Chapter 204: So It Turns Out My Skin Isn't Thick Enough

Three pieces of sweet potato starch skin, cut into neat squares the size of small handkerchiefs, lay on the grill, gradually bubbling up under the high heat.

The smoke was alluring.

Chen Shu brushed oil on them, applied a layer of sauce, and then called out to the front: "Grilled sweet potato skin, three kinds: sour radish, minced meat with cowpeas, and braised pork intestine. Which one do you want? Do you want fish mint? Speak up quickly, there are only two pieces, if you're slow, wait for the next batch."

"Braised pork intestine! I want fish mint!" Chen Banxia displayed the reaction speed expected of a Fifth Stage powerhouse, and nudged her companion with her elbow, reminding her, "Braised pork intestine, braised pork intestine! Fish mint is just houttuynia cordata!"

"I want braised pork intestine too!" Zhang Suannai immediately raised her hand and shouted, "I don't want houttuynia cordata!"

"Potato filling." The little girl's voice was unhurried, arriving fashionably late.

"You wait for the next batch."

"Oh." The little girl didn't forget to remind him, "I want the potato-stuffed one, just put the grilled potato slices inside."

"Mm."

Chen Shu first picked up some sour radish and sour cowpeas, placed them on the sweet potato skin—Qingqing didn't eat fish mint either, so he didn't add any—then sprinkled on seasonings, chopped green onions, diced cilantro and celery stalks, and some small bits of pickled mustard greens, used Spirit Power to fold the sweet potato skin up, and then skewered it with two wooden sticks.

A skewer of the cheapest sweet potato skin, filled with sour radish and sour cowpeas, was finished.

Chen Shu handed it to Qingqing beside him.

Seeing this, Zhang Suannai was stunned: "Didn't you say there were only two pieces?"

"Oh, actually there were three in total, but one was already reserved by my Secretary; after all, those close to the water get the moon first," Chen Shu explained.

"Emmm..."

Zhang Suannai turned her head to look to the side.

The little girl was earnestly feeding Taozi small potatoes, completely indifferent to this, and seemed to have not even heard her speak.

One minute later.

Two portions of sweet potato skin with braised pork intestine were also grilled.

The two alcoholic sisters put down their wine glasses, went to get the sweet potato skin, and then continued drinking.

The texture of the sweet potato skin itself is soft and glutinous without lacking chewiness; if made well, it will be a bit springy, but not sticky to the teeth. After brushing on the seasoning and filling it with plenty of diced sour radish and braised pork intestine, one bite down, it is soft, glutinous, delicious, and fragrant.

Zhang Suannai felt as if a new door had been opened, and she hurriedly raised her hand again and shouted: "I want another skewer, fill it with whatever."

"There are only eight pieces in total, whoever wants them, first come first served."

"Your dear sister wants one!"

"Brother-in-law, my potato sweet potato skin..."

"Wait in line, wait in line."

As Chen Shu said this, he took three more pieces of sweet potato skin to grill; one of them was his own, as he only liked to keep it simple by filling it with some diced sour radish and bits of pickled mustard greens.

While he was at it, he also grilled a dragon-boat eggplant.

Chen Shu also liked to make the eggplant he grilled sour and spicy, adding sour cowpeas and minced meat with chopped chili; after it was grilled, using chopsticks to tear off a strand of sour and spicy grilled eggplant, just thinking about it made his mouth water.

"Secretary Ning, go over there and eat with them, you can't help much anyway."

"No."

"Then what do you want to eat? I'll grill it for you first."

"I'll have another skewer of sweet potato skin and half an eggplant, then I won't eat anymore."

"Eating so little?"

"That's enough."

"Then I prepared so much food..."

"Zhang Suannai can finish it."

"Oysters and vermicelli can also be made sour and spicy, because I have prepared minced meat with chopped chili and sour cowpeas," Chen Shu said. "Putting them on top makes it sour and spicy."

"Then I'll have two more oysters and two scallops." Secretary Ning immediately changed her tune.

"Eat more, put on some weight."

"..."

"Come, the boss will feed you a secret-recipe lamb skewer."

Chen Shu handed a lamb skewer to her lips; Ning Qing instinctively leaned back, wanting to dodge, but the lamb skewer followed closely. She had no choice but to open her mouth to bite it, and frowned as she gave Chen Shu a punch.

Zhang Suannai, sitting by the stone table, watched in a daze.

The moon rose higher and higher, the small courtyard was still wreathed in smoke, the aroma of the barbecue spread with the evening breeze, and the prepared ingredients became fewer and fewer.

Zhang Suannai and Chen Banxia had already finished a bottle of wine, and both of them were a bit tipsy.

The little girl had eaten most of the potatoes, was so full she could barely stand it, and was sitting on a stool, bored, patting her belly for fun.

Zhang Suannai ran to the grill excitedly: "Come, come, come, you go take a break, I'll grill, I'll grill for you to eat, I grill really well..."

"Then you play."

Chen Shu gave the grill to her and instructed: "Don't touch my eggplant, tofu skin, oysters, and scallops; you can do whatever you want with the rest."

"Why?"

"You can't grill them well."

"Oh, oh..."

Zhang Suannai was easily persuaded again, and then happily grabbed a few skewers of meat and started grilling.

Chen Shu took some skewers and walked to the stone table with Secretary Ning to sit down and eat.

The moon tonight was exceptionally large.

It looked like a scarred jade plate.

With a Cultivator's vision, when Chen Shu focused his gaze, he could clearly see the light and dark areas, mountain ranges, craters, and the scars on the edges of the craters; it was significantly different from the moon of his past life, but the moonlight was just as gentle.

Chen Shu did not forget Taozi; he took one from a skewer of grilled quail eggs in his hand and placed it in the bowl in front of Taozi.

This little fellow seemed a bit unhappy, looking down at the quail egg in the bowl, then looking up at him.

"Woof?"

"What did it say?" Chen Shu asked.

"You have to ask Qingqing to know." The little girl looked at her sister, "Qingqing is already half a cat now."

"Secretary Ning, translate," Chen Shu said.

"Secretary Ning, translate," the little girl repeated.

"..." Ning Qing gave her younger sister a cold look, then looked at Chen Shu, and finally said, "It said, why do you all eat with skewers, but it has to take it off to eat; it wants to use a skewer too."

"Is that so?"

Chen Shu looked at Taozi.

Taozi stared at him with bright, piercing eyes.

"It really is..." Chen Shu twitched the corner of his mouth and handed the skewer in his hand to it, "But didn't it only bark once? Does it have that much to say?"

"It is expressing an emotion."

"Secretary Ning is professional!"

"Slap..."

"Secretary Ning is rebelling against her superior!"

"Slap..."

Chen Shu went silent.

Chen Banxia giggled on the side.

Chen Shu didn't hold it against her; he took a small paper cup, poured a little wine into it, clinked it against her cup, and took a small sip. Seeing this, Chen Banxia grinned and giggled again, then followed suit and took a sip.

"The barbecue is here!"

Zhang Suannai brought over a plate of barbecue. She wiped her hands casually on her body, looked at them, her mouth full of the smell of alcohol: "Suannai-brand barbecue, hurry and taste it!"

Chen Shu lowered his head to glance at it and picked out a skewer of pig's trotter.

Ning Qing picked out a skewer of cauliflower.

It was a bit charred, but it didn't matter if barbecue was a little charred. There was a bit too much seasoning and a bit too much Sichuan peppercorn, but that's how barbecue is; as long as all the necessary seasonings are sprinkled on and the deviation isn't too great, it won't be too hard to eat.

"It's alright."

Chen Shu gave her a thumbs up.

"Not bad."

Ning Qing also said.

"Hehe!"

Zhang Suannai's vanity exploded instantly, and she was suddenly full of motivation, her face beaming with joy as she went back to grill more.

Chen Shu was happy to be idle, so he poured half a cup of wine for Qingqing as well, and the two drank together.

"Zhang Suannai!"

"Eh?"

"Sing a song for us to hear."

"What a golden jasmine flower..."

"Ha!"

This person really just opened her mouth and started singing; she is a marvelous person.

Chen Shu smiled brightly.

After finishing half a cup of wine, he went to grill the remaining oysters, scallops, tofu skin, and eggplant, forcibly distributed them to everyone, and only after everyone was stuffed did he silently start to clean up the mess.

The moon was already hanging at the top of the trees.

I wonder what year it is in my hometown.

"Chen Banxia, Zhang Suannai, you two should just not go back. Especially Zhang Suannai, I'm afraid you'll stir up some trouble on the road again," Chen Shu said, "I specially tidied up a guest room this afternoon, you two just make do for the night."

Chen Banxia rested her chin on her hand, drowsy.

Zhang Suannai mimicked the little girl by patting her belly, focused and undisturbed.

Chen Shu sighed.

Half an hour later.

The two girls were lying crookedly on the bed, one with a leg over the other's waist, the other resting her head on her chest, one with eyes open and one with eyes closed.

The scene was too much to look at.

Chen Shu turned off the lights and closed the door for them, walked to the next room, and lay down on Qingqing's bed—tonight he had once again kicked Qingqing off to sleep on the sofa.

His Mobile Phone vibrated, and a message came through in the group chat.

Beauty with Eight-Pack Abs: Happy Mid-Autumn Festival, fellow seniors and junior sisters.

Qingcai Keke: Happy festival, Junior Sister.

Beauty with Eight-Pack Abs: Happy to you too, happy to you too.

Qingcai Keke: How is the promotion going?

Qingcai Keke: Is the potion useful?

Beauty with Eight-Pack Abs: The potion is amazing.

Beauty with Eight-Pack Abs: But I'm not good enough myself; I failed the first two times. I plan to wait a while longer before trying again. I want to ensure the probability of success for the next time is over 90%, otherwise, there won't be any potion left to use.

Haoran Zhengqi: That's already very good.

Haoran Zhengqi: Most people in the group took three or four tries to reach the Fifth Stage.

Qingcai Keke: Keep it up.

Qingcai Keke: Beating up Zhang Suannai to get your own back is just around the corner.

Grandma Always Says: Dreaming.

Qingcai Keke: Yo? Still awake?

Grandma Always Says: I can drink a thousand cups without getting drunk.

Qingcai Keke: How much is one plus two multiplied by zero?

Grandma Always Says: 0.

Qingcai Keke: /eating sunflower seeds

Chen Shu turned off his Mobile Phone.

Daily Cultivation.

……

August 16th.

Zhang Suannai opened her eyes; she and Chen Banxia were face to face, their limbs tangled together.

Sunlight faintly filtered in from the edge of the curtains.

"Mmm..."

Zhang Suannai pulled one hand out from under Chen Banxia's head, moved her left leg off hers, and pulled her right leg out from between her legs; after finishing all this, she quietly glanced at Chen Banxia and discovered that this person had actually only let out a soft moan, showing absolutely no signs of waking up.

She is a sleep god.

Zhang Suannai got out of bed.

The slippers were provided by Ning Qing and Chen Shu, very soft sandals that felt like stepping on poop; she walked to the bathroom, washed up briefly, and then headed downstairs.

Downstairs was empty and quiet.

Outside, the sunlight was just right, and the flowers were in full bloom.

Ning Qing was holding a mop, unhurriedly cleaning the traces left on the courtyard floor from last night's barbecue; the courtyard was so quiet that one could hear the morning birds chirping, and from Ning Qing's movements and expression, one could see the tranquility of life.

Zhang Suannai couldn't help but walk over and organize her words: "Secretary Ning, are you here alone?"

"?"

"Where is Xiaoxiao?"

"?"

"Um..." Zhang Suannai scratched her head, "Qingqing, where is Xiaoxiao?"

"In the room."

"Where is Chen Shu?"

"He left."

"Where did he go?"

"Spirit Sect."

"What is he going to the Spirit Sect for?"

"..." Ning Qing looked up expressionlessly, "There are fried dough sticks in the kitchen, they were just fried not long ago, you can go eat."

"Oh..."

Zhang Suannai scratched her head and walked toward the kitchen.

Why is it that Qingqing seems so submissive in front of Chen Shu, but is so cold in front of her? No, that's not right, Qingqing is also very cold in front of him, and often stares at him with that same expressionless face; the only difference is that he doesn't care, so Qingqing can't do anything about him, while she is always intimidated by Qingqing.

Zhang Suannai concluded the reason—

It turns out her skin isn't thick enough!