people and didn't allow them to go to school. When Yuheng City was just captured, one couldn't find a literate person among twenty Xiluo people.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 747 =====