Chapter 122: Yun Niang and Ping

The sky was gradually darkening.

Li Xiang stayed in the kitchen, bored, fiddling with the bright yellow Bead in his hand.

Inside, one could vaguely see an angry, roaring demonic spirit screaming.

However, Li Xiang did not care about this.

At this moment, he was focused on watching the women busy inside the kitchen.

It was almost time for dinner, and the women in the kitchen were busy; some were pulling the Wind Box, others were chopping vegetables, and pots and pans were clanging.

The scent of cooking smoke rose; although it was a chaotic scene, it made one's heart feel increasingly peaceful.

The *whoosh whoosh* sound of the bellows being pumped rang out, bright yellow flames leaped, lard slowly melted under the high heat, and a faint aroma began to rise.

It was mixed with the chopped vegetables and scattered in.

Sizzle!

A rich aroma rushed into the air, making one's mouth water and whetting one's appetite.

"Ah, so fragrant."

The kitchen wasn't making any rare delicacies, just some ordinary stir-fried dishes, but it was so fragrant that one couldn't help but twitch their nose.

"Hey, little one, is it very fragrant?"

"Hahaha, look at how greedy you are."

Seeing Li Xiang staring wide-eyed at the wok, the woman stir-frying the vegetables suddenly laughed.

Her figure was not very good; she was a bit short and a bit plump. It was unclear if she ate too much or if her body was weak. She looked to be in her thirties, with a clean linen headscarf wrapped around her head. She stood by the stove, flipping things back and forth with a large spatula.

Because she was quite short, holding the large spatula to stir-fry looked rather comical.

Beside her, a thin girl was pulling the Wind Box; she was not very old, looking to be about eleven or twelve.

The bellows were being pulled *whoosh whoosh*, and it was a bit hot by the fire; the girl pulling the bellows had a lot of sweat on her head.

"Hungry, aren't you?"

"Come, come eat a little first."

Just as the vegetables were stir-fried, the woman put down the spatula, glanced at Li Xiang's greedy look, picked up a wooden bowl from the side, and scooped a small ladle of porridge from the wooden bucket nearby. It was mostly millet with some soybeans, looking much better than what ordinary families usually ate.

Afterward, she picked up the spatula again, scooped a bit of the freshly stir-fried vegetables—which had lard in them—poured it onto the porridge, and placed a small spoon in front of Li Xiang.

"Whose child are you? You look unfamiliar to me. I remember all the children in the kitchen. Which village are you from? These eyes, they are so beautiful; your mother must be a great beauty."

"You are still young, eat more so you can grow up healthy."

"Ah? Ah!"

"Thank you, thank you!"

Li Xiang held the bowl and nodded at the woman.

"I am from Shihe Village. My dad is named, named..."

"Ah, named Li Ping'an."

"So you are from Shihe Village. I am from Guyang Village. Eat quickly, child."

"The weather is getting cold; if your parents weren't too busy to manage, I imagine they wouldn't have left you here."

"Eat more, you are at the age to grow. Such a bright child, you mustn't go hungry."

She muttered to herself,

then picked up bowls and chopsticks again to continue serving food, preparing it for the other children in the kitchen.

There were quite a few children in the kitchen, all children of the workers at the construction site. Their families had few people and were too busy to manage, and fearing the children would have no one to look after them, they could only bring them here and let the kitchen helpers look after them.

"Thank you..."

Li Xiang said softly.

In a short while, many children swarmed over, holding bowls and chopsticks, waiting eagerly for food.

The woman took care of them one by one, not at all complaining that she was exhausted from just stir-frying a pot of vegetables.

"Eat quickly, children."

"You've been hungry all day, all of you eat more and grow up well."

The short woman said to the children while serving the food.

The way she looked at these children was full of affection, which made one feel very comfortable.

Beside her, that thin girl was also helping to look after the children.

"Thank you, Yun Niang!"

"Thank you, Sister Ping!"

The children held their bowls, eating happily, and said to the short woman and the girl who was helping.

"Yun Niang, the food you made is much better than yesterday!"

"Today's food is so fragrant!"

A small child said; he held his wooden bowl and ate more than half in two or three bites, seemingly burning his mouth.

"That's right, that's right."

"Yun Niang, today's food is so delicious."

"Yun Niang, what did you put in the vegetables? Today's food is really so fragrant."

The children spoke all at once.

Before the adults finished work, they usually ate dinner first and went off to play randomly, and when the adults finished their work, they would take them back home.

"It's delicious, isn't it? Hahaha."

"Today, Mr. Lu from the construction site came by and made something called a Wind Box, and the fire on the stove is much stronger now."

"With a stronger fire, the stir-fried vegetables naturally taste better."

The woman called Yun Niang, only after taking care of all the children, leisurely ladled a bowl of rice and handed it to the thin girl beside her.

"Come, Ping'er, you go eat too."

"Mother is going to stir-fry another pot of vegetables."

At a construction site of two or three hundred people, this bit of food was not enough for them to eat.

There were several other stoves at the construction site, and at this moment, none were idle, clanging and banging away in the bustle.

It was only on Yun Niang's side that she prioritized getting food for the children, as she was more attentive to their care.

The thin, small girl nodded, then began to hold the bowl and start eating.

There were not many children in the kitchen, only about a dozen or so, all thin and small.

The slightly older children had all gone to the construction site to help, and these remaining children were left here for the aunts at the construction site to help watch over.

At this moment, Li Xiang held his wooden bowl, pondering where he should go to find Lu Ban and the others after returning home with Lao San later.

However, a timid female voice interrupted him.

"Is it not tasty?"

"Why aren't you eating?"

Hm?

He raised his eyes to look, and it was that thin girl standing in front of him.

With a dark, small face and a thin body, she looked somewhat similar to Yun Niang; perhaps due to a life of hardship, her eyes also seemed to have a bit more tenacity than those of her peers.

She stood before Li Xiang, asking him why he was not eating the porridge Yun Niang had given him.

The children were all very curious about this newcomer today.

It was just that they seemed to be quite timid, and no one came up to chat with him.

Li Xiang was also too lazy to chat with this group of brats; after the Dark Bird finished its self-indoctrination during the day, he had cut off the connection, closed the Token in his hand, and let the Dark Bird stay at that household, waiting for his summons.

Although the Dark Bird did not understand, it was, after all, the Sage's word, and it dared not disobey.

"Is, is the food my mother made not tasty?"

"Ah, no, not at all."

Li Xiang held the bowl, looked at the little one, smiled, and picked up the spoon to bring the food to his mouth.

It was very fragrant.

Just as the children had said, today's meal was indeed very delicious.

Although it was just ordinary porridge paired with a little bit of oil, it was very fragrant.

This era was relatively poor, and people only ate two meals a day.

Now that it was almost dark, everyone had been hungry for the whole day and was basically starving, so they were exceptionally eager to eat.

Li Xiang held his wooden bowl and sat motionless, which made him seem a bit out of place.

It was not that the food was not tasty, but rather that his cultivation had entered a Grade, and he had eaten plenty of delicacies recently; in fact, it would be of no consequence if he did not eat for half a year.

Staring at the wok, he just felt that this atmosphere of human life was very comforting.

Seeing Li Xiang eat the porridge, the little girl and the other children all smiled.

The sound of stir-frying and the sound of chopping vegetables on the cutting board, mixed with the smoke and fire, made one feel very peaceful.

The girl held her wooden bowl, sat beside Li Xiang, and ate happily, her mouth glistening with oil.

Suddenly, she turned to ask Li Xiang.

"Did you also lose your mother before coming here?"

(End of this chapter)