Chapter 21: Cooking

Yun Li returned home with her head full of junk; worse still, because Leng Xiao had been with them, every time she thought of Mu Qing's figure, Leng Xiao's tall, strong build and bulging chest muscles flashed through her mind, even Leng Xiu's cold, ascetic face.

Pa-pa!

Accompanied by two crisp slaps, Yun Li finally felt the heat on her face fade.

Honestly, what on earth am I thinking?

She walked into the house, intending to do something to distract herself.

The house had the leftover meat patties and wild vegetable soup from this morning's meal; Yun Li left them alone, expecting Mu Qing to take care of them when he returned.

The wooden cabinet had only one shelf and no door; inside were tubes filled with zhu tree powder, the hard‑shelled xixi tree fruits that even stones couldn't crack, and dried gray vegetables, black insects, and other seasonings.

These seasonings were concocted by a small tribe when they were starving; to exchange for a few mouthfuls of food, they traded their discoveries, which is how Yun Li's household came to have them.

Even so, compared to modern myriad seasonings, these could only make a few tasty soups; staple dishes like roasted or fried meat still had to rely on salt for flavor.

Yun Li took the zhu tree powder from the cabinet; the xixi tree fruit was something Mu Qing could never crack open, let alone that even if stir‑fried it wouldn't be as tasty as she imagined.

Rather than give up, she kept working with the zhu tree powder; last time she added water without measure and ended up with nothing, so today she personally added water bit by bit, refusing to believe she still couldn't make it come together.

Yet Yun Li might truly lack any talent for cooking; this time she was clearly adding water drop by drop, watching it slowly form clumps, yet it was still so sticky.

She wanted to eat dumplings; thinking of that, her mood plummeted.

She missed her parents and her brother, who always liked to annoy her; even if Mu Qing were wonderful, he could not replace her parents and brother, let alone the many friends she still had in the modern world.

But here, she didn't like the females the original owner knew, and they already had their own social circle, making it hard for her to fit in.

Other young females, Yun Li would like to get to know, but they were either out with the gathering party or staying at home.

Yun Li had no one to introduce her and dared not just barge into someone's home saying she wanted to be friends; thus she now didn't even have a beast person to talk to.

If only she could cultivate; after all, she'd been in this world for over a month, and her body, originally weakened by hunger and cold, had largely recovered thanks to the witch doctor's medicine and nutritional therapy.

Or else, she could ask Mu Qing when he returns tonight.

Crackle~

The wood in the earthen stove finally caught fire; Yun Li, her face smeared with black and gray patches, rushed to meet Mu Qing as he came running back and broke into a smile: 'A Qing, you're back!'

Thank goodness, thanks to the original owner's memory of how to light a fire; otherwise, as a modern person who only knows how to turn on gas, she wouldn't have known that lighting a fire first requires igniting flammable dry grass, heating the earthen stove, then adding thinner dry twigs.

Once the thin twigs burned and the fire lasted longer, she could add dry grass and then thicker twigs; and those arm‑thick logs must be added only when the fire is strong, so they burn slowly.

Mm, I'm back.

Mu Qing saw smoke rising from the courtyard and thought his eyes were playing tricks, since his female never did anything but hand him things when he was busy and watch him cook when he returned.

Today was still her first time doing something at home, but the process was clearly fraught; he lifted his hand with a somewhat complex expression and wiped the ash from her face, saying, 'Why didn't you wait for me to come back before cooking? You could have just stayed home and let me do it.'

Although he was touched that his female cared about his hard work providing for the family, he wasn't tired at all after returning from the hunt, especially knowing someone awaited him at home, which only boosted his drive.

'What's wrong, can't I light a fire for you? Is it wrong to care about you?'

Although Yun Li said that with her mouth, she wasn't actually feeling sorry for him; she knew she was just bored and looking for something to do.

After all, rather than feeling sorry for him returning from the hunt, finishing a meal and still having boundless energy, she would have been better off feeling sorry for herself, who clearly did nothing all day but eat and sleep, yet the next day Mu Qing was always full of vigor while she felt tired everywhere.

Mu Qing's heart instantly softened when he heard her say she felt sorry for herself.

He lowered his head and kissed her nose, saying, 'Mm, I know A Li feels sorry for me. But next time you should still wait for me to return and let me cook for you; I'm afraid of tiring you out.'

He harbored no notion that Yun Li, who normally did nothing at home, could be tired by lighting a fire; Mu Qing simply believed that a female could do whatever she wanted, but tasks like cooking, laundry, hunting, and providing for the family were naturally the male's duty.

Otherwise, why would A Li have chosen him as her beast husband? It's only natural for a male to support his female.

Yun Li smiled, eyes narrowed, and kissed him back, her voice sweet as could be: 'Got it, but I made something new today; if it's edible, you won't be able to stay so busy tonight.'

As for why it's something new rather than something good, it's because Yun Li had no confidence in the steamed buns on the stove.

No matter how she kneaded the dough, she couldn't make it non‑sticky, so she simply mixed in some sweet wild fruit juice, kneaded it a few times, then placed a large lump of dough directly on the earthen stove to steam.

The big fire had just been lit; she estimated it would take a while longer for it to steam through.

'What's the new thing?'

Mu Qing's face flashed with confusion, then his gaze fell on the nearby stone basin, which still had traces of zhu tree powder stuck to it; he fell silent and said, 'A Li, is this food made from zhu tree powder?'

He hadn't forgotten that day when Yun Li had him mix water with zhu tree powder; in the end the dough wouldn't come together, leaving only a bowl of batter.

A Li hated to waste it and wanted to boil it to see if it could be eaten, but he thought cooked or raw it was much the same, so that day he gave A Li the wild fruit rib soup and meat skewers she'd asked for, and Mu Qing ate the batter raw.

That taste was truly indescribable.

Mu Qing felt he wouldn't want to eat it a second time.

Yun Li didn't notice his aversion to the food on the stove; instead, she looked somewhat pleased and said, 'Exactly, I made the dough myself; although it didn't turn out as I wanted, I later added sweet fruit juice, so even if the flavor is poor, it should still be better than eating it raw.'

She knew Mu Qing had eaten the batter before, but she didn't know he had eaten it raw.

Yun Li still thought he had followed her advice, cooked it then eaten it, and that the bad taste was due to not preparing it well.