Chapter 5: Lian Ye's Skill

The next morning.

Lian Ye lay on the bed, looking exhausted; he had dreamed the previous night.

In the dream, he found himself in a laboratory, lying on a cold dissection table, with shelves around holding various biological specimens and bottles.

He tried to get up from the bed, but his body couldn't move an inch, so he could only watch silently.

"What exactly is that dream?" Lian Ye muttered to himself: "Could it be the golden finger of transmigration?"

Thinking of that, excitement showed on his face.

If it's a golden finger, that would be awesome!

As a transmigrator, lacking a golden finger would be rather miserable.

Lian Ye quickly calmed down; a dream doesn't prove anything.

If it isn't, then he'd have been happy for nothing.

He planned to observe for a while, see if he could keep dreaming; if so, he could start researching later.

Thinking so, he rolled out of bed and left the room.

He walked around the courtyard, didn't see Feijian's figure, and guessed he must have gone to the Hokage Office to help Hashirama with paperwork.

So he headed to the shuriken throwing field at the corner of the courtyard.

The field is a regular circle, about twenty meters in diameter.

In the center stands a row of carefully made wooden targets.

Each target is about a person's height, made of thick planks, with conspicuous concentric circles painted on the surface: from the central red dot outward, orange, yellow, blue, etc.

On one side of the field, a simple wooden shed was erected.

Inside the shed sat a wooden table and several chairs, with various types of shuriken neatly arranged on the table—triangular and cross-shaped.

On the wall-mounted rack hung protective gear, including gloves, wrist guards, and chest guards.

"As expected of Feijian, he's rich and generous!" Lian Ye remarked.

With his previous living expenses, he could only afford food and drink, had no spare money to buy shuriken, let alone train in shuriken throwing.

Looking at those shuriken on the table, Lian Ye felt only a pang of longing.

Although he wanted to start shuriken training right away, these items weren't his; he absolutely couldn't use them without permission, needing Feijian's consent.

After looking for a while, Lian Ye firmly turned his gaze away and began physical training.

His body is still small, so he didn't train too hard; he just did some simple bodyweight exercises like push-ups, squats, pull-ups, to strengthen his chest, legs, and arms.

Such strength training is crucial for a ninja to maintain bodily stability and explosive power during missions.

By the time Lian Ye finished training, it was nearly noon.

He lay on the ground to rest a bit, then dragged his tired body to the kitchen to start making lunch.

Lian Ye didn't know if Feijian would come back for lunch at noon, but he still intended to make enough for two.

Notably, the portion Lian Ye made for himself was especially large—double what he had eaten the previous night.

After each physical training session, Lian Ye would become especially hungry.

He was quite pleased about this, since eating more indicates high prior consumption, showing the training is effective!

Moreover, sufficient food intake helps him grow muscle, increase endurance, and improve his body's recovery ability.

Due to limited ingredients at home, Lian Ye simply made some mapo tofu and kung pao chicken, both dishes still explosively spicy.

"Hehe, the rice is still just a small bowl!"

Lian Ye brought a basin of rice, scooped a bowl into a dish and placed it opposite, then began to devour the basin heartily.

As for that small bowl of rice, it was naturally left for Feijian.

In his previous life as a Chinese person, Lian Ye wasn't accustomed to Japanese food culture; compared to that, he preferred Chinese cuisine.

Since Feijian doesn't like spicy food, Lian Ye decided to make a tableful of spicy dishes.

At that moment, Feijian returned.

He had just entered the courtyard when he smelled a strong aroma.

He looked surprised toward the house, murmuring: "How fragrant... what did that little brat make?"

Only then did Feijian realize that Lian Ye wasn't bragging—he really could cook.

He subconsciously swallowed his saliva and hurried into the house.

"White-haired uncle, you're back." Lian Ye greeted him and continued to eat voraciously.

Feijian sat down without a word, facing two plates of tempting dishes—mapo tofu and kung pao chicken.

The white tofu soaked in bright red chili oil, dotted with specks of numbing pepper and scallions, the rich spicy aroma assaulting the nostrils.

The kung pao chicken was similar, with orange-yellow chicken pieces, vivid red chili, and tender green scallion pieces cleverly combined, giving off an irresistible sweet-spicy fragrance.

He first picked up a chopstickful of mapo tofu; at the moment it entered his mouth, the scalding heat and intense numbing-spiciness exploded on his tongue.

"Ha ha ha!"

Feijian isn't good at handling spice, but he was still conquered by the mapo tofu.

Immediately after, he tried the kung pao chicken; the tender chicken, crunchy peanuts, and hot chili blended perfectly, giving him a rich texture and an unprecedented taste experience.

This flavor is truly too delicious!

"White-haired uncle, don't just eat the vegetables—you need to mix them with rice to taste good!" Lian Ye called out.

Hearing that, Feijian feigned nonchalance as he picked up the rice bowl, imitating Lian Ye by scooping a spoonful of mapo tofu; the red oil dripped down the spoon, coating the rice.

Putting it in his mouth to chew, the tofu's numbing-spiciness and the rice's sweetness made each mouthful intoxicating.

He ate mouthful after mouthful, immersed in the satisfaction brought by the food, utterly indifferent to the sweat pouring from the spice.

Feijian enjoyed it with his eyes closed, as if savoring the flavor of those two dishes.

Even he, it was the first time he had ever eaten something so delicious.

This brat's cooking is really beyond words!

It seems adopting him isn't that hard to accept.

"Hey, old man, don't just sit there stupidly, go wash the dishes after you finish eating!" Lian Ye belched, urging.

Qianshou Feijian came to his senses and dutifully picked up his bowl and chopsticks, heading to the kitchen.

Lian Ye was somewhat surprised, not expecting this old guy to be so easy to talk to.

He didn't know that Lian Ye had already conquered his stomach.

The fact that Qianshou Feijian, who never eats spicy food, finished these two extremely spicy dishes shows Lian Ye's cooking skill.

Not long after, Qianshou Feijian came out of the kitchen, his gaze fell on Lian Ye, but he quickly looked away.

Lian Ye seemed to see appreciation in Qianshou Feijian's eyes…

He shook his head, dismissing the thought.

Qianshou Feijian praising himself? What a joke!

Lian Ye recalled the training ground and tentatively said, "Bai Mao Da Shu, can I use the training ground in the courtyard?"

"If you want to use it, just do so." Qianshou Feijian didn't have much reaction.

Lian Ye felt a bit pleased, thinking to himself: 【This old guy is still quite easy to talk to…】

"I have things to attend to." Qianshou Feijian said, then turned and left.

Just as he reached the door, he seemed to think of something, stopped his steps, turned his head to look at Lian Ye:

"Hey brat, remember to cook more rice tonight."

Lian Ye: "???"