Chapter 110: 110, [Third Brother Expresses Great Satisfaction]
Translator: 549690339
The sun is setting, and it’s getting dark.
Finally, Lu Xun and his third elder brother, Zhuge Lai Fu, finished in the kitchen and served a hearty dinner.
Among them, three dishes were prepared by Lu Xun, and the rest were Zhuge Lai Fu’s creative dishes.
After Lu Xun saw them, he couldn’t help but exclaim: “The third brother’s level of innovation in the culinary path is on par with the school cafeteria and the chefs in the Kingdom of Decay.”
The color, aroma and taste all failed to impress. It takes real skill to make bad food.
As for the dishes Lu Xun cooked, they were always home-style, the type that looked ordinary, unassuming, but tasted great.
At dinner time, the master came out of the house.
He changed into a new set of clothes, replacing his old white robe with a new one. They say clothes make the man, but it hadn’t improved him much. Mao Nanbei and Lin Chan were each carrying a small bamboo basket, putting food into them.
“Little Nanbei, why are you putting the food in the bamboo basket?” the master asked.
“To eat with second sister, of course!” Mao Nanbei replied as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
“Oh?” The master was somewhat surprised.
He knew that Gu Xiaoman was usually quiet and didn’t like to make a fuss. It made sense she would prefer to eat alone. Could it be that she took her meals with everyone because of Lu Nun?
Briefly irritated, the master glanced at him and thought, “Is it because he’s good-looking?”
“No, Xiao Man isn’t like that.” He decided in his heart.
But in the end, he just nodded his head, and they all went to the bamboo grove together.
After all the food was set out, the master said, “Go ahead and eat.
Then he looked at Zhuge Lai Fu’s creative dishes and, as usual, shut off his sense of taste.
Only when he started eating did the others begin.
Zhuge Lai Fu picked up his bowl and chopsticks and cheerfully said, “It’s rare for a junior brother to share my passion for cooking, let me taste your craftsmanship.”
With that, he took a bite of a slice of bamboo shoot.
“Hmmm?”
Zhuge Lai Fu’s dark face wore a slightly puzzled expression.
He immediately took another bite and his expression became even more perplexed.
The more he ate, the better it tasted!
“Um, it just lacks a bit of innovation.” Zhuge Lai Fu gave his honest opinion before admitting aloud, “Not bad, not bad at all. I didn’t expect our junior brother’s cooking to be so good!”
As this was his first meeting with third brother, Lu Xun, being a junior, responded modestly and politely, made a few polite remarks, and then bracing himself, bravely tried every single dish the third brother had made.
Unable to truly appreciate these dishes, Lu Xun kept hypnotising himself, “Taste it, taste it carefully!”
Forcing back his revulsion, he complimented third brother’s cooking with eloquence and aplomb, skillfully praising all the right points! Lu Xun’s honey tongue didn’t fail to sting, no joke intended.
“Soul mate!” the third brother concluded inwardly.
Little junior brother! Understood me!
After successfully winning over third brother’s favor, Lu Xun paid a heavy price – consuming copious amounts of appalling dishes.
As the meal went on, he started questioning life choices and thinking about strategy.
When Master heard Zhuge Lai Fu praising the food enthusiastically, he didn’t take it seriously. But seeing Mao Nanbei devouring the food Lu Xun cooked with delight made him curious.
He restored his sense of taste and tasted a spoonful of Lu Xun’s sautéed chicken in vinegar…. Hey!?
The taste was unexpectedly good indeed!
Master suddenly found that as long as he didn’t look at Lu Xun’s face, he could eat this meal with relish.
This new disciple didn’t seem as unbearable as he appeared.
And from that moment on, the amount of food Lu Xun made quickly diminished, while no one seemed to touch the dishes made by third brother.
At this point, the ever-sociable Lu Xun knew he had to act.
So, with the resolve of someone swallowing poison, he piled plate after plate of the third brother’s dishes.
In the end, Lu Xun’s dishes were all gone, and there were still quite a few of the third brother’s dishes left. But third brother wasn’t upset. After all, he was used to it and besides…he had found a kindred spirit!
“I am quite satisfied with this junior brother,” third brother thought to himself.
After the meal, Little Lim Chan immediately got up to clean up, displaying her special understanding and good manners.
The master looked at her petite figure and suddenly said, “The cold inside your body, has it been there since you were born?”
Lim Chan, who was looking down and cleaning, picked up her head. She hadn’t expected her master to suddenly bring it up and quickly stood in place, nodding her head.
This gesture reminded one of a student who had just been called out by her teacher to answer a question in class.
“Master noticed Little Chan’s strange ailment at once?” Lu Xun wondered inwardly.
“Focus on your training. Once you’ve reached the Great Perfection of Qi Consumption Technique, you will get better, ” the master said, smiling warmly at her.
He beckoned Lim Chan over, “Come on, come sit next to me.”
Lim Chan was a little nervous but obediently sat down next to the master.
“Stretch out your wrist.” He instructed again.
Little Mute rolled up her sleeves, revealing her thin and delicate arm.
Lu Xun watched from the sidelines, feeling strongly that the feeding plan must not stop!
The master placed his finger on Lim Chan’s wrist, and a warm current flowed through her body. After doing this, he smiled and said, “This will help you sleep well before you reach the Great Perfection of Qi Consumption Technique.”
Lim Chan understood the master’s consideration and quickly stood up to bow to him.
She had never thought that the strange disease that had troubled her for many years could be suppressed with just a quick move from the teacher’s fingers.
Continuing his statement, the master said, “Your senior Yan Li also had a similar constitution in his early years, except his cold air was instead a sharp metallic qi. You belong to the Water of Five Elements, and he belongs to Metal, but these are the costs of the Natural Sword Embryo.”
Reflecting back with a note of humor, he then said, “When I picked him up, he was small and thin just as you are.”
Who would’ve thought… that after a few years, Yan Li would grow into a tall, handsome, and charming man! Big trouble!
Meanwhile, Lu Xun was lost in his thoughts, “The master can see the Natural
Sword Embryo at a glance. Then isn’t there no place for my forged Sword Embryo to hide?”
Before he had a chance to contemplate, he heard the master say, “I haven’t been up the mountain recently, so let’s see if you have any cultivation doubts. You can ask now. Xiao Man, you go first.”
The second senior sister nodded, and what she said Lu Xun didn’t understand at all.
As for the master’s answers, he understood even less! The third senior brother was nodding from the side all the time, seemingly able to comprehend and gaining something from the master’s explanation.
Lu Xun felt like he had picked up a scent of something, a unique fragrance of a top student—the smell of knowledge!
Fortunately, Little Nanbei also seemed not to understand, as the little Ioli had started to daydream, her little feet touching and separating playfully. “Little Nanbei, how about you?” After a while, the master turned his head and asked.
“Ah?” Being called out, Little Nanbei was stunned for a few seconds, but then started asking a whole load of questions that Lu Xun didn’t understand.
Now Lu Xun finally understood, if the second senior sister and third senior brother were considered as university students, the questions they asked would be incomprehensible to Little Nanbei who was more like a junior high school student. However, it didn’t mean that her junior high knowledge wasn’t solid.
Compared to Little Nanbei, Lu Xun was definitely illiterate.
Oh, it turns out that I am the only bad student.
It seems that I am indeed a useless chosen one who only knows how to cheat.
It wasn’t until everyone had asked their questions that the master’s gaze finally settled on Lu Xun.
Even though he did not like Lu Xun’s appearance, he treated all his students fairly in teaching, so he said, “You go ahead and say it.”
After he was finished, he added, “Your cultivation time is short, and you have reached the Great Perfection of Qi Consumption. Why don’t you say what you want to learn next.”
This felt a little bit like when Patriarch Bodhi from Journey to the West asked Sun Wukong, “What do you want to learn?”
And then Sun Wukong said he didn’t want to learn this or that, got hit on the head three times, and then had a secret meeting with Elder Bodhi in the middle of the night.
Lu Xun wasn’t that audacious. After thinking about it, he told his master,
“Regarding techniques, your disciple wishes to learn the Sword Array. As for cultivation techniques, your disciple is ignorant and will follow the master’s arrangements.”
The master nodded his head, turned his face to the side without looking at him, and replied, “Your Sword Heart is indeed unique, the small sword within it is extraordinary, learning swordsmanship is indeed useless, but Sword Array is suitable.”
“He even knows about my Sword Heart and the small sword!” Lu Xun felt as though he had been seen through by the master.
The master glanced at Zhuge Lai Fu, saying, “Old Three, you can teach him.”
Zhuge Lai Fu nodded, gave Lu Xun a gentle smile, and said, “Little junior brother, I have gained a lot of insight in formations. I will teach you.”
“Oh, my third senior brother will teach me? That means the dark cooking is worth it!” Lu Xun thought, “I didn’t brush my favorability in vain, it’s worth it!”
This reminded him of how he used to diligently brush up the NPC’s favorability in video games and felt satisfied when he gained something.
“As for cultivation techniques…” The master hesitated for a few seconds before saying to Lu Xun, “Come sit next to me, let me see your Qi Sea.”
After saying that, he added, “Sit with your back towards me.”
(ps: First update, there will be three more today-)