32 – Cooking and Plans

Lu Family, in the kitchen.

Lu Qing was stoking the fire, a brand-new iron pot placed on the stove.

This iron pot was something Lu Qing originally planned to bring home discreetly at dusk.

But after considering, he realized, since they all lived in the same village, how discreet could he really be?

Even if he sneaked the pot home, when cooking, the aroma would still give it away.

After all, the scent of stir-frying is vastly different from steaming or boiling, and he couldn’t block the kitchen to stop the smell from escaping.

So, he decided to brazenly bring the pot directly back home.

Naturally, this caused quite a stir in the village.

An iron pot! For the villagers, it was truly a luxury.

Even now, some families in the village couldn’t afford an iron pot.

Lu Qing bringing back such a large iron pot surely caught everyone’s attention.

In response, Lu Qing claimed directly that the pot was a gift from Old Doctor Chen, which made the villagers both envious and jealous.

At the same time, they were also amazed by the generosity of the old doctor.

An iron pot is worth several taels of silver. Old Doctor Chen just gave it away? He must be really fond of Lu Qing.

This also confirmed to everyone that the old doctor genuinely considered Lu Qing his disciple and valued him greatly.

Otherwise, why would he give such an expensive pot to Lu Qing?

It was always known that disciples honor their masters, not the other way around, unless the master truly pampered the disciple.

Especially later, when they saw that the pot was already seasoned, everyone became even more convinced of their speculation.

Recalling the villagers’ attention, Lu Qing felt somewhat grateful.

Fortunately, he had the foresight to temporarily leave the silver with Old Doctor Chen, carrying only a few pieces of broken silver back.

Otherwise, with such a large bag of silver, it would surely attract everyone’s attention.

If any curious soul had opened the cloth bag while he wasn’t paying attention, it would have been troublesome.

The fire was burning, and soon the pot began to smoke.

Lu Qing picked up the oil jar and scooped a large spoonful of lard into the pot.

Watching the lard melt in the pot, he felt a surge of exhilaration.

Now that he had money, he no longer needed to be stingy with oil.

Previously, every time he cooked, he had to think about how to use the least amount of oil to make the dishes at least palatable. It was really challenging for him.

With a joyful heart, Lu Qing quickly prepared two dishes and a soup.

A fried fish, a fish soup, and a stir-fried vegetable.

Although limited by seasonings, the three dishes still seemed simple.

But when Lu Qing took the first bite of the stir-fried dish, he felt so moved he almost wanted to cry.

It wasn’t easy… This taste was what he had longed for.

“Brother, the dishes cooked in the big iron pot are really delicious!”

On the other side, Xiao Yan was eating happily.

Even though she didn’t usually like vegetables, now she found them particularly tasty.

“Of course, this big iron pot is a powerful cooking tool. Why else would Brother always think about getting one?”

“The big iron pot is great~”

This meal, the siblings ate with great appetite and joy.

All the dishes were cleaned up, not even leaving behind any soup.

After eating, Xiao Yan patted her slightly bulging belly with satisfaction.

“Brother, let’s always cook with the big iron pot from now on?”

“Sure.”

Lu Qing nodded without hesitation.

The reason he insisted on buying the iron pot was just for this.

However, it wasn’t necessary to eat stir-fried dishes every meal. Even the most delicious things can become monotonous over time.

Occasionally trying other dishes is also good.

After dinner, Lu Qing read a book for a while.

When it was getting dark, he put the book away.

He moved the old lounge chair out of the courtyard, sat on it, and looked at the evening glow on the distant horizon.

Although he seemed to be gazing blankly, he was actually deep in thought.

He pondered what Brother Da’an had said earlier about the big fair.

The oil at home was almost exhausted after his expenditure tonight and needed to be replenished.

There were also some things that he couldn’t ask Old Doctor Chen to buy for him that he wanted to purchase.

Additionally, it was time to return what he had borrowed from the villagers.

So, attending this fair was a must for him.

“Then I’ll go tomorrow. Brother Da’an mentioned some rules to follow at the fair, so I can ask him about them tomorrow.”

Lu Qing quickly made up his mind.

“Brother, will the little beast come to our house again tonight?”

At this moment, Xiao Yan suddenly asked.

“It should come…” Lu Qing was unsure.

“Then Xiao Yan will wait for it tonight.”

The little girl was extremely curious about the little beast her brother had mentioned and wanted to know what it looked like.

“Alright, but if it doesn’t come by late, you have to go to bed obediently.” Lu Qing said.

“Okay~”

Xiao Yan immediately decided to stay awake tonight and wait for the little beast.

Unfortunately, a child’s willpower was still somewhat lacking.

As someone who was used to sleeping early, Xiao Yan’s eyelids grew heavy as the time came.

Coupled with the presence of the Green Armored Fish Stone, the little girl, despite her persistence, fell asleep not long after.

Not long after Xiao Yan fell asleep, Lu Qing heard the familiar scratching sound at the door.

He was taken aback.

Could this little thing really be waiting for Xiao Yan to fall asleep before showing up?

Holding the pre-prepared fish, Lu Qing opened the door.

Sure enough, he saw the figure of the black little beast.

This time, the little thing still retreated to the middle of the courtyard, but it was visibly more relaxed.

No longer as vigilant as before.

He couldn’t tell if it was his illusion, but Lu Qing seemed to see a look of anticipation in its eyes when it saw him come out…

Could this creature really have become sentient?

Lu Qing muttered to himself, placing the fish on the ground and retreating.

As soon as he retreated to the doorway, the black little beast immediately came forward, grabbed a fish, and ran away.

Alright, though its vigilance had lessened a bit, it was just a little.

Watching the black little beast start the same routine as last night, eating a fish, running back and forth, Lu Qing couldn’t help but laugh.

He didn’t bother with it, closed the door, yawned, and headed to his room.

He had many things to do tomorrow and had no time to play with this little creature.

The night passed uneventfully.

When Lu Qing got up early the next morning, he saw the wooden basin was empty again.

He wondered how the little thing digested it all, considering its small size but enormous appetite.

Two to three pounds of fish were easily eaten, a bigger appetite than an adult.

“Brother, did the little beast come last night?”

Xiao Yan woke up too and ran out of her room to ask immediately.

“Yes, look, the fish in the basin are all gone.”

Lu Qing pointed at the wooden basin.

“Ah! Why didn’t you wake me up, Brother!” The little girl was very frustrated.

“I said, if you fell asleep, I wouldn’t wake you.”

“Brother, Xiao Yan has decided that she won’t sleep tonight and will definitely wait for the little beast!” The little girl said seriously.

“Alright, good luck.” Lu Qing didn’t mind at all.

He was now certain that the Green Armored Fish Stone was indeed magical.

With it, Xiao Yan couldn’t stay up even if she wanted to.

When the time came, she would definitely feel sleepy and obediently go to sleep.

It saved him a lot of trouble.

“Xiao Yan, why don’t you go play at Grandpa Zhang’s house today? Brother has something to do and needs to go out.”

“Where is Brother going?”

“You’ll know when I come back.”

After asking Old Zhang next door to look after Xiao Yan, Lu Qing pocketed a piece of broken silver and headed to Wang Da’an’s house.