Chapter 32: Flour Food
When they got home, Hua Linye’s gaze immediately fell on the battle scars in the courtyard. He turned to Xiao Jihan, his foxy eyes glinting with a sharp light. “What happened here?”
Xiao Jihan explained coolly, “Mei Qingchen was here.”
That single sentence made Hua Linye’s expression drop. A chill entered his foxy eyes. “Did he do something to Wife Master?”
Hua Linye immediately recalled what Wen Nanxi had said last night. The two they worried about most were Mei Qingchen and Shen Ci’an. If they really had a way to override the contract and decided to kill Wife Master, the situation would be bad. Their abilities were strong, their families powerful, and they undoubtedly had many magical treasures, making them incredibly difficult to handle.
Hua Linye didn’t wait for Xiao Jihan’s explanation. He rushed back to Su Muyao’s side and looked her over, checking her from top to bottom, front to back. Only after confirming she was uninjured did his expression soften, just slightly.
But he was still worried. “Wife Master, are you hurt? Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?”
Su Muyao shook her head. “I’m fine.”
Hua Linye said seriously, “Wife Master, you don’t have to be afraid. I saw the sword marks on the wall. They were clearly from Mei Qingchen’s blade. Did he do something to you?” At that moment, Hua Linye was radiating killing intent toward Mei Qingchen.
Su Muyao quickly explained what happened. “I made an agreement with Mei Qingchen. I’m going to help him repair his natal sword, and he won’t do anything to me again.” She finished by reassuring him, “Really, I’m fine.”
“It’s getting late, I’ll start dinner. It’s just that the courtyard wall is damaged in a few places and needs to be fixed.”
Hua Linye didn’t hesitate. “I’ll fix it.”
Xiao Jihan and Hua Linye set to work repairing the wall together.
Su Muyao, meanwhile, began preparing to make shuijiao (dumplings). She started by mincing the pork and cabbage, then took seasonings from her dimension to mix the filling, adding oil, green onion, and ginger. Adding the green onion and ginger to the filling helps the flavor pop. Next, she kneaded the dough. Once it was ready, she began wrapping the dumplings.
Su Muyao’s hands were a blur. She was incredibly deft, and soon, rows of plump, perfect dumplings sat on the tray.
Xiao Jihan and Hua Linye finished repairing the wall and leveling the courtyard ground, then came into the cookhouse to help.
When they saw what Su Muyao was making, they both froze. They had never seen food like this. They had definitely never seen it made this way. And what was that white powder?
Xiao Jihan remembered the wheat flour they had ground that afternoon and had a suspicion, but he was still shocked. So that was also food.
Hua Linye, after his initial surprise, stepped forward. “Wife Master, what is this?”
Su Muyao explained, “These are called shuijiao.”
“The wrapper is made from the wheat we ground into flour.”
“And the filling is cabbage, pork, green onion, and ginger.”
“We’ll boil them in a bit, and you can see how they taste.”
In the apocalypse, even when ingredients were scarce, everyone loved to make dumplings for festivals. For many, eating dumplings held a special meaning. She loved making them and eating them, too. It reminded her of the time before the apocalypse, when she was a child living in the countryside with her grandparents.
Her grandmother was an amazing cook.
Back then, their garden was full of vegetables, and when they bought pork at the village market, it was always fresh, butchered that day. And it was cheap.
As a child, she always looked forward to festival dumplings. It felt like a special ritual.
As Hua Linye listened to Su Muyao’s explanation, he watched her. In that moment, he felt a bright, gentle aura around her. It was a simple, soft, and beautiful feeling, an air she radiated from within. It made him reluctant to disturb her.
When it came to wrapping the dumplings, Hua Linye and Xiao Jihan wanted to help but had no idea how.
Su Muyao said, “You don’t know how to wrap them or roll the skins, so I’ll just do it myself.”
Knowing their appetites, Su Muyao planned to make a lot, otherwise they would never be full.
Hua Linye lowered his voice. “I hunted three wild boars today. They’re in the courtyard. Should we process them first?”
He knew his Wife Master liked wild boar, so he had spent the entire day in the forest specifically hunting them. He’d managed to kill three large ones.
Su Muyao’s expression flickered. “Three wild boars?”
“Where are they?”
Seeing the light in her eyes, Hua Linye knew he had done the right thing. “I left them in the corner of the courtyard.”
He knew she liked things clean, so he had stacked them in the corner, waiting for her to decide what to do.
Su Muyao put down the dumpling she was holding and walked into the courtyard. In the corner, she saw three massive wild boars. She estimated they were each over four hundred jin.
But Su Muyao found it a bit strange. She remembered them saying how difficult hunting was. Sometimes they’d be gone all day and come back with nothing.
At that moment, the Space System chimed in: “Host, they were slacking off before.”
“That’s why they came back empty-handed so often. They’d occasionally bring back one beast, just enough to make sure the original owner didn’t starve to death.”
Hearing the System, Su Muyao understood. It wasn’t that they couldn’t hunt, it was that they hadn’t wanted to.
Su Muyao said, “This is too much pork to eat at once. We can render some for lard and smoke the rest to make cured bacon.”
“Smoked bacon can be stored for a long time, all the way into the snow season.” They could also make meatballs, steamed pork, and braised pork.
Su Muyao explained to Hua Linye and Xiao Jihan how to process the meat, and they set to work. Of course, the skins couldn’t be wasted either; they could be used to make pork skin jelly.
But just then, Su Muyao noticed that Wen Nanxi still hadn’t returned. The sky was already getting dark, and the sun was about to set.
“Why isn’t Wen Nanxi back yet? Could something have happened?”
Although Wen Nanxi was powerful—she had seen his abilities—the forest had more than just wild animals. There were mutated beasts, some of which were high-level. If he ran into one stronger than him, he would be in danger.
Hearing her words, Hua Linye felt a sour pang in his heart. “Is Wife Master that concerned about Wen Nanxi?”
Su Muyao said, “I don’t want anything to happen to any of you.”
Hua Linye thought of Wen Nanxi’s mysterious abilities and origins. “With his skills, he’ll be fine.”
Seeing Su Muyao still frowning, he sighed in resignation. “If Wife Master is truly that worried, I’ll go look for him!”
Just as they were speaking, Wen Nanxi returned.
His wind ability swirled two wild beasts into the courtyard, depositing them on the ground.
Wen Nanxi still had his usual gentle and refined appearance, but Su Muyao could smell the thick stench of blood on him.
It was as if he had just come from a ferocious battle.
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